Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Peachtree...best buy
440 Peachtree is back on the market! I was just looking at my June 3 post and realized that we had offers on all three of those houses within just a few days of getting them on the market! Unfortunately, our contract on Peachtree fell through due to buyer financing so that great property is available again. It's one of the best buys I've seen for condition, and square footage. It's a super house for a first-time buyer who wants room to grow or for an investor looking for potential cash flow.
Happy Summer
Frankly, I'm so embarrassed that it's been since June that I last posted anything here on the blog. Can I plead summer? I've had tons of real estate activity plus children out of school and some really wonderful vacations including two weeks in Montana & Wyoming hiking the wilds of Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Tetons National Park. Don't ask me which I liked better because I still can't decide and I'm still very much in love with Zion in Utah...hmmm...it was nice to come home to our beautiful Kentucky landscape though!
In the time we've spent in Lexington, we've been enjoying lots of bike riding in an attempt to make a game out of curbing our gas usage. Being inside New Circle Road people, we've been enjoying a number of local restaurants that we can ride to easily -- Puccini's Smiling Teeth off Euclid, and our new favorite where I've been 4 times in the last three weeks: A.P. Roots on Romany Road. If you know Lexington, you know that Romany has some great local spots, Suggins, Wheeler's Drugstore, Graeter's, but you may not know that the owners of Suggins have also opened A.P. Roots -- a terrific, more upscale but still very comfortable (i.e. you can ride your bike there and not feel too underdressed) restaurant that features lots of local produce and unique menu items. Marc and I are hooked on the homemade parpadelle noodle dishes. We want to make sure lots of people eat there as I'll cry if they go out of business.
In the time we've spent in Lexington, we've been enjoying lots of bike riding in an attempt to make a game out of curbing our gas usage. Being inside New Circle Road people, we've been enjoying a number of local restaurants that we can ride to easily -- Puccini's Smiling Teeth off Euclid, and our new favorite where I've been 4 times in the last three weeks: A.P. Roots on Romany Road. If you know Lexington, you know that Romany has some great local spots, Suggins, Wheeler's Drugstore, Graeter's, but you may not know that the owners of Suggins have also opened A.P. Roots -- a terrific, more upscale but still very comfortable (i.e. you can ride your bike there and not feel too underdressed) restaurant that features lots of local produce and unique menu items. Marc and I are hooked on the homemade parpadelle noodle dishes. We want to make sure lots of people eat there as I'll cry if they go out of business.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Affordable and great looking for a first time buyer!
Just listed three great properties this weekend that would be perfect for a first-time home buyer! They pack a lot of value and updates into a great price.
Check out 440 Peachtree Road at under $100,000! My sellers have worked so hard to get this house ready to show and you won't believe the square footage! Here's a link to the virtual tour: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1544863.
Another great house! 1144 Kalone Way. This house too has tremendous square footage for the price and the location is so convenient to UK with a quick trip down Alumni Drive or out to Hamburg or for easy access to I-75. I love how quiet and clean the street. Here's a link to the virtual tour: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1544427.
The price is a little higher at 212 Pleasant Pointe but the fact that my seller used to be a professional interior designer will feel apparent here. There's a wonderful Southern Living feel to this great home and the hardwood floors literally gleam throughout the common areas. The carpet upstairs was new last week and this house is as move-in ready as it can be. Here's the virtual tour link for it: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1541948
Any of these homes would make a great place to make a first home purchase or a terrific rental property for the savvy investor.
Check out 440 Peachtree Road at under $100,000! My sellers have worked so hard to get this house ready to show and you won't believe the square footage! Here's a link to the virtual tour: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1544863.
Another great house! 1144 Kalone Way. This house too has tremendous square footage for the price and the location is so convenient to UK with a quick trip down Alumni Drive or out to Hamburg or for easy access to I-75. I love how quiet and clean the street. Here's a link to the virtual tour: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1544427.
The price is a little higher at 212 Pleasant Pointe but the fact that my seller used to be a professional interior designer will feel apparent here. There's a wonderful Southern Living feel to this great home and the hardwood floors literally gleam throughout the common areas. The carpet upstairs was new last week and this house is as move-in ready as it can be. Here's the virtual tour link for it: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1541948
Any of these homes would make a great place to make a first home purchase or a terrific rental property for the savvy investor.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Springtime in Kentucky!!
Bad me...Apparently keeping up with my blog was not the priority that I intended for it to be this New Year's. Could be that the last couple of months have been crazy in the Central Kentucky Real Estate market and that would be a fact! We've seen lots of buyers in the market and lots of great inventory out there for them to purchase. It really is an ideal time to buy in spite of the looming recession.
It's a great time to look at homes too! I don't know when I've seen a prettier spring in Kentucky and I feel like everyone else is saying the same thing. I'm working from home a little this afternoon and watching a shower of dogwood blossoms fall in the breeze out my window.
It's a great time to look at homes too! I don't know when I've seen a prettier spring in Kentucky and I feel like everyone else is saying the same thing. I'm working from home a little this afternoon and watching a shower of dogwood blossoms fall in the breeze out my window.
Friday, March 7, 2008
FHA Mortgage news
Just in from my friend Tommie Faust at Bluegrass Mortgage -- a great lender with whom to work by the way -- the FHA has new loan limits. Here's what she has to say:
FHA has raised their loan limits on single family homes to $271,050 & two-family to $347,000. The 100% loans are a thing of the past. FHA requires the 3% investment and the factor for the PMI is .50. There is a proposal for a 1 ½ investment that hasn’t been approved yet but probably will be. However, the PMI factor will be adjusted according to the risk.
Word on the street, too, is that PMI (the mortgage insurance you buy for your lender if your loan to value ratio is greater than 80%) rates are going to be going up in the future with so many more buyers defaulting on their loans.
FHA has raised their loan limits on single family homes to $271,050 & two-family to $347,000. The 100% loans are a thing of the past. FHA requires the 3% investment and the factor for the PMI is .50. There is a proposal for a 1 ½ investment that hasn’t been approved yet but probably will be. However, the PMI factor will be adjusted according to the risk.
Word on the street, too, is that PMI (the mortgage insurance you buy for your lender if your loan to value ratio is greater than 80%) rates are going to be going up in the future with so many more buyers defaulting on their loans.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Better than new...
First--thanks Jeff and Carl for reading my blog...which brings me to today and the topic you inspired! What's better than new? It's my favorite way to describe homes under 4 years old that have been very gently lived in by their owners. What makes them better than new? These owners have lived in these homes through all of the time-consuming and expensive tasks of upgrading lighting, painting (and painting and painting sheet rock until all the paint actually soaks in), repairing the inevitable nail pops, purchasing and installing window blinds, adding shelving, adding landscaping, nursing the sod, and essentially completing all the tedious details that a new construction home requires. What makes it "better than new" is the next owner benefits from all their hard work and still get what essentially will be a new house!! What a concept.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
10 tips to not sell your home
These aren't mine but they are a riot and well, pretty accurate!!!
Paul Pastore's Top 10 Ways Sellers Can Guarantee Their Home Won't Sell:
1. Be casual, not serious, about selling. A sage once quipped, "Money is only important when you don't want something enough." Real estate expert R.L. Brown said that if half of the 58,000 sellers in Maricopa County removed their for-sale signs we'd be at normal inventory levels. Actions speak louder than words in this market. Discretionary sellers should wait for a less competitive environment.
2. Price it wrong. A home properly priced is half sold. No amount of full-color ads, glossy fliers, multiple photos, virtual tours, agent luncheons, Goodyear blimps, pom-pom girls or Saint Joseph statues will compensate for a wrong, timid retail price.
3. Ignore your agent. Attorneys believe if you represent yourself, you have a fool for a client. Doctors don't self-diagnose. Professionals use professionals. Even though many people believe they're experts on raising kids and real estate, full-time, career pros usually know what's best. Listen to them very carefully.
4. Micromanage the marketing. If you sold cookware in college, carts in California, or carpeting in Cranston, it does not qualify you to second-guess your agent. If you had a real estate license years ago, save your stories about the "good old days" for your children. You can share your concerns and timelines, but leave the details to the listing pro.
5. Reject staging suggestions. Someday shag multi-colored, sculptured carpeting will come back. Whitewashed cabinets, Navajo white walls, linoleum flooring, southwest decor, lots of personal photos, and Elvis paintings on black velvet need to go. Now.
6. Let Fido loose. I recently entered a house and had two frisky, friendly black Labs run up to sniff me. Unfortunately, I had light-gray dress slacks on that day. Both wet stains lasted for hours. Until that day I didn't realize dogs enjoyed chewing the tassels on expensive loafers.
7. Talk to the buyers. Life gets lonely at times. Why not ask the buyers where they grew up? Or how much they qualify for. Tell them about the vacant rental next door. Maybe they could babysit next weekend! Why not share war stories, horror movies or meatloaf recipes?
8. Sell personal items. Wow, maybe the buyers want to buy the patio furniture, rotary lawnmower, or life-size statue of Saint Anthony. You have only four more boxes of Girl Scout cookies to sell. Why not ask for a donation for the March of Dimes, the Humane Society, the local PBS station? Remember the saying, "loose lips sink ships."
9. Discount that smell. My house doesn't smell of pets, baby diapers, curry powder, garlic, fried fish, coconut incense, cigars, manure, mulch, dairy farms or low tide. The buyer must be confusing my castle with a tract home.
10. Dismiss feedback. What do buyers know anyway? They can't possibly mind my barbed wire fence, heavy-duty rebar, backyard bomb shelter, airport runway views, lights from the power plant, hum from the high-voltage lines, railroad tremors, scorpion skeletons, termite mud tubes and pet snakes. What are they thinking?
Copyright © 2008 RE/MAX International Inc. 2/4/08
Paul Pastore's Top 10 Ways Sellers Can Guarantee Their Home Won't Sell:
1. Be casual, not serious, about selling. A sage once quipped, "Money is only important when you don't want something enough." Real estate expert R.L. Brown said that if half of the 58,000 sellers in Maricopa County removed their for-sale signs we'd be at normal inventory levels. Actions speak louder than words in this market. Discretionary sellers should wait for a less competitive environment.
2. Price it wrong. A home properly priced is half sold. No amount of full-color ads, glossy fliers, multiple photos, virtual tours, agent luncheons, Goodyear blimps, pom-pom girls or Saint Joseph statues will compensate for a wrong, timid retail price.
3. Ignore your agent. Attorneys believe if you represent yourself, you have a fool for a client. Doctors don't self-diagnose. Professionals use professionals. Even though many people believe they're experts on raising kids and real estate, full-time, career pros usually know what's best. Listen to them very carefully.
4. Micromanage the marketing. If you sold cookware in college, carts in California, or carpeting in Cranston, it does not qualify you to second-guess your agent. If you had a real estate license years ago, save your stories about the "good old days" for your children. You can share your concerns and timelines, but leave the details to the listing pro.
5. Reject staging suggestions. Someday shag multi-colored, sculptured carpeting will come back. Whitewashed cabinets, Navajo white walls, linoleum flooring, southwest decor, lots of personal photos, and Elvis paintings on black velvet need to go. Now.
6. Let Fido loose. I recently entered a house and had two frisky, friendly black Labs run up to sniff me. Unfortunately, I had light-gray dress slacks on that day. Both wet stains lasted for hours. Until that day I didn't realize dogs enjoyed chewing the tassels on expensive loafers.
7. Talk to the buyers. Life gets lonely at times. Why not ask the buyers where they grew up? Or how much they qualify for. Tell them about the vacant rental next door. Maybe they could babysit next weekend! Why not share war stories, horror movies or meatloaf recipes?
8. Sell personal items. Wow, maybe the buyers want to buy the patio furniture, rotary lawnmower, or life-size statue of Saint Anthony. You have only four more boxes of Girl Scout cookies to sell. Why not ask for a donation for the March of Dimes, the Humane Society, the local PBS station? Remember the saying, "loose lips sink ships."
9. Discount that smell. My house doesn't smell of pets, baby diapers, curry powder, garlic, fried fish, coconut incense, cigars, manure, mulch, dairy farms or low tide. The buyer must be confusing my castle with a tract home.
10. Dismiss feedback. What do buyers know anyway? They can't possibly mind my barbed wire fence, heavy-duty rebar, backyard bomb shelter, airport runway views, lights from the power plant, hum from the high-voltage lines, railroad tremors, scorpion skeletons, termite mud tubes and pet snakes. What are they thinking?
Copyright © 2008 RE/MAX International Inc. 2/4/08
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