My last opinion poll dealt with the motivation of people to purchase a home right now. The response was that downsizing was the number one motivator. I have put forth this idea in previous postings. All you have to do is look around you and you will see the "graying of America".
We are an aging bunch, we baby boomers born 1946-64. We are a product of post war parents coming home from WWII and the Korean War (they had a lot of catching up to do.)
We have always been a force to reckon with. We made rock and roll a permanent fixture; as hippies we almost changed the face of the nation, and at the very least we brought the morass that was the Viet Nam war into the fore. We attended college in record numbers and became the most formally educated group to date.
We became the "Pepsi Generation", we consumed, we became affluent, we had kids (we spoiled them terribly-oh generation "Y").
Then we started to retire. The first of our numbers just turned 60 last year. Our kids are grown and, hopefully, out of the nest. We've worked hard, been in the rat race and have come to the conclusion that we don't have to work as hard as we used to. We may still be working at our jobs but the idea of then coming home from work to work in our homes has become not so important anymore.
We want to downsize. Why do we need that big house now. Why do we need that big yard. Look at all that stuff we've accumulated. It's time to have a yard sale and buy a smaller home or condo.
So, too, are our kids' lives different. They get married later. They have kids later. Because we as parents have finally been in that unique situation of being able to provide so much more for our kids, those kids tend to mature a little slower.
They want to stay downsized. A sleeker, more active and fun lifestyle does not leave a lot of time to fix up a home or landscape a yard. Kids these days (okay, I said it) want condos or apartments with club houses, pools, gyms and other fun stuff.
Wait! Their parents want almost the same thing! The circle meets.
With all that said, Wilmington is finally catching up with the rest of the world. Bennett Realty is in the fore front of providing alternative housing for our downsized lifestyle.
We will be working closely with a developer to build a new subdivision, within walking distance of shopping, that will provide a variety of condominium configurations to accommodate our shifting demographics. (Try saying that ten times fast.)
I look forward to being a part of this and am breathing a sigh of relief. The 21st century has finally arrived!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Come Together
Who says realtors are boring!
Your's truly is the one in front with the broken foot propped up.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
I Feel Fine
Cute condo, huh. Bigger than it looks, actually. Great big great room, dining room, breakfast room, galley style kitchen and 2 bedrooms larger than those in most "regular" homes.
I am showing this one and another in the same complex in the same evening. Not very exciting you say? Well, considering this is my first showing in over 3 months, its pretty exciting to me.
To have a live lead is actually unusual in real estate. Sure you get calls, but not many actually pan out. Here are the usual calls:
1) Someone is calling out of curiosity because they have driven by a $300,000 house and just wondered how much it is (I think they are hoping for a big bargain. How many times have you picked up something in a department store hoping it has been mis-tagged!)
2) Someone is calling to buy a house when they have no idea if they can afford one. When you ask them to go to a bank to get pre-approved, they bolt.
3) The call where you are told, "I'll talk it over with my wife/husband."
4) The one where they set up an appointment to see a home/meet you at the office/meet you at a house then call/don't call back and cancel/don't show up.
You get the picture.
It is also easy to get discouraged when you realize that 20% of realtors sell 90% of the homes. But instead, it should make you work all the harder to get noticed.
So, my live lead occurred at the end of the day. (I only hope that by tomorrow evening I am not doing CPR.) My day started, however, with the realization that my 1 full listing is expiring in 1 full day. My sellers told me from the beginning that if their home didn't sell during the summer that they would take it off the market for the cold months. I wasn't looking forward to calling them to ask if they would consider relisting but, armed with facts and figures, I made the call.
"I'll talk to my husband and call you back." Hummm..... But surprise! They relisted! (Oh crap. Now I have to figure out how to sell it.)
Speaking of CPR, I have kept one of my contracts on life support since April. April! It is the classic fixer-upper and is tied up in probate. I spoke to the attorney this morning and the prognosis is iffy; it is a wait and see situation. In the mean time, my buyer has agreed to sign an extension to keep it alive lest a buzzard swoop in through the loop hole and pull the plug. (That sounded better in my head.)
At the end of the day, I have had 3 positive experiences; now it is up to me to be one of the 20% to sell 90% of the homes. (Oh crap.)
Monday, August 27, 2007
She Said She Said
I wish that I could take all the credit for the postings on my blog. I guess I might actually qualify for the blame as opposed to the credit. (Credit, get it? Heh, heh)
My sister has become an avid reader of this blog, arguably the ONLY reader of this blog. As such, she has become my biggist fan as well as critic. Not critic as in "critical" but as in feedback and proof reading.
She recently, and thankfully, caught my biggest gaff so far; switching "righting" for "writing", a big mistake for a writer (righter?) to make. I fixed it so that no one else would feel my pain (pane).
The other side of the coin is that I have become a bit self-conscious knowing (noeing, noing?) that someone is out there (their, they're) actually reading this stuff instead of me just sitting here (hear) typing away. But it is a good lesson: yes, the internet will be still and let you put anything on it but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't show some responsibilty to your (you're) fellow creatures and strive to make it a better place for those of us who care (I s'pose there are some who don't, or maybe they do but just in different things, and that's okaaayyy.)
So (sew), she has sent me a great (grate) link for an article called "Dangerous Disconnect Between Home Prices and Fundamentals"; see my "Danger" link on the side bar. In short, it states that the cost of a home versus the money that you bring TO your home in the way (weigh) of a paycheck are not increasing at the same rate, hence causing a dangerous imbalance. But I'll leave that up to you (ewe) to (too, two) read.
Oh, by the way, she is older than me. (Heh, heh)
My sister has become an avid reader of this blog, arguably the ONLY reader of this blog. As such, she has become my biggist fan as well as critic. Not critic as in "critical" but as in feedback and proof reading.
She recently, and thankfully, caught my biggest gaff so far; switching "righting" for "writing", a big mistake for a writer (righter?) to make. I fixed it so that no one else would feel my pain (pane).
The other side of the coin is that I have become a bit self-conscious knowing (noeing, noing?) that someone is out there (their, they're) actually reading this stuff instead of me just sitting here (hear) typing away. But it is a good lesson: yes, the internet will be still and let you put anything on it but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't show some responsibilty to your (you're) fellow creatures and strive to make it a better place for those of us who care (I s'pose there are some who don't, or maybe they do but just in different things, and that's okaaayyy.)
So (sew), she has sent me a great (grate) link for an article called "Dangerous Disconnect Between Home Prices and Fundamentals"; see my "Danger" link on the side bar. In short, it states that the cost of a home versus the money that you bring TO your home in the way (weigh) of a paycheck are not increasing at the same rate, hence causing a dangerous imbalance. But I'll leave that up to you (ewe) to (too, two) read.
Oh, by the way, she is older than me. (Heh, heh)
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Yer Blues
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it didn't have good enough credit to stay on its own side.
Okay, that didn't make much sense, But neither does a lease/purchase. Unless, of course, you can't get a mortgage any other way. And thereby hangs the tale.
So, if you can't get a mortgage through a bank because of bad credit, does it follow that you are a bad risk period? I don't think so, but a lease/purchase has different pit falls for all involved than just making or receiving payments.
First of all, from the seller's point of view, they don't have much to go on except someone's credit, rather like a bank. Even a personal recommendation can go wrong, speaking as an ex-landlord. (don't ask). However, they still retain the deed and all of the perks as mentioned before. And the people that would be most likely to give the lease/purchase would be an owner who doesn't owe their own mortgage. If THEY owe money to the bank and the purchaser defaults, the owner could also default, speaking as an ex-landlord. (It can scare the pants off of you.) On the plus side, in a soft market, as it is now, it may be the only way to sell a property since there is such a glut and young people in particular may have NO credit but may not necessarily be a big risk. If you are a seller, do not go lightly into that dark night. If it is not paramount to sell, don't lease/purchase if you like to sleep at night.
From the buyer's point of view, just read the above paragraph backwards. The only reason a buyer would be seeking a lease/purchase is because they can't get a loan any other way. Do they have bad credit or just no credit. Not quite the same thing, but the latter can lead to the former. Also, the buyer would not hold title to the property and therefore may have reduced rights as to how they can use the property as in altering, remodeling or even having a loud party. You may as well just rent if your home is not really your own. Then there is the question of writing off mortgage interest, taxes and insurance. Forget it. Remember the house is not your own.
And for both sides involved, the contract could be an absolute nightmare to hammer out. With a mortgage, the bank tells you what they can do and you do it or not. And when it comes to the purchase contract, you agree on a price and let your agents do all the fighting.
Where does the real estate agent fit into this picture? Way down in the left hand corner about where that water stain is. If, as an agent, you are lucky, there is money given up front as a down payment and your commission comes out of that. But if the buyer has a down payment, why are they going lease/purchase? You get the picture.
So what about the gentleman moving to Wilmington with DHL that was seeking a lease/purchase? He canceled his second appointment and disappeared.
And I had just started planning that vacation to Aruba.
Life doesn't always turn out the way you planned.
Okay, that didn't make much sense, But neither does a lease/purchase. Unless, of course, you can't get a mortgage any other way. And thereby hangs the tale.
So, if you can't get a mortgage through a bank because of bad credit, does it follow that you are a bad risk period? I don't think so, but a lease/purchase has different pit falls for all involved than just making or receiving payments.
First of all, from the seller's point of view, they don't have much to go on except someone's credit, rather like a bank. Even a personal recommendation can go wrong, speaking as an ex-landlord. (don't ask). However, they still retain the deed and all of the perks as mentioned before. And the people that would be most likely to give the lease/purchase would be an owner who doesn't owe their own mortgage. If THEY owe money to the bank and the purchaser defaults, the owner could also default, speaking as an ex-landlord. (It can scare the pants off of you.) On the plus side, in a soft market, as it is now, it may be the only way to sell a property since there is such a glut and young people in particular may have NO credit but may not necessarily be a big risk. If you are a seller, do not go lightly into that dark night. If it is not paramount to sell, don't lease/purchase if you like to sleep at night.
From the buyer's point of view, just read the above paragraph backwards. The only reason a buyer would be seeking a lease/purchase is because they can't get a loan any other way. Do they have bad credit or just no credit. Not quite the same thing, but the latter can lead to the former. Also, the buyer would not hold title to the property and therefore may have reduced rights as to how they can use the property as in altering, remodeling or even having a loud party. You may as well just rent if your home is not really your own. Then there is the question of writing off mortgage interest, taxes and insurance. Forget it. Remember the house is not your own.
And for both sides involved, the contract could be an absolute nightmare to hammer out. With a mortgage, the bank tells you what they can do and you do it or not. And when it comes to the purchase contract, you agree on a price and let your agents do all the fighting.
Where does the real estate agent fit into this picture? Way down in the left hand corner about where that water stain is. If, as an agent, you are lucky, there is money given up front as a down payment and your commission comes out of that. But if the buyer has a down payment, why are they going lease/purchase? You get the picture.
So what about the gentleman moving to Wilmington with DHL that was seeking a lease/purchase? He canceled his second appointment and disappeared.
And I had just started planning that vacation to Aruba.
Life doesn't always turn out the way you planned.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Money
Sometimes life just doesn't go the way you planned.
While on floor time last week, a gentleman called who was looking to move his family into Wilmington from Cincinnati due to a DHL transfer. The home that had spurred the phone call was vacant and had been on the market for quite sometime. During our phone conversation he told me that he still had a home to sell in Cincy so he was looking for a home for lease/purchase. I asked him why he would want to go that route because interest rates were low. He then told me that he could not afford 2 house payments and that he needed to learn more about Wilmington before he bought. I told him I would make a couple phone calls and call him back.
I found out that, theoretically, the owners would be willing to do that except for one thing. They had already rented it. So I called him back and said that if he would come into the office, we could talk about his options and that I would run some homes and try to find ones that had been on the market for awhile. My theory being that if a home is hard to sell, the owners would be more responsive to a lease/purchase idea. We made an appointment for him to come in on Friday afternoon.
"But wait!" you cry. "If he can afford a house payment and rent, then he can afford 2 house payments." Exactomundo.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Okay, so I have a non-buying buyer and I'm in a slump. You just have to work with what you got.
Friday afternoon rolls around and I get a message from my guy and he tells me that something has come up so he would like to reschedule. We set up another appointment.
In the mean time, I am running figures and looking for homes and scratching my head as to why someone would want to tie themselves to a lease/purchase but not tie themselves to a bona fide purchase. Hmmmm....
The way a lease purchase works is generally this: The home is rented but there is an agreed upon amount paid up front to the seller as "insurance" that the home will be purchased by the renter. This applies to the purchase price, just like a downpayment to a bank, and is non-refundable. The seller acts more or less as the bank with the loan amoritized and the rent/payment includes principle (money that is applied to the actual amount borrowed) and interest (usually about 2% more than a conventional loan). After an agreed upon amount of time (1-2 years), the renter finances the home thru the bank and the seller gets paid off. All of this has to be put into writing of course, either through a realtor or an attorney.
The alternate way that a lease/purchase works is that the rent does not apply to the purchase price but the contract states that the renter will purchase the home in a set amount of time (1-2 years). There is still money up front.
In both scenarios, the deed is still held by the seller and, even though the renter is responsible for taxes and insurance, all remain in the seller's name. The advantage to the seller is that he still gets the tax right off.
But why, you ask, would someone want to purchase a home in this fashion? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this transaction. And why would a realtor want to get caught up in such a strange situation? And whatever happened to that DHL transferee? Find out soon in the next installment...
While on floor time last week, a gentleman called who was looking to move his family into Wilmington from Cincinnati due to a DHL transfer. The home that had spurred the phone call was vacant and had been on the market for quite sometime. During our phone conversation he told me that he still had a home to sell in Cincy so he was looking for a home for lease/purchase. I asked him why he would want to go that route because interest rates were low. He then told me that he could not afford 2 house payments and that he needed to learn more about Wilmington before he bought. I told him I would make a couple phone calls and call him back.
I found out that, theoretically, the owners would be willing to do that except for one thing. They had already rented it. So I called him back and said that if he would come into the office, we could talk about his options and that I would run some homes and try to find ones that had been on the market for awhile. My theory being that if a home is hard to sell, the owners would be more responsive to a lease/purchase idea. We made an appointment for him to come in on Friday afternoon.
"But wait!" you cry. "If he can afford a house payment and rent, then he can afford 2 house payments." Exactomundo.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Okay, so I have a non-buying buyer and I'm in a slump. You just have to work with what you got.
Friday afternoon rolls around and I get a message from my guy and he tells me that something has come up so he would like to reschedule. We set up another appointment.
In the mean time, I am running figures and looking for homes and scratching my head as to why someone would want to tie themselves to a lease/purchase but not tie themselves to a bona fide purchase. Hmmmm....
The way a lease purchase works is generally this: The home is rented but there is an agreed upon amount paid up front to the seller as "insurance" that the home will be purchased by the renter. This applies to the purchase price, just like a downpayment to a bank, and is non-refundable. The seller acts more or less as the bank with the loan amoritized and the rent/payment includes principle (money that is applied to the actual amount borrowed) and interest (usually about 2% more than a conventional loan). After an agreed upon amount of time (1-2 years), the renter finances the home thru the bank and the seller gets paid off. All of this has to be put into writing of course, either through a realtor or an attorney.
The alternate way that a lease/purchase works is that the rent does not apply to the purchase price but the contract states that the renter will purchase the home in a set amount of time (1-2 years). There is still money up front.
In both scenarios, the deed is still held by the seller and, even though the renter is responsible for taxes and insurance, all remain in the seller's name. The advantage to the seller is that he still gets the tax right off.
But why, you ask, would someone want to purchase a home in this fashion? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this transaction. And why would a realtor want to get caught up in such a strange situation? And whatever happened to that DHL transferee? Find out soon in the next installment...
Friday, August 17, 2007
The Long and Winding Road
Wilmington, Ohio, Clinton County, a unique little place. It sits in the center of the triangle which is Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus, right off of I-71.
Wilmington is the county seat, and is centrally located within in the county. Other towns in the county are Blanchester - south west of Wimington, New Vienna - south east of Wilmington, Sabina - north east of Wilmington, Port William to the north and Lynchburg to the south.
Several state and US highways converge at the city center but which came first, the city or the highways I don't know.
Wilmington was founded by Quakers around 1807 so we are soon to celebrate our bi-centennial. Quakers also founded Wilmington College, a small private college.
Clinton County is also the home of Southern State Community College which is a great place to get your associates degree then transfer to a four year. Southen State also has a satellite in Hillsboro.
Clinton County, although still considered an agricultural county, has many industries, not least of these is the DHL hub. (Bright yellow bananas with wings soar to the sky day and night.)
Clinton County also has many industries. Huhtamki Plastics in New Vienna; New Sabina Industries in Sabina; Ferno Washington, AStar and Airborne Express are based in the Industrial Airpark, also home to DHL; Kautex, and several others.
The airport that houses all of the airfreight delivery services used to be a US Airforce Base which is the main reason that Wilmington started growing in the fifties and sixties (that good ol' Cold War era.)
It closed and lay dormant for awhile until a small puddle jumping airline needed a place to set up a business flying cancelled checks around Ohio. This little concern saved Wilmington from drying up and blowing away. From this little business grew Airborne Express and from that DHL came up from Cincinnati to move their hub to Wilmington, again saving Wilmington because ABX was sliding down the charts.
Wilmington and the surrounding areas have many name brand restaurants, fast food places, a Wal-Mart (of course) and lots of small privately owned businesses.
Lake Cowan State Park is one of Clinton County's main recreational draws with people coming from Cincinnati and other surrounding areas to camp, boat and swim. Caesar's Creek Lake is also close by and is another nice state park.
Also, Majestic Springs is a nice privately owned golf course. Then there is the YMCA, Curves and a new locally owned and operated fitness club.
Wilmington,Ohio is the place you oughta be so load up your truck and move to our Counteee!!
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