Category Archives: Homes for sale

Home Buyer Alert: Congress wants to increase FHA mortgage fees

In today’s legislation for the “payroll tax cut”, Congress included language that would raise the mortgage fees for an FHA loan. These fees would be for the life of the loan. Congress’ intent is to drive buyers to instead seek to use a conventional loan rather than an FHA loan. For the buyers who do use an FHA loan, they in essence will be helping to fund Fannie and Freddie.

Click to read the report.

In order to get a conventional loan, a buyer must have a 20% down payment, so choosing between an FHA vs a conventional loan isn’t simply an either/or choice. This legislation would put funding of Fannie & Freddie on the backs of mainly first-time buyers or lower-income buyers, who may lack a substantial down payment.

The legislation hasn’t been approved yet as Obama has 60-days to sign it. Home buyers who are thinking about buying in 2012 and who lack 20% down, should keep track of this legislation and perhaps seriously consider purchasing prior to this legislation going into effect to avoid the additional FHA fees.

Why Are People So Angry?

Do you feel as though everyone is acting in the old movie Network? “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

We only need to recall our Psych class from college to understand what’s taking place. Remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? His theory was that we need to take care of the basic needs before we can move up the triangle to the next level.

Maslows hierarchy of needs

Click to enlarge

The past three years, people have been struggling with meeting the bottom two levels of the Maslow triangle. People have lost their HOMES (shelter) for various reasons – some that were under their control and some that were not. People have lost their JOBS which affects shelter, financial security, health, safety net and can affect food and clothing. We’ve had to deal with TERRORISM THREATS, FLOODS, FIRES, HURRICANES, and TORNADOS which impacts our need for personal safety. We’ve lost our financial security/safety net by watching our 401k’s or retirement funds dwindle as the ECONOMY SOURSMEDICAL COSTS and/or insurance costs have escalated so much that people are going uninsured or skipping medical care putting their health at risk.

We’ve been through a lot recently, so it’s no wonder we’re trying so hard to meet our basic needs. We’re afraid!

Who among us has any confidence that Washington DC knows how to get us out of the mess they created. Instead they bicker along party lines or blame those “other guys” rather than bucking up to work together to solve the problems. The only real job they are worried about is their own. But even if THEY lose their job in 2012, unlike regular citizens, they’ll still have THEIR medical benefits and pension for life even though they may have only served one term. How many regular citizens can work 4 years for a company and receive that kind of benefit package?

Whether it’s the conservative Tea Party or the liberal Occupy protests, both groups are essentially trying to fight for the two bottom rows of the triangle. It would be good if the politicians recognized these Maslow Needs of the citizens they are supposed to be working for, and worry less about generating millions of dollars in re-election campaign funds. Rather than giving yet another non-effective stimulus package to their cronies, put the money directly into the hands of taxpayers and let US spend it. Doing that will create demand which will create jobs which will allow people to keep their homes or buy new ones which creates jobs. See how it works! 

Otherwise the citizens are apt to respond as Dr Huxtable (Bill Cosby) did to his TV son, Theo: “I brought you into this world … I can take you out! ”

Copyright © 2011. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.

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Fall Home Sales in the Olentangy School District

The last Quarter of 2011 is upon us. What might we expect in the real estate market? I’m seeing a lot of price reductions as home sellers hope to get their home in contract this month. I’ve seen homes priced in the $200′s reduce their price by $20- 30K. The decreases are even heftier for higher priced homes. With interest rates hovering around 4%, if you’re ready to buy, now may be the time to act. Doing so will mean you can be in your new home by the holidays.

I pulled the numbers from the Columbus Board of Realtors® MLS system for seasonal sales for just the Olentangy school district area of southern Delaware County. I suspect other areas might be similar.

This first chart shows the average price of the homes sold Jan-Sep (green bars) vs Oct-Dec (orange bars) since 2006. It really illustrates the severity the downturn in the housing market had on prices. 2010 was propped up somewhat by the Gov’t Tax Credits which may have allowed buyers to afford slightly higher priced homes. Of course, 2011 has been a crazy year, so it appears buyers became a little more conservative with their spending.

Fall 2011 Avg $ for homes sold in Olentangy school district, Delaware County Ohio

Click graph to enlarge

Same type of info but the chart below illustrates the NUMBER of homes sold. The small percentage of homes sold in the 4th Qtr is the reason I’m seeing so many price reductions now as home sellers hope to get their home in-contract during October, knowing there is less chance of that happening during the holiday months of Nov-Dec or the snow months of Jan-Feb.

Fall 2011 for homes sold in Olentangy school district, Delaware County Ohio

Click graph to enlarge

As for the number of homes currently for sale in the Olentangy area, there are 601 homes with an average price of $429,153. (Houston, we have a $100K problem!) Of those homes that are currently in-contract today, there are 135 with an average price of $348,618, which is closer to the average price of the homes sold so far this year. Historically, around 200 homes have been sold in the fall period so it’s likely there will be some disappointed sellers. Perhaps it’s time to sharpen the pencil.

Copyright © 2011. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.

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Don't click on Google AdsANY GOOGLE-TYPE ADS SHOWN ON THIS BLOG ARE NOT SUPPORTED BY THIS BLOG. DO NOT CLICK ON THEM.
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Good supply of Powell homes for sale

If you’re one of the many people who want to call Powell Ohio home, there is currently an ample supply of homes available for sale in all price ranges except the very low-end. The chart below includes all homes in the Olentangy school district for zip code 43065. It does not include homes that are short-sales, HUD or REO’s but rather homes that appeal to “typical” buyers.

Powell homes for sale today
  # Size Avg Price $/SqFt
Over $1 mill 11 6998 $1,807,172 $258
$500-999 55 5133 $688,888 $134
$400-499 40 3740 $456,736 $122
$300-399 53 3065 $348,176 $114
$200-299 45 2574 $266,866 $104
$100-199 4 1442 $178,125 $69

What this means for you is a strong likelihood that no matter what your criteria is for a home, there’s a good chance you’ll find one that is just perfect for you. Want to live around a golf course? There are three courses in the Powell area: Wedgewood, Kinsale and Scioto Reserve. Want trees or ravines? Yup, got those too. You can select a home that is close to a school. Some of the elementaries are within walking distance of homes. If you like, you can select a neighborhood that is within walking distance of downtown Powell and the community pool. There are homes with smaller lots or lots that are an acre in size.

If you would like my assistance in finding the perfect home, give me a call at 614-825-8860 and I’ll go to work for you.

I’m curling up into my prenatal position now … tell me when it’s over.

Failing economyOn Monday of this week, I wrote about the possibility of future mortgage rates rising in the wake of the S&P downgrade. Well, as we all know the stock market went down - up – down – up - that left many of us feeling like we had vertigo.

The experts told us that this market is different from 2008 because it’s being triggered by a lack of confidence in our Washington politicians whereas 2008 was a problem with the banks.  So much is uncertain with what policies or programs the folks in D.C. will come up with, that companies and regular citizens can’t plan for their future.

Apparently in an attempt to assuage some portion of the uncertainty, Bernanke made a statement that the mortgage rates would be held low until mid-2013. (Read CNN’s article)

So-o-o … “maybe” it’s OK to disregard what I said on Monday … except that it still may be a good time to buy a home if you have a good credit rating, have a job, and have some down payment savings. But then again, I could be wrong … I’m not really certain. GEESH!

The Perfect Father’s Day Gift

Detached garage, workshop in Delaware OH 43015

Yep, you can buy this ultimate “man cave” for dear, old Dad. Men seem to love buildings like this. Perhaps, it brings out the Tim Taylor in them so they, too, can make those grunting noises like he did on the TV show.

Men tend to collect “big boy” toys. This 24′x 32′ building can hold ATV’s, jet skis, cycles, and maybe a prized hotrod from his youth.

You can tell the age of the boy by the price of his toys.

It’s wired with 220 electricity to run all those power tools. Of course, there is a home on the 1.2 acre property where this man-cave is located. If he likes to fish, tell him to walk down the drive and across the road to the Scioto River to catch a fish for dinner … but he has to clean it.

An added bonus is that the Wedgewood Urgent Care Center on Sawmill Parkway in Powell is only 8.9 miles away. That’s good to know when Dad hurts himself. 

You can read all about this home and view a slide show of photos here.