Morrow County, Ohio Real Estate

This is a GREAT post that illustrates that distressed properties and homeowners in trouble cross all price and income boundaries.  I'm re-blogging this in hopes that some people in MY Morrow County market will be able to see this and maybe some of them will call a professional for help before it's too late. 

Mount Gilead Buyer Says "But I Just Wanna See The House!"

This one comes up a lot.  I get a call from a potential buyer and they've called on one of my listings and they want to go see the house.  My standard response is then to ask them; if they're working with anybody to help them find a house, and if they have talked with a lender and are they already preapproved.  Often the answer is "No, we're not working with anyone and Yes, we are preapproved."  What a pleasure it is to meet and work with these folks because they've learned the value of getting that loan approval letter in hand before looking at homes.

Every so often though, I get a response something like; "Well no, we haven't talked with a lender, we just wanna see the house."  I get real nervous when I get this response. 

As professionals, we understand the value of qualifying our prospects, both buyers and sellers.  Are these "lurkers" just nosey neighbors?  Are they burglars wanting to case the joint?  Are they drug addicts just wanting to use the bathroom so they can go through the medicine cabinet?

You see for many (selfish) reasons, I want to meet my potential clients before I just run out and show them a home.  I want all of us to be safe rather than sorry.  (Would you want your Mother or your young daughter running out at the last minute and meeting a total stranger in an empty house?)

But this is only 50% of the rationale.  It's really imperitive for the buyer's benefit that they meet with the agent prior to visiting the first home.  The buyer/agent relationship is going to last for some time, through the viewing and buying process and then hopefully for years to come.  By meeting and finding out about each other, they can begin to develop a relationship of mutual respect for each other.

The Realtor can: explain how they run their business (hours and days they work, use of email and v/mail for communications, etc.  The agent can go through the entire home buying process, explaining financing options and benefits, talk about the home inspection process along with the repair remedy process.  We can talk about multiple offers and how we'll handle that should it come up.

They buyer can; verbalize what they want in a home and why that's important to them, they can have the opportunity to see and understand the MLS property reports that their agent will send them, they can go through a sample Settlement Statement so that they can understand what their transaction costs might really be and when they'll be expected to have these monies, (earnest money, inspection fees, etc.)

For me this whole process, what I call the "Buyer Interview" typically lasts about an hour and it's pretty straightforward and natural for me.  But for the buyer it's a new experience that I think allows them to leave the appointment with more knowledge.  And with more knowledge comes less anxiety and increased confidence in the decisions that they are about to make.

If you've been thinking about buying a home, call Herb now at 419-947-4004 to set up your own "Buyer Interview". 

To see what's available in Morrow County, visit www.herbsells.com

Homes To Rent In Morrow County, Ohio

As a local Morrow County Realtor, I get a lot of calls from folks who are looking for homes to rent. It seems that these calls have increased since the decline in the home sale market. It seems as though there may be a lot of folks that have lost their homes for any number of reasons. But they need a place to live - everybody should have a safe, clean place to live.

I own a few rentals but they're all taken right now. But I stopped at the local Metro Housing Authority office in Mount Gilead this morning and picked up a list of rental properties in Morrow County along with the names and numbers of the landlords. Hopefully this will help those out there hunting for a place to live. Just click MorrowRentalLandlordInfo to see the complete list.

To look for homes available for sale in Morrow County, follow this link: www.herbsells.com

Mount Gilead Home Buyers Ask About HUD Homes.  In this current real estate market there are investment opportunities abundant! 

One of those opportunities are the abundance of HUD owned homes on the market.  These are homes that the lender has "bought back" at the sheriff sale and because the loan was an FHA (HUD) insured loan, HUD pays the lender the value of the "insurance" and HUD becomes the legal owner.  HUD then lists these properties with local Realtors to get the maximum exposure possible and move toward a quick sale.  "Quick Sale" are the operative words. 

Buyers can really get a good deal but they must be "READY, WILLING, and ABLE" to move forward with the purchase.  After viewing the property with their real estate agent, buyers must be pre-approved with a lender and they must be able to put up between $500 and $1000 in earnest money should they be the successful bidder.

HUD places all their properties on a web site and buyers work with real estate agents to submit their bid electronically.  Once notice comes that you are the winning bidder, then a full written bid package must be forwarded to HUD within 24 hours.

Here in Morrow County, my office is the Listing Broker for HUD owned homes.  We are also the Listing Broker for HUD homes in Marion, Crawford, and Wyandotte Counties.  To see what HUD owned homes are currently available in any of our service areas, go to www.nhmsi.com and click on "Ohio" at the bottom of the page.  From there you can search by County, City, or Zip code.

For more information and help with the home buying process, give me a call at 419-947-4004 or email to herb@herbsells.com

Morrow County Cardington Ohio Like New Ranch $124,900  Located at 176 Midland Avenue in the small Village of Cardington in central Morrow County, this home is only 4 years old and offers the buyer small town living with easy access to Delaware and Columbus.

Built by Goodman Builders in 2005, this home, located at the south edge of Cardington, offers 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, first floor laundry, and Bruce hardwood flooring in the kitchen where all stainless kitchen appliances remain. Living room has a vaulted ceiling, double-hung vinyl insulated windows and full basement with poured walls.

This opportunity is a SHORT SALE, and the seller's lender will need to approve any and all offers.  This home was purchased new for $139,900 4 years ago and offers buyers a great value in this market.

To find out more, see more interior photos, maps, and a Virtual Tour visit this link.