Termites? In the city? In my condo?
Maybe.
Termites are a problem, or can be a problem, no matter you live.
No doubt many of you received that infamous email about Formosan termites being embedded in hundreds of thousands of bags of mulch from trees downed by last falls southern hurricanes.
While it is true that this larger species of termite is more pesticide-resistant than domestic termites, they are definitely not included in bags of mulch from Lowes or Home Depot and couldn't survive a winter here in Ohio if they were somehow transported here.
They were introduced to Gulf port states some 50 years ago on ships from East Asia and although they can migrate on their own, they are usually spread primarily through human transport. Your garden variety termite is still a big deal though.
Termites do more than $1 billion in damage each year and not a week goes by when I don't hear a story that has to do with termite damage. Most lenders require a termite inspection prior to authorizing your mortgage. Even if it isn't a condition to your mortgage, have a termite inspection done by a certified inspector. This picture shows what termite damage may look like in a floor joist or ceiling beam.
Single Women Make up 21% of all buyers
I mentioned here about 15 months ago as I noticed that a good amount of my clients the previous year were single women.
It turns out
21% of all home buyers last year were in that category. That's more than twice the rate of single men across the country, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Low mortgage interest rates, lots of homes on the market and higher earnings may be some of the reasons why women are buying homes but I've not read or heard the answer to the obvious corollary -- why don't more single men buy homes for themselves? Is it just some sort of natural phenomenon? Are single men home-adverse? Are they financially unstable or uninformed?
Here's something that may explain a little of that: Maybe it's because of the 4.3 million Americans age 25-34 who are still living at home with their parents, about 63% are men.
According to a Sears study, about 85% of women have been, are, or expect to be soley responsible for a house within their lifetime.
Urban Gardening Basics - Condo Gardening for Beginners, Tips, Videos & more
It's time in Columbus to put the vegetable and other gardens in. The potential for overnight frost is all but gone. If you live in a condo, you don't have to trade in your green thumb, it's all about containers and pots.
If you're not sure what to do or how to go about it, the HGTV link below takes you to a good basic Q&A page with lots of great advice and hints for the urban gardener.
While I'm at it, I'll come out of the closet on HGTV. I'm a sucker for a couple of their shows, especially House Hunters. Sad but true. I do it all day long and then I come home and watch other people do it on TV. What can I say, I'm a real estate junkie. Of course, that's not a bad thing for my clients.
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_nobanner/text/0,,HGTV_10680_23683,00.html
Absorption Rate - How long will my house be on the market?
Although many sellers expect Realtors to carry around a crystal ball and peek into it when setting prices and setting expectations for the sales process, the truth is we can only rely on what the market tells us, experience and knowledge.One tool sellers can use to estimate time on market and temper expectations is Absorption Rate.
To calculate Absorption Rate, divide the number of listings by the number of sales during the last month. Currently, the Columbus real estate market has 17,186 homes and condos on the market. From April 17th to today, 2197 homes or condos have sold, making the absorption rate 7.82.
While certainly not scientific, it is a decent off the cuff barometer of what to expect in a market.
An average seller in Columbus can expect that, if there were no more new listings, that it would take 7.82 months to sell all the current listings on the market. That's up an entire month from about 45 days ago when there were about 1200 fewer homes available.
Let's take a quick look at the absorption rate for some different markets:
Upper Arlington ohio homes - 6.28
Bexley ohio homes - 5.8
Greater Olde Towne East homes - 10.63
Westerville ohio homes - 6.49
Worthington ohio homes - 6.59
Grandview ohio homes - 3.5
Downtown Columbus Condos for sale - 5.31It goes without saying that all homes are not created equally. Nor are they priced equally well. In today's tougher seller's market, Sellers must have realistic expectations of selling price, time on market, and what to expect throughout the process. Their homes have to be clean, clutter free, smell free and as well cared for as possible.
Buying and selling at the same time
The daily reporter today had a great article about selling your home and buying your next home and the stress that goes with it. The way I do things is like this:
- Take the sellers out and show them some homes they might like
- If they find some they like, chances are they'll find some when it's REALLY time to look
- List their home -- Assign them the task of finding their new home with my tech tools and just driving around, looking at open houses, etc.
- Put their home in contract
- Go look at homes they already are ready to see because they've been watching the market
- Put new home in contract
- Close on old home
- Close on new home
Of course, there's much more to it than that and if they've fallen in love with the 'new' home, a bridge loan sure comes in handy. You should see what lenders can do with bridge loans these days too, unbelievable. I like them most for people moving into Columbus or people moving out town.
Here are some highlights from the article ----
Putting a house up for sale can be a stressful experience. According to RealEstate.com, the endeavor is even more taxing for those who are simultaneously selling their home and buying another, prompting the home listings provider to survey 550 such homeowners about the unique challenges they face.
"Many people underestimate the emotional overload of selling one home and buying another at the same time," said Holly Slaughter, consumer experience expert for RealEstate.com."That sense of uncertainty, which is always present to some degree during a home sale or a home purchase, is basically doubled for bridging homeowners," she said. "The only antidote is to spend some time planning for contingencies and to set your expectations realistically."
Forty-two percent of respondents said the uncertainty of knowing how quickly their home would sell was difficult or more difficult than expected. Nearly 70 percent said they were "worried" during the selling and buying process and 67 percent said they were "hesitant." Most people do not buy and sell houses every day, so their unfamiliarity with the process tends to get the best of them, said Chris Reese, president of the Columbus Board of Realtors."That's why they need to get in contact with a Realtor to get that series of events in place," she continued.
Sixty-two percent of those surveyed were successful dual-closers, meaning they were able to close on their existing home and move into their new home without a significant lapse in time. The remaining homeowners either had sold their homes but had not yet closed on a new one, or had closed on a new home but had not yet sold their original home.In addition, the survey revealed that 48.2 percent of all respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the dual negotiation process was taxing.
About 53 percent of those respondents were women, while 42.2 percent were men."For most bridging homeowners, success means moving seamlessly from one residence to another, since most of us don't want the hassle of living in temporary housing or the expense of paying two mortgages," Slaughter said. Nearly half - 47.1 percent - of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that getting their home in sale-ready condition took more time and energy than expected.Once owners begin sorting through all the things they have collected over the years - the first step to getting a house in order - they can begin to feel overwhelmed about moving out, Reese said.
The majority of the bridging homeowners surveyed, 78.2 percent, had no regrets about the process. However, if they had to do it again, 9.9 percent of men vs. 8.8 percent of women, were more likely to say they would have sold their existing home before making an offer on a new home. "For bridging homeowners, there are a lot of moving parts," Slaughter said. "But the good news is, there are some simple things they can do to smooth the process."
The full article can be found here: CENTRAL OHIO SOURCE - The Daily Reporter, Inc.: "Bridging homeowners face unique challenges when buying and selling Bridging homeowners face unique challenges when buying and selling MELANIE MCINTYREDaily Reporter Staff Writer05/04/2006
Maybe.
