Real Estate Blog

It is human nature to want more than you have today? The desire for more isn’t a problem, but the habit of going full-tilt is, when it means extending yourself beyond your current means.

Sounds simple, right? If it’s so simple, then how come there aren’t many good examples to turn to? Look at our national debt and credit card craze. Even Hollywood stars who have had the cash have spent beyond their means. A close call on the Neverland Ranch earlier this year is proof in the pudding. Meanwhile, some stars haven’t been as lucky.

Enter Kathie Anderson, a Connect2Agent member and real estate agent in Libertyville Illinois, who has worked in the real estate industry for 33 years. Anderson recognized a change in the tide of real estate two years ago. Not only a real estate agent, but a homeowner, she decided to sell her house while she could still profit from it. She did just that and purchased a townhouse.

Anderson downsized her house to save her lifestyle.

Looking back, Anderson has no regrets about her decision. Real estate certainly took the tumble that she had anticipated and as a result, many real estate agents selling in the Libertyville Illinois real estate market left the business.

Many people just didn’t have the financial means to weather a slower real estate market.

Currently, there is eight months’ worth of inventory on the real estate market in Libertyville Illinois. Anderson advises homeowners in her local market not to sell unless they really need to. She tells them, “Let’s just wait and see what happens.” Homeowners who do have to sell need to have their house in the best condition it can be, at the lowest price it can be.

They will be competing against REO and short sale properties.

Why the abundance of REO and short sale properties? Because of that supersized lifestyle–the lifestyle that allowed consumers to refinance and take out the equity in their houses, and then use that money to buy things like cars and boats, which lost value on the day of purchase. The lifestyle that allowed people to get interest-only loans to purchase houses they couldn’t otherwise afford.

Sometimes our appetites are bigger than our wallets.

Does that mean people shouldn’t buy real estate right now? Anderson doesn’t think so. She informed me the time is right for a buyer who has saved for a downpayment and has worked on their credit. You won’t be able to get 100 percent financing, but you can get an FHA loan with a 3 percent downpayment.

Any there any rewards for being especially dollar-savvy? Anderson says if you have saved 20 percent down, the Libertyville real estate market is your oyster, with literally hundreds of choices to accommodate your needs and desired lifestyle.

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Do foreclosures seem to be muddying the waters of your local real estate market? Have you been thinking about buying a house, but are leery of making a move toward these REO (bank owned) properties for fear of having your investment crash in around you?

Not all foreclosures are alike. They don’t all come with boarded up windows and 5-foot, sky-high weeds and grass. Many serious deficiencies with a bank-owned property have to be repaired in order for the bank to sell it. It is a bank’s goal to get these houses sold, not keep them on the books to eat a bigger hole in their balance sheets.

Is your appetite hungry for more information about foreclosures? I might have just the entree you are craving. I recently spoke with Andrew Capuano, a Connect2Agent member and Realtor who sells Fairfax County real estate. Capuano migrated his business to specialize in REO properties and lended some great insight into the foreclosure market.

Read on and learn more. Carpe diem–Forclosures can be a great deal for real estate buyers.

Some people conceive that foreclosures are the worst kind of properties. Images of boarded-up windows and dilapidated buildings come to mind. Is this the case with all foreclosures? In the bank-owned world, there are all sorts of properties that get foreclosed on and become REOs.

Capuano informed me that in the Fairfax County real estate market, you can find some foreclosures that are new, beautiful properties. You can also find some that are really awful. They have mold and are considered “contractor’s homes.” Some of the foreclosures in the worst condition are not able to be financed.

A real estate buyer’s best bet is to pick a house in good condition. There’s no need to waste your time with bad houses. You can still get a good deal on the ones that are in good shape. In northern Virginia, Washington D.C., Loudoun and Prince William counties, the REO and new houses are the ones that are moving.

Not quite like gaping at a car accident, but more like watching a comet soar through the sky … that is how I felt when I spoke recently to Dave and Sharon Wilkinson, Connect2Agent members and real estate agents in Tulsa Oklahoma, as they described the steady uptick in their local real estate market.

In Part I of this post, I spoke with The Wilkinson Team about how they got started selling real estate in Tulsa and how they have structured their business. Part I ended with this cliff-hanger, courtesy of Dave:

“In the entire five-county area surrounding Tulsa, the number of houses sold is down 5 percent, whereas the average sales price is up 15 percent.”

I explained the shock and awe of this statistic: It means Tulsa real estate is really OK–better than OK.

In fact, the Tulsa Association of Realtors is working on a major marketing campaign to educate consumers on the health of the Tulsa real estate market, which, according to Dave and Sharon, is unlike any other real market in the country. The campaign is necessary because consumers come into the Tulsa real estate market with the misconception that they can pick up a steal–a real Wal-Mart rollback. This is a misconception.

Commerce is skyrocketing in Tulsa. Google is building a big data center, American Airlines has a large center and Tulsa has recently been named by a large relocation company as the fifth best city to relocate to.

The difference in this market is that Tulsa never experienced the high appreciation the East and West Coast real estate markets did. They were completely out of control, according to The Wilkinson Team. Slow, steady growth is better because the market won’t sustain an unreal appreciation.

There are several other reasons why the Tulsa real estate market has avoided hardship. Here’s the long and short list provided by Dave and Sharon Wilkinson:

• The lending institutions have been more conservative in their offerings.

  

The funny thing with real estate these days is you just never know when you might turn the corner and find a diamond in the rough–a really good story about a market that is actually showing steady growth and appreciation; a market where the banks are not the majority of real estate sellers.

I found such a gem during my interview with Connect2Agent members and Tulsa Oklahoma real estate agents Dave and Sharon Wilkinson. Speaking to them felt like being connected to an oxygen tank. Refreshed and giddy from the rush of pure positive air to my lungs, I eagerly inquired about what’s happening in Tulsa real estate and rejoiced and delighted in each response they gave.

It’s not an easy task to sell real estate these days. Open information on the Internet–accurate or not–and advice from non-professionals–warranted or not–run rampant.

What happens when you combine a truckload of experience with a willingness to engage in new practices? If you are lucky enough to find that winning combination, you end up with a real estate professional who has true market mojo.

Marie White, Connect2Agent member and real estate agent in Knoxville Tennessee, oozed sincerity in my recent interview with her. Everything about our conversation–from real estate in Knoxville to sage advice for newer agents–was as transparent as it gets. Father Time might have moved the clocks into warp drive, but Marie’s old school values make her one ‘Cuil’ persona in a Web 2.0 real estate world.

Rebecca Levinson: How long have you been in the real estate business and what keeps you in it?

Marie White: I’ve been working in the real estate industry since 1984. I have a book of friends that would blow your mind; these are ongoing relationships that I have developed through selling houses. I tell my clients, “Your smile at closing is the icing on my check.”

No matter where you turn on the Internet, figures abound when it comes to real estate. You can get an estimate of your house value or make an offer to a homeowner who might be tempted to move. Real estate buyers can gain access to most of the houses that are listed on the market and sometimes even the price of those that have sold.

Are these intoxicating Internet statistics impairing Orange County real estate buyers’ market prowess? Many real estate advisors seem to think so.

I spoke with James Nocerino, a Connect2Agent member and real estate agent in Orange and Riverside Counties, about the changed relationship between real estate clients and real estate agents, the Internet’s involvement and real estate market challenges.

Are you shopping for a second home or ready to hang your hat year-round in a warm climate? Mamma Mia! Real estate deals abound in Delray Beach. Rachel Hecker, a Connect2Agent member and real estate agent who services Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Broward County, shared her view of the local real estate landscape in Part I of this post. In Part II, Hecker delves even further into the opportunities that exist for consumers looking to buy a house in Delray Beach Florida.

Rebecca Levinson: Can you give me a street view of your local real estate market?

Rachel Hecker: West Boca Raton encompasses communities like Century Village and High Point. Many of the condos in these communities were owned by the 55-and-older demographic. These condos were built in 1968 to 1972. The majority were never updated cosmetically–you’ll find harvest gold color appliances and foil wallpaper. Despite the outdated cosmetic appearance of these units, they were well-maintained. The price for a 1-bedroom is around $59,000 and a 2-bedroom that’s been updated is around $110,000 to $120,000.

East Delray consists of housing in the 800,000 to 1.5 million-dollar price range. They are all brand new and all have been updated.

Rebecca Levinson: So what happened in your market to get it to the short sale state it is in now?

Rachel Hecker: The over-55 communities are not the ones with the short sales. Those were cash buyers who saved their money and purchased the units.

Florida’s traditional popularity as a second home, retiree destination also left it open to heavy investing for the past five years or more. But it wasn’t just traditional investors who took an interest in the Sunshine State. The butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker also got in on a piece of attempted flipping action.

Some of these investors scored big time; others didn’t pull out in enough time. I recently spoke with Connect2Agent member Rachel Hecker about the opportunities that exist in her local market. Read on, ’cause Mamma Mia! Real estate deals abound in Delray Beach.

Rebecca Levinson: Do you focus on a niche in the Delray Beach real estate market?

Rachel Hecker: I work with a lot of relocating clients because I have a lot of contacts. I also work with clients who are looking for second houses. Many people come to Delray Beach and stay for the winter season and then return home.

In Part I of this post, Connect2Agent member Gloria Scheer-MacNeil shared a candid conversation and took the readers of the post on a journey to the center of foreclosures in the Fairfax County real estate market. Scheer-MacNeil shared the frustration real estate buyers and homeowners feel when dealing with the banks to get short sale and REO (Real Estate Owned/Bank Owned) properties approved for sale.

Part II brings us further into the life of real estate buyers and sellers in the Fairfax County real estate market.

Rebecca Levinson: Do you have a lot of new construction in Fairfax County?

Gloria Scheer-MacNeil: There are many new home builders who have pulled out of new development projects. They are finishing what they started and there are always going to be people who want a new house. Now builders are more accommodating to making concessions to real estate buyers.

RL: What is the median price range in the Washington D.C. area real estate market?

GSM: Anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 for a 3-bedroom, 2-bath house. This price range wouldn’t have been feasible a few years ago. It is lower than it’s been in awhile.

RL: What kind of advice can you give to real estate buyers who are considering buying a house in the Fairfax County area?

GSM: If you are a buyer in the Fairfax County area and you keep waiting for the “bottom of the market,” you will have lost out on lower interest rates. You will do fine as long as you go into your home purchase paying what the market will bear.

Real estate is a long-term investment. Even in a normal market, a house will get between 3 to 4 percent appreciation per year. To expect to have your house appreciate 10 to 15 percent is unrealistic.

The market will come around again; historically it (real estate) has always come in cycles and we always learn to adjust. We have had periods in the real estate market where the interest rates were 20 percent and people still bought houses; now interest rates are in the 6 percent range.

If you are a buyer right now, you are getting a more stable house price, a good interest rate and a stable loan if you buy a house in the Fairfax County area.

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You don’t have to look far to hear news of yet another house falling into the foreclosure black hole. Many real estate markets across the country have been affected by REO (Real Estate Owned/Bank Owned) properties. The severity of the effect all depends on the location.

Talking with Gloria Scheer-MacNeil, a Connect2Agent member and real estate agent in Loudoun, Prince William and the surrounding counties of Washington D.C., you get a sense that a clear head is the difference between success and failure in the current real estate market.

“Right now is one of the most challenging times (I have ever witnessed in my career) for real estate in Fairfax VA. … Real estate agents have to be more patient than ever before as they wait with their real estate buyers to get an accepted offer from a lender on a short sale or foreclosure property.”

This is just one anecdote of several that I was able to receive when speaking with Connect2Agent member Anna-Marie Termini, of Fairfax County Virginia. Our conversation was refreshingly candid. Even though we conducted the interview over the phone, I could tell that if we had been face-to-face, her frankness wouldn’t have wavered as we discussed the real estate market in Fairfax Virginia and what action real estate buyers and sellers should take.

Rebecca Levinson: After 18 years selling real estate, what has made you continue in this profession?

Anna-Marie Termini: Good question and one I have asked myself on a “bad” day. I have three reasons that always come back to me:

Real estate is a people business. During the past decade, it has morphed into an Internet business. But just like any professional industry, taking information out of context and without professional guidance can turn a sure thing into a crapshoot.