Morrow County, Ohio Real Estate

What's the VALUE of my home in Morrow County?  What is VALUE anyway?  How do we judge VALUE?

Can I Buy A "Fixer-Upper" In Morrow County?

The question is not "Can I Find?", but rather "Can I Buy?"

There are currently 116 homes on the market in Morrow County and although they are not identified in the Multiple Listing Service as "Distressed" properties, I'd guess that at least 25%-30% of these homes are bank owned.  This means that typically most of these homes have "condition" issues that will present problems during the appraisal inspection process.

Although buying a "fixer-upper" presents it's own set of challenges, it can be done.  Watch the video to find out a little more about the unique challenges of this type of property.

Last Minute Gifts Without Shopping

What do they want? What do they need? Will it fit? Do they already have one? These are the common thoughts running through our minds when trying to find the perfect gift.

 The gift of really listening with no interrupting, no daydreaming and no planning your response is exactly what people want when they have something important to say.

The gift of affection with appropriate hugs, kisses and pats on the back can demonstrate your love for family and friends better than words.

The gift of laughter by sharing cartoons and funny stories will say "I love to laugh with you."

The gift of a simple written note shows sincerity and real heartfelt sentiment that may be remembered for a lifetime and could even change a life.

The gift of a sincere compliment supports a person's need to be accepted and appreciated. "You look great in that color", "That was outstanding" or "I really enjoyed that" can make someone's day.

The gift of random kindness or good deeds like holding a door or allowing someone to move ahead of you in a checkout lane shows respect for others.

Your smile, however, may be your most rewarding gift. Invariably, the person receiving the smile will in turn, smile back. The gift you gave will now be given back to you. It will be the right size and you can always use one more.

Consumers in Morrow County, as elsewhere, are vigilant about buying opportunities like Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday along with sales, coupons and rebates.  Some cautious buyers will even risk shopping early to find exactly what they want to waiting until the last moment for potentially lower prices.

In retail, the hype is more obvious and the signs may be easier to read than that of the home market.  Certainly, volumes have been written about the record low mortgage rates and that home prices have adjusted considerably lower in the last four years.

A more subtle indication of a home buying bargain is that statistics indicate that year-after-year, the average home prices fall in the fourth quarter.  The holidays beginning with Thanksgiving, winter weather and the distractions of gift purchases certainly contribute to lower home sales.  

Regardless of what is causing the reduced volume, the smart buyer can take advantage of the end of the year to get their best possible deal on a home purchase in Mount Gilead, Cardington, and Marengo.  The buyers willing to buck the trend could easily benefit from lower prices and less competition from other buyers.

Home Sales in Morrow County Continue Upward Trend

The statistics continue to show improvement for the existing home sale market in Morrow County.  Mount Gilead, Cardington, Marengo and outlying areas all show increased: sales activity, units sold, average sale price, median sale price, along with decreased number of units on the market ( a return to more normal supply and demand).

This is good news for Morrow County residents as home sale prices begin to normalize and the inventory of homes available for purchase decrease.  This will continue to provide higher home prices.

It's too early to tell for sure, but so far the last few months of market activity in Morrow County would seem to indicate that we are "beyond the worst" and returning to more normal home sale market activity.

Buyers who might have been waiting for the "bottom" to buy, might want to act fast before the numbers continue to climb in the coming months.

Here's a quote from the Columbus Board of Realtors:

"Home sales in central Ohio home have exceeded 2010 for the last four months according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. The 1,543 homes sold in October marks an 8.6 percent increase over the 1,421 homes sold in October of 2010. Home sales in September were up 16.6 percent compared to the year before.

Year-to-date, home sales (January through October 2011) are only 2.1 percent behind 2010 and closing

the gap. Homes put in contract last month (1,379) were up 46 percent from a year ago making October the sixth straight month of increased contracts."

To see the entire Columbus Board of Realtors Statistical Sales Report

for Morrow County, October 2011, click here.

Waiting to buy a home in Morrow County (or anywhere else) could cost you money!

The housing market has been in a downward trend for four years. There is some speculation that inventories will not reduce any time soon which will be necessary for prices to rise. However, there are other factors that can increase the cost of housing, specifically mortgages. FHA accounts for a large percentage of the current housing loans and is expected to be even more prominent when the Qualified Residential Mortgage Guidelines go into effect next year.

1. Rising rates are almost certain, due to looming inflation fueled by higher gas and food prices and the enormous amount of deficit spending
2. FHA loan limits have been reduced – they are lower than conventional limits in most markets and FHA has suggested that they might be reduced further.
3. FHA might increase the down payment to 5% or higher in an effort to have a more secure loan that will have less likelihood of going to foreclosure.
4. FHA might decrease the amount of seller contributions in a similar move to require the buyer to have a larger investment in the home and therefore be a more “qualified” borrower.
5. Congress may decide to increase the up-front MIP to build up the FHA reserves. The annual MIP has been adjusted twice since October 2010 when the Up-Front MIP was actually reduced.
6. Due to tougher conventional requirements, demand for FHA loans could exceed maximum annual insurable limits. If Congress is having a hard time raising the limit on national debt, they might not even consider raising the limits for FHA.

In an effort to solidify the lending industry, qualifying is becoming harder for the buyer and more expensive at the same time. Many of the rules changes could go into effect next year. In addition, market factors could easily play a role in increasing buyer’s costs. Waiting will very probably require a larger up-front investment for buyers in the future.

(Authors note: This is the first in a series of posts from my publication called "The Seven Most Common Mistakes Sellers Make And How You Can Avoid Them").

The #1 Reason Homes Don't Sell In Morrow County (or anywhere else for that matter)

A surefire way to get less than the fair market value for your home here in Morrow County is to overprice it in the beginning. It sounds contradictory, but it is true.

There are several reasons for this. First, if your home is more expensive than the similar homes in the area, fewer buyers will choose to even look at it. Why would they waste their time? And the buyers that do decide to look at your home will likely use it for comparison, to justify their decision to purchase a different home. “See? A similar home but a lot more expensive. We should get the one we saw yesterday – it’s a bargain compared to this one.”

Second, the longer your home remains unsold, the less interest it will generate among the buyers. Eventually, when it’s been on the market longer than the other similar homes, buyers will start to think that there is something wrong with it. And then you are faced with the real possibility of being forced to sell it for less than its real value. So make sure that your home is priced correctly from the beginning. This will save you time, aggravation, and money.

Overpricing is not the only pitfall that sellers fall into, some even under-price their homes. How do you know your home’s real value? By getting a professional Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). A CMA will show you what similar homes in your area are selling for, and how long it takes to sell them. You will be able to see the range of values that your home falls into, and then determine an accurate asking price. I offer CMAs for the homeowners in Morrow County free of charge. Just give me a call at 419-947-4004 or send me an e-mail to herb@herbsells.com, and I will prepare one for you at no cost and no obligation.

When I got into this business, cell phones were just hitting our market (about 1995) and although many people HAD cell phones at that time, most people didn't recognize the strange number prefixes.  The 419 area code was familiar enough, but the 560, 244, and other 3 digit prefixes were "strange" and not recognized by most as "local" cell phone numbers.

Working as a real estate agent in Morrow County with sellers in Mount Gilead, Cardington, and Marengo, I felt strongly that I wanted to be able to publish a mobile number where my clients, both current and potential could call a familiar and local number and reach me whether I was in my "office" or not.

Soooo, back in '95, I had an additional "land line" brought into my house with a number 419-947-4004 and then, for only $1.95/month I had that number permanently "call forwarded" to my cell regardless of the carrier or the cell numbe I had at the time.  Remember, this was before the days of the phone companies being able to "port" your number from one carrier or one cell phone to another.

Now, due to phone line "porting" being available, I have a Verizon cell phone with a "land line" number of 419-947-4004.  This is the number I publish most often and this is the number I want people to call me at.  To most people, this LOOKS like a regular Mount Gilead land line number, so they assume that they are calling me at my office.  I am now able to shut off the old 419-947-4004 land line and stop the call forwarding ... saving more than a few bucks every month.

Just exactly like most businesses, when you call, if they are not able to answer immediately, your call will go to voicemail.  That's the way I have my phone set up.  If I am not available when you call, your call will go to voicemail.  I am not available before 7am or after 9pm.  I am not available when I am eating lunch or dinner.  I am not availble when I am "in person" with someone else and I am not available when I am in a meeting or showing properties or in a closing.

As I tell all my clients, if you call and leave a message on my voicemail, I will most usually call you back within an hour or so.  Generally (not always) my time face-to-face with a real person will be over shortly and then and only then will I check my voicemail and return your call.  You will not have to wait hours or days to hear from me.

This post comes because today (while I was out showing properties) some guy called me at 3:28 and at 3:30 and at 3:31, never leaving a voicemail message.  Please DO NOT call me repeatedly hoping you will wear me down and I will finally answer your call.  Quite the opposite ... if you call me repeatedly and not leave a message about why your call is so all fired important, I WILL NOT call you back.

Those people that give me their time (in person) are ALWAYS more important than the impatient idiot that calls repeatedly trying to get my attention.

Morrow County Home Sales Update September 2011

More good news for the Morrow County real estate market based on the numbers reported this week by the Columbus Board of Realtors.  All Morrow County real estate offices and agents belong to the CBR and, as a result, our sales statistics are entered into their data base on a daily basis.

Columbus Board of Realtors compared September, 2011 to the same period last year (September, 2010) and report the following statistics;

• Sept 2011 had 20 closed sales as compared to 16 closed for the same period last year.
• Sept 2011 showed average sale price of over $130,000 compared to $67,000 last year.
• Percent of original list price received of 91% compared to 83% last year.
• Days On Market were a little longer at 88 days compared to 62 last year.

Morrow County Home Sales Report for September 2011

Although our Year To Date numbers are still down compared to YTD last year, the last two months have seen a substantial upswing in sales activity and sale prices.  This is good news for the Morrow County home seller and our local economy in general.

Local lenders are still offering very competitive 30 year fixed rate mortgages around the 4-5% interest rate range and if you've given any thought to buying a home, now is definately the time.

If you've been thinking of selling, give me a call and we can talk about how today's local real estate market will affect you