We at Bennett Realty have challenged the other real estate offices in Wilmington to a Biggest Loser contest. Each of 5 offices have 5 participants who have to weigh in weekly. Then our progress is measured by percentage lost, not pounds lost. We started this 2 weeks ago and it will extend to February 1st. So far each office has lost about 2.5 lbs. Our office has put all of our hopes in on our two "big guys". Let's face it, girls. Guys have an easier time of losing weight and if you are already big then dropping a few pounds is no big deal. It's entertaining, though, to see these guys with their afternoon snack of an apple and string cheese. I think we are all starting to feel a bit deprived at this time. We are starting to get a bit snappy, either eyeballing each other's food in envy or eyeballing each other's food in reprimand.
203k lending. Now that we know basically what a 203K is and how the money can be used, now we'll investigate the type of property that can benefit from the benefits of the beneficial loan.
1) 2-4 unit properties that are owner occupied
2)FHA approved condo's
3)Properties that are at least 1 year old
4)Mixed use properties
5)Of course, single family homes
6)Homes that have been DEMOLISHED (?) but have a usable foundation to be reused.
7)Single family homes being converted to 2,3 or 4 units or visa versa
Homes not eligible for 203k lending:
1)Log homes, don't know why
2)Cooperatives (you don't actually own the four walls)
3)Homes that have never been completed (started, but left to molder until the contractor decides to show up again
"Mixed use" properties present an interesting opportunity. A mixed use property is one that houses a business as well as a residence. This might be a downtown building that has a store front but the upstairs has not been used for years and fallen into disrepair. The 203k funds cannot be used on the business portioin but it can be used on the residential portion as long as it will be occupied by the owner. Not many people actually live about their store these days, but in metro areas where people are starting to appreciate their inner cities again and are starting to move back, this could work out well for a home based business. Home based businesses are also making a comeback as is the idea of taking old run down and abandoned downtown buildings and making them into condos or apartments. These to trends mesh nicely and will be a major factor in the revitalization of our inner cities. (I just love these win-win situations.)
Well, gotta run. I have a closing tomorrow (yeah!) and I must mentally prepare myself for it to be my last of the year. Sad, and hopefully not true.
More on 203Ks to come. Lots o' info as promised!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
BEFORE
AFTER
All done with my money. It wasn't a fortune, but with 203K renovation lending, I wouldn't have had to live with a fugly bathroom for almost 3 years!
You Never Give Me Your Money
Food for thought (as opposed to the belly) - 83 % of homes in Cincinnati were built prior to 1970. That's a bit of an eye opener.
This figure won't hold up for all communities, obviously, but it is surprising and when you think about it, it presents a tremendous opportunity.
Hence, the 203K. Renovation lending. This concept was an eye opener for me so I'm fairly certain it is an eye opener for other Realtors(r) as well as regular people:>)
Here is a list of typical projects that Renovation lending could possibly cover. I say possibly because, as mentioned before, everything is subject to a feasibility study.
*Minor or major kitchen and bath renovations
*Cosmetic changes
*Exterior decking or fencing
*Garage addition
*Finish a lower level
*Doors, windows and siding
*Plumbing update
*Home office
*TWO STORY ADDITION!!
*MOVE A HOUSE!!
Holy moly, I wish I had known this when I bought my old, old, old 1865 house. (It was built the year Lincoln was assassinated. Think of that!)
The caveat here is that the home must appraise. For example: You find a home that you love, in the neighborhood that you love, and it is close to your work. The asking price is $150,000 but the furnace is older than the house, the kitchen hasn't been touched since June Cleaver wore pearls to clean house, and you could throw a cat through the bathroom wall.
First step: Get preapproved for a loan. Get an accepted contract. Make sure it contains the statement, LOAN IS SUBJECT TO FHA 203K APPROVAL AND BORROWERS ACCEPTANCE OF ANY ADDITIONAL REPAIRS AS MAY BE REQUIRED BY HUD, APPRAISER OF HUD CONSULTANT. A mouthful, yes, but it provides the borrower an out if the repairs are not feasible. Then take it to a lender that handles 203K's. Tell them what you would like repaired in the home. Then the borrower orders a feasibily study. This is where things get fun.
Okay, breathe, and decide if you are up for renovation....
This figure won't hold up for all communities, obviously, but it is surprising and when you think about it, it presents a tremendous opportunity.
Hence, the 203K. Renovation lending. This concept was an eye opener for me so I'm fairly certain it is an eye opener for other Realtors(r) as well as regular people:>)
Here is a list of typical projects that Renovation lending could possibly cover. I say possibly because, as mentioned before, everything is subject to a feasibility study.
*Minor or major kitchen and bath renovations
*Cosmetic changes
*Exterior decking or fencing
*Garage addition
*Finish a lower level
*Doors, windows and siding
*Plumbing update
*Home office
*TWO STORY ADDITION!!
*MOVE A HOUSE!!
Holy moly, I wish I had known this when I bought my old, old, old 1865 house. (It was built the year Lincoln was assassinated. Think of that!)
The caveat here is that the home must appraise. For example: You find a home that you love, in the neighborhood that you love, and it is close to your work. The asking price is $150,000 but the furnace is older than the house, the kitchen hasn't been touched since June Cleaver wore pearls to clean house, and you could throw a cat through the bathroom wall.
First step: Get preapproved for a loan. Get an accepted contract. Make sure it contains the statement, LOAN IS SUBJECT TO FHA 203K APPROVAL AND BORROWERS ACCEPTANCE OF ANY ADDITIONAL REPAIRS AS MAY BE REQUIRED BY HUD, APPRAISER OF HUD CONSULTANT. A mouthful, yes, but it provides the borrower an out if the repairs are not feasible. Then take it to a lender that handles 203K's. Tell them what you would like repaired in the home. Then the borrower orders a feasibily study. This is where things get fun.
Okay, breathe, and decide if you are up for renovation....
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Junk
203 (k) - No, it isn't the latest employee retirement fund, although it may be more profitable, more secure, more headache and more personally rewarding.
203 (k), also known as Renovation Lending is the answer to my prayers. Where have I been lo these many years that I have never heard of this? Is it new? Is it a secret? Have I been under a rock? I don't know, I don't think so, and yes.
Renovation Lending is the practice of basing a mortgage on the future value of the property as apposed to the current value of the property. Because the lender is taking an added risk as well as a more active part in the value of the property, not all lenders offer this program. (In fact, not long ago I was looking for just such a thing and was told there was no such thing. Okay. So it is a secret. Sssshhhhh!)
In short, the purpose of a 203 (k) mortgage is to encourage people to buy homes in need of repair and then to actually repair them. Yes there is more paperwork involved in the loan but the lender plays a very active part in the process. From feasibility studies, to consultants, to appraisals. Inspections have to be performed periodically in order for the lender to see that the work is actually being done and by a qualified technician, then money is released to pay for the work.
This is a win-win proposition for all. The homeowner gets the home they want at a price they can afford, the community gets its older housing stock repaired, and the Realtor (r) gets a sale they might not have ordinarily got. Someone looking for a 4 bedroom home on 2 acres with only 150K to spend? Find them an older home which is usually also a larger home, get them on the road to fixing it up and they have a great home and you have a sale.
More details to follow. This is a topic near and dear to my heart so I will be giving it lots of blog space.
203 (k), also known as Renovation Lending is the answer to my prayers. Where have I been lo these many years that I have never heard of this? Is it new? Is it a secret? Have I been under a rock? I don't know, I don't think so, and yes.
Renovation Lending is the practice of basing a mortgage on the future value of the property as apposed to the current value of the property. Because the lender is taking an added risk as well as a more active part in the value of the property, not all lenders offer this program. (In fact, not long ago I was looking for just such a thing and was told there was no such thing. Okay. So it is a secret. Sssshhhhh!)
In short, the purpose of a 203 (k) mortgage is to encourage people to buy homes in need of repair and then to actually repair them. Yes there is more paperwork involved in the loan but the lender plays a very active part in the process. From feasibility studies, to consultants, to appraisals. Inspections have to be performed periodically in order for the lender to see that the work is actually being done and by a qualified technician, then money is released to pay for the work.
This is a win-win proposition for all. The homeowner gets the home they want at a price they can afford, the community gets its older housing stock repaired, and the Realtor (r) gets a sale they might not have ordinarily got. Someone looking for a 4 bedroom home on 2 acres with only 150K to spend? Find them an older home which is usually also a larger home, get them on the road to fixing it up and they have a great home and you have a sale.
More details to follow. This is a topic near and dear to my heart so I will be giving it lots of blog space.
Long, Long, Long Time
I have been busy, busy, busy. Some good business, some bad business, some just plain ol' busy-ness.
Fell into one good deal, fell out of one bad deal, took a great continuing education class about financing (more on that later) and been wrapped up in work for my supervisor.
Being busy in the real estate business means, for the most part, you are making money. So, for once in my life I am not complaining.
But the downside is that I haven't blogged much lately, which I enjoy. I enjoy informing my reading public about the real estate industry and I just plain like to write.
It's been a long time but I shall return!
Fell into one good deal, fell out of one bad deal, took a great continuing education class about financing (more on that later) and been wrapped up in work for my supervisor.
Being busy in the real estate business means, for the most part, you are making money. So, for once in my life I am not complaining.
But the downside is that I haven't blogged much lately, which I enjoy. I enjoy informing my reading public about the real estate industry and I just plain like to write.
It's been a long time but I shall return!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Hey Jude
Following is an article I received in an email from a local mortgage broker. Take it as you will.
When It Takes a MiracleTo Sell Your House
Owners, Realtors Bury StatuesOf St. Joseph to Attract Buyers;Don't Forget to Dig Him Up
By SARA SCHAEFER MUOZOctober 30, 2007; Page D1
Cari Luna is Jewish by heritage and Buddhist by religion. She meditates regularly. Yet when she and her husband put their Brooklyn, N.Y., house on the market this year and offers kept falling through, Ms. Luna turned to an unlikely source for help: St. Joseph.
Some choose to bury St. Joseph upside down.
The Catholic saint has long been believed to help with home-related matters. And according to lore now spreading on the Internet and among desperate home-sellers, burying St. Joseph in the yard of a home for sale promises a prompt bid. After Ms. Luna and her husband held five open houses, even baking cookies for one of them, she ordered a St. Joseph "real estate kit" online and buried the three-inch white statue in her yard.
"I wasn't sure if it would be disrespectful for me, a Jewish Buddhist, to co-opt this saint for my real-estate purposes," says Ms. Luna, a writer. She figured, "Well, could it hurt?"
With the worst housing market in recent years, St. Joseph is enjoying a flurry of attention. Some vendors of religious supplies say St. Joseph statues are flying off the shelves as an increasing number of skeptics and non-Catholics look for some saintly intervention to help them sell their houses.
Some Realtors, too, swear by the practice. Ardell DellaLoggia, a Seattle-area Realtor, buried a statue beneath the "For Sale" sign on a property that she thought was overpriced. She didn't tell the owner until after it had sold. "He was an atheist," she explains. "But he thanked me."
Existing-home sales fell 8% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million units, the lowest level in nearly 10 years, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Some Catholic clergy are uncomfortable with the St. Joseph's trend. Read about this and track other news in the housing market at Developments, WSJ.com's new real-estate tracker.
Statues of St. Joseph sold online can be as tall as 12 inches. One, made of colored resin, portrays St. Joseph cradling the baby Jesus. Yet most home sellers favor the simpler three- or four- inch replicas -- most of which are made in China and often depict St. Joseph as a carpenter.
Most statues come in a "Home Sale Kit" that is priced at around $5 and includes burial instructions and a prayer. One site, Good Fortune Online, recently added another kit with a statue of St. Jude -- known as the patron saint of hopeless causes -- "to help those with a difficult property to sell," the site says. Another site, Stjosephstatue.com, takes orders for its "Underground Real Estate Agent Kits" at 1-888-BURY-JOE.
Demand for the statues has been growing. Ron Weissman, who sells the statues at Good Fortune Online, says about six months ago he switched to online transactions because the increase in calls -- from about two a week to 25 calls a day -- was too much to handle. Richard Weigang, owner of http://www.catholicstore.com/, says he sells about 400 statues a month, double the amount he sold a year ago.
In Catholicism, St. Joseph, a carpenter, is honored as the husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus. Representing a humble family man, he is the patron saint of home, family and house-hunting, according to the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of "My Life With the Saints." Popular belief holds that people who wish to enlist St. Joseph's help in selling a house should bury his replica upside-down in the yard. (Apartment dwellers are advised to put him in a potted plant.)
Methods of burying the statue vary. Instructions in one package give buyers several options, including burying it upside-down next to the "For Sale" sign, burying it three feet from the rear of the house and burying it next to the front door facing away from the home. Phil Cates, owner of stjosephstatue.com, says: "I've seen it buried in all types of places with all types of ceremonies." He says the detailed burial instructions are largely intended to prevent people from forgetting where they put their St. Joseph. (His kits advise burying it facing it away from the house, to symbolize leaving.)
Theologians say there's no official doctrine that calls for the statue's interment. The practice may have stemmed from medieval rites of land possession, in which conquerors claimed land by planting a cross or banner, says Jaime Lara, associate professor of Christian Art and Architecture at Yale Divinity School. Mr. Lara also suggests that the tradition may have gotten mixed up at some point with folklore surrounding St. Anthony. St. Anthony, known as a matchmaker, would often be held ransom, upside-down, until he found a husband for someone's daughter, he says.
Some clergy aren't sure how St. Joseph would feel about his replica ending up on its head in the dirt, and suggest displaying it somewhere in the house instead.
"I think it's much more respectful than burying the poor guy," says Msgr. Andrew Connell, the archdiocesan director of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith in Boston. Some retailers, such as Mr. Weigang, owner of www.catholicstore.com, also encourage buyers to put the statues in the house.
"We don't advocate burying," he says. "Some of those statues are quite beautiful."
Catholic leaders also say that faith and devotion are necessary, in addition to burying a statue, otherwise the practice amounts to little more than superstition or magic. But they are also enjoying the saint's newfound popularity. "If they have a good result and they think it was St. Joseph, it might inspire them to practice more," says Msgr. Connell.
Once someone's home sells, the custom holds, the statue should be dug up and put in a place of honor in the new home. That's what Ms. Luna did after she and her husband sold their house shortly after burying St. Joseph. She put the statue in her office in their new home in Portland, Ore.
But not everyone is aware of the follow-up step. Trudy Lopez and her husband buried a statue of St. Joseph when they were trying to sell their condo, even though Ms. Lopez is Jewish and her husband is a nonpracticing Catholic. They sneaked out late at night, worried they might be breaking a condo association rule.
"And I'm thinking, 'If my family knew what I am doing, they'd die,' " she says.
Soon they got an offer, but didn't realize they were supposed to bring the statue with them to their new home.
"I'm afraid a lot of the statues won't be unearthed and someone will go over St. Joseph's feet with a lawnmower," says Father Martin.
Write to Sara Schaefer Muoz at http://mail.biz.rr.com/agent/MobNewMsg?to=sara.schaefer@wsj.com
Enjoy!
Note: I heard of this practice years ago and since I have a listing that has seen no activity, I believe I shall present my sellers with a statue of St. Joseph. Who knows? Could it hurt? Well, I guess if you ran over him with the lawnmower.....
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