Coming Next Week

Next Sunday, The Sun will introduce a redesigned and expanded Real Estate section. Our new section will provide buyers, sellers, homeowners and tenants more practical information on the real estate market.

The news and feature content of the section will grow by about 25 percent and will include several new features: snapshots of new homes, profiles of neighborhoods, listings of individual home sales, graphics of market trends, and answers to your questions about buying, selling, financing and improving your home.

There will also be a column for renters, and another for first-time homebuyers. And we will take regular looks inside the homes of Baltimore-area families to see what makes them special.

The mortgage chart -- which lists mortgage rates for dozens of area banks and savings and loans -- will be redesigned to be easier to read. For each lender, the chart will provide figures for a 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, as well as figures for a 1-year adjustable mortgage. The new format will make it easier to compare mortgage rates between lenders.

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In addition, readers will have an opportunity to voice their opinions on the new section through Sundial, The Baltimore Sun's telephone information service.