Going green is all the rage. Can it help you in hour home buying or selling? YES! It’s something to keep in mind as you prepare to put your home on the market, or in your house hunt. People are becoming more aware about green living. I talked with James Gerdsen, President of Apollo Heating and Cooling in Cincinnati about ways to upgrade a home — or things for potential buyers to look for — that can improve your efficiency. Improving your efficiency not only keeps your costs down, but reduces your carbon footprint. And, of course, those things sound good. If you’re a seller, there... [more...]

Halloween is my favorite holiday! Check out the local halloween schedules here: http://www.tymax.org/halloween/local_information.htm  Read More →

Less and less Sellers these days expect to have an open house, because they are not always all that helpful in selling your home. I like to keep my open houses to a one hour time frame, if we do one at all. You may not get the perspective buyers you’re looking for. With an open house you are inviting potential buyers into your home.  But you may also be inviting nosy neighbors, or other less productive visitors. I have found that people who come through open houses, (and notice I don”t call them buyers) are often not yet committed to buying a home.  People use open houses as a way to... [more...]

The word “recession” is now being used by American economists, and a recent CNN poll found that more than half of Americans believe we are in a recession now. A recession, however, is no time to lose hope. Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtor’s chief economist, is assuring sellers that existing home sales will be rising despite tough economic times. The reason? Affordability. Home prices are falling and mortgage rates are still near historic lows. There are currently 93% employed households who may be looking to enter the home market and take advantage of the lower prices.... [more...]

Let’s take a break from finances and talk about another important — and easier to understand — aspect of selling a home: STAGING! In a recent Realtor.org newsletter, expert stagers shared their top four staging challenges. Let’s address them. “I don’t want to change my decor.” The important thing for sellers to keep in mind is that the house is no longer an expression of you. Lori Matzke of Center Stage Home in Minneapolis says, “I tell [my sellers] I’d also have to remove art from my house to sell it so that the listing would appeal to the... [more...]

Here we go with more tightening and changes in lending again. As of Dec 13th of 2008, lenders will begin to require larger down payments for loans. As we have seen over the last few months, it is becoming more difficult to get the loans of yesterday in this economy. This reduces our buyer pool to those who have saved significant money to purchase in this lending environment, not helping with the current abundance of supply we have in the Cincinnati Market. Some buyers that wait too long to buy, will have to continue renting and making their landlords rich! I have seen several client already pushed... [more...]

With the lending markets limiting their risk, 100% loans are scarce these days (Fall 2008).  With that, it is important to make sure your Realtor and Lender know that you are a VETERAN when considering purchasing a home, or applying for a loan.  There are many benefits to using your VA loan, the number one reason is 0% down.  The 100% loan is a rarity these days, but our government still makes it possible for our US Veterans!  Take advantage of this, and consider buying your first house if you are currently renting.  Check out the  eligibility guidelines below, you may qualify and not even... [more...]

The number one question today: What is the current Mortgage Rate?  So many people have no idea, that since the melt-down began, roughly Sept 15th, mortgage rates have been changing about every 3 hours during the trading day!  When to lock?  It”s like that pop-a-shot game you can play at a place like espn zone, where you throw a basketball into a moving hoop, it gets closer and further, randomly. Bankrate.com does a weekly survey asking lenders across the country to predict if rates will increase, decrease or remain unchanged.  Here you have the long and the short of it.  Looks like over... [more...]

That’s a good question. With all the news about rescue plans to remedy housing difficulties, it can be hard to make heads or tails of the facts. This is housing bill passed at the end of July that is separate from the other “rescue plans” we’ve been hearing about. Items you were hoping may have been addressed in the more recent plan may already be included in this earlier one that isn’t getting as much attention. It’s called “The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act.” The goal of the bill is to rescue struggling home owners and neighborhoods,... [more...]

As many of you have heard, since August 2008 when this “$7500 Tax Credit” was announced, I have had a ton of questions and learned quite a bit about this program. The first thing everyone should know is, this is a LOAN. It must be paid back in full, within 15years or when you sell the house. That means that if you sell your house in 2 years (as many sell in 1-4 years) you must pay it in full before you can sell your home. Just like paying off your mortgage before you sell, you must pay this government loan off at the same time. As your Realtor, I feel this is the most important thing... [more...]

Next Page »