Friday, June 15, 2007

Worthwhile Real Estate Blogs To Read

Sacramento Real Estate Voice posts often about foreclosure and financing issues. Here is one post on What is a Short Sale.

Luxury Home Digest covers that market, especially on the West Coast. But I like the other topics as well. Here is a cool post on what your Realtor® should or should not do when you want to write an offer.

Want to move to Nevada? One of the fastest growing States in the Country. Check out John Sells Henderson. He also writes on Active Rain and he does good market reports. This is a newer blog but he will keep adding reports, he is a good steady blogger.

Manhattan Beach on the West Coast...good market reports and I love this blog about styles of homes there. Real estate is local and we all have our own housing styles; fun to see different ones!

Many NE Ohioans take vacations in the Carolinas. Here is the Charlotte Blog. With all of it's history and natural beauty and great historical homes, you might want to invest in a property there. She has a great post on visiting Charlotte.

This next one is one of my favorite bloggers. She works the DC area, here is her Virginia Blog.

The Columbus Best Blog covers all things Columbus, a good enough reason to read it; besides she writes good stuff.

Sacramento California, a pretty spot indeed! Sacramento Real Estate Voice is a worthwhile read and while there, check out the post on what sellers need to know (buyers may ask for closing costs, for one thing).

Arizona is another fast growing State and maybe you want to retire there or move there to see the Cactus League. Whatever the reason, this Phoenix Blog is a good read.

I already have the Opinionated Mortgage Broker on my blog roll but, here is another good mortgage blog hosted on the Rain City Guide. When you purchase a home and get a mortgage your lender is required to give you a good faith estimate. Here is a thoughtful post on why they are sometimes less that great.

Peace Out - 3C

Cuyahoga County Bank Owned Property Sales: Some are Now Upgraded by the Banks

The National news is abuzz with the 2006 figures for foreclosures which are out now. This is not news to us in NE Ohio since our figures have been public and discussed for some time. I wrote about it several times, for example, here.

The end result is that I wind up showing many more bank owned homes to buyers than ever before. With so many homes in almost every market in Northeast Ohio for sale, there is a lot to pick from. Yes, it's a buyer's market. As it turns out, banks are realizing they have to be competitive in the same way private owners who put their homes for sale are being competitive. This means it's now possible to find bank owned homes that have been upgraded.

An example: I have a client with a contract on a home in Cleveland. We had looked at about six homes, and one of them was owned by Fannie Mae (which means the foreclosure occurred on a government loan. After Fannie Mae took it over, they made significant improvements to the home: upgraded the kitchen with new everything including appliances. Stuccoed the garage; replaced the roof on both the home and the garage. They also upgraded the bathroom. This is not your stereotypical bank owned behavior. I guess some banks are realizing there are so many foreclosed properties for sale and in order to get theirs sold they are going to have to put money into it. This is a savvy move on their part. And it also means, if you are looking to buy a home you might not want to pass over the bank owned properties because they may be in better shape than you expect. So ask your Realtor® to add them to your search for a home. The benefit to you is easily seen. The benefit to the community is they sell. Win-win? Peace Out - 3C