Posted in: Holidays
Tags: Happy New Year

Home sales in the Midwest jumped 58% in November 2009, the strongest showing of any region, as first-time buyers rushed to claim a temporary federal tax credit.

“I think it’s going to be a very good year this next year,” said Sedalia, Missouri real estate agent Mark Pohl. While the Sedalia area has been in a downhill market for about three years, Pohl believes that the area hit rock bottom in March 2009. Since March, there has been a slow increase in the number of homes sold in the area. “I think it’s progressively gotten better,” Pohl said.

The National Association of Realtors recently reported that there were 106,000 completed sales in the 11-state Midwest region and the median home price was flat at $140,800.

The tax credit deadline drove sales across most of the Midwest. “It got everybody moving,” said Don Godwin, owner of the Re/Max Real Estate Group in Des Moines. “First-time home buyers have probably been most of my business,” Pohl said.

Posted in: Housing Market
Tags: first time home buyers, midwest region, real estate agent

Homes that sold in Ozaukee County in the $250,000 range during November 2009.

Mequon, WI

2930 W Friestadt Rd

Selling Price: $256,500

• 3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths
• 1,404 square feet
• 2 car attached garage
• 2.15 acres
• 2008 Taxes: $3,085.07
• Original Asking Price: $280,000
• Final Asking Price: $273,000
• Closing Date: 11/13/2009
• Total Days on Market: 181
• Price per Square Foot: $182.69

Cedarburg, WI

N56W6523 Center St

Selling Price: $250,000

• 3 Bedrooms, 1.1 Baths
• 1,452 square feet
• 2.5 car detached garage
• .170 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $4,099.53
• Original Asking Price: $264,900
• Final Asking Price: $259,900
• Closing Date: 11/9/2009
• Total Days on Market: 141
• Price per Square Foot: $172.18

Grafton, WI

1504 JoDee Ln

Selling Price: $245,000

• 4 Bedrooms, 1.5 Baths
• 1,900 square feet
• 2 car attached garage
• 1.02 acres
• 2008 Taxes: $3,598.15
• Original Asking Price: $267,900
• Final Asking Price: $254,900
• Closing Date: 11/13/2009
• Total Days on Market: 148
• Price per Square Foot: $128.95

Port Washington, WI

1028 Garnet Ln

Selling Price: $240,000

• 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
• 2,195 square feet
• 2.5 car attached garage
• .20 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $595.81 (partial)
• Original Asking Price: $289,900
• Final Asking Price: $249,900
• Closing Date: 11/25/2009
• Total Days on Market: 71
• Price per Square Foot: $109.34

Posted in: Housing Market
Tags: cedarburg, grafton, Home Buying, home selling, mequon, port washington, Real estate

Homes that sold in Jefferson and Walworth Counties in the $250,000 range during November 2009.

Troy, WI

W2714 County Rd ES

Selling Price: $245,900

• 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
• 2.5 car attached garage
• 1.18 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $4,053.07
• Original Asking Price: $292,900
• Final Asking Price: $249,900
• Closing Date: 11/20/2009
• Total Days on Market: 184

Darien, WI

W7469 Pleasant St

Selling Price: $242,500

• 4 Bedrooms, 3 Baths
• 2 car attached garage
• Between .25 and .5 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $3,065.92
• Original Asking Price: $264,900
• Final Asking Price: $259,900
• Closing Date: 11/19/2009
• Total Days on Market: 329

Elkhorn, WI

1229 Oakwood Ln

Selling Price: $240,000

• 4 Bedrooms, 2 Baths
• 2,268 square feet
• 2 car attached garage
• Between .5 and 1 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $4,302.61
• Original Asking Price: $259,900
• Final Asking Price: $259,900
• Closing Date: 11/23/2009
• Total Days on Market: 144
• Price per Square Foot: $105.82

Fort Atkinson, WI

6039 Alburg Ave

Selling Price: $244,500

• 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
• 2,797 square feet
• 2 car attached garage
• .269 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $4,527.01
• Original Asking Price: $265,000
• Final Asking Price: $265,000
• Closing Date: 11/3/2009
• Total Days on Market: 84
• Price per Square Foot: $87.42

Ixonia, WI

W1288 Woodchuck Ln

Selling Price: $258,500

• 3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
• 2.5 car attached garage
• 1.14 acres
• 2008 Taxes: $3,543.17
• Original Asking Price: $275,000
• Final Asking Price: $275,000
• Closing Date: 11/23/2009
• Total Days on Market: 22

Williams Bay, WI

516 Woodlawn Dr

Selling Price: $252,000

• 4 Bedrooms, 2 Baths
• 2,024 square feet
• 2 car attached garage
• .260 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $4,845.68
• Original Asking Price: $329,900
• Final Asking Price: $275,000
• Closing Date: 11/10/2009
• Total Days on Market: 109
• Price per Square Foot: $124.51

Sugar Creek, WI

N5620 County Rd P

Selling Price: $259,900

• 3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths
• 3 car attached garage
• .269 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $3,094.30
• Original Asking Price: $289,000
• Final Asking Price: $289,000
• Closing Date: 11/30/2009
• Total Days on Market: 77

Posted in: Housing Market
Tags: darien, elkhorn, fort atkinson, Home Buying, home selling, ixonia, Real estate, sugar creek, troy, williams bay

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine!

Second verse of “America, the Beautiful”

The birth of Jesus is why we celebrate Christmas. Family and friends make it special. But never forget, those that put themselves willingly in harm’s way make it possible.

Posted in: Christmas
Tags: Christmas

The title sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But is it?

With the new Home Buyer Tax Credit you have a limited time to sell your home – you need an Accepted Offer on it by April 30th, 2010. If you don’t, expect to be on the market for the long haul – or to reduce your price even further to compensate for the loss of the tax credit. You need to have your house looking great and priced to sell.

When people price their home for sale, they usually have an idea of the lowest price to which they will agree once an offer comes in. Then, they talk to agents eager to get their listing who suggest higher prices and things sometimes go out the window.

When the agents come to your home to talk about pricing it for sale, they will usually print out a Comparable Market Analysis – basically data sheets of homes similar to yours in the same area. These tell you the prices at which the homes sold, at what price they were listed as well as how long the homes were on the market. If you look at all three of these you will see a pattern: the higher priced homes stay on the market longer yet finally sell for a price equal to or even less than the lower priced homes.

Now, look at how long the higher priced homes were on the market versus the lower priced one. Take that and multiply it by your carrying costs (mortgage, insurance, utilities, taxes, maintenance, etc.).

Let’s say that before you had talked to agents you figured you would be happy to get $565,000 for your home. After talking to the agents you see that the comparable homes all sold right around that price yet the agents suggest listing at $599,900 or higher. Before you count the extra $30,000, stop and consider the factors I mentioned above. The homes listed high were on the market 6 months longer than the ones in the lower range yet they all sold in the $560-$569 range. The higher priced homes actually LOST money due to the effects of carrying costs.

Strategy idea: List at $574,900 (or even as low as $565,000). Nothing is sexier to a buyer than a low priced home, especially if it’s a nice one!

Yes, there are buyers out there who’s offer calculus is to offer 10% – 15% off of the price no matter what, but that is only their first offer (many buyers like to test the waters with lowball offers like this, hoping the seller will blink) and if everything else about your house is right there will most likely be a lot of interest and even multiple offers – both factors can keep our selling price high and possibly above your asking price.

Don’t believe me? A quick look at the foreclosure market bears this out. Banks price the homes based on what they need to make out of them to come out whole. A $600,000 home priced at $499,900 will usually have a lot of competition and often sells abouve the asking price because of it. You see, the lower the price of the home, the larger the pool of potential buyers and, thus, more excitement and competition.

Another thing to take into account with your home is that your pool of buyers have most likely looked at several homes similar to yours, priced above or even below your home. By the time a buyer writes an offer on your house, they have already done their own market analysis. Further, as a seller, you should not forget the reason that the buyers are writing an offer in the first place – THEY LIKE YOUR HOME! More than that, they obviously like it better than any other home out there. That is to your advantage!

But, what happens if you only get a handful of showings and one offer no matter how “correct” your asking price? Now you have an offer in for $500,000 with no competition. Are you doomed to sell for significantly less than what you wanted/needed to make on the sale?

Absolutely not! Too often, the preferred method of negotiation is “Too much too little, let’s meet in the middle”. If you really think your asking price is correct for the market, why not counter at your asking price? Or, if you want to end the negotiations quicker, drop to your low price ($565,000 as above) and stick to it no matter how many counter offers come back from the buyer until the he or she “buys or dies”.

So, what happens if the buyer signals they will walk from the deal? In that case you need to review their last counter offer and decide if it is close enough that you don’t want to gamble that another buyer is out there. If you were at your $565,000 price and they wouldn’t come up from $525,000 despite what the market analysis shows you may not have a very serious buyer, anyway. Cut bait and put your line back in the water. Accepting that offer would cost you significantly more than having your home on the market another 6 months (or even a year!).

Ideally, your attractively low price will attract more than one buyer at a time. When it does, you now have both buyers working to keep your price high. First off, buyer agents will usually let your listing agent know ahead of time that they are writing an offer. Your agent would tell anyone else who is writing an offer that there will be competition – if he’s on the ball, he will also call any other agent who may have had a good showing to try and draw more offers. When buyers and their agents know there is competition, the initial offers will automatically be higher. Plus, with neither side knowing the terms of the others offer, negotiation will move quicker and will, often times, end at a price at or above your asking price.

When you’re ready to list your home, take a moment and consider this advice then weigh in the cost of your time and carrying costs – not to mention your tolerance for the sheer hassle and frustration of selling your home. No matter how good your agent, it’s a hard process to go through. Find yourself an agent who will talk frankly with you about pricing your home, as well as one who will earn his commission, not just put the sign in the yard and wait.

Posted in: Sell Your Home
Tags: carrying costs, comparable market analysis, new home buyer, pricing

Homes that sold in the $250,000 range in Racine and Kenosha Counties in November, 2009.

Pleasant Prairie, WI

6219 107th St

Selling Price: $252,000

• 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
• 2,392 square feet
• 2.5 car attached garage
• .92 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $5,492.11
• Original Asking Price: $319,900
• Final Asking Price: $254,900
• Closing Date: 11/30/2009
• Total Days on Market: 159
• Price per Square Foot: $105.35

Waterford, WI

5636 Court Ln

Selling Price: $250,000

• 3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths
• 2,100 square feet
• 2 car attached garage
• Between .25 and .5 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $4,263.12
• Original Asking Price: $299,900
• Final Asking Price: $258,900
• Closing Date: 11/23/2009
• Total Days on Market: 97
• Price per Square Foot: $119.05

Caledonia, WI

6039 Alburg Ave

Selling Price: $258,000

• 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
• 2,308 square feet
• 2.5 car attached garage
• .260 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $5,749.81
• Original Asking Price: $319,900
• Final Asking Price: $264,900
• Closing Date: 11/23/2009
• Total Days on Market: 210
• Price per Square Foot: $117.79

Kenosha, WI

1402 40th Ave

Selling Price: $256,000

• 3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
• 2,450 square feet
• 2.5 car attached garage
• Between .25 and .5 acre
• 2008 Taxes: $6,084.33
• Original Asking Price: $289,900
• Final Asking Price: $264,900
• Closing Date: 11/19/2009
• Total Days on Market: 172
• Price per Square Foot: $104.49

Posted in: Housing Market
Tags: caledonia, Home Buying, home selling, kenosha, pleasant prairie, Real estate, waterford

From Fox Business:

A last-minute rush to take advantage of a tax credit helped push existing home sales in November to their best level since February 2007, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors released Tuesday.

According to the industry group, existing home sales jumped 7.4% in November to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 6.54 million units, compared with 6.09 million units in October. Sales are 44% higher than they were a year ago, when credit markets were frozen and the housing was weak.

The November numbers were better than the 6.25 million figure that economists had forecasted, according to Thomson Reuters.

Like several of the previous months, the real estate market’s activity was primarily fueled by consumers trying to purchase a home before the original Dec. 1 deadline for the first-time home buyers tax credit, NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.

Originally, the tax credit was set to expire at the beginning of this month but the program was extended until April. NAR estimates that 4.4 million households will claim the credit on next years’ tax returns.

First-time home buyers made up 51% of all sales activity in the month.

The rush of buyers compressed inventory levels, with the nation’s inventories falling to a 6.5-months’ supply from a 7-months’ supply in October. Inventories are down 15.5% from a year ago.

But like many months, the positive sales activity was offset by continuing weakness in home prices. The average price of a sold home fell 4.3% during the month to $172,600 and distressed sales, those in foreclosure or sold with more owed on the mortgage than a home’s worth, made up 33% of November’s activity.

Regionally, Northeast sales rose 6.6% to1.13 million annualized units, up 52.7% from a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $223,400, down 13.1% from 2008.

In the Midwest, sales rose 8.4% to 1.55 million, up 53.5% a year ago. The median price was $140,800, nearly flat from a year ago.

Southern existing-home sales rose 4.8% to 2.39 million, 44.8% higher than a year ago. The median price was $151,400, down 1.4% from a year ago.

And in the West, sales rose 10.6% to 1.46 million, up 28.1% from a year ago. The median price was $231,100, down 4.1% from November 2008.

The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage for the month averaged 4.88%, below the 4.95% average in October.

Posted in: Housing Market
Tags: Home Buying, home selling, Real estate