Just listed three great properties this weekend that would be perfect for a first-time home buyer! They pack a lot of value and updates into a great price.
Check out 440 Peachtree Road at under $100,000! My sellers have worked so hard to get this house ready to show and you won't believe the square footage! Here's a link to the virtual tour: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1544863.
Another great house! 1144 Kalone Way. This house too has tremendous square footage for the price and the location is so convenient to UK with a quick trip down Alumni Drive or out to Hamburg or for easy access to I-75. I love how quiet and clean the street. Here's a link to the virtual tour: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1544427.
The price is a little higher at 212 Pleasant Pointe but the fact that my seller used to be a professional interior designer will feel apparent here. There's a wonderful Southern Living feel to this great home and the hardwood floors literally gleam throughout the common areas. The carpet upstairs was new last week and this house is as move-in ready as it can be. Here's the virtual tour link for it: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=1541948
Any of these homes would make a great place to make a first home purchase or a terrific rental property for the savvy investor.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Springtime in Kentucky!!
Bad me...Apparently keeping up with my blog was not the priority that I intended for it to be this New Year's. Could be that the last couple of months have been crazy in the Central Kentucky Real Estate market and that would be a fact! We've seen lots of buyers in the market and lots of great inventory out there for them to purchase. It really is an ideal time to buy in spite of the looming recession.
It's a great time to look at homes too! I don't know when I've seen a prettier spring in Kentucky and I feel like everyone else is saying the same thing. I'm working from home a little this afternoon and watching a shower of dogwood blossoms fall in the breeze out my window.
It's a great time to look at homes too! I don't know when I've seen a prettier spring in Kentucky and I feel like everyone else is saying the same thing. I'm working from home a little this afternoon and watching a shower of dogwood blossoms fall in the breeze out my window.
Friday, March 7, 2008
FHA Mortgage news
Just in from my friend Tommie Faust at Bluegrass Mortgage -- a great lender with whom to work by the way -- the FHA has new loan limits. Here's what she has to say:
FHA has raised their loan limits on single family homes to $271,050 & two-family to $347,000. The 100% loans are a thing of the past. FHA requires the 3% investment and the factor for the PMI is .50. There is a proposal for a 1 ½ investment that hasn’t been approved yet but probably will be. However, the PMI factor will be adjusted according to the risk.
Word on the street, too, is that PMI (the mortgage insurance you buy for your lender if your loan to value ratio is greater than 80%) rates are going to be going up in the future with so many more buyers defaulting on their loans.
FHA has raised their loan limits on single family homes to $271,050 & two-family to $347,000. The 100% loans are a thing of the past. FHA requires the 3% investment and the factor for the PMI is .50. There is a proposal for a 1 ½ investment that hasn’t been approved yet but probably will be. However, the PMI factor will be adjusted according to the risk.
Word on the street, too, is that PMI (the mortgage insurance you buy for your lender if your loan to value ratio is greater than 80%) rates are going to be going up in the future with so many more buyers defaulting on their loans.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Better than new...
First--thanks Jeff and Carl for reading my blog...which brings me to today and the topic you inspired! What's better than new? It's my favorite way to describe homes under 4 years old that have been very gently lived in by their owners. What makes them better than new? These owners have lived in these homes through all of the time-consuming and expensive tasks of upgrading lighting, painting (and painting and painting sheet rock until all the paint actually soaks in), repairing the inevitable nail pops, purchasing and installing window blinds, adding shelving, adding landscaping, nursing the sod, and essentially completing all the tedious details that a new construction home requires. What makes it "better than new" is the next owner benefits from all their hard work and still get what essentially will be a new house!! What a concept.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
10 tips to not sell your home
These aren't mine but they are a riot and well, pretty accurate!!!
Paul Pastore's Top 10 Ways Sellers Can Guarantee Their Home Won't Sell:
1. Be casual, not serious, about selling. A sage once quipped, "Money is only important when you don't want something enough." Real estate expert R.L. Brown said that if half of the 58,000 sellers in Maricopa County removed their for-sale signs we'd be at normal inventory levels. Actions speak louder than words in this market. Discretionary sellers should wait for a less competitive environment.
2. Price it wrong. A home properly priced is half sold. No amount of full-color ads, glossy fliers, multiple photos, virtual tours, agent luncheons, Goodyear blimps, pom-pom girls or Saint Joseph statues will compensate for a wrong, timid retail price.
3. Ignore your agent. Attorneys believe if you represent yourself, you have a fool for a client. Doctors don't self-diagnose. Professionals use professionals. Even though many people believe they're experts on raising kids and real estate, full-time, career pros usually know what's best. Listen to them very carefully.
4. Micromanage the marketing. If you sold cookware in college, carts in California, or carpeting in Cranston, it does not qualify you to second-guess your agent. If you had a real estate license years ago, save your stories about the "good old days" for your children. You can share your concerns and timelines, but leave the details to the listing pro.
5. Reject staging suggestions. Someday shag multi-colored, sculptured carpeting will come back. Whitewashed cabinets, Navajo white walls, linoleum flooring, southwest decor, lots of personal photos, and Elvis paintings on black velvet need to go. Now.
6. Let Fido loose. I recently entered a house and had two frisky, friendly black Labs run up to sniff me. Unfortunately, I had light-gray dress slacks on that day. Both wet stains lasted for hours. Until that day I didn't realize dogs enjoyed chewing the tassels on expensive loafers.
7. Talk to the buyers. Life gets lonely at times. Why not ask the buyers where they grew up? Or how much they qualify for. Tell them about the vacant rental next door. Maybe they could babysit next weekend! Why not share war stories, horror movies or meatloaf recipes?
8. Sell personal items. Wow, maybe the buyers want to buy the patio furniture, rotary lawnmower, or life-size statue of Saint Anthony. You have only four more boxes of Girl Scout cookies to sell. Why not ask for a donation for the March of Dimes, the Humane Society, the local PBS station? Remember the saying, "loose lips sink ships."
9. Discount that smell. My house doesn't smell of pets, baby diapers, curry powder, garlic, fried fish, coconut incense, cigars, manure, mulch, dairy farms or low tide. The buyer must be confusing my castle with a tract home.
10. Dismiss feedback. What do buyers know anyway? They can't possibly mind my barbed wire fence, heavy-duty rebar, backyard bomb shelter, airport runway views, lights from the power plant, hum from the high-voltage lines, railroad tremors, scorpion skeletons, termite mud tubes and pet snakes. What are they thinking?
Copyright © 2008 RE/MAX International Inc. 2/4/08
Paul Pastore's Top 10 Ways Sellers Can Guarantee Their Home Won't Sell:
1. Be casual, not serious, about selling. A sage once quipped, "Money is only important when you don't want something enough." Real estate expert R.L. Brown said that if half of the 58,000 sellers in Maricopa County removed their for-sale signs we'd be at normal inventory levels. Actions speak louder than words in this market. Discretionary sellers should wait for a less competitive environment.
2. Price it wrong. A home properly priced is half sold. No amount of full-color ads, glossy fliers, multiple photos, virtual tours, agent luncheons, Goodyear blimps, pom-pom girls or Saint Joseph statues will compensate for a wrong, timid retail price.
3. Ignore your agent. Attorneys believe if you represent yourself, you have a fool for a client. Doctors don't self-diagnose. Professionals use professionals. Even though many people believe they're experts on raising kids and real estate, full-time, career pros usually know what's best. Listen to them very carefully.
4. Micromanage the marketing. If you sold cookware in college, carts in California, or carpeting in Cranston, it does not qualify you to second-guess your agent. If you had a real estate license years ago, save your stories about the "good old days" for your children. You can share your concerns and timelines, but leave the details to the listing pro.
5. Reject staging suggestions. Someday shag multi-colored, sculptured carpeting will come back. Whitewashed cabinets, Navajo white walls, linoleum flooring, southwest decor, lots of personal photos, and Elvis paintings on black velvet need to go. Now.
6. Let Fido loose. I recently entered a house and had two frisky, friendly black Labs run up to sniff me. Unfortunately, I had light-gray dress slacks on that day. Both wet stains lasted for hours. Until that day I didn't realize dogs enjoyed chewing the tassels on expensive loafers.
7. Talk to the buyers. Life gets lonely at times. Why not ask the buyers where they grew up? Or how much they qualify for. Tell them about the vacant rental next door. Maybe they could babysit next weekend! Why not share war stories, horror movies or meatloaf recipes?
8. Sell personal items. Wow, maybe the buyers want to buy the patio furniture, rotary lawnmower, or life-size statue of Saint Anthony. You have only four more boxes of Girl Scout cookies to sell. Why not ask for a donation for the March of Dimes, the Humane Society, the local PBS station? Remember the saying, "loose lips sink ships."
9. Discount that smell. My house doesn't smell of pets, baby diapers, curry powder, garlic, fried fish, coconut incense, cigars, manure, mulch, dairy farms or low tide. The buyer must be confusing my castle with a tract home.
10. Dismiss feedback. What do buyers know anyway? They can't possibly mind my barbed wire fence, heavy-duty rebar, backyard bomb shelter, airport runway views, lights from the power plant, hum from the high-voltage lines, railroad tremors, scorpion skeletons, termite mud tubes and pet snakes. What are they thinking?
Copyright © 2008 RE/MAX International Inc. 2/4/08
Friday, January 25, 2008
furnace filter maintenance
I find that every time I have a buyer purchase a new home, I learn something new during the home inspection. This week's lesson came from one of my favorite home inspectors -- he's so thorough and a great home educator. He believes that the cheapest furnace filters, changed regularly, are the best choice for improving the functioning and life of your furnace. The more expensive filters have a tighter weave and don't allow enough air through the HVAC system for it to operate as well. He says the expensive ones can be like, well, having a dirty filter! Who knew! I suggest you ask your trusted HVAC professional about the right filter for your system before you rely on my information but the theory makes sense to me and I'm certainly always happy to save money!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
buy & re-fi time
Hopefully you haven't been living in a bubble for the last week, but in the midst of scary stock market news, there's great news for real estate buying. Interest rates are lower than they've been in a year. Almost a full point down -- meaning it's a great time to look at savings you could capture through refinancing your current home or...take note first-time buyers--a great time to stop paying rent and start building your personal worth by investing in a home.
I always like to point out that owning a home is one of the only "real" investment strategies that serves multiple purposes: you invest your money AND you have a place to live. How cool is that! And remember, it's important to buy for yourself AND buy for future resale...but that's a whole other blog!!!
I always like to point out that owning a home is one of the only "real" investment strategies that serves multiple purposes: you invest your money AND you have a place to live. How cool is that! And remember, it's important to buy for yourself AND buy for future resale...but that's a whole other blog!!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Third Street Stuff
Enough about real estate today! Let's talk how cool it is to live in Lexington.
Just down the street from Transylvania University (corner of Limestone and Third) is one of those little jewels of place that make living in Lexington so much fun -- Third Street Stuff. Full of interesting finds that delight 11-year olds and 40-year olds alike, this little gem of a shop and cafe is one of my favorite places to stop in for lunch. Third Street's cafe has a unique assortment of interesting sandwiches, salads and soups and tasty teas and coffees. The clientele is a great mix of folk from Transy, Sayre Upper School students and the odd Rastaferian. Last time I was there, I not only had a delicious lunch but also bought 2 super flashing rubber rings (one for me, one for my 11-year old), a whole bunch of buttons with odd sayings and a cell phone charm. I was sorely tempted to buy some giant magnetic words but came to my senses although I'm still thinking about the refrigerator poetry I could write.
Sooo....go downtown...have lunch...and enjoy Lexington's hipper side!!
Just down the street from Transylvania University (corner of Limestone and Third) is one of those little jewels of place that make living in Lexington so much fun -- Third Street Stuff. Full of interesting finds that delight 11-year olds and 40-year olds alike, this little gem of a shop and cafe is one of my favorite places to stop in for lunch. Third Street's cafe has a unique assortment of interesting sandwiches, salads and soups and tasty teas and coffees. The clientele is a great mix of folk from Transy, Sayre Upper School students and the odd Rastaferian. Last time I was there, I not only had a delicious lunch but also bought 2 super flashing rubber rings (one for me, one for my 11-year old), a whole bunch of buttons with odd sayings and a cell phone charm. I was sorely tempted to buy some giant magnetic words but came to my senses although I'm still thinking about the refrigerator poetry I could write.
Sooo....go downtown...have lunch...and enjoy Lexington's hipper side!!
Friday, January 11, 2008
What's important in your home
As I was running on my treadmill this morning I felt a little like our late gerbil Squirmy on his wheel. I wondered if God was looking down at me thinking, "how cute" just like we used to think of that little guy. Probably not...he didn't seem to huff and puff quite as much!!
My treadmill reminded me how important it is to think about the things that you really need and want in a house before starting the search for a new home. For us, having a dedicated place for exercise equipment (not that you can tell we use it) has been a real plus. We have a finished basement in our house that's been the ideal place to work-out, do crafts, play Dance Dance Revolution on PlayStation 2, and in general make a mess that no one sees unless we intentionally invite them downstairs. For us, we'll never live in a house again that doesn't have a basement or at least a finished bonus room.
If you're beginning to think about a home purchase, one of the best things you can do is take your own personal inventory of the spaces you want in your new home. Take stock for a week or so of what you love about your house and assess the things that you really wish you had in your home but don't currently -- fenced yard for a dog, 2-car attached garage, a particular location, ballroom -- and make a list of your wants and needs. As you work with your Realtor make sure you share your priorities with them. A good buyer's agent will help you use that list and those priorities to find the property that will make you glad to come home!
My treadmill reminded me how important it is to think about the things that you really need and want in a house before starting the search for a new home. For us, having a dedicated place for exercise equipment (not that you can tell we use it) has been a real plus. We have a finished basement in our house that's been the ideal place to work-out, do crafts, play Dance Dance Revolution on PlayStation 2, and in general make a mess that no one sees unless we intentionally invite them downstairs. For us, we'll never live in a house again that doesn't have a basement or at least a finished bonus room.
If you're beginning to think about a home purchase, one of the best things you can do is take your own personal inventory of the spaces you want in your new home. Take stock for a week or so of what you love about your house and assess the things that you really wish you had in your home but don't currently -- fenced yard for a dog, 2-car attached garage, a particular location, ballroom -- and make a list of your wants and needs. As you work with your Realtor make sure you share your priorities with them. A good buyer's agent will help you use that list and those priorities to find the property that will make you glad to come home!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Economic news
I make it a point to keep up with the economic forecast, particularly in regard to our housing market. This week's news reinforces that it continues to be a great time to buy property. Interest rates are great and there's still a healthy supply of homes out there thanks to the media who have led consumers to believe that all of the US economy's problems are because of the housing industry. Interestingly, 95% of mortgage holders are making their mortgage payments on time. That's certainly not the portrait I see being painted in the news!
What I think is worth being cautious about is buying a new home without selling your current home in today's market. Unless you are secure and comfortable financially and two house payments won't completely stress you out, I wouldn't recommend purchasing your next home without having a solid contract on your existing home. It's important to weigh your options before making a commitment to two homes and talk over the situation with a trusted financial advisor and a Realtor whom you trust to give you a solid picture of your current market conditions and their honest opinion on how quickly they believe your current home can be sold.
What I think is worth being cautious about is buying a new home without selling your current home in today's market. Unless you are secure and comfortable financially and two house payments won't completely stress you out, I wouldn't recommend purchasing your next home without having a solid contract on your existing home. It's important to weigh your options before making a commitment to two homes and talk over the situation with a trusted financial advisor and a Realtor whom you trust to give you a solid picture of your current market conditions and their honest opinion on how quickly they believe your current home can be sold.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Happy New Year!
It's a chilly chilly day here in Lexington and Fayette County schools are not in session which proves to my children that there really is a God. Our bedtime prayers last night included an intercession for a snow day along with a ritual wearing of the pajamas inside out! Ahhhh...January 2 really was too soon a day to start back after a wonderful Christmas break.
While I am working today from home, it's also turning into a great day to start putting away Christmas decorations. I'm going to see if I can't motivate my children to round them up for me like a scavenger hunt, have them bring them all into one room and then start packing away. It's also time to think about getting that tree out on the curb for city pick-up! Lexington has a great recycling program and I intend to be more conscientious than ever this year about reducing what goes into our Herbie. I hope you'll join me this year in reducing unnecessary waste and taking advantage of the opportunity in Lexington to recycle everything from yard waste to plastic water bottles.
While I am working today from home, it's also turning into a great day to start putting away Christmas decorations. I'm going to see if I can't motivate my children to round them up for me like a scavenger hunt, have them bring them all into one room and then start packing away. It's also time to think about getting that tree out on the curb for city pick-up! Lexington has a great recycling program and I intend to be more conscientious than ever this year about reducing what goes into our Herbie. I hope you'll join me this year in reducing unnecessary waste and taking advantage of the opportunity in Lexington to recycle everything from yard waste to plastic water bottles.
Friday, December 14, 2007
getting your money back!
People often ask me where they should spend their money when they are considering home improvement projects. Common sense dictates putting your dollars where they'll reap the greatest reward upon resale. The latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that the highest payback for home improvements are exterior projects. The highest reporting items of cost vs. value (i.e. what you spend on a home improvement and what you get in return in resale value) is siding replacement (88%) , followed by a wooden deck addition (85%) , then window replacement (81%). A minor kitchen remodel returns the investment at 83%.
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