Keepin’ it REAL Estate

Well, fellow Norwood and Rookwood lovers - we have only ONE house left to contend with before the 10acre lot we all drive past on a daily basis will be developed (or at least it brings us one step closer towards development).

According to a recent article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, The Rookwood Partners group has bought one of the last two remaining buildings that are standing in the way of the commercial development. 

Sanae Ichikawa-Burton and Matthew Burton have sold the house on Edmondson Road that they had converted into a Kumon Math & Reading Center for $650,000.

For those of you who don’t know, the Burtons were one of three property owners who successfully challenged Norwood’s use of eminent domain to seize their properties in a 2006 landmark Ohio Supreme Court decision.

Despite amassing nearly all the property it had planned to buy for the project, Rookwood Partners have no immediate plans to develop the 10-acre site, said Richard Tranter, the group’s attorney. “It’s my understanding there is nothing on the drawing board,” he said. The group has invested more than $20 million acquiring property at the site.

Only one property now remains on the site, a two-family house owned by Joe Horney and his wife, Carol Gooch.  This unfortunately is in the middle of the 10acre site AND the owners are in the middle of divorce proceedings and the disposition of the two-family house hasn’t been determined.

So for now we will still have to wait….but at least we are one step closer. 

I have a current buyer right now who is on the fence about waiting to save to purchase next year or purchase now.  Being the HUGE analytical person that he is, I finally thought that if I talk to him in numbers then maybe he could make a decision.You’re probably thinking, “of course you want him to purchase now, you get paid.”  Yes, that’s true, I don’t get paid until my buyers purchase.  BUT, I don’t consider myself to be a ‘normal’ pushy real estate agent.  I council my buyers and honestly want whats going to be best for them.  I don’t want them to be house poor, nor do I want them calling me in a few years because they’re almost in foreclosure because they can’t make their house payments.  That’s not very ethical or responsible of me…So, what did I decide to do?  I talked numbers with him and this may help some of you out there who are on the fence.  If you’re not sure whether to rent or buy, here are some questions to ask yourself:1. What will happen with interest rates now vs. later?   Rates were REALLY low a few weeks ago and they are slowly creeping back up.   For instance if you purchase a 130k home now and rates go up just 1% you’re looking at an extra 1300/year in interest.  If you’re there for 5-7 years, you’re looking at 6500-9100 extra in interest.2. What will happen to home prices if you wait?  We know they’re expected to go down for the next few months, but they cant stay rock bottom forever… so if your interest goes up and home prices go up, that’s more money you’re paying out…

3.  If you can tighten down on your budget and save, you may be able to combat the amount of money you’ll loose by waiting if interest rates go up.  So that factor may void itself out…

There are plenty of things to look at when choosing to purchase a home.  Give me a call and we can discuss these reasons and more!

I’m not sure why everyone thinks that people aren’t buying homes these days.  Despite the recent weather conditions, my days have been filled with trudging through snow covered homes with many prospective buyers all over the greater Cincinnati area.  Last nights snow storm didn’t even stop some people!  Who says the market stinks?

The other night, I was in this darling little house in Norwod with some clients of mine.  We were going through the kitchen and the living room commenting on various things we liked and pointing out the things we didn’t as we slowly made our way towards the basement.  Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, we saw that the basement was bare except for some outdated paneling and what looked like an old living room chair placed in the center.  As we turned on the light, low and behold we saw resting ever-so-nicely on the only piece of furniture around, under the only light was a giant Bengals bucket filled with beer! 

I thought it so odd looking I snapped a pic:

Why would you have this be the only thing in your basement?  Maybe he was chilling it for later??

There’s never a dull moment in the wonderful world of real estate in Cincinnati!

I know I’ve written on this subject before, but it comes to my attention once again in lieu of an interesting article on foxbusiness.com, entitled “Is a Broker Necessary to Sell Your Home?”  The study by B. Douglas Bernheim and Jonathan Meer, both of Stanford University, concludes that there is “no evidence the use of a broker leads to higher average selling prices, or  significantly alters average initial asking prices.” The one possible benefit is “those who use brokers sell their houses more quickly.”

Of course this peaks my interest and gives me a chance to defend my profession.  Just like any service business, could you do it yourself? Sure, anyone can do anything they want.  They can even defend themselves in a court of law (like Heather Mills defending herself in her divorce battle with Paul McCartney)  But does that mean that its always a good thing to do so?  Maybe not.  Sure some people are able to sell their homes on their own but there are many who can’t (frustrated FSBO’s, who tried but didn’t succeed) or those who realize the value of letting an expert do the work for them.  In our busy crazy world, many times we would rather pay someone else to do the work, than to actually do the work ourselves.  I always ask my FSBO’s, “how many hours have you spent, marketing your home, finding a comparable price, learning the contracts, following up with all the leads, holding open houses, negotiating, qualifying buyers, etc??”  Their answer is always “too many” and can they really put a price tag on that?

With the increase of information on the web, our industry is becoming a service industry.  Sure you can pay $500 to have someone put your house on the MLS, but in today’s competitive market, you need someone who is going to “shop your product, be your advocate.”  Putting it on the MLS today is like putting it in the paper 10 years ago.  Everyone see it, but no one is helping it to stand out from the crowd.

According to the article, sellers get six benefits from Realtors: (all of which are very true, but their value not explained thoroughly enough).
1) promotional services
2) assistance with negotiations
3) screening of prospective buyers
4) access to multiple listing services
5) market information and recommendations regarding the asking price
6) assistance with paperwork and legal documentation

1. Promotional Services - Yes!  We will promote the heck out of your listing.  That’s our job!  Wouldn’t you agree that more promotion means more prospects which leads to more competition and higher sales price of your home??

2. Assistance with negotiations is a big deal.  Third party negotiations is standard business practice and it also works to your advantage because the agent is not emotionally involved in the transaction.  Where as you may be, and it may cost you on your negotiations because you don’t like the buyers, or what they want to do with YOUR house, etc…  We as agents try to keep the emotions out of it and work on an agreement to where both parties are satisfied.

3. Screening Prospective Buyers - Another HUGE reason.  Its hard enough for me, an agent, to get some qualified prospective buyers. How would you the seller know if the person who is looking at your house is qualified or not?  What if they had a house to sell before they could purchase yours?  How could you help them?  What would you do?  These are all things that come up frequently…

4. Access to the MLS - Yes we have access to a lot of information that the general public doesn’t have.  We know how the appraisal process works, we know how to run a highest price analysis on your home and we know market trends. All of which is invaluable. 

5. Market information and recommendations regarding the asking price - Once again, we have access and experience in the market and know the trends, the neighborhoods, etc.  This is our business and we know it well (a great reason you should go with a FULL time PROFESSIONAL Realtor and not Aunt Jane who sells houses on the side.) We help you put the deal together.  Experience comes in handy when writing offers and negotiating them.

6. Assistance with paperwork and legal documentation - this one should really be entitled “we keep you legal and take away liability from you.  Little unknown fact regarding agents - We carry error and omissions insurance, just like doctors and lawyers.”  We are trained how to fill out contracts and write in contingencies that will protect you.  As a FSBO would you want to take on all the liability?  We also have experience in dealing with all kinds of situations that arise when selling a home.  If a problem arises during inspections, are you equipped to handle it on your own?  If there was a problem with your title or the buyers loan, who would you turn to for advice and council?

The last thing I would like to cover that this article talked about is the 6-7% commission the sellers are trying to keep in their pockets.  And how the authors of the study didn’t think the price tag was worth the value.  What they didn’t mention is that most FSBO’s are willing to pay a co-op fee (a buyers agent of 3%).  Therefore the seller is really only trying to save 3-4%. 

Lets do the math: On a 100,000 house - 7% = $7,000.  The buyers BROKER and agent receives 3% or $3,000 and the seller BROKER and agent split the other $4,000.  Therefore the seller is willing to do all the work and take on all the responsibility and all the liability to save $4,000. 

To me its a no brainer, agents (the good ones) are definitely worth their money and more.  We live in a fast paced world with no time to spare.  Why not hire someone to do all the work for you?  Plus the great thing for you the seller is that you pay NOTHING…..until is sells.   If I don’t sell it, I do all the work for no money.  What a deal!

Call me today, I’d love to share more with you!

For those of you who are not aware of the proposed Xavier square, its future site is situated on 20 acres bounded by Montgomery Road and Dana and Cleneay avenues.  Located across the street from local hot spot Metro Scooters- providing eco-friendly Cincinnatians with great transportation alternatives!  Xavier Square encompasses the former BASF and Zumbiel Packaging sites and provides a welcoming gateway to campus.  The old Zumbiel packagaing plant has been scheduled and rescheduled and re-rescheduled for implosion.  The last date given to us was for January 19, but due to the discovery of small amounts of asbestos around window caulking, implosion has (obviously) been delayed.  No date has been reassigned for destruction of the site, but you bet I’ll be there.  Site preparation will take place over the next year with actual ground breaking expected towards the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009.

As a Norwood resident and Real Estate agent for the surrounding communities I am excited about this project.  I see it as only helping to improve the neighboring communities of Evanston, Avondale and Norwood and also helping the students of Xavier have some much needed facilities and growth. 

However, some local business or community leaders do not believe that they have had input adequate regarding campus expansion.   Although the majority believe that it is a positive thing, what they want is more input as to what type of business will be at the square, wanting it to be community friendly and not just student friendly. 

Sharon Muyaya, president of the Evanston Community Council, says that she does not consider herself part of the planning process and was not consulted regarding her opinion on which type of businesses that would be beneficial to the community. “I don’t consider showing someone a few options for Xavier Square plans as being involved in the planning process.”

She also says that the expansion is positive and “some of the Evanston local businesses will benefit from people and students that will be attracted to the area,” but Xavier “needs to be sensitive with regards to additional traffic that may occur as a result of Xavier Square.” Some of the side streets around campus are not designed to handle the traffic that may result, Muyaya says.

If you’d like to take a look at some of the plans for this site, check out the xavier square interactive map

Buyers!  You’ve got to start acting more quickly.  Lock in your rates before they start to creep up!  Don’t miss out!!  Compare to last weeks rates…

There I said it.  Some people don’t like that word these days, others do. 

Yes, its true there are a lot of foreclosures out there, or a lot of houses that are on the brink of being foreclosed upon.  Is it true that EVERYONE is getting ready to get foreclosed upon?  Nope.  Ohio seems to always make the foreclosure news, but from my understanding a majority of the foreclosures are in the northern part of the state.  Cincinnati, doesn’t have as nearly as many.  For Ohio’s foreclosure rates, check out today’s article in the Cincinnati Business Courier

I had question today asking about the PRO’s, CON’s and CHALLENGES associated with purchasing foreclosures.  So lets take a look at some of these….

First of all lets define what a foreclosure is: a legal process that give the lender the right to reposess a home that the borrower was unable to pay, in order to secure their loan.

PRO - the biggest positive are the financial benefits gained by the new buyer

• Buyer is able to purchase the home at a discounted price = Instant equity in the house.
• People can purchase a home in an area they otherwise may not have been able to afford.
• If you are an investor, it may be a chance to come in, fix it up and turn around and sell it for a profit.

CON -

• Can be a SLOW process.
• Dealing with the banks can be a major headache.
• Generally foreclosures in lower price areas need more work (time, money and energy) to make them habitable.  Where, foreclosures in higher priced neighborhoods are generally in “better condition.” As one agent put it to me; “there won’t be the smell of ‘cat tink’ in the air, nor will the fish stix be left out on the counter.”
• Because the bank owns the property there will be no owner history on the house, so there can be more risk.  But if you have all the necessary inspections done, it should be okay.

CHALLENGES -

As with any real estate transaction, there will be challenges.  With a foreclosure, you need a lot of patience because anything can happen.  You are at the mercy of the bank and on their time-line.  Just like non-foreclosure properties there will be great deals and not so great deals and so you have to be willing to take the time to search through all the “rocks to find the gem.” (like going to the thrift store, right??)

For more in-depth information about the process and terminology visit this site: http://www.foreclosuredeals.com/faq.php

If you’d like for me to help you find some homes in your area, give me a call!

Those of you from Cincinnati, have you heard about the little city of St. Bernard?  I think its one of those under rated towns that goes by unnoticed by too many people when they’re looking to buy a home in Cincinnati.  Not only is the housing affordable, but there are lots of great little amenities that this city offers to its residents!  Check out the city’s website to see all of the ‘perks’ http://www.cityofstbernard.org/

Here are just a few things to mention:

• The most visible is DIAL-A-RIDE bus that transports residents anywhere within city limits.
• TRASH PICKUP is twice weekly, and residents may request a city truck for large items. 
• Free sidewalk repair and use of three CITY BANQUET HALLS or local picnic areas are among other perks citizens enjoy.  In addition, for a nominal fee, St. Bernard offers the use of its FITNESS CENTER to residents. 
• To help citizens stay abreast of current events and topics of interest that impact you and your family visit HOT TOPICS.  This month’s topics concerns local library funding and household waste disposal. Look for links to local County and State web sites here too! 
• The city’s 17-officer police force visibly SERVES AND PROTECTSresidents and businesses: from accompanying employees making bank deposits to retrieving lost pets.  Crime prevention reaches all ages: from a simple pre-schooler story to teaching conflict resolution in high school and a strong Neighborhood Watch program.  Personalized, local law enforcement, frequent squad-car coverage throughout the city and a high-tech communication system help the St. Bernard force maintain a friendly, useful presence.
• St. Bernard claims one of the area’s oldest full-time, paid FIRE DEPARTMENT, manned by 25 firefighters and a highly trained paramedic team.  Response time anywhere in the city is less than 2 minutes.

Not only does this city offer these great perks, its also trying to ‘re-vamp’ itself by “going green.”  According to a recent article in Business Courier of Cincinnati, Al Kanters, St. Bernard’s community improvement corporation is planning on doing just that. 

“St. Bernard is trying to reinvent itself as a city that is conscious of its carbon footprint and is building housing stock and attracting businesses for a secure future” Kanters said.  “I want to push the envelope on green building and smart technology.”  

While enlivening the one-square-mile community’s commercial district with attractive restaurants, retail and businesses is vital, Kanters believes St. Bernard’s efforts should also be focused on updating the neighborhood’s early 1900s housing stock and providing new options for young professionals.

Way to go St. Bernard!  These efforts will surely pay off as young professionals continue to look for communities that are close to the city, have affordable housing and are environmentally conscientious.

I currently have a great home for sale in St. Bernard, for anyone looking to move to this area.  Check it out - www.sibcycline.com/jstutzman

The past few posts I’ve made have been for buyers who are just now beginning to enter into the market.  Since I’ve addressed the importance of finding an agent, I’d also like to address the importance of signing an exclusive buyer representation agreement with your newly found agent (also for agents reading, who don’t have their buyers sign, this is important)

So, what is this “Exclusive Buyer Representation Agreement?”  Basically it is a contract between you - the buyer and your agent that outlines the nature of your relationship and assures the agent that you won’t buy something with out them.  (Most agents like to get paid for all the work they put in). 

Buyers, have you ever seen one of these?  This is a contract that I have all of my buyers sign. But it isn’t something that most real estate agents in Cincinnati have their buyers sign.  Why not?  They do in every other city in America.   I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to be loyal to a buyer and put time and effort into finding them a home, helping them write a contract, find financing, coordinate inspections, write inspection contingencies, and coordinate closing, I expect to be compensated.  It also solidifies the relationship between buyer and agent.  The agent knows that the buyer is going to be loyal and the buyer knows that the agent is going to work hard to find them the perfect house.

Buyers, don’t be afraid of this contract.  In the end your agent will probably work harder for you knowing that you’re not going to stray from them.