Comments (0) Here’s another great builder in the Columbus market. Dominion and MI were once the top home builders in Central Ohio, and to my knowledge still are. With that being said you can click the link below and check out all of their current inventory homes.
Here’s a great list of all of Fischer Homes inventory. There are a few properties that are as far out as 90 days to complete with a few that are ready to move into. With that being said they still have quite a few homes that are eligible for the $8,000 tax credit.
One of the biggest problems with selling your home today is the amount of foreclosures on the market. I tend to work with buyers, more than sellers at least, but the biggest factor in the price we offer is the condition of the property. If we walk into a home that needs a lot of updates that down goes the price of our offer. Foreclosures in the neighborhood? Then we lower the price even more. It’s hard to justify paying top dollar for a home when you can go around the corner and buy another home for a considerable discount.
I do talk to people wanting to sell their home all the time and the biggest thing I can stress is if you don’t have to sell, don’t. Sometimes you don’t have a choice but your home isn’t worth what it might have been a few years ago and you’ll end up regretting it. I’ve seen homes going $20,000 or $30,000 under what they wanted and it’s because of today’s market.
Here’s an interesting article I saw on the same topic.. some of their last points are a little absurd.
US May Home Prices Up, First Increase in 3 Years
U.S. single-family home prices rose in May from April, the first monthly increase in nearly three years, suggesting prices may be stabilizing, according to Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller home price indexes Tuesday.
The annual rate of decline for the 10- and 20-city indexes improved for the fourth straight month, though prices have still tumbled by more than 32 percent from the peaks in the second quarter of 2006.The index of 20 metropolitan areas rose 0.5 percent in May from April, after a 0.6 percent decline the month before, in contrast with the 0.5 percent drop forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.
That’s pretty great news especially if you’re a home owner but prices are down 32% over all… holy crap.
I was just over at CNBC.com (one of my favorite news sites if you couldn’t tell) and they had a pretty interesting article up showing that new homes had a huge spike in sales, largest in 9 years. WOW. I was pretty shocked when I actually looked at the numbers, 11% is pretty incredible.
A lot of people in the know will be saying this is the sign of a turn around but I don’t think so. I still think we have a lot of foreclosures and a lot of homes that people are waiting to sell. In the end I think we have a year before prices turn around.
For all you home owners out there, or just the excessively curious, the Cost vs. Value report is a great way to see what home improvements net the highest return. The big ticket items, in terms of recouping cost, are going to be your bathrooms, kitchens, basements, and master bathrooms. Areas of the home which people use on a daily basis are what buyers will not only notice the most, but get you the most money in return. Check out the link below and see what sort of projects might net you the most amount of money.
Bank owned or in anyway distressed property is the new hot ticket item. That’s right. The only real thing selling in our market, and the rest of the country for that matter, are these distressed owned homes. I was checking out an article on CNBC.com (the reference is here) but just like it states, the discounts on distressed homes are amazing. It’s bringing in buyers who have money and or have the credit to get a home loan. They’re buying great properties in neighborhoods which they would have otherwise been cut out of because of the prices.
The National Association of Realtors first started polling members on foreclosures and short sales in March 2008 and has been doing so monthly since last October. Nationwide, such transactions have ranged between 31 percent and 49 percent of total sales this year.
Those numbers are pretty substantial. Almost 50 percent of home sales this year are foreclosure properties. Wow! Just to show you the deals that are being had,
Foreclosed properties were selling at a 60-percent discount to the median sales price for a conventional transaction. Short-sale properties were fetching 40-percent less.
Now that explains it all right there. Why buy an exisiting home when prices are looking like that.
Real estate today is very very different from just a few years ago. When I was just beginning my real estate career we were in a market where builders couldn’t keep up with demand and everyone was buying. In some areas there were even bidding wars on homes which helped drive up prices. To top that off mortgage companies were lending to more and more unqualified buyers.
Today’s market is ramped with foreclosures. In Columbus, and in many other parts of the country, the only thing selling are these bank owned homes. Families, couples, and individuals are taking advantage of someone else’s situation and personally, I think they should. Even sitting here writing this I am sitting on my couch in one half of a duplex, that I own, which is now worth some $20,000 or $30,000 less than what I payed. I am not going to sell my home if I don’t have too but with renters paying me rent it does help some. So why not take advantage of a discount like that.
One of the specific types of foreclosures, or repossessed homes as they like to be called, are HUD homes. Owned by the department of Housing and Urban Development (hence the name HUD) these homes are usually a terrific deal. There’s only one problem; every agent in town is bidding on these homes and they’re bidding over the asking price, sometimes as much as $30,000!!
Now why in your right mind would you do that? The real estate market is at an all time low right now and you’re bidding over what the asking price is. Why? I feel terrible when by a client what they should offer. I give my honest opinion but I always end with a little phrase “Well someone else can always bid higher.” In all likelihood they probably will.
I am not sure the other agent realizes it, or maybe their client just wants the home that bad, but you’re responsible for the difference between HUD’s asking price and what you offer. I’d love to see the bank accounts or the jobs of these people bidding $20,000 over the asking price of a HUD home. Feel free to donate to my cause if you like but seriously, you’re over paying on a foreclosure. I just find the situation ironic at best.
My point in all this is if you’re a buyer bid high but know your means and limits. Just because someone else wants the home that bad doesn’t mean you need to follow suit. Agents come on. Do you really need to tell your client to bid that much or are you looking for a bigger commission.
Here’s a pretty neat little map I found over at Mint.com. Now I realize showing the decline in home prices isn’t exactly cool or fun, but I do like graphs and anything of the sort. This one shows some statistics that make you just go wow. For instance if you look at the Fort Myers, Florida home prices it sort of has that effect. Ok, jokes aside it is a pretty humbling map but if you’re curious about where the countries real estate market is right now, this might be the best description of what’s going on.
Check out the article here.
Just got an email from a builder representative I have been talking to at Lifestyle Communities. I haven’t sold a lot of these condo’s but the ones I have been in show a good build quality. Also included in the email was a listing of their current promotions as well as a link to a listing of their communities. Soooo with that said I thought I’d include a quick overview of what they are offering:
They have also just started selling their downtown location. Brand new community. The city was also offering a seven year tax abatement if you bought within the downtown area and this could also possibly fall within that catagory as well. One more little food for thought is the current $8,000 tax credit, the gorvernment is potentiall making this avaible as a down payment as well.
Here’s a link to their communities.
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