CNN Money published a study today on the future value of homes all over the nation. After looking through the home value tool, the outlook for Cincinnati real estate is fairly similar to that of the rest of Ohio. The state will see about a 5% drop in home values over the course of 2008 with the depreciation slowing to a less than 1% fall in 2009.

What this means to the average home buyer is that if you are looking to move up market, it is time to take a look and make a move. Moving up market in a housing slowdown is a financially rewarding thing if you are in a position to take advantage of the value changes and potentially save money in the equation.

If you are moving from a $150,000 home to a $250,000 that is a $100,000 jump. If both homes sell for 5% less due to the market you are moving from a $142,500 home to a $237,500 home in a $95,000 jump. Same homes in question. $5,000 savings. Moreover the new house property tax will be assessed at the 5% lower sale price.

Forbes Magazine published a study that shows Cincinnati has the 9th best commute in the nation. The survey looked a number of factors including traffic delays, average commute time, and public transit / carpool use.

The Queen City’s public transportation system services a very small percentage of the population. Those who use it are traveling mostly by bus, within the city, and not to and from the suburbs. Traffic isn’t quite fluid, but at 27 hours in annual delays per traveler, it’s still better than average for cities of its size. As gas gets more expensive and economic woes in Ohio continue, expect to see more carpooling long before an expansive train system is needed. Right now, only 9% of commuters carpool, one of the lowest rates in the country.

There are ways that we can make our commutes more efficient, and one trend that seems to be emerging is moving back into the city. The cost of the Cincinnati commute from the exurbs is beginning to add up and there are some attractive living options in closer-in neighborhoods. There are a few other factors pointing to this trend and we will look at one more later this week.

This Sunday, May 4th has been deemed Super Open House Day in greater Cincinnati. Cincinnati Real Estate Agents have schedule 2,000 open houses so buyers can get an idea of the homes currently available for purchase. This event is something that can be attended by anyone who is interested in touring the available inventory, even if you are not actively looking for a home at this time.

As we wrote in the article Cincinnati: Rated One of the Top 6 Cities for Steady Home Prices for 2008, buying a home in Cincinnati makes good financial sense. According to Money Magazine, here are three major reasons why now is a good time to buy: 1) Good Inventory on the market; 2) Lower interest rates means more buying power; and 3) Homeownership is a good long-term investment.

I will be holding two open houses this Sunday. From 12pm-2pm, I will be at 3869 Mt. Vernon Ave in Oakley. From 3pm-4:30pm, we will be at 420 Carrington Lane, Unit 103 in Loveland. We welcome you to come by.

Here are a couple of photos I took of an extreme case of excessive moisture and mold in a vacant HUD home I visited last year.

On a recent home inspection the inspector climbed down from the attic and informed us he detected what appeared to be “Bio growth” under the wood framing of the roof. That was his way of not saying he thinks he saw MOLD. Not being a mold specialist he could not determine if it was mold or not…just that he suspected seeing what appears to be “MOLD”.  How the mold grew in the attic…the inspector suspected the lack of proper ventilation in the attic and the over use of the whole house humidifier cause moisture to form and get trapped in the attic. That sounds reasonable…but now we had to prove the theory and get it corrected.

Mold has become a four letter word in the home inspection, home buying and selling industry. Lets face it. Mold is everywhere and there are literally thousands of types of mold. It’s the bad mold that is dangerous but all mold should be properly assessed by the proper authorities.

Who is the proper authorities you ask? Well it is good to know your facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  is a great place to start. Then there is the ever popular U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They have a lot of information about Mold and it’s effects on you, your property and the air we breath.  It boils down to the effects of excessive uncontrolled moisture in a home.

What did we do after the findings by the home inspector?  We called in the expert mold inspector Mike Hesterberg who determined that we did have mold in the attic. The solution? We then brought in the mold remediation expert Barry McFall from Healthy Indoor Air Services and they gave my buyer an estimate to clean up mold in the attic. Buyers and sellers compromised by each paying half of the cost for the clean up and then the seller agreed to pay half towards installing additional roofing vents to provide more air circulation in the attic to avoid from future mold growth.

It was determined that the mold was not the dangerous type but it was still a form of mold and the buyer felt more comfortable having it removed. I’m glad the buyers and sellers worked together for a solution. As it turned out everyone is satisfied with the outcome and I got a good lesson on Mold.

God bless you and pray for our troops.     

Cincinnatians ‘get’ cell phones. They understand their value, and they use them for more than just talking and texting. Cincinnati actually ranked as the #7 market for mobile phone coupons by Cellfire as published in the Entertainment Marketing Letter. Such an appropriate time, considering all of the interesting cellphone based applications for real estate.

Back in December we reported on GotZapp for developers to send content to potential home buyers on their phones. In November we wrote about Hosefront which allows users to search tax records on a property with SMS or TXT messaging. In both cases the systems rely on savvy users, and according to recent reports Cincinnati has them in droves, so Cincinnati real estate agents should adopt the applications to reach potential sellers.

More than 130 million Americans will receive tax rebates this year as part of Congress’ $168 billion economic stimulus package. 

Payments begin in about two weeks and range from $600 for individuals to $1,200 for couples, plus an additional $300 per child.

Not everyone is eligible for a full rebate, however.

For single filers earning more than $75,000 and joint filers earning more than $150,000, the tax rebate is reduced by $50 for each $1,000 of income beyond the limits. 

An individual with no children, therefore, will not receive a tax rebate if income exceeds $87,000 annually.   The IRS provides a tax rebate calculator that can help make sense of the math.

For tax filers using direct deposit, the rebates will be paid based on the last two digits of the social security number:

• SSN ending in 00-20 will arrive May 2
• SSN ending in 21-75 will arrive May 9
• SSN ending in 76-99 will arrive May 16

For tax filers using paper checks instead of direct deposit, payouts begin a little bit later on May 16 and extend through mid-July.  The IRS makes the exact dates known on its Web site.

For late income tax filers, the IRS send rebate checks about two weeks after the returns are processed, but not before the regularly scheduled date.

If you watch the news to often you hear the consistent drone that home prices are down! The real estate market is in the tank! Well that may be true in some areas but not all. The fact is that in select Cincinnati neighborhoods the average SOLD price is up 20% or more including parts of Amberley, Indian Hill, and Mariemont. The area around Symmes Township and Dry Run / Mt. Carmel have seen better than 9% increase in sold price.

On the other hand some zip codes drop in sold prices up to 25% in the same time period. There could be dozens of reasons for this including tax abatements, inflation, inventory, and normal cyclical changes in neighborhoods. Paramount is that when looking for a home or an investment property your agent has a sense of the overall market trends in that particular area. Nothing is ever a guarantee for valuation but this is the kind of information you should ask for and expect from a Cincinnati real estate professional.

The accuracy of information in this post is dependent on the MLS system for time periods. The analysis included 31 zip codes comparing the previous 6 months with the same six month period one year prior. The analysis is a useful tool for estimating value trends and is not guaranteed to be applicable to all properties in the areas aforementioned.

CNNMoney.com conducted a study to identify cities where home prices are likely to rise the most - or fall the least - over the next 12 months. In the current market real estate investment stability is at a premium to investors as well as new home owners.

The top six cities were:

1. Atlanta
2. Boston
3. Cincinnati
4. Cleveland
5. Detroit
6. Houston

The article states that the reason Cincinnati appears on this list is a result of the city’s manufacturing-heavy economy which should benefit from the falling dollar. Commercial building is up, core city improvements are underway, and high-end developments are moving in.

Some of these developments include The Banks Project, The Gateway Quarter, and other 3CDC projects downtown are contributing to the local economy. Other notable development in the suburbs include Kenwood Towne Place, Nordstrom, and the recent addition of IKEA.

Guess what…Today is Earth Day. I did not know that until I received a reminder to send out my special Holiday card to everyone that is on my email list. In case you were missed, here it is.

These are a couple of my favorite photos I wanted to share with you on Earth Day. Earth Day is about our earth and finding ways and means to make it better. Visit the US Department of Energy to find ways to make your part of this earth a little better.

God bless you and pray for our troops.

Energy costs and ecological impact are a major concern, especially here in Cincinnati. First Look is a web based system that analyzes the solar exposure and the wind currents where you live. For a price they provide a report detailing annual, monthly, and even hourly wind and solar power deviation and means allowing you to assess the impact solar collectors and wind mills would have.

Starting at only $1,000, it is worth the investment before installing a system to determine if the cost and energy savings will be worth the investment. An average US home can use up to 9,000 KMh a year, so using First Look before you invest in the technology may save you money, and the Earth.

For years we have been moving to the suburban areas for lower prices, and in return we get longer commutes. With gas prices what they are what is the actual cost of our suburban home? WorldChanging.org features an application developed by The Center for Neighborhood Technology. Their interactive map helps people visualize the real cost of an area. The CNT defines affordable as housing + transportation costs are less than (<) 45% of the median income of the area.

Those of us familiar with Cincinnati real estate know that some areas covered in the map have much higher home prices, and people who can afford them. Using median income for the region may not be the best metric.

If the numbers were based on median income by zip code I would feel more comfortable with the application. However, this certainly brings up a good point, with gas at $3.35 a gallon location, location, location takes on a whole new meaning.

My assistant and I just helped a couple moving from Dallas Texas to Cincinnati. She (the new Doctor) begins her internship at Children’s Hospital this June 1st. They had exactly 3 days to find the home of their dreams and head back to Texas.

It’s hilarious to explain to out-of-towners that they flew into the Greater Cincinnati (Northern KY) International Airport and landed in Kentucky. Then to get to the Mt Washington/Anderson Twp area you need to cross the Ohio River from Covington to Cincinnati, head East on Fort Washington Way and take 471 across the Ohio River a second time through Newport, Ky and up to Southgate, Ky to I-275 and back across the Ohio River a third time to Ohio once again. It is the absolute shortest route. 

It was also interesting how they absolutely fell in love with the Cincinnati Skyline as we drove through the cut in the hill on I-75 from Covington Ky heading towards Ohio. Then I really put Cincinnati to the test. I asked them if they had heard about Cincinnati Chili…they said “Yes, we have heard it was different”. So we went to Skyline Chili for lunch and I was a hero. They really loved it. So now we have new converts to Cincinnati Chili.

This couple wanted a move-in condition home, with at least 2 baths and a two car garage. It needed to be within 20 minutes of Children’s Hospital and between $140,000 - $160,000. We found a few in Delhi, Bridgetown, Deer Park, Reading, Mt Washington & Anderson Twp. In Northern Kentucky we found a few in Erlanger, Villa Hills and Ft Thomas.

Their first choice was a home in Delhi. Well, the market is not as bad as the media is telling us because we were into a 3-way multiple offer. We went from a Skyline Three-way to a this and lost. Yep, the sellers took one of the other offers and rejected ours. It is a good thing we had a very close second choice. A home in Mt Washington. We immediately got that offer to these sellers on Sunday morning and got it accepted before they flew out of CVG for Texas.

So the moral of this story is …you cannot believe everything you read in the papers about how BAD this market is. Buyers are buying and sellers are selling. This is a good thing. So if you are actively in the market to buy a home don’t think you have plenty of time to make your offers and think you can low ball the seller and expect to get it. That isn’t so in the greater Cincinnati area. If the home shows well and is priced well, someone will buy it. Will that be You? You need to act on it and act reasonable. Don’t be silly or you will loose.

God Bless you and pray for our Troops

This Thursday the Bankers Club is playing host to the Jewish Federation Business Power Hour keynoted by David Ginsburg, President and CEO of Downtown Cincinnati Inc. David will be sharing some of his thoughts on how far Downtown has come and the strategies for continued growth.

The event begins at 6:00 PM and I will introduce David at 6:30 pm, when he will share his comments with the group. Tickets are available by contacting Lindsey Kreindler at 513-985-1522 for further details. The event costs $10/person in advance, $15/at the door.

Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI) is a non-profit business organization with a mission to build a dynamic metropolitan center valued as the heart of the region. DCI provides leadership and advocacy for important issues that ensure long-term downtown vitality. As the Cincinnati Real Estate market continues to expand downtown, DCI will certainly play an important role as a strong partner in improving the city.

It takes 18.5 years for the principal portion of your mortgage to outweigh the interest portion.

For some perspective: If you took a new, 30-year fixed mortgage when the Reds last won the World Series, you’d still be to the left of that arrow for another 11 months.

A Senate bill in Washington aimed at helping Americans through the sub prime mortgage crisis may include funding of up to $4 billion dollars to support a temporary $7,000 tax credit for people buying new homes or properties in foreclosure.

Ohio Senators Sherod Brown and Sen. George Voinovich each have their own questions and concerns about the bill and its impacts on both Ohio residents and lending institutions reports the Dayton Daily News.

If you could claim a $7,000 tax credit for buying a foreclosed house would you? Is it enough to get you to look exclusively at foreclosed properties? Our thoughts are that after the credit crisis and the lending practices get resolved these proactive measures will bolster the Cincinnati real estate market by removing some of the excess inventory.

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