Archive for the 'Cartoons' Category
Seven Reasons to List Your Home During the Holidays
November 18th, 2007 Cartoons, Columbus Seller Info, The Good 1 Comment
1. Many people start new jobs at the beginning of the year. Relocating buyers need to see your home now in order to buy and make their move….
2. Some people need to buy before the end of the year for tax reasons.
3. Your home will have that ‘warm and cozy feeling’ when it’s decorated for the holidays.
4. People shopping for a home during this time are serious buyers– the lookers are busy preparing for the holidays.
5. Serious buyers have fewer homes to choose from (since many homes go off the market for the holidays)– less competition means more money for you!
6. Sell now for more money and arrange a delayed closing…. you can celebrate the New Year in style.
7. Become a serious buyer yourself, and take advantage of this great buyer’s market while it is still so strong….
You Know You’re A Subprime Loan Candidate When…
July 31st, 2007 Bank-Owned/Short Sale Homes, Cartoons, Columbus Buyer Info, The Bad No Comments
Remember Jeff Foxworthy’s famous line “you know when you’re a Redneck when…?”
Well, kudos to Broker Outpost for a compendium of real-life statements of people who really shouldn’t be buying a home. (These guys are part of the problem of the ongoing implosion of subprime lenders…) Here’s a few goodies:
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The borrower calls in and has a f i c o ( all spelled out) of Four.
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You think your medical collections are Credit references.
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When you make your car payment but not your house payment.
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When your best trade line is Fingerhut (a mail order company that sends out magazine catalog and EVERYONE gets $300 of credit. The only place I know of where you can buy a $10 toaster for $35 then make $70 in payments…)
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You have 25 tradelines and they are all collection accounts.
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You spend your closing costs money on a motorcycle 2 days before closing.
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You are cashing out your equity to go on vacation. Again.
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Your fico score and total assets are the same number.
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When the lender used for your purchase is now out of business and now you can’t get out of your 80/20 that is about to adjust to 12%.
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When you get the same call off of the same advertisement from a homeowner who just used you to refi two months earlier.
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When you have 5 applicants for the same loan and the highest middle score is 530 and they all want to go stated.
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When the borrower tells you if they pay for the appraisal the loan has to go through and fund because they will definately be late next month.
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When you don’t own your house (99+ ltv), have no equity, can’t afford current payment, expect there to be no closing costs and want to go stated income.
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When you give a handwritten note that reads “The chargeoff accounts are not mine.” for verification of supposed fraudulent accounts.
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When you refuse to payoff your (4) American General or Citifinancial high rate revolving loans because ” they’ve been good to you.”
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When your borrower has a 591 credit score and you tell her she doesn’t have A paper credit for the A paper rates she is looking for. She gets insulted and tells you that 591 is a great credit score and she had no problems getting her 2/28 loan 2 years ago with a start rate of 8.5 that’s due to adjust to 10.5.
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When your appraiser takes photos of the subject with the ‘for sale’ sign in clear and plain view.
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When you ask your borrower for his last 2 tax returns he gives you 2001 and 2004 (because he ain’t filed the rest yet).
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When your borrower calls and asks you to bail him from his foreclosure, but when you pull public records, the house was titled to the bank 6 weeks ago.
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And last of all…. You know you are subprime when: the borrower asks if they still have to pay their mortgage and bills since they are going to be paid off.
Columbus OH Area Home Sales April 2007 Part A
May 31st, 2007 Cartoons, Columbus Buyer Info, Columbus Seller Info, Columbus and Central Ohio Home Sales Stats No Comments
—-I’m an impatient soul…. posting these communities one at a time isn’t working… let’s look at groups of sales:
For Homes with a Lewis Center mailing address:
28 Homes sold in the month of April 2007, with the average List Price being $273,642.00 and the average Sold Price being $267,173.00 or 97.6% of the List Price.
Looking at sales in the same period a year ago, 49 Homes sold in the month of April 2006, with the average List Price being $248,993.00 and the average Sold Price being $240,990.00 or 96.7% of the List Price.
Lewis Center- You’re Doing Good!! Or sort of…. average price is much higher than a year ago, but less homes sold….. a bit confusing, isn’t it??
For Homes with a Hilliard mailing address:
93 Homes sold in the month of April 2007, with the average List Price being $195,540.00 and the average Sold Price being $187,704.00 or 96% of the List Price.
Looking at sales in the same period a year ago, 93 Homes sold in the month of April 2006, with the average List Price being $195,504.00 and the average Sold Price being $186,467.00 or 95.3% of the List Price.
WOW Hilliard- those numbers were SO close that I had to go back and double check them! Things are virtually the same as a year ago… and who says the market is dreadful/in the tank/nothing selling?!?
For Homes with a Powell mailing address:
55 Homes sold in the month of April 2007, with the average List Price being $366,375.00 and the average Sold Price being $359,988.00 or 98% of the List Price.
Looking at sales in the same period a year ago, 65 Homes sold in the month of April 2006, with the average List Price being $321,958.00 and the average Sold Price being $313,643.00 or 97.4% of the List Price.
OK- Powell- 10 less homes sold, and a smidgen higher on the list to sale price for this year…. interesting….
For Homes with a Columbus mailing address:
730 Homes sold in the month of April 2007, with the average List Price being $131,837.00 and the average Sold Price being $128,022.00 or 97% of the List Price. The most expensive home sold was $995,000.00.
Looking at sales in the same period a year ago, 810 Homes sold in the month of April 2006, with the average List Price being $143,386.00 and the average Sold Price being $139,595.00 or 97.3% of the List Price. The most expensive home sold was $1,820,000.00
You’re a big city, Columbus- and you’ve had a big drop in number of sales and the average sales price. Bargains abound….. and sellers are frustrated.
For Homes with a Reynoldsburg mailing address:
56 Homes sold in the month of April 2007, with the average List Price being $138,648.00 and the average Sold Price being $135,414.00 or 97.6% of the List Price.
Looking at sales in the same period a year ago, 54 Homes sold in the month of April 2006, with the average List Price being $143,710.00 and the average Sold Price being $141,267.00 or 98.3% of the List Price.
Ouch, Reynoldsburg- you’ve had a good drop in your average sales price… this indicates a lot of inventory and not enough buyers. Buyers- there’s bargains to be had!!
Home Search STEP ONE - TALK To A Lender
May 15th, 2007 Cartoons, Columbus Buyer Info, Down to Business, The Good 2 Comments
A common question I hear from first-time home buyers is “What do I do to get started on buying a home?”
Actually, your FIRST step is one most home buyers don’t think of– Get Thee to a Lender! You’re excited about the idea of owning a home… and you’re thinking what area of town you like, what style of home, the makeup of a home that fits your needs…. oh yeah, and the price range you think you can afford. You want to go see houses (lots of houses)– on the Internet, at open houses, and in person– and when you find the ‘perfect’ one, then it seems the idea of visiting a lender is a good one.
Sitting down with a lender (or several lenders for those of you looking for the perfect combination of lowest interest rates and closing costs) is critical– it will save you hours of time, reduce frustration, and allow you to present an offer that a home seller will like.
By getting pre-approved, you will know:
1. exactly what you can afford (this means how much money the bank is able to lend you)
2. if you have enough money for any down payment and closing costs
3. if you don’t have enough money, what your Realtor is going to have to ask the seller to help out with (this is part of the contract, folks, and it needs to be addressed at the very beginning)
4. if you have any ‘credit issues’ and what you might need to do about them in order to get a loan
5. the paperwork the bank is going to need to approve a loan
6. the time frame it will take to get a loan approved
Once you have this knowledge, you can then get a good idea of the area of town that has the type of home in the price range you are qualified for….and then the fun begins!
Real Estate Chuckle for Easter….
April 8th, 2007 Cartoons, Columbus Buyer Info, Columbus Seller Info 1 Comment
For All Those Open Houses I’ve Done….
March 8th, 2007 Cartoons, Columbus Buyer Info, Columbus Seller Info, The Good 1 Comment
The Rise (and fall?) of the Real Estate MLS- Multiple Listing Service
February 19th, 2007 Cartoons, Columbus Buyer Info, Columbus Seller Info, It's My Opinion 4 Comments
Once upon a Time, Realtors had listings and represented only the Sellers. They did not share their listings, and if a Buyer wanted to see the home, he would have to contact the Listing Agent.
Over time, other realtors working with Buyers could show the home, but they were still working for the Seller (called Sub Agency).
Showing a home was a laborious process. The realtor with the Buyer would have to drive to the Listing Agent’s office, pick up the house key, drive to the home and show it, then drive back to the Listing Agent’s office to return the key.
Realtors then decided to share their listings. They created a Multiple Listing Service that was run from a non-profit group- The Board of Realtors. They printed a book of all the listings so Realtors could know what was available for sale. They put lockboxes on the homes to make them easier to show. Realtors guarded their MLS books carefully- this was their ‘inventory,’ much like a store owner who had things to sell. Realtors even decided that they could represent Sellers and Buyers, and Buyer Representation was born. Sub Agency died a quiet death.
Then came the Internet. At first, Realtors celebrated- “Hooray! Now there is an easy way to let Buyers know about homes for sale!”
Showing a home became easy. Realtors with Buyers could call and arrange a showing- and use the lockbox at the home. They could print out maps and information on neighborhood sales.
Life was Good.
But changes were happening so fast… and there were problems.
Buyers and Sellers felt they had the right to access the Multiple Listing Service under their own terms. “It’s public knowledge,” they said. Sellers wanted to put their For Sale by Owner homes into the Multiple Listing Service. “We can’t be shut out,” Sellers said. “It’s not a monopoly… we think the Government should be involved.” Other Web services wanted to ’scrape’ the information from the MLS and put the home information on their sites. “The MLS can’t keep their information from us,: they said. The Government said “hmmmm… we should study this,” and there was much talking and shouting.
“Wait a minute,” said the Realtors. “This is our inventory, remember? We work hard to get and market these homes. We pay lots of money in dues, fees, marketing, and Internet costs.”
“We have worked together very hard to build this nice store with lovely things, and now you are saying that anybody can use our store, mess with our things, and put their OWN stuff in there as well. That’s not fair. That’s not right. That’s not American!”
“Well,” sniffed the Lawyers, “since your Board of Realtors is a cooperative, you can’t exclude anyone. We think you have to share- with anyone, anytime. After all….. it’s for the betterment of all……
What will the Future bring??
Some of the Big Realtors and their companies are thinking about taking their toys and going home. By building their OWN store (Listing Service) and keeping it privately owned, they can control their inventory. They can decide WHO can visit, and they can kick out anyone who is disagreeable.
This could be the ‘end of the world as we know it’. Much of the progress and convenience that everyone has enjoyed could be undone. Progress has brought everyone along nicely up to now.
Now we wait and see whether the MLS store survives. Your thoughts?
The Weekend That Real Estate Died in Columbus Ohio
February 18th, 2007 Cartoons, It's My Opinion 3 Comments
If you signed up to get these postings via email, you’re going to be wondering ‘what the %@*^&# I’m doing sending you a boatload of postings’ this weekend in mid-February.
Nothing. That’s what I’m doing. After six years of working as a realtor, this is the quietest weekend I’ve had since I started.
We had a hefty snowstorm this week, and all is quiet on the real estate front. Buyers have gone AWOL and disappeared. There’s no phone calls, no messages, no internet inquiries, no requests for showings….. nada.
I think it was the convergence of snow/ice/snow, bad roads, more snow, temps hovering around 10 degrees, and having a Level 3 Snow Emergency in Delaware County on Wednesday (that means it’s illegal to drive, folks) that tipped everyone over the edge. People may be thinking of trips to the tropics, but they’re NOT thinking of moving.
Sooooooooo…. when facing a weekend alone (loving husband is on business in WARM Arizona), and wondering what the heck I should be doing (and I’ve shoveled the sidewalks as much as I can), I turned to the computer. Rest assured that this frenzy of writing will NOT be normal. Normal is wondering how I can find the time to write.
In the meantime, I’ll work at establishing a base of information that Columbus buyers and sellers will be interested in, such as Community sales statistics.
Here’s hoping that life in Columbus gets back to normal soon….