By CB Redpath & Co., on February 18th, 2012
This is not helpful! As someone who has recently sold their home, it looks like my single life is going to continue a little longer. Perhaps if I added a hot tub, like the one below, to my apartment?? Then the suitors would come flocking, right? I found this article amusing and had to share it. If you’re in the market for Lebanon, NH real estate and are considering renting vs. buying, this might sway you in one direction over the other depending on your current marital status! Special thanks to Les Christie from CNN Money for the article!
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When it comes to dating, homeownership can be the ultimate aphrodisiac.
In a survey of 1,000 single people, more than a third of women and 18% of men said they would much rather date a homeowner than a renter.
Only 2% of women said they preferred to date a man who rents, while only 3% of men said they would choose a woman who rents over one that owns her home, according to the survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive for real estate site Trulia.
Both sexes also clearly prefer it when there’s no roommate in the picture; 62% of survey respondents, men and women, prefer to date singles who live alone.
And there was bad news for the growing number of boomerang kids — the young adults who went off to college, graduated and then wound up back in their old bedrooms. It’s going to be hard to find love, except (perhaps) from your parents. Less than 5% of all singles surveyed said they would date someone living in their childhood homes.
“That’s a real deal-breaker,” said Michael Corbett, a spokesman for Trulia. “If you’re still living with your folks, you’re dead-on-arrival for dating.”
Trulia also asked which home features are the biggest turn-ons. Number one turned out to be a master bath. Men (64%) love that private sanctum almost as much as women (75%) do.
Walk-in closets were cited by 55% of men and 72% of women and gourmet kitchens got 51% of the male vote and 62% of the female. Hardwood floors, outdoor decks and home theaters also came in high on the list.
Interestingly enough, hot tubs got a lot less love from respondents. Only 26% of men and 22% of women cited the old standby in the science of seduction as an amenity they would truly want.
By CB Redpath & Co., on February 17th, 2012
It was about 2 or 3 years ago that experts started predicting the end of the housing crunch. Of course, back then the light at the end of the tunnel was a little too small to see. Not it seems that the pundits are back at it and their rationale seems a little more solid. When consumer confidence increases and banks start to loosen their standards (to healthy levels), good things start to happen. We have seen (properly priced) Lebanon real estate sell in as little as 2 weeks and lenders offering more aggressive loans to highly qualified buyers. I think we need to start educating consumers that we will never see the sellers market from 7 or 8 years ago again. That was a fluke in the system and a blip on the long-term real estate screen. Here’s a little more detail from our friend Krista Franks over at DSNews.
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Capital Economics expects the housing crisis to end this year, according to a report released Tuesday. One of the reasons: loosening credit.
The analytics firm notes the average credit score required to attain a mortgage loan is 700. While this is higher than scores required prior to the crisis, it is constant with requirements one year ago.
Additionally, a Fed Senior Loan Officer Survey found credit requirements in the fourth quarter were consistent with the past three quarters.
However, other market indicators point not just to a stabilization of mortgage lending standards, but also a loosening of credit availability.
Banks are now lending amounts up to 3.5 times borrower earnings. This is up from a low during the crisis of 3.2 times borrower earnings.
Banks are also loosening loan-to-value ratios (LTV), which Capital Economics denotes “the clearest sign yet of an improvement in mortgage credit conditions.”
In contrast to a low of 74 percent reached in mid-2010, banks are now lending at 82 percent LTV.
While credit conditions may have loosened slightly, some potential homebuyers are still struggling with credit requirements. In fact, Capital Economics points out that in November 8 percent of contract cancellations were the result of a potential buyer not qualifying for a loan.
Additionally, Capital Economics says “any improvement in credit conditions won’t be significant enough to generation actual house price gains,” and potential ramifications from the euro-zone pose a threat to future credit availability.
By CB Redpath & Co., on February 10th, 2012
 Granted, we’re not over-run with foreclosures as much as some other parts of the country, but when you are out looking for Lebanon, NH real estate and Hanover, NH real estate you might still be on the lookout for a foreclosure or bank-owned property. There are opportunities out there and, just like you, there are savvy investors looking at the same house. Our friend Paul Owers from the Sun Sentinel wrote a nice article about getting the jump on the competition and sniffing out some great deals.
How to beat the competition and buy a foreclosure
Finding a bank-owned home for sale these days is hard enough. Actually buying one is an even bigger problem.
Last year the supply of bargain-basement, foreclosure homes shrank, as banks temporarily stopped trying to repossess properties to review possible paperwork errors.
But 2012 should be a different story. Lenders are starting to resume foreclosure filings, so more of these distressed homes are expected to be listed for sale.
“There’s such demand from buyers,” said Judy Trudel, a real estate agent for Balistreri Realty in Palm Beach and Broward counties. “Whatever foreclosures hit the market this year will be eaten up.”
The average sale price of a South Florida home in some stage of foreclosure is $121,340, according to a third quarter report from RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure listing firm. And these homes sell for 35 percent less than properties not in foreclosure.
Here’s how buyers can find the homes and make their offers stand out from the competition:
 Locate foreclosures by asking real estate agents or going online. Any good agent can direct clients to bank-owned homes. Buyers who want to do their own research beforehand can visit websites such as RealtyTrac.com, which gives consumers a free, seven-day trial. After that, there’s a $49.95 monthly fee to search for property addresses.
Government-run mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac market foreclosures nationwide on HomePath.com and HomeSteps.com, respectively. Neither charges a fee.
In addition, Fannie and Freddie have a program called First Look that gives first-time buyers and others who need financing a head start on investors in the search for bank-owned homes.
Under the program, people who intend to occupy a home as a primary residence can submit offers during a 15-day window without competition from investors. After the 15 days, investor offers will be considered with all other bids.
Start with your best offer. This isn’t 2007 or 2008, when sales were sluggish and sellers were thrilled with any offer. Demand creates bidding wars.
In parts of South Florida, including eastern Broward County, it’s a seller’s market for single-family homes $500,000 or less, real estate agents say.
“If I was a purchaser, I definitely wouldn’t go in [offering] less than the asking price,” said Summer Greene, a Fort Lauderdale real estate manager and the 2012 president of the Florida Realtors trade group.
“My advice is to offer the most you feel you would ever pay for the property,” said Laura Cameron, 51, who paid cash for a Deerfield Beach foreclosure home last year.
Consider making a hefty good-faith deposit. Upon making an offer, a typical buyer puts down $1,000 to convey interest. Buyers who want to impress the bank may want to offer substantially more.
Balistreri’s Trudel recently attended a real estate negotiating class, where the instructor suggested that cash buyers put down the entire purchase price. The rationale: They’ll pay the full amount in a few weeks at closing anyway, so they might as well pay it up front to show serious interest.
But that strategy isn’t for the faint of heart. If a buyer has to back out of the deal for a reason not allowed in the contract, the deposit is at risk, Trudel said.
Be accommodating. Volunteer to close quickly. And when submitting offers, buyers should turn in all the requested paperwork. If a bidder forgets to include a “proof of funds” letter or other documents, the bank may just move on to a more complete offer.
“You can’t turn in 98 percent of the paperwork and expect that you’re going to get it,” said Chip Rowand, of the Keyes Co. in Weston.
 Don’t cave in to unreasonable demands. Trudel said she was told by a bank’s real estate agent that her client would have to waive his right to a home inspection if he wanted the property because so many bidders were interested. The client agreed over Trudel’s objection but still didn’t get the home.
Buying a foreclosure without an inspection is risky because many of the homes are in disrepair, and some have been sabotaged by the previous owners.
“I 100 percent do not recommend it,” Trudel said.
By CB Redpath & Co., on February 9th, 2012
 Staging a home is one of the more critical pieces to selling Lebanon, NH real estate and Hanover, NH real estate. Not only should you do the basics like removing clutter, pictures, food smells and other turn-offs, but sprucing up the interior can make a big splash and turn the tide of your potential buyers. Our friend PJ Wade from Realty Times spent some time reflecting on the interior design techniques and spoke with a few experts in the field who were getting ready for their annual show. Let’s take a peek inside the interior design industry and see if we can pick up a few tips!!
Inside The Interior Design Show
Have you ever asked an interior designer where inspiration for trendsetting ideas and out-of-the-box designs comes from? Interior Design Show exhibitors and participants are renowned for taking interior design a giant step further each year. That’s why interior designers consider this a can’t-miss event.
Interior Design Show (IDS 12), which is held annually in Toronto at the end of January, celebrates innovation. This year the third-annual kick-off symposium, Conversations in Design: Trailblazing & Trendspotting, innovatively brought a dozen international trailblazers together to share their insider views on trendspotting and great design.
 Chee Pearlman, Director of New York-based Chee Company entertainingly guided 12 internationally-acclaimed interior designers, architects, retailers, curators, and industry leaders through individual revelations and group discussions to tease out the thought process behind each professional’s translation of design into business and service realities. The 12 presenters offered instructive and inspiring perspectives on interpreting design for clients who want “something different,” but don’t know exactly what that means:
- Designer Amy Lau, known as “the first to spot trends and the last to follow” and co-founder of Design Miami, dissected design into 5 essential pairs of elements, including “conceal & flaunt” and “craft & soul,” and took the audience through a photographic tour of recent projects to prove her design points, and reveal the simplicity essential to effective complexity.
- Swedish architect Eero Koivisto, Designer and Partner of Claesson Koivisto Rune Architects described the creative juxtaposition that allows design to evolve into innovation when he deconstructed the design process to reveal how to conceive commonplace things as something “really really different”:
- Isola work lounge chair with built in table contoured for our “lounging” use of electronics
- Folding Leaf, a bare-bones cellphone designed for untapped South American markets, that breaks many rules, and
- Örsta, a private art gallery in a Swedish wheat field with exterior walls covered in tiny glass pearls that transform shifting light into striking colour.
- Michael Bruno, founder of 1stdibs.com, offered his successful design website as proof that innovation does not take huge budgets. He slogged away to bring the Paris Flea Market online by creating an online community for dealers that is so powerful it kept their businesses going during the 911-no-travel era. Bruno achieved success in spite of competitors with very deep pockets. If you haven’t visited this site before, don’t be surprised if a few hours go by while you explore — you’ll only have scratched the surface! Bruno describes 1stdibs.com as a “luxury lifestyle” site for those who have more fun buying than selling.
- Michele Caniato, President of design management consultancy Culture & Commerce, is also founder of Material ConneXion. “Our methodology is to empower clients with a global perspective on materials, processes, and emerging technology,” explained Caniato. Material ConneXion, the largest materials library in the world with more than 6,000 materials, currently has 9 locations. Ten offices will open in China by 2017 to bring Chinese materials and technology to the world. In this digital age, the success of these “bricks and mortar” libraries, that bring people and materials together to foster innovation, have proven their value to the design and construction sector on many levels. Caniato says the inspiration for Material ConneXion arose from wanting to break down national material “silos” of Italians working with Italian material, and professionals in other countries restricting themselves in a similar fashion. Caniato emphasized that innovation is not limited to nanotechnology, $5 million dollar budgets, or hours and hours of work. Students who were challenged to create sustainable, biodegradable, inexpensive packing material created a multi-purpose substance made from mushrooms, that is wheat husks and fungi. In another example, Puma’s “clever clever little box” is another example of practical innovation since the challenge to redesign the shoebox saved Puma $10 million a year and endeared them to “green” customers.
- Award-winning Italian architect and designer Piero Lissoni of Lissoni Associates, the Inaugural Guest of Honour, shared many perspectives on his 30-year design career. A provocative speaker, he said, “Life is temporary — I like to design something temporary.” Lissoni explained that clients ask for something “to last a hundred years, something to pass on.” He designs for the next 30 years, because he likes to use materials like glass and concrete which do not last forever. He creates for now, knowing “the space will disappear in 30 years and the building will be dismantled.” The “temporary” reality is a great challenge for many North American renovating owners, too.
IDS was sponsored by relativespace and the City of Toronto. The other two key sponsors, RADO Switzerland and Audi, also backed IDS Platform, the concurrent week-long program of cultural design events, which includes Conversations in Design.
If you’d like to enter the interior design world, IDS offers two great opportunities to the public:
- Attend the IDS Opening Party and “party on” while exploring the extensive tradeshow floor, which will open to professional interior designers the next day — Professional Trade Day.
- During the weekend, IDS is open to consumers, and hosts design seminars from many well-known designers, including Lynda Reeves and Brian Gluckstein.
See you at IDS 13!
By CB Redpath & Co., on February 2nd, 2012
 Even the most casual football fan can’t help but get a little excited about the Super Bowl! Especially those of us in New England. I’ll admit, I’m a little nervous about our friends from New York, but let’s hope Tom and the boys can work some magic and get it done! Like most of the country, including the Hanover, NH real estate market and the Lebanon, NH real estate market, Indy has had a rough spell going back to 2006. Broderick Perkins from Realty Times looks a little deeper into the Super Bowl host and likes what he sees! Enjoy the game this weekend!!!
Super Bowl Host Indianapolis Stepping Up Its Game In The Housing Arena
Let’s hope the Super Bowl game is more exciting than Indianapolis’s housing market.
Like most housing markets, Indy’s 13-county metro area housing market has been playing catch-up since 2006.
Fortunately, when the New England Patriots and the New York Giants roll into Lucas Oil Stadium for Superbowl XLVI on Feb. 6, Super Sunday will give the town something to celebrate.
The Super Bowl brings in a throng of football fans, creating an opportunity for the town and its housing market to get some much needed exposure.
Centrally located, in Indiana, Indianapolis is the county seat of Marion County, with a population of about 840,000. It is the most populous state capital east of the Mississippi and, as quite a sporting town, the perfect venue for the Super Bowl.
Attractions include an array of amateur and professional sporting teams and events, including the Indianapolis Colts, the Indiana Pacers and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500 and NASCAR events. Indy is also headquarters of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), USA Gymnastics, USA Diving, US Synchronized Swimming and USA Track & Field.
It’s also home to several colleges serving up a heavy diet of sports, including Marian University, the University of Indianapolis, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and Butler University.
“Indianapolis has so much to offer its residents. The economy is strong and growing. The housing is affordable and the schools are wonderful. It is a safe, clean, friendly city. We have every professional sports team, wonderful museums and parks. It is a great place to raise a family,” says Janet Jernigan, an Indianapolis-area real estate agent with Platinum Realty Group, reporting to RealtyTimes.com Market Conditions.
Unfortunately, the area’s housing market has been dropping back to punt every year since 2006.
Traditional seasonal swings, with sales peaking mid year, then giving way to deep sales troughs by year’s end, reveal an overall downward trend, year after year, as graphically charted in the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors’ (MIBOR) December 2011 Monthly Indictors report.
Metro area closed sales for 2011, 21,723, were up only 1.2 percent from a year ago, when they were 21,463, but down 8.6 percent from 23,770 in 2009.
For the month of December in 2011, closed sales were at about 1,700, up from 1,500 a year ago, when the sales market appears to have hit rock bottom. However, the 1,700 sales in December weren’t much better than sales as far back in December of 2005.
The median sales price in December 2011, $121,000, was flat, up only 0.8 percent compared to the $120,000 median a year earlier.
Joyce L. Moore an associate broker with J. L. Moore Realty in Indianapolis, reporting to RealtyTimes.com Market Conditions says there are signs of improvement in the area’s housing market, but they are limited.
“Reports of the housing market rebounding are still somewhat premature. We still have a long way to go before we see real progress, but there is progress. Part of the problem is that mortgages are very hard to obtain,” Moore reported.
Indianapolis remains a buyers market with homes selling for only 87.3 percent of the list price in December 2011, down from 89.3 percent a year earlier, according to MIBOR.
“Buyers are in control and can afford to be very picky, however, neither the mortgage holders nor sellers are willing to ‘give away’ their properties. The average time for homes to be on the market is reported to be between nine to 12 months. Sellers need take this reality to heart when listing their homes and they need to make sure all of the cosmetics are taken care of before putting their home on the market, or be willing to suffer the consequences,” Moore added.
Painting a rosier picture, shorter term statistics seem to belie the longer, seasonal rise-and-fall trend. From the third to fourth quarter last year, closed sales rose 11.7 percent, the median sales price was still flat rising only 0.7 percent, but inventories shrunk 8.9 percent during the quarter-to-quarter period.
“While closed sales for the year were up just 1.2 percent, the six-month review shows an 18.3 percent increase over the same period last year. As a result, inventory levels in many locales have been driven down. For the month of December, the months supply of inventory ranks in at 7.7, by far, the lowest number in over a year,” MIBOR reported.
If the short term numbers continue, it could bode well for sales and prices in the coming year, especially if interest rates remain low long enough.
“Ultimately, the upcoming spring market should be a major tell about the future direction of housing. Sellers are seeing multiple-offer situations; buyers are seeing sub-4 percent loans; supply-demand trends are more balanced. That’s a stable foundation and a far cry from 2009,” according to the MIBOR December report.
Robert Sharpe, the Indianapolis Real Estate Examiner for Examiner.com says market conditions bearing down on the area’s housing market indicate recovery will be tough.
Central Indiana has an unemployment rate hovering about 9 percent with employment growing slowly since 2009, gas price hikes weigh heavily on consumer confidence and after two years of low interest rates, they could rise.
“Unemployed people don’t usually buy houses…it’s easy to understand why there are so few buyers in the market,” writes Sharpe.
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