Coldwell Banker launches lifestyle search

Company also announces affordability tool

By Inman News, Monday, December 27, 2010.

Inman News™

Realogy subsidiary Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC has added new search tools to its website, the company has announced.

A lifestyle search tool allows users to rate elements of a neighborhood that matter (or don’t matter) to them and then finds neighborhoods that match their criteria in a given geographic area.

Criteria can include whether the neighborhood is rich in shops and services, public transit, nightlife, art and music venues, good schools, and/or golf courses; whether it’s in a rural or urban area; and whether it matches their price range.

“We recognize that a home’s value is more than its bedrooms and bathrooms,” said Helen Galasso, the company’s vice president of platform development and e-business, in a statement. 

“For some homebuyers, school districts are crucial. For others, the neighborhood’s location can make or break their decision. Our new lifestyle search option on ColdwellBanker.com allows people to intuitively narrow in on communities that fit their needs and then pinpoint the perfect home.”

The search is powered by real estate information and technology company Onboard Informatics.

Coldwell Banker also added an affordability tool to help first-time homebuyers figure out if they can afford a particular home. The tool is located next to the estimated monthly payment given for each listing result after a search.

Users can plug in their annual income, total monthly debts, their available funds, their interest rate, and their loan term to find out what they can afford, including monthly payment, loan amount, home purchase price, down payment and closing costs. Users can save their results to their site profiles.

This year’s central Ohio housing market mirroring 2009

The housing market in central Ohio, which rebounded nicely when the federal tax credits were offered in 2009 and early 2010, today is

looking like “more of the same.”

According to the Columbus Board of REALTORS® (CBR), the number of homes sold and the average price of homes sold from

January though October 2010 are nearly identical to the statistics from 2009.

The number of homes sold from January through October was 16,891 – almost identical to the 16,932 homes sold in the same period

of 2009. Average sale price so far this year is $160,671 compared to $161,623 last year.

“While we certainly would like to see a more lively housing market, we’re just pleased that year-to-date numbers are holding their own,”

says CBR President Sue Lusk-Gleich.

Home sales are likely to grow in 2011, but not too quickly. According to the New York Federal Reserve Bank, household finances are

improving, and major purchases will increase as well. 

Freddie Mac reports that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in October 2010 was 4.23 percent – the lowest rate since the

statistics were first recorded by Freddie Mac in 1971. Ten years ago, the rate was 7.8 percent; 20 years ago, it was 10.17 percent; 30

years ago, it was 13.79 percent. According to Lusk-Gleich, “The time to buy is now.”

“Those of us in the real estate profession continue to talk about how perfect this market is for many buyers – especially for those

purchasing their first home,” Lusk-Gleich adds.

Home values continue to rise in September

Home values continue to rise which is good news for central Ohio. The average sale price for the first nine months of the year is $161,204 up 7.4 percent from the beginning of 2010 according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®.

There were fewer homes listed for sale last month than is customary for September. Over the last five years, there was an average of 3,710 homes added to the market during the month of September. However, last month only 2,997 residential homes were added to the already elevated inventory in central Ohio.

Although slightly lower than August, the total residential listings in September (16,728) was still higher than it’s been since August of 2008 when the inventory level rose to 16,975.

“Inventory levels had come down over the last year and a half – which is what we were working towards,” said Sue Lusk-Gleich, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “When inventory levels are too high, the increased competition forces some homeowners to sell at prices that are too low which in turn often affects the values of other neighboring homes.”

“In order to re-balance the market, we either need the inventory to decrease or the number of buyers to increase. And since the tax credit incentives brought many buyers into the market earlier than we would have seen otherwise, we have a smaller pool of potential home buyers to absorb the inventory now.”

“When comparing sales figures to the previous year, we need to remember that home sales have been elevated since April of 2008 due to the tax credits,” adds Lusk-Gleich. “Even so, sales are still up four percent year to date.”

Home sales across Ohio were down 20.3 percent in September but are still up 1.5 percent for the first nine months of the year. The average sale price in Ohio last month was $129,572, down 3.5 percent from last September. Year to date (January through September), the average sale price was $134,318 which is down four percent compared to the first three quarters of 2009.
Nationwide, existing home sales – which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops- were down 19 percent. Distressed homes accounted for 35 percent of sales in September compared with 34 percent in August; they were 29 percent in September 2009.
Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 6.6 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 units, their best pace since June, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department.
The median sale price nationwide for all housing types in September was $171,700, down 2.4 percent from one year ago.
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to a record low 4.35 percent in September from 4.43 percent in August; the rate was 5.06 percent in September 2009.
Housing affordability is near an all-time record. Mortgage interest rates are almost half of what they were ten years ago and they’re about one-and-a-half points lower than the peak of the housing boom in 2005. At the same time, home prices are running about 22 percent less than five years ago when they were bid up by the biggest housing rush on record. 
Click here for Ohio home sales statistics
Click here for the national home sales release

Columbus Board of REALTORS®

More on RRP Lead Paint Regulations

If you’ve seen the videos on the NAR site explaining the new RRP (lead paint) regulations, then you may have seen what the EPA estimates the increased cost of compliance to the regulations is on a project– $65. I don’t know how they came up with that figure, unless they mean $65/6 square feet of renovation.   

My husband is a general contractor, who has been in the building business for over 35 years, and I can tell you, it will be substantially more than $65. The extra time involved to suit-up and clean up every day is going to increase costs, because there has to be at least one or two additional hours factored in per day for labor. This doesn’t even take into account the cost to double cover floors and throw away the top layer of plastic daily, jumpsuits, shoe coverings , head gear, gloves, etc. for each worker on the job. All workers have to vacuum off each time they leave the work area with a HEPA vacuum, and bag all their protective gear; when you figure two coffee breaks and a lunch break, that’s a lot of changing in and out of gear. 

One of the inspectors at our local building department said a lot of the inspectors right now, wouldn’t even go in to do an inspection with the required lead hazard signs posted. Now this may change as they are educated to the new regulations and they’ve gotten used to the whole procedure, but given the extra time it will take, you can bet that the cost of a permit will increase. 

Most insurance companies don’t cover hazardous waste liability in their usual liability policies for contractors. This is an additional cost of several thousand dollars per year. And you know that as soon as the demand for this type of insurance goes up, so will the costs. Lowes is considering eliminating their installed sales because of the potential increased costs and liability; it’s that big of a deal. 

So, Real Estate Pros and General Public, don’t think that your contractor is trying to gouge you when the lead safe practices cost is greater than $65. This is another example of law makers and government agencies having no clue what the real costs are when they make these regulations. 

Having said that, let me say that after researching the hazard lead paint and dust create to a child under the age of six or a pregnant woman, I can see how even one child whose potential is diminished by lead paint exposure, is one child too many. Since lead paint was eliminated from homes after 1978, the incidence of elevated levels of lead found in children’s blood has gone down in Ohio from around 17% in 1996 to around 2% in 2006.
The responsible contractors, who are serious about their business, are receiving the required EPA certification, and will be trying to comply with the regulations. My husband has spent the last couple of weeks getting certified, researching the dangers of lead exposure, and coming up with standard procedures to do his best to be in compliance.    

It won’t be easy, and it certainly won’t be as cheap as $65 per job. Until this has been tested in real world circumstances, we don’t really know how much it will increase the cost to do renovations and repairs. I think it’s important to think about cost vs. benefit. Is it worth paying a little more to reduce the chance that our children, grandchildren-or yes, even our pets, will be exposed to lead? In the long run, those few extra dollars probably won’t matter all that much.

 

Get the Lead Out-New RRP Regulations

As of April 22, 2010, new EPA safety regulations, the Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) regulations take effect, which will require owners of market-rate properties built before 1978 to comply with new rules when doing any renovation or repair work.
Under the regulations, if renovation or repair work is undertaken that disturbs more than 6 square feet of interior surface, or 20 square feet of exterior surface, the work must be done by a trained EPA certified contractor. In addition, residents must be notified and given a copy of the EPA pamphlet, Renovate Right, which is a different pamphlet than the EPA Protect Your Family pamphlet. There are also record keeping requirements for the owner and the contractor who provides the work.
The RRP rules also expand the Lead Safe Housing (LSH) rules for compliance obligations on pre-1978 properties that receive Federal assistance, including Section 8. Under the new RRP rules, these properties must comply with more stringent regulations.
My husband, a general contractor in Columbus, Ohio, was among the first (and few) in this area to become a Certified Renovator. When he came back from the training, I was amazed at what these new regulations entail.
The details are too much to include in this blog post. Here is a link: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm
The NAR has information specific to REALTORS. They have a short video presentation which you can link to: http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs/lead_paint_main
This is going to have a HUGE impact on everyone who owns a property built before 1978, those who work on those homes, and those who sell those homes.
The next few months are going to be interesting as we see how these new regulations effect all of us. It’s going to take some lawsuits to iron out the particulars, I’m afraid. Right now Sierra Club is pushing for eliminating the exemption for homeowners who have no children or pregnant women living in the home.
The good news is that fewer children will be poisoned by lead paint once these regulations become common practice. The bad news is it’s going to cost more money and take longer to complete a renovation project…that’s providing, of course, you can even find contractors who are certified.

Why Use A REALTOR®?

All real estate licensees are not the same. Only real estate licensees who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® are properly called REALTORS®. They proudly display the REALTOR “®” logo on the business card or other marketing and sales literature. REALTORS® are committed to treat all parties to a transaction honestly. REALTORS® subscribe to a strict code of ethics and are expected to maintain a higher level of knowledge of the process of buying and selling real estate. An independent survey reports that 84% of home buyers would use the same REALTOR® again.

Real estate transactions involve one of the biggest financial investments most people experience in their lifetime. Transactions today usually exceed $100,000. If you had a $100,000 income tax problem, would you attempt to deal with it without the help of a CPA? If you had a $100,000 legal question, would you deal with it without the help of an attorney? Considering the small upside cost and the large downside risk, it would be foolish to consider a deal in real estate without the professional assistance of a REALTOR®.

But if you’re still not convinced of the value of a REALTOR®, here are a dozen more reasons to use one:

1. Your REALTOR® can help you determine your buying power — that is, your financial reserves plus your borrowing capacity. If you give a REALTOR® some basic information about your available savings, income and current debt, he or she can refer you to lenders best qualified to help you. Most lenders — banks and mortgage companies — offer limited choices.

2. Your REALTOR® has many resources to assist you in your home search. Sometimes the property you are seeking is available but not actively advertised in the market, and it will take some investigation by your agent to find all available properties.

3. Your REALTOR® can assist you in the selection process by providing objective information about each property. Agents who are REALTORS® have access to a variety of informational resources. REALTORS® can provide local community information on utilities, zoning. schools, etc. There are two things you’ll want to know. First, will the property provide the environment I want for a home or investment? Second, will the property have resale value when I am ready to sell?

4. Your REALTOR® can help you negotiate. There are myriad negotiating factors, including but not limited to price, financing, terms, date of possession and often the inclusion or exclusion of repairs and furnishings or equipment. The purchase agreement should provide a period of time for you to complete appropriate inspections and investigations of the property before you are bound to complete the purchase. Your agent can advise you as to which investigations and inspections are recommended or required.

5. Your REALTOR® provides due diligence during the evaluation of the property. Depending on the area and property, this could include inspections for termites, dry rot, asbestos, faulty structure, roof condition, septic tank and well tests, just to name a few. Your REALTOR® can assist you in finding qualified responsible professionals to do most of these investigations and provide you with written reports. You will also want to see a preliminary report on the title of the property. Title indicates ownership of property and can be mired in confusing status of past owners or rights of access. The title to most properties will have some limitations; for example, easements (access rights) for utilities. Your REALTOR®, title company or attorney can help you resolve issues that might cause problems at a later date.

6. Your REALTOR® can help you in understanding different financing options and in identifying qualified lenders.

7. Your REALTOR® can guide you through the closing process and make sure everything flows together smoothly.

8. When selling your home, your REALTOR® can give you up-to-date information on what is happening in the marketplace and the price, financing, terms and condition of competing properties. These are key factors in getting your property sold at the best price, quickly and with minimum hassle.

9. Your REALTOR® markets your property to other real estate agents and the public. Often, your REALTOR® can recommend repairs or cosmetic work that will significantly enhance the salability of your property. Your REALTOR® markets your property to other real estate agents and the public. In many markets across the country, over 50% of real estate sales are cooperative sales; that is, a real estate agent other than yours brings in the buyer. Your REALTOR® acts as the marketing coordinator, disbursing information about your property to other real estate agents through a Multiple Listing Service or other cooperative marketing networks, open houses for agents, etc. The REALTOR® Code of Ethics requires REALTORS® to utilize these cooperative relationships when they benefit their clients.

10. Your REALTOR® will know when, where and how to advertise your property. There is a misconception that advertising sells real estate. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® studies show that 82% of real estate sales are the result of agent contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, family and personal contacts. When a property is marketed with the help of your REALTOR®, you do not have to allow strangers into your home. Your REALTOR® will generally prescreen and accompany qualified prospects through your property.

11. Your REALTOR® can help you objectively evaluate every buyer’s proposal without compromising your marketing position. This initial agreement is only the beginning of a process of appraisals, inspections and financing — a lot of possible pitfalls. Your REALTOR® can help you write a legally binding, win-win agreement that will be more likely to make it through the process.

12. Your REALTOR® can help close the sale of your home. Between the initial sales agreement and closing (or settlement), questions may arise. For example, unexpected repairs are required to obtain financing or a cloud in the title is discovered. The required paperwork alone is overwhelming for most sellers. Your REALTOR® is the best person to objectively help you resolve these issues and move the transaction to closing (or settlement).

-National Association of Realtors

Welcome to the Columbus Home Page

“It’s a dimension of time…it’s a dimension of space…” It’s the Columbus Home Page, in the real estate zone, a place that changes with the tide of the economy, yet retains its stability over time. Most of the wealthiest people in the world have acquired some portion of their wealth through investment in property. It’s the American Dream to own a home, and  ”be it ever so humble,  there’s no place like home” to give a person a sense of roots and belonging.

I’m Marcia Clausen, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker King Thompson, in Columbus, Ohio. I have created this blog to share my insight, opinions, knowledge, and expertise on the real estate market in general, and the real estate market in Columbus and Central Ohio in particular. I’m hoping as this space grows and evolves, it will become a place where people want to go to find and share information and opinions on what’s happening in the real estate market.

This is only the beginning of  this creation of space, and I admit, I’m very new to the whole “blogging thing.” But, if there is one thing that can be said of me, it’s that I’m seldom at a loss for an opinion, idea, or word.  Soooo……

Are you ready to get in “The Zone” at the Columbus Home Page?