Perrysburg Blog

I imagine that being a police officer is NOT an easy job.

You have the obvious stuff to contend with:  rude citizens, dangerous drivers, inclement weather, nasty domestic disputes.

And you have the non-obvious stuff to contend with:  office politics, union politics, city politics, etc.

Now, amazingly, you even risk being arrested and incarcerated for doing your job.  See Ottawa Hills and Lima for info.

But what if you have a reputation for quality policing.

For great police service.

For dedication and sacrifice (Kip Boulis, etc.)

That’s what the Perrysburg Police have.

We have a great police force.  It actually becomes an asset to the community.   People who call me and talk to me about Perrysburg real estate usually get around, if they are moving from Toledo, to mentioning that Perrysburg is safer and has less crime.

That salient factor is a HUGE reason to own real property in the City of Perrysburg and Perrysburg Township.

For that, reason alone – it’s positive impact on resale and residual value – our Perrysburg Police deserve not only their paychecks, but our thanks.

And you know how it is.

You have a really busy day.   Interruptions.  Urgent new tasks.   Explosions that you HAVE to deal with . . . RIGHT NOW.

Like my day yesterday.   My organized and prioritized task list?  Shredded.   Out the window.  Forgotten.

4 offers to handle.  A couple of new listings.  Urgent phone calls.

A good day – but a really busy one.

And I have about 100 clients/listings at any given time.  And a fantastic staff/team of experts to help me.

And that was MY day.

Which helps me put in perspective the absolute Keystone Cops Festival that is the short sale market.

Short sales?  Those are sellers trying to sell and NOT be foreclosed.  They are actually doing the bank a huge favour since being foreclosed ALWAYS costs the bank a lot more money.

I have been doing short sales for many years.  I teach others how to do them.  I am on the board of directors of the Certified Distressed Property Institute – THE best place for real estate agents to learn how to do short sales correctly.

And here, with the names removed to protect the innocent, is the status of a few of my 10+ short sale deals in the pending hopper:

1. Waiting on the bank.

2. Negotiator says this bank has over 300,000 open files.  Running behind.  No completion date in sight.

3.  No completion date – told to wait.

4. Waiting on new offer.  Previous buyers got impatient.

That’s just 4 deals that are stress producing.

I could tell you about the ones that I have closed or that are pending – they are always a great relief to the beleagured owners.

But EVERY short sale manager, team member, and processor is right now buried in applications.

Snowed in.

Shut in.

Steamrolled.

Some of these processors or negotiators have 500 open files on their desk.

My busy day?

It was nothing compared to what is happening in the short sale space.

There are 74.8 million dogs and
88.3 million cats in the US. 

Many people who have lost their homes have taken
their animals to shelters, or the less responsible ones let them lose, locked
them up in the backyard when they move away. 

People are to blame, not the
animals.

I know – the economy is in the tank.

I know – people are cutting back and cutting costs.

And some are even walking away from houses.  In the City and in the Township.

But don’t hurt your animals!

Sometimes THEY, the little innocent dogs and cats, get foreclosed too.

Some resources:

Toledo Humane Society.
http://www.toledohumanesociety.com/tahs/

Maumee Valley Save a Pet.
http://www.maumeevalleysaveapet.org/

Paws and Whiskers Cat Shelter
http://pawsandwhiskers.org/

Toledo Animal Shelter
http://toledoanimalshelter.com/

Wood County Animal Shelter
http://www.woodcountyhumanesociety.org/

These shelters are immune from the economy with more than enough space, money, and food.

RIGHT.

They are hurting too – and the pets they help are in more danger than ever.

You can help by adopting a stray (and by spaying and neutering your own pets).

One of RE/MAX Master’s REO/foreclosure listings recently generated this benefit:  a cute, nice, starving cat.  Renamed Hobbs by my daughter Hannah (I think Reo is a better name).  He was alone.  Starving.  And desperate for someone to love.

Shots and neutering were extra.  But we now have a great barn/outside cat.   

Somehow, and most amazingly, he has even won over Mr. Buster, our Maltepoo and the Jon Modene Team Mascot (he even has his own business cards!).   They are now friends.

Maybe some good will come out of the REO crisis . . .

Perrysburg House - Seen By Your Appraiser

The last time that I had a BIG problem with appraisals was many, many years ago with a condo project.

And I was trying to “step up” the value by using each new sale to get to a higher price – where the properties belonged – constrained by the paucity of comparable sales and valid appraisals.   As each unit closed for just a little bit higher, we were able to move the value of the remaining condos up.

Well, things have changed.

And that is NOT what is happening now.

Values have been declining – rapidly.  And now, finally, appraisers, bank CEO’s, the drones at the Fed, and our dear Federal Government have awakened from their long boom time slumber.

To demand that new rules and regulations be immediately enforced.

On loosey-goosey lenders?

On criminal mortgage brokers?

On zero interest rate issuing Fed Governors?

No.

On appraisers.

Somehow, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has bludgeoned the ENTIRE REAL ESTATE FINANCE industry into following new rules.

And now the appraisal tsunami is approaching.   The water has receded from shore and people are running onto the now dry sand to look at the fish flopping.

But disaster is approaching.  New rules.  New regulations.  Properties will be “tagged” with non-appeal-able appraisals for 6 months.  Appraisers will be selected at random.

“Call on line 5!  Mr. Billy Hayseed from Podunk County gets to come to the big city to appraise a house for the first time and he needs directions to get to Perrysburg.”  I kid you not.

Deals are just now starting to bust and burst.

This is not just my little old opinion.   Read THIS.

“Complaints about lowballed appraisals — from builders, real estate agents, consumers and mortgage companies — have erupted since May 1, when government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac put their new appraisal rules into effect nationwide. Critics charge that the new system fosters the use of appraisers willing to work for low fees — sometimes 50 percent below previous standards — and who are willing to conduct home appraisals far outside their typical areas of activity”

The carnage is just beginning.

When I figure out what to do to minimize it .  . . I will get back to you.

Because, as I have been saying for many, many years . . . Perrysburg Ohio is one of the greatest little cities or towns to live in and raise a family in.

I had a job offer out of grad school, when I got my MBA from Duke.  “Come live in Manhattan.  Work in downtown NYC.   Start your family right here.”   Did not appeal to me that much.  I took another job.

And you have known it as well – you can search high and low accross America, and you will be very hard pressed to find another town with the amenities and quality of life that we are blessed with in Perrysburg.

Family Circle magazine has just named Perrysburg one of its Top Ten Family Friendly Cities and Towns.

The local newspaper of record has the whole wonderful story.

The whole list:

• Rockwall, Texas

• Evans, Ga.

• Sherwood, Ore.

• Indian Trail, NC

• Edina, Minn.

• Noblesville, Ind.

• Perrysburg, Ohio

• Hendersonville, Tenn.

• Sun Prairie, Wis.

I am sure they are all great towns.

But Perrysburg is the best.

Some houses are like Charles Foster Kane’s mythical mansion, Xanadu.  No man knows . . .

You are a regular Joe.  You read the Toledo Blade and see that your neighbor’s house sold for $X.

So, you assume, it really sold for $X.  Right?

No.  You CANNOT assume this.

Because of the various incentives that sellers can pay at closing to the buyers who buy their house, the “legal” sales price is not always the true price.

Don’t blame the Wood County Auditor.  They simply go with the number provided them, on a statement generated at the closing that the buyer signs.

But in this market there are many legal, but hard to verify “spiffs” that sellers make:

-Paying the buyer’s closing costs.

-Buying “extras” for the buyer.

-Paying an “allowance” for carpeting, decorating, or repairs.

-Paying, in some cases, the very downpayment money that the buyer needs.

You think that the recent sale indicates that your house has a certain value since your house is “better” or bigger or something else.

But they might not have sold for $X right in their pocket – they may have paid $10,000 for a carpet allowance and $6000 in seller paid closing costs and then thrown in $1000 for a new refrigerator.

It is common for me to get one or two or more calls a week asking me about the existence of any seller concessions from prior closed listings from appraisers trying to divine the “true” sales price for a new appraisal that they are working on.

I imagine for every call that I get . . . I don’t get 2 or 3 or 4 other ones.

What is the “true” sales price?

Do Realtors have a continuing obligation to keep such concessions private?

Do Realtors instead have a duty to report such concessions to help the market move and work efficiently?

How do these concessions effect the market (on FHA loans today ALL my sales have seller concessions)?

What are the relationship between these concessions and the movement of homes and the value of homes?

I have some ideas . . . what do you think?