But I will focus on this one . . . . and it’s a building lot.

In the lovely Sanctuary subdivision right off West River Road.

This lot?  Large, River Road address, access/service road for access and entry, excellent Perrysburg Schools . . . and the exclusive address/location of the Sanctuary.

My very (did I mention VERY . . .?) motivated sellers no longer need the lot – which sold to a builder for $72,500 in 2006 and they picked up to build on.

Our price?   A ridiculous $39k.

For a large building lot in the Sanctuary.

Amazing!

Call me very fast!

It was a great meeting.   I learned a lot.  I will be making some changes based on what I learned.

One upshot:  Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, and other real estate technology companies are relentlessly improving.

If you use one of these applications on your iPad . . . they seem to average an app update about every 2 weeks.

When our local Board of Realtors looks at a platform change – that’s a 3 year process.

Even a software update to our current MLS is a 6 month to 12 month action item . . .

Relentless change by vendors with millions of users vs a local board with 1200 users simply cannot be competed with.

So I expect that the search tools consumers use will continue to outpace the tools used by Realtors behind closed walls.

There is also a blizzard of new and diverse applications that hit the market for smartphones every day.

There are too many to keep up with.

So when I meet up with some agents from other areas, and we talk at length while breaking bread, it invariably happens now that one will pull out an iPhone, show me an app that solved a problem or provides a better solution . . . and then in 30 seconds it is up and running on my iPhone.

In the past?  That was a trip back home.   A phone call to arrange a demo.  A CD arriving to install.  Time to test and evaluate.  Then a purchase decision with training or data conversion to follow.

Now?

Done in one minute.  I might risk $1.99 to $3.99.

The pace of change is faster.   The cost of evaluation and a mistake is miniscule.

What’s next?  My guesses:

Agents ability to predict what buyers are looking for and what they need to look at – driven by smart programming and algorithms is coming.

Total elimination of paper in the transaction is on the horizon – and I look forward to that.

Tools to help buyers predict the value of what they are looking at.

Tools and apps to help sellers rank agents or rate agents.

Tools and apps to allow better mortgage decisions, better title decisions, and better house buying decisions.

All coming soon – in a disruptive, chaotic manner.

Think back, if you can, to how you web tools changed travel, stock buying, mutual funds, and shopping for a car.

That’s the kind of technology change awaiting real estate.

New on the market – and redone inside by the corporate owner with new paint, carpet, and appliances.

Rossford Schools in Perrysburg Township.

4 beds and 2.5 baths.   An interesting and 60% finished hidden room off of the master closet . . . retreat?  Office?  Safe house?  You decide.

$140,900 is all – and there is a “HomePath” option for any buyer:  no appraisal.  No PMI.  All closing costs can be financed also.

All is new in the Spring market . . .

Except if your house failed to sell in 2011.  

Why?

What happened?

Many would say:

1. It was not marketed properly.

If your last agent is/was broke and destitute and/or does not use internet marketing . . . there may be a correlation with these salient facts and your unsold home.  Just saying!

2. It was not in good condition.

Maybe no one thought to ask the buyers that looked what THEY thought.  Maybe your dog/cat/teenager scared away the traffic.  Maybe the directly competing houses blew yours away.

3. It was not a team effort. 

There should be good and effective communication between the home owner and the listing agent.   They must work together.

4. It was not properly priced.

This is the single most important factor today – price.   It beats 1,2,3 above.  It trumps everything including the price of gasoline, the time of year, and is equal to location.

Price is the KEY dynamic.

Ignore it and your home will not sell.

How should you price it?  Who should you talk to?  What comparable sales are good?  What adjustments do you use?  What repairs do you think I should do?

An open house won’t fix an incorrect price.

A new Realtor won’t fix it!

Price is absolutely critical in the Perrysburg real estate market today.

Kaboom. 

It seems like for every one my team and I put together.  Kaboom.

But that’s not really accurate – some houses get 10 offers and it “feels” like there were 9 deals that died.

Some houses get offers, and I truly despise this term, “verbally accepted” . . . and then kaboom.

But was that really a deal?  Really an accepted offer?

National statistics are saying that right now 35% of all accepted offers are busted out and the deal fails.

My agents and my team all agree that is about the level of bust outs we see in Toledo.

Why?  How?

Here are the causes – which might have some value for you if you are buying or selling a house – to try to avoid.  And these are all reasons that I have seen recently in and around Perrysburg:

1. The seller is not able to close – too many mortgages.

2. The seller is not aware or has forgotten about a lien – not enough money.

3. The house does not appraise at contract strike price.

4. The buyer loses their job before closing.

5. The appraisal manager nixes the appraisal.

6. The seller cannot convey clear title due to a myriad of reasons.

7. The buyer changes their mind – and walks.

8. The seller dies.

9. The buyer totally, really, vanishes – like being abducted by aliens.

And the number one reason:

10. The loan is denied.

The best thing to do with most of these reasons is to buck it up, fix the title/inspection/paperwork problem and or find a new buyer.

And repeat the most powerful word in residential real estate sales “NEXT”.

This usually works great.

Three Meadows is “newer” than Colonial Acres.

In the 1800′s and 1900′s?  It was a farm – with lots of apple trees and apple orchards and mature trees and woods.

It was a huge – in fact at the time in the 1970′s – the largest master planned community in Northwest Ohio ever developed.

Mixed use.  Recreation. Commercial.  Residential.

Oh . . . and I grew up in Three Meadows.  So it’s near and dear to my heart.

But there’s another subdivision there – and it was there first:  Colonial Acres.

The houses are pretty much the same.  The layout is the same.  The location is adjacent.

What’s the difference?

The mailbox!   If the mailbox is the fancy, painted wood, brown and gold trim colored style?  You are in Three Meadows.

Regular mailbox – the house is in Colonial Acres.

I will dovetail this arcane Perrysburg real estate tip with my newest Perrysburg listing -

904 Bexton in Colonial Acres.

3 beds, den, Florida room, newer David Hahn kitchen, fireplace, all appliances.

And most importantly to me . . .  it overlooks the backyard of my best friend in Middle School and Perrysburg High School – Carlos Weeber.  We used to play with his dog Saddie adjacent to this house.  And then head out . . . . in his Porsche 914 to cause trouble and mayhem all around Perrysburg.  But those stories and the resulting arrest records/damage claims/insurance settlements must all remain sealed at this time . . .

The house in question?  Updated.  Mint condition. Impeccable.

The neighborhood?  Well, now you know about the history and design of Three Meadows/Colonial Acres.

And since the local miscreants have all gone on and moved on to professional positions in sales/management/medicine/and public service . . . the quality of the area has only gone up.

This is the back yard view – from Carlos’s old yard to help bring back my memories.

$149,900 buys it.   And the estates’ “tag sale” is in a couple of weeks if you want to pick up some great furniture.

There’s lots of buzz out there about the improving residential market.

Good stories here.  And here.

I maintain that well priced, clean and neat houses in Perrysburg that are, let me repeat, well priced – can receive multiple offers.

But the value has to be there.

And the condition has to be right.

In the City of Toledo?  A whole different scenario is playing out.   And it’s multiple offers on mortgage-less houses or REO assets.

Regular well priced listings over $100k are sell-able but not “hot” like the prototypical Perrysburg hot listing above.

The caveat I want to point out is that this is happening in effectively a 0% interest market. 

The cost of money is almost free today.

Laughable.

What will happen when that changes and rates “zoom” up to a more normal 5 or 6 or 7%?

What will happen when capital gains taxes are raised next year by our president (hint: property values will decline in the minds of investors and then real prices will fall).

What will happen when . . . . well you get the idea.

The Case-Shiller numbers from Metro Detroit are at a current level of 70.04, down from 70.95 last month and up from 67.49 one year ago. This is a change of -2.13% from last month and +2.50% from one year ago.

Is that the REAL bottom?  Is that a REAL improvement?

The Libertarian/Free Market counter argument is found HERE for your edification.

This blog is about real estate in Perrysburg  – a hyper-local look at our little tiny market.   And since “all real estate is local” it’s appropriate to note that prices in Perrysburg are firming up while the metro Toledo area, our neighbor to the north, and much of the country are in serious trouble.

“REO” is of course banked owned foreclosed property.

And it’s strange how things sometimes run in streaks.

Today – I wrote an offer on very sharp 43551 REO listing.

Showed one.

Listed one.

That’s all normal . . . here is what is interesting:

1. A new RIVER ROAD REO property (30571 East River Rd.)  On the water.  That does not happen every day – in fact it’s incredibly rare.  $175k.  2500 sq. feet.  Township with Rossford Schools.  Last sold for $100k more . . .

2. A “builder’s own home” type REO listing.  We are putting new carpeting in it as I write this – with a 3 car garage, finished basement, and all the bling/bling you would expect.  $180s’ with close to 3000 sq. feet – and I think it’s worth LOTS more . . .it’s open this Sunday from 1 to 3.  507 Harrison Dr. in Shawnee Trace.  It just might be underpriced by $30k . . . at least!

It’s always good to end on a high note.

Here is a table of SOLD prices in Perrysburg, looking back 2 full years.

Even if it’s not that high.

Prices in Perrysburg for single family home sales were technically down in December 2011 vs. 2010.  But the average price was higher.

Seasonality has fully returned . . . which means lower closing numbers are in store for January, February, and March.

What about the price trends for what sellers are asking and buyers are writing accepted offers on?

Glad you asked!

Here’s your pretty chart (just click on it to read it in normal size . . . )

Remarkably steady and constant if you factor our the seasonality effects . . . Still not a normal market in Perrysburg . . . but we are getting healthier!

But I was thinking about what was hard to do in Perrysburg real estate in 2011.  

So, I will try to “put lipstick on a pig” and share my problems with you in a positive and affirming manner!  

1. Getting or giving an accurate “quick sale value” was very hard to do in 2011.  In Perrysburg.  In Toledo.  The market was shifting and that made the guessing game of providing quick sale numbers very hard (you don’t want to know and you don’t ever want to need a “quick sale valuation” for your house!)

2. Real estate team management was hard.  My team?  Shifted.  One long time assistant retired.  One decided to, rather sensibly, take care of newborn twin boys!  And one just vanished!  New hires and new licensed team additions have made my team larger than ever.

3. Seeing people you sold a house to . . . . lose it to the bank.  Very, very hard.

4. Watch mold grow in great houses – very hard.  Sometimes the rules and regulations conspire to make a house sit in the shadow inventory of foreclosure-land.  And then bad things can happen.  It’s a dirty rotten shame.

5. Managing growth and the new market.   My team and I have never, ever sold more homes for more money.  And I have added several new lead systems.  Which has added a couple of thousand leads to manage.  Very hard.  

6. Telling buyer clients to be careful.  Just because rates are very, very low does not mean that you should spend all your income on that special house.  Not many people like to hear “no”.

7. Manage real estate deals.  Very, very hard.   Every part of every deal has changed in the past 4 years.  Financial rules.  Appraisal rules.  Valuation rules.  Stress levels are high.  Equity is low.  Jobs are under pressure if you are being transferred in or out.  When I have a “happy” closing – with neither the seller or the buyer under duress or stress or distress?  That’s actually notable today.

8. Telling the truth to sellers about the current and accurate value of their home.  Well . . . not hard.  But sometimes painful.  Or distressing.  But it has to be done.

9. Keeping up with the literature.   Never, ever been harder.  I maintain a few “professional designations” for my real estate career.  It’s a little inside industry inside real estate sales and management.  I have the ABR degree.  The CRP degree.  The CRS. The CDPE designation.  About 8 or 10 of them.  And they all take up biannual or triennial accreditation.  Plus my Ohio real estate broker’s license continuing education.  Plus the various real estate and sales and marketing books I love to read.  Too much in 2011.  For the first time ever I have not yet bought or even perused my favorite authors newest book – Seth Godin’s “We Are All Weird”

10. The iPad.  Love it.  Use it every day for real estate and reading (I did get tired of my dear wife hinting at me to “put that iPad down” . . . so I very cleverly bought her one!).  But it’s been a struggle to get forms and contract on it to work right.  Maybe my software engineer son can “make an app” for that in 2012.