It's been awhile...and that's good!

Well let's see....It's been extremely busy of late here at the office with Summer starting to wind down and school back in session. It has been a while since I have posted and I suppose that I need to update you on some happenings here in our local market. First of all, Kathy Sorak has joined our team here at Coldwell Banker and that is exciting to add her to our office. She brings with her a resume' of a high quality agent and in this market, to add someone like her to a staff that is second to none anyway, just solidifies that position! It seems that home sales are starting to pick up and we are definately seeing more and more activity on the buyers side. Of course, we all know that it is a great time to buy. If you are sitting on the fence, you may want to make a decision soon as the Fed is expected to raise a key interest rate and they may be on their way back up. Right now, they are at 35 year lows, proving that now is the best time to buy and perhaps the best time ever in your lifetime!
On a more personal note... Grady starts junior high this year and football practice has already started and soon basketball is right around the corner for him. Ben is playing baseball in a fall league and soon starts basketball as well. Busy, busy, busy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love it.
By the way, check out the video tour of 531 Adella. This is a cute,cozy home and just waiting for someone to make it theirs. It has been remodeled inside, and includes a brand, new kitchen with all new appliances that stay with the home. It is located only one block from Douma school, and on a quiet, dead end street. It is waiting...perhaps for you! ? Give me a call, and I will schedule your personal tour.

More important than ever!!!

In today's quickly changing market, the key to selling your home is to separate yourself from the pack. Simply offering your home for sale is no longer good enough. What makes your home better than any other home that is competing for buyers? It is even more important now than ever to make sure that your home is in top selling condition. Go ahead and spend a Saturday doing the touch up painting that you have been putting off. Buy some colorful potted plants and strategically place them in front to add curb appeal. Trim the bushes so that all the windows show, and make sure that all doors and windows work easy. One of the easiest things that can be done is to change hardware on the cabinets, change bath fixtures and entry door locks. These simple upgrades are inexpensive, can be done without a contractor, and go a long ways in making your home look more updated. Painting is a simple (annoying maybe, but simple never the less) way to make sure that the maximum number of buyers will be attracted to your home. Replace all of those pinks and blues with earth tone colors of beige and tans. Take some time to fix those walls (that you banged up from that rainy afternoon when you and the kids were playing basketball downstairs instead of reading like your wife told you to) that are dented and corners that have been banged up a little. Remember!!! Clean, neat and of course, use the K.I.S.S. method on everything. Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Goals

Here are some tips that can help you save some frustration when you decide to sell your home.
1.)Have a garage sale. Garage sales are sometimes frustrating and seem like a lot of work, but you can get rid of a lot of things you no longer need and make a little money doing it. If you advertise as a moving sale, you will attract more buyers than a regular garage sale.
2.)Have a place to store your household items. This can be more difficult than first thought. If you are storing the items in a shed, be sure that they are covered, and the shed is dry and free from birds and moisture. A rental storage shed is usually your best bet as they are built in areas where water does not typically penetrate.
3.) Stop buying stuff! Do not buy any more things you don't need. You just had a garage sale, and put the other stuff in a storage shed, why would you fill up the space again.
4.)List your home with a trusted real estate professional. This should be the easiest step, but unfortunately, it sometimes is not. The number of homes sold and listed is important when deciding which agent to use, but it is NOT the MOST IMPORTANT! (Gee, I hope I wasn't unclear about that.) Ask around, and find the agent that has the utmost integrity. Anyone can list homes, anyone can sell homes, but you need an agent that looks out for you and your interest only!

How do we get there from here?

The number one problem facing buyer is usually not "Can we afford this home?" It typically is, "How do we sell our home and find the one we want all in the same time frame?" The short answer is....you probably won't. It has happened and will continue to happen, but with such a small percentage of buyers, that it is in your best interest not to plan on it.
Written goals and methods of how to acheieve those goals are your best solution. If we know that we want a different home, then we must sell the current one first. What happens when we sell our home, and the one we were looking to buy, is no longer available? It is at that point, because there is no plan, that many buyers become discouraged and lose heart, thinking, "We'll never find the right and perfect place for us." You see, there is a common misconception and it even runs rampant in the real estate sales professional ranks. That is, there is no perfect place! I disagree!!!!! I believe that there are perfect places and perfect homes, just not buyers who are ready to move when the perfect opportunity for them comes along. Buyers usually have to sell their home first, which means that they have to do some minor painting and repair and then list it and then show it and then.......well you get the idea. By the time all these things are done, it has been 60 days and the home that they were going to purchase is looong gone. Then comes the discouragement and let down and then they forget their original goal was to move. It all comes down to mental preparation and the proper order in selling a home and moving into a new one. Written goals and methods are the way to go. In the next post, I will outline for you the proper order of selling a home, and if you do this, it will be the best way to find that perfect home!

Looking up!

GREAT NEWS! Our real estate market in Ottumwa is starting to pick back up. A typical recession lasts for about 14-16 months and we are in month number 15 right now, but if you listen to all of the news outlets, you would think that we are in the middle of the second great depression. Yes, all of us have decided to cut back in one area or another in our life but we are far from the great depression. Has our local economy suffered? The short answer is yes. However, since this is my blog, we are going to focus on the positives. Everyone heard that John Deere layed off 43 workers in the past month. Why did we focus on that, instead of the 700+ workers that did not get laid off. Also, when was the last time you heard that John Deere had hired new engineers. Well, you won't, but because I am a real estate agent, I can tell you that new engineers are coming to town all the time. How do I know this, it is because I am showing them homes to buy. That's right, I said buy! Why are we such a negative society? I think I know the answer. I think, that when we focus on the struggles that others around us are having, it makes us feel better about ourselves. So I leave you with this challenge. Instead of focusing on the negatives around us, look at the opposites that the news offers. When they tell you about the 3,000 jobs that Home Depot lost, think about the 125,000 that are still working there, and then check out the classified section of your local paper and ask yourself this question. Are there really no jobs, or are we just unwilling to work?

Nothing to do with Real Estate

I had a great weekend. I hope everyone else did as well. I did nothing with houses, properties, or real estate of any kind this weekend....we did basketball! Ben played in the "Swish'N'Dish" basketball tournament in Milwaukee, Wisconsin over the weekend. All in all it was a good weekend as the Attack boys finished in second place. They took home some hardward, and had a great time playing in five games. I know you wanted to talk about real estate, but today, I just wanted to talk basketball. I will be back to real estate next time but for now, Go Attack! You can find their website at alliowaattack.com.

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There is a craze that is only about 4 or 5 years old with the banking industry, and that is reverse mortgages. As the homeowner pays a regular mortgage, the principle goes down and eventually, they owe nothing more on their property. In a reverse mortgage, the owner takes a paid for property, and the bank pays a monthly payment to the owner. It has been sold to (typically older homeowners) as a way to stay in the home they love and still have the life style they have dreamed about. What it really has done, is put a lot of elderly and unsuspecting homeowners into foreclosures. I'm sure all your banker friends will tell you the wonderful stories about the people they have helped stay in their homes and maintain their pre-retirement lifestyles. They never will tell you about the other side.

There are several problems with a reverse mortgage. The first is that it mainly targets the elderly. (Statistically speaking, they are the ones with paid for homes.) Therefore, the business is full of rip-offs and con-artists. If you think this is a good avenue for you to go down, be careful in selecting a company that will underwrite the mortgage. Secondly, Interest rates and closing costs are typically higher than other mortgages. Third, you are taking a paid for property and turning it into debt. Pay close attention to this next sentence. 100% of all foreclosures, had a mortgage against them. There has never been a paid for home, foreclosed on.

If you still think that this is a good idea for you, well, good luck!



If you click the title, it will take you to Dave Ramsey's website for more information.



Have a great day everyone!!

First time homebuyers

Owning a home is one of the greatest blessings that one can ever achieve in their life. It can also be a curse if you are not mentally prepared for it.
There is a common misconception that homes can be maintinence free. That is one of the biggest false ideas one can have. I am going to say this once and I want everyone to listen. ALL HOMES NEED TO BE MAINTAINED! (I hope I wasn't unclear about that.) Painting needs to be kept up with and bushes need to be trimmed and cut, the grass needs mowed and landscaping continually updated. If cracks in the concrete driveway are not sealed, eventually the water destroys the driveway causing even costlier repairs. Am I making myself clear? If you are not mentally prepared to own a home, then the home you buy will become a curse to you. There are some ways to make sure that this does not happen
Sit down and outline your goals. Ask yourself how long you intend to own this particular home. How long until you outgrow it, start a family, etc. If you do improvements on the property, understand that statistically, you will only get $.50 to $.80 of every dollar you spend back out of the property when you resell it. If you expect to get $150,000 out of a $75,000 property, you will be seriously disappointed.
Find a real estate agent that you are comfortable with. Next, prepare yourself with the proper mind set of owning a home. Thirdly, don't borrow more money than you are comfortable with, even if the bank will loan more, your friends say you can afford it, and your broke brother-in-law, tells you that you can beat the banking system, DON"T DO IT! No one has to pay the mortgage other than you.
Right now, first time home buyers are eligible for a tax credit of up to 10% of the purchase price of the home, up to $80,000. (Maximum credit is $8,000) This money is available from January 1st 2009 to December 1 2009. You can call or email me with more questions on this. Thanks everyone and have a great weekend.

Buying investment property

In today's real estate market, everyone is looking for a great deal. It's a buyers market, there are hundreds of foreclosures, we have been told, so why can't we seem to find that deal? We have all heard, and some have seen, the late night cable shows offering to sell us for "Only three easy installment of $19.95 and you can have the secrets that only the wealthy know! Make thousands of dollars in your first week of business buying and selling real estate." I could go on and on about the ridiculous claims, but we have all seen them.
When looking for a REAL deal, take some time and list your goals. Ask yourself questions like, 1.)"Do I want to live in an investment property, or do I want that quick flip?" (Flip investments are a totally different animal altogether so do not confuse this post with Flips. We will talk about those at a later date.)
This is extremely important for you to decide. If you can live in the investment property, you will have some advantages that others might not. If you can live there while you are working on it, that's even better! It spreads your risk out and makes your return more solid. (Yes, it will take longer to realize the return, but we all know that the tortoise beat the hare in the race.)
2.)What is my time frame for my return on investment?
If you are working a cash deal, and by the way, I think that is the way to go on investment property, if you had to wait a little bit, no one would be breathing down your neck for payment of a mortgage. If you are working on a line of credit and have other arrangements made with a lender, then you have to make sure that when you close on the property, that you have done all your homework and are ready to move as fast as possible. You do not want to purchase a property in April and have to pay for the heat in the winter time. Ideally, if you could purchase something at the end of January, work on it for three months, then during April or the first of May list it with an agent that you trust. As always, having a good agent on your side can benefit you in both knowing about the deals coming up, and then selling them when you are done.
3.)How much work do I want to do myself, or do I want to hire it all done?
There are no free lunches in this world. You must work for everything you get. When you are starting out, this is the most important thing you can remember. When you are independently wealthy, you should still remember it.
4.)How much money am I willing to spend?
Communicating with your realtor will help them determine what properties that come available will work best for you. There are lots of foreclosures that come available and only last for a few days or even hours! Know how much you are willing to spend and then be willing to walk away. There has never been a deal so great that it will never come around again. With that being said, there are deals that come and go and people kick themselves for years for allowing it to pass. You don't want to be afraid of pulling the trigger on a deal, but conversely, do not be afraid to walk away. Your realtor, if they are any good at all, can advise you when to ..."hold 'em and when to fold 'em"