AmyBSells Team - Cincinnati Real Estate Blog

Amy March 25th, 2008

This morning, I was up with the birds, hoping that spring will find its way too cold and confused Cincinnati Weather. We need spring here to make our lawns and trees green, so our Real Estate can look beautiful for our promising spring market.
I was reading Real Trends Newsletter online today and thought I would share the whole article with you, along with some points I thought you might find interesting. I also wanted to point out some points that I have been sharing with you all along, since the market became not so easy to work in. As you all know, I am a realist, and a very painfully honest Real Estate Advisor. I like to try to find the positive in every situation, and we still have some reasons to be positive in this market. Let me share with you some thoughts….
This March edition of Real Trends newsletter that is attached suggested that this year, for the first time ever, the number of Realtors and associated Real Estate Professionals (Lenders, Appraisers etc) have declined. Only the Strong Survive! This has proven true in the Cincinnati market as well, as membership in the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors dropped when our annual fees were due in January.
Interesting as well that 50% of all listings in the country are held by the nation’s top firms, listed in the article. I believe this is a true testament to BRANDING the large companies, and the internet reach of so many large Real Estate Companies. As you may recall, Remax is an international Real Estate Name, in over 60 countries on Earth! Easy exposure for your home in any part of the world. In fact, recent data shows that Remax is only behind Realtor.com and Homegain.com with the largest internet market share in the US, Based on NAR statistics.

Real Estate Auctions have become more widely used in this current market. States that were hit hard with the market value decline like Florida and California, report the use of Auctions to sell real estate up 46% from 2003-2007. Interestingly enough, the foreclosure properties are not successful at auction sales, as they report that banks are not able to take low bids or the types of hits that auctions often result in)

FORECLOSURE UPDATE:

VERY IMPORTANT INFO ON page 5 of this newsletter if you want to invest in a foreclosure! This will be another article on my blog entirely. This section of the newsletter warns of the same issues that I have previously discussed in my articles on Foreclosure and the hidden costs and the slow banks response times. The bottom line on Foreclosures, they are not good if you are looking to buy your first home, to move your family in the home, if you are looking for a good experience with ease when you purchase, or if you need a loan to purchase, if you do not have cash on hand for unforeseen emergencies. Foreclosures are still best for those that have SUPER PATIENCE, do not need to buy, and have cash, mostly investors.

Real Trends compiled a chart of all the major data sources in US Real Estate, which all 8 sources showed a decline in year over year change in the national price index, ranging from -0.3 to -10.9%.
In the markets in the US that are selling homes, they found that those selling are priced BELOW $250,000, and are “cleaned up.” Contributing to my 2008 motto: We are in a PRICE WAR and a BEAUTY CONTEST with home sales in Cincinnati.

Further, in all of the major markets, only 4% of the inventory is on the market for less than 4 months. 95% of inventory is on the market for 4-12+ months, and over half of those 95% are on the market 9-12+ months. The silver lining and positive spin on this data, is that in Cincinnati, we experience the same issues, but certain areas of the city are on the market far less than 9-12+ months! Areas like Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout and Oakley have a high demand, a good portion of housing at or below $250,000 and are experiencing about a 95-97% list to sale ratio in today’s market. In my own business, my average days on market are between 45-25 depending on the part of town, and my overall list to sale is 97%. I know that my experience and success pricing homes for the current market has directly contributed to my rapid sales and high ratios. I contribute this to experience, realistic sellers, and .
I have to agree with a statement that Forbes magazine wrote recently, that was quoted in this Real Trends Newsletter, and I will increase the size and change the font for good measure,
Greed and Impatience are the top 2 factors contributing to our current market conditions today.
Another interesting set of data regarding negative equity in homes in the US. The longer you own your home (5 years being ideal, the longer the better in this market) the more equity you have. The data was collected from 72 million owner occupied homes, suggests that
30% of homes purchased in the last 12 months have negative equity
39% of homes purchased in the last 24 months have negative equity
LESS THAN 2% of homes purchased in the last 5 years have negative equity.

What does this mean to the homeowner? Stay in that house as long as you can, especially if you have a 100% or an FHA loan with little or no down payment. You will need every bit of equity you can get! I hope that my clients recognize that I want to help them sell their homes for a gain, not a loss. The longer you own your home, the more gain we can find you, the shorter, the more likely it is that you will need to make up for the loss at the closing table. The AmyBSells Team can sell a home in any market, we prefer to help you make money, and curb any losses. In the end, we price the house for the market, not the equity position.

THE POSITIVE

The report suggests that there will be more new households created in the next 10 years, than there were in the last 10 years.
Congress has done some good things for the housing market: They increased FHA loan limits, which have helped a number of my clients, they have passed laws to deter some foreclosure increases, which helps area property values not decline, and they are creating a number of Real Estate associated Tax Credits, which encourage buyers to purchase real estate.

CONCLUSION

As a Certified Residential Specialist, selling more than 32 homes a year in a down market, REAL ESTATE IS SELLING. I tell my sellers, if you have to sell, we will get it SOLD for you, but now is not the time to have unrealistic expectations. I did not cause the market conditions, and I cannot cure it, but we must make the best of the situation. There are proven ways that my team has found to position your home for a solid SALE in a realistic time frame. Call us to help you position your home for a successful sale! We have proven results in this challenging market!

• Buyers , Financing , Foreclosures , Housing Market , Lending , Pricing , Value
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Amy January 14th, 2008

Who said that Real Estate is slow during the Winter/Holidays???????

Certainly not ME!!! I stand behind my statement that I have told to countless sellers each fall - “The winter market is a GREAT time to SELL your home!” - and I mean SELL your home.

Imagine for a moment (don’t close your eyes because you need to read, but just imagine). It is cold out, November or December, a crisp 34 degrees in the air. It may be snowing or spitting at you as you walk along the streets, up slippery stairs (be careful!) to homes that are for sale; boots, scarves, gloves, umbrellas. Not the most desireable time to shop for a home. If you could choose what time of year to buy a home, I am sure it would be the Summer or Spring - it is pleasant, warm and full of life and fun!

Well wake up! It is the winter. No green, white and cold, and not a fun time to shop for a house. Why am I so glum? I am just trying to illustrate a point to you. WINTER BUYERS ARE NOT SHOPPING FOR HOMES IN 34 DEGREE WEATHER for FUN!!!! They are doing it because they HAVE TO! The most serious buyers are buying homes during the winter months. These months are between November-February. If they are out looking for a house, it is not a fun walk down the street on a warm Sunday afternoon, they are drudging through snow and holiday traffic to buy a home, and they will not leave without one!

Winter buyers are often more serious for a few reasons. First, most winter buyers have a job offer to start in January, or are given a job offer in the new year, in January. They must move quickly to find a house and begin their new jobs. Also, families with children are trying to get their kids in school for the second half of the year, to try to keep things normal for their kids.

So may sellers take their homes off of the market in November, anticipating a slow winter. I guess Realtors are suggesting this, or have so often in the past that this is what sellers just assume to be the case. Consider that you may want to sell your home, and it is May, you may be one of 30 homes in your area and price range for sale, because it is the “best time to sell.” Well consider that it is December, and you want to sell your home NOW. You may be one of 10 homes on the market through the holidays and winter. When these serious buyers come trudging through the snow to see your listing, you have a 1 in 10 chance of selling to that buyer who WILL buy because they HAVE to. Compare that to the May 1 in 30 chance of selling to someone who is just maybe considering buying and is out enjoying the weather. Which would give you a better chance of selling, May or December?

I AM NOT GOING ON RECORD saying that the winter is slow. In fact, I am so busy and it is great! This year, since December 15th, I have sold 4 of my listings and helped 3 buyers purchase their homes. That is 7 transactions in the last 30 days, those 30 days include Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, New Years Day. All 4 of those holidays, I had showings on my listings, or I received or negotiated an offer. Realtors never have a holiday, and I am happy to work to help my clients sell or buy their homes on a holiday! It was a great Christmas gift and a great way to start the new year for many of my clients! Two of those 4 listings wound up in a multiple offer situation, providing more profit for the sellers.

Who said this was a slow market? NOT ME!

Last, year, in 2006, I had 5 closings occur between Thanksgiving and New Years! All 5 of them were relocating for a job, or had to get their kids in school for the second semester. The year before that in 2005, I had 5 closings occur in February, and those buyers all put in offers in the December and January time period.

I believe in the winter market!!! My advice to you today, if your Realtor says that the winter market will be slow and nothing sells, find a new Realtor, because you will never sell if that is the attitude. I work 12 months a year, with steady business all year long. If I have sellers, I am working to sell the house. Be sure you know if your Listing Realtor takes off the standard Realtor break of Nov-Jan. I promise you, that is the time when most agents are not working because they don’t think that anything is happening. That is great for me and for my sellers who get their homes SOLD because I work to get them SOLD in the WINTER!

There is still time to take advantage of the WINTER market!!! With my work ethic and support team, we can have your home ready for sale in days, and SOLD in an average of 35 days (Most Realtors listings stay on the market an average of 100+ days) I am ready to SELL your house!

If you are serious about selling, call me!

I look forward to selling your home in this winter market!

• Buyers , Listing , Pricing , Trends
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Amy January 14th, 2008

Update on Mortgages in Ohio Real Estate

The Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association (OMBA) released some very interesting data regarding their Q3 2007 figures that I felt compelled to share with my readers in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a resident, Realtor and Certified Residential Specialist, I feel that it is increasingly the local Realtors job to educate their local public on the state of the Real Estate market. I always suggest that the more local the data and information the better. You can’t form opinions regarding the Real Estate market from national news, based on California, Nevada or New York; you must look at what is happening in your state, city and suburb. This is my reason for writing a series of articles regarding the local real estate market. The more informed you are locally, the better the market will be for us locally.

Let’s start with Ohio, the state level and the recent figures released from the states Mortgage Bankers Association (OMBA). As you may have heard in the past, Ohio was a state of high foreclosure rates. When you break the state down by top 10 counties that these foreclosures are occurring in, Hamilton County, nor any other areas of Greater Cincinnati are amongst the top 10 that are the state’s worst counties for foreclosures. This is great to know if you live in or around Cincinnati, or its suburbs. And it lends to the mentality that the more local your information and news is, the better!

In the state of Ohio, The home ownership rate remains near record levels at 68.2% reports OMBA. This high rate of homeownership is almost record breaking, does not tell me that we are in despair in our Real Estate market. I wish these numbers were a part of the newspaper and evening news statistics!

The OMBA further suggests that 35% of Ohio homeowners own their homes outright, no mortgages at all! 48% are in a fixed rate mortgage, which is the conservative route, and almost half of Ohio residents are being conservative about their home financing, providing a stronger outlook for the future of the Ohio market! 15% of Ohioans have an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM). And the smallest single group of people in Ohio, just 5% of homeowners is a non-prime or sub-prime borrower with adjustable rate mortgages. This is only 5% of Ohioans that have this higher rate loan that adjusts. The squeaky wheel gets the grease is TRUE! Why don’t we hear about the 35% who own their homes or the 48% who have the most conservative loans on the market? Instead, the newspaper and news casts prefer to report the doom and gloom when merely 5% of Ohioans that agreed to take a mortgage above prime rates and that adjusts gets into trouble. The media goes by the saying, “If it bleeds, it leads!” and that is causing so much of the bad press surrounding this Cincinnati Real Estate Market, which is simply not true!

In fact, in Ohio, the foreclosure rate is 1.7% of all loans in Ohio. The market tells us that a little over a half of that 1.7% will actually be foreclosed upon, but there are no exact numbers. The OMBA suggests that the number one cause for delinquencies and foreclosures is historically job related, most specifically so in the Mid-West, which has lost a significant number of manufacturing jobs. It is a fact that lenders want to lend money to borrowers who are willing and able to pay the loan back. They are not trying to induce a foreclosure situation! In fact, the OMBA estimates that between $30,000-$60,000 net loss occurs each time there is a foreclosure on a single property.

The lending community is taking note of these figures and situations that arise from these foreclosure situations. The competition in the lending marketplace has increased, leading the way for borrowers to find more options for their financing from the stronger, remaining lending institutions. The lenders are now pushing borrowers towards the more traditional mortgages, with down payments, fixed products and conventional loan options, which all help the borrower, the lender and the real estate market.

So, yes, Ohio has seen a small amount of foreclosures as state, Cincinnati and even smaller number of foreclosures. This concern over foreclosure figures has created more awareness in the lenders and loan options, which allows borrowers more education on their financing options. I hope that these numbers show you that in Cincinnati, we are going well, in Ohio, we are as well. Get your news locally, and there is always more good than bad, they just prefer to tell you the bad.

Hang in there and check back soon for some local articles on Hyde Park, Mount Lookout and other Cincinnati Suburb market conditions as they happened in 2007.
Data and statistics noted in this article are based onthe Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association’s Q3 2007 figures.

• Buyers , Financing , Foreclosures , Pricing , Trends
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Amy August 12th, 2007

Attention: For Sale By Owners! Why People Are Afraid To Buy From You!

Many homeowners believe to maximize their home sale they should sell it themselves. At first glance, they feel selling a home is simple. Why should they pay a broker fee for something they could do themselves? In fact, 12% of all the homes sold last year were sold For Sale By Owner (FSBO).

However, close to half of the FSBO’s said that they would hire a professional next time they sold. Thirty percent said they were unhappy with the results they achieved by choosing FSBO. Why?

Many FSBO’s told us the time, paperwork and everyday responsibilities involved were not worth the amount of money they saved in commissions. For others, the financial savings were even more disappointing. By the time they figured the fees paid to consultants, inspectors, appraisers, title lawyers, escrow and loan officers, marketing, advertising, they would have been better off to have paid the broker’s fee that would have included many of these charges.

Selling a home requires an intimate understanding of the real estate market. If the property is priced too high, it will sit and develop a reputation for being a problem property. If the property is priced too low, you will cost yourself serious money. Some FSBO’s discovered that they lost money as a result of poor marketing decisions. In the final outcome, this far outweighed the commission they would have paid.

Before you decide to sell FSBO, consider these questions and weigh the consequences of assuming the responsibility versus employing a professional. A little time spent investigating now could pay off tenfold in the end.

Questions To Consider

Do I have the time, energy, know how, and ability to devote a full forced effort to sell my home?

One of the keys to selling your home effectively and profitably is complete accessibility. Many homes sit on the market much longer than necessary because the owner isn’t available to show the property or return phone calls within 3 hours. Realize that a certain amount of time each day is necessary to sell your home.

Am I prepared to deal with an onslaught of buyers who perceive FSBO’s as targets for “low ballingâ€??

Another challenge of selling a home is screening unqualified prospects and dealing with “low-ballers.� It often goes unnoticed that much time, effort and expertise is required to spot these people quickly. Settling for a “low ball� bid is usually worse than paying broker commissions. In addition, buyers looking for FSBO’s want to share in your savings, so they will often offer much less to share in the savings you are getting as a result of not paying a commission.

Am I offering financing options to the buyer? Am I prepared to answer questions about financing?

One of the keys to selling, whether it’s a home, a car… anything, is to have all the necessary information the prospective buyer needs and to offer them options. Think about the last time you purchased something of value, did you make a decision before you had “all your ducks in a rowâ€?? By offering financing options, you give the home buyer the ability to work on their terms. You’ll open up the possibility of selling your home quicker and more profitably. A professional real estate agent will have a complete team for you to profit from… lenders… title reps… inspection companies… they’ll be completely at your disposal.

Do I fully understand the legal ramifications and all the necessary steps required in selling a home?

Many home sales have been lost due to incomplete paperwork, lack of inspections or not meeting your state’s disclosure laws. Are you completely informed of all the steps necessary to sell real estate? If not, you may want to consider consulting with a professional.

Am I capable of handling the legal contracts, agreements and any disputes with buyers before or after the offer is presented?

Ask yourself: “Am I well-versed in legalese? Am I prepared to handle disputes with buyers?� To avoid any disputes, it is wise to put all negotiations and agreements in writing. Many home sales have been lost due to misinterpretation of what was negotiated.

Have I contacted the necessary professionals… title, inspector (home and pest), attorney, and escrow company?

Are you familiar with top inspectors and escrow companies? Don’t randomly select inspectors, attorneys, and title reps. Like any profession, there are inadequate individuals who will slow, delay and possibly even cost you the transaction. Be careful!

My hope with this report has been to educate you and help you avoid the pitfalls many FSBO’s go through. I hope you found the idea’s valuable and if there is ever any way I can be of service to you or anyone you care about, please contact me Amy Broghamer at 513-377-3637.

• Buyers , Closing , Closing Documents , FSBO , Inspections , Listing , Pre-Approval , Pricing , Real Estate Law
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Amy January 28th, 2007

Every time I sit at a dining room table with a potential client, the main topic of discussion is always pricing. As a Certified Residential Specialist, I have learned and employed about three methods of determining price on a regular basis. Being a specialist in the Hyde Park and surrounding areas, I have a strong pulse on the local market.

I have accurately priced so many local homes, that I have sold them in hours, days and weeks, versus other agents who look at months and years. It is not uncommon for one of my listings to sell in less than a week if I can work with my sellers to understand how the home needs to be priced. More than 6 times in the last year, my listings have sold the day they were put on the market, and I have been involved in many multiple offer situations, all pointing to fair market pricing of my listings.

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• Listing , Pricing , Sellers
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