“I am an out of town owner, and I want to rent my 4000 sq. foot, river front mansion in Perrysburg.  I will sign a 12 month lease for $299 per month.   I need a deposit of $2000.  Email me back on Craigslist or call 419-260-XXXX!”

Hmm.

Too good to be true?

Yes.  It is.

People are actually out there purporting to rent houses THEY DON’T REALLY OWN.

There have NEVER been more vacant houses in Perrysburg than there are today.

This weekend I had to check on 2 new assigned assets for a bank.  Both in Perrysburg.  Both long vacant.

It is neither hard to find them or to pretend to own/control/rent them.

Here is how they do it – and what it costs.

1.  Get a prepaid cell phone.  Use a false ID.  $120

2.  Find an empty house.  $0

3.  Jimmy the lock – put your own on.  $25

4.  Place a bogus Craigslist ad – $0

5.  Make the “deal” so good . . . that you have multiple takers.

6. Spend one day collecting the rental deposits.

7.  Vanish.

This is happening in many other markets – here is a report from San Diego.

I have experienced versions of this scam in Toledo with foreclosed houses.   But . . . it’s just a matter of time in Perrysburg.

Do not “leave the money on the table”.

Don’t rent from a person who is offering something too good to be true.

Don’t trust anyone who does not have a legitimate business presence in the area.

Verify the actual ownership of the property you want to rent – the Wood County Auditor is free!

Who sells the most homes?

In and around Toledo?

In 2009? Who wins the gold?  The silver?  The bronze?

These guys do!

Congratulations to all of them!

Top 50 Agents 2009:

Includes MLS sales in Lucas and Wood Counties from 1/1/2009 to 12/31/2010 and excludes non-commission HUD home sales, commercial sales, mobile home sales, and cemetery lot sales. So . . . it’s my take on the top agents.

Which is now a very valid and pertinent question . . . since the town’s biggest builder just recently closed up shop.

And the current level of new construction activity is, oh, about 10% of what it was a few years ago.

Suddenly, getting a nice, neat, clean, modern new(er) house is actually harder . . . but still, if you are transferring into Perrysburg/Northwest Ohio, just as important and vital.

IMO, Perrysburg continues to be the number 1 choice for incoming corporate moves – but whereas in the past I could show such a transferee 10 or 20 new homes from a diverse number of builders – that is simply not possible today.

But – do not despair Mr. and Mrs. Transferee.

We have houses like 780 Little Creek.

Subdivision still open – Forester/Wherle still building and active but only with contract in hand, no more specs/models . . .

Modern, 2 story, center hall design.

Clean.  Livable.  Not beat up.

No glaring design flaws.

Owners have upgraded with a professional build quality finished basement.  They have updated/upgraded the F/W flooring with tile/ceramic/new berber as needed.

They have upgraded the standard level F/W appliances with some new, bright stainless ones.

And, they have even fenced the yard, built a deck, and added a hot tub.

No need to write a building contract and live in a hotel for 5 months . . . this house is ready.

And it is not unique.  There are several similar like it on the market at any given time.

So the move into town from Chicago or Pittsburgh or Dayton, etc. need not be filled with disquiet at the current lack of new builds.

$189,900 as of this date – it is SHARP!

One of my favorite real estate writers posed a similar query in the Wall Street Journal’s excellent real estate blog – Developments.

James Hagerty posed the question: “Will the bank take my iPhone?”

Which is sobering – I have an iPhone.  You can’t have it.  You can’t take it.  It’s addictive and it’s mine . . . and I have a hard time imagining it being surrendered to a creditor.

Which made me do some thinking.

And then some investigation.

Since I deal with many homeowners today who owe the bank MORE than the market value – what can happen to their iPhones?

And their cars?

And their retirement savings?

And their other assets and possessions?

5 or so years ago this was a pointless, absurd question.

It just did not happen in Perrysburg.

Today – it’s a vital, important, timely question.

According to the Fed (specifically the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond VA) in their monolithic report “Recourse and Residential Mortgage Default:  Theory and Evidence form U.S. States) Ohio is considered a “recourse” state.

That means that lenders may have MORE remedies against a defaulting homeowner than just taking the house back in a foreclosure.

(N.B. – for this entire post, please remember that I am not an attorney and you should and are highly recommended to hire your own attorney to answer your questions!  You need a good, honest attorney . . . call me, and I will recommend one to you)

If I am a defaulting homeowner, I do not like “recourse”.

What is interesting about the lenders right of recourse in our state is that only in Ohio and Iowa does the lender have a very short period to seek recourse – and in Ohio, and thus Perrysburg, it is only for 2 years after the foreclosure.

Y0u can download their 50+ page paper yourself and read the gory details.  The financial equations on page 10 caused me to have a regression attack and revisit my finance classes at Duke University.   I was so shook up by this I had to go out and sell 5 houses today – but that’s another story . . .

2 years.

That is the time frame for recourse that your bank has to get more coins from you.

Lose your house to the bank . . . and they get an automatic deficiency judgment against you.

But they only have 2 years to collect it.

And many banks are taking 12 months to return phone calls right now – so what are the odds they will get your iPhone?

This recourse is usually obviated when a short sale is negotiated – which reinforces my belief that 2010 and 2011 will be the year of the Short Sale in and around Perrysburg.

Because then you will get to keep your iPhone.

A empty shell.

Crabs like them.

But they are terrible for helping homeowners to pay their mortgage.

And if you drive along Alt20 – aka Illinois Ave. in Maumee, you will see a lot of empty shells.

And “FOR LEASE” signs.

And vacant factories, offices, and businesses.

It’s a vivid reminder of what has happened and what has helped residential real estate to collapse in value.

The collateral damage from this one street’s empty and shuttered businesses and factories is felt in every subdivision in Perrysburg.  I know clients that have lost jobs in Crandenbrook and other Perrysburg neighborhoods who used to work on this street.

But now their jobs are gone.

You want reports of the economy getting better?  You want to know when the residential market is better?  You better go for a drive . . .

Especially with regards to “winterizing” your house.

I was showing a house this weekend on Saturday.  A nice house.  A big house.  An expensive house.

And as I was showing it . . . droning on with my comments for the benefit of my client . . . I know that my brain was telling me something:

“There is a noise that does not belong here.”

“There is a strange noise.”

“Heh – Look at your breathe – it is COLD in this house!”

It was, of course, the sound of running water.

Which is not a good thing to hear in what should be an empty, freezing house.

It in fact constitutes an emergancy as far as the value of the property is concerned.

Here is the actual progression of this and other incidents that I have observed:  Cold.  Expanding water in pipes.  Broken pipes.  Water shooting out of pipes.  Water filling every nook and cranny as gravity, absorption, and other physical forces work in a weird combination.  Mold spores liking the new moist environment.  Mold spores reproducing.  Huge areas of porous surfaces destroyed.  Large water and remediation bill arrives.

It’s a terrible thing to see.

It’s a tragedy if it is your house and bank account.

So – when I tell a client “you really should winterize the plumbing” (which involves a licensed professional with a bond and liability insurance draining and blowing out and filling the pipes with antifreeze . . . and then standing behind his work) —– when I tell a client that, you should listen.

Because if you have been in the houses that have not done that, gambled on our winter weather, and lost – if you have seen it go bad – I would not have to tell you even once.

Still . . . you can do it yourself if you are so inclined.   But one way or another – winterize those pipes!

You might be – because someone forgot to trademark it.

Now it is too late!   REALTORS know that the acronym MLS stands for “Multiple Listing Service”.  It’s our shared listing database wherein the local Realtors cooperate and compensate each other for helping to sell listings.

But . . . some people who play soccer use it too!

So I will make things easy.

At least on THIS blog.

I write exclusively on real estate in Perrysburg.

And local people and places that effect and influence said real estate.

But up until this week, if you wanted to look for actual houses for sale, you had to go off my site to one of many “listing” sites.  (N.B. I still recommend OnlyPerrysburg.com or MLSToledo.com)

However, if you look at the far left column of this blog – right there over on the lower left – you will see a “live feed” from the local MLS.

I have set it up so that it is only houses in Perrysburg, with the newest listings added today on top, going down in chronological order.

Only listings in the 43551.

Only active, for sale, listings.

And only here . . . . on PerrysburgBlog.com

One thing to add is a clear, shoveled driveway and sidewalk.

But that will become less and less important as we hit March and April . . .

AVID Ratings does a big survey every year (LINK).  Here is what the survey said!

1. Large kitchen with an island
2. Energy efficient appliances, insulation, and windows
3. Home office / study
4. Main-floor master suite
5. Outdoor living room
6. Ceiling fans
7. Master suite soaker tubs
8. Stone and brick exteriors
9. Community landscaping, including walking paths & playgrounds
10. Two-car garages

Now – these all sound reasonable.

I would add a few Perrysburg-focused items that will BOOST your homes value:

1. A three car garage (you can’t “add” this, but you can plan it for your next house . . . )
2. Kitchens and Baths – update them!  There is nothing wrong with changing out a 20 year old microwave . . .
3. Do something to bring light into the house – glass front door, Solatubes, skylights.
4. Landscape lighting.
5. A “moderate” finished basement (carpet, black painted ceiling, painted walls, lights).

These features add “zing” and “POW!” to the buyers memory banks when they compare your home to another when it is time to sell it.

They have both a high “return” in that you can enjoy the improvements while you live there and then get some resale value out of them when it’s time to move.

ALWAYS asked at every listing appointment.

The answer is . . . “it depends”.

On your price.  Your motivation.  Your vacuuming.  Your pets.   Your kids.  Your collection of stuff.

Overall, in Perrysburg, the average DOM or “days on the market” is right about 90 as of last month.

However it changes month vs. month and week to week.

Why?  Houses are coming on the market.   They are going pending.  They are coming BACK on the market.  And with a 300 to 500 house sample population it does not take much to whipsaw the numbers for one month.

So the TREND is what I look at.

With REO sales red hot right now (so says this report from California and my own Perrysburg REO’s are pretty much all sold or under contract). . . is that activity helping move other, non REO houses?

Inquiring minds want to know:

You can too – on this chart.

And the trend is that houses are selling FASTER (fewer average days on the market) and there is less “wait” (which we call MSI or “months supply of inventory”)   The Perrysburg MSI is now 1/2 of what it was a year or two ago – down from 21 months to a more manageable 7.1 months supply of inventory.

Price still rules.

So get your house priced right, cleaned up, and then the numbers will play out good for you.

Somethings to think about if you are planning on buying in Perrysburg:

1. Buy now, not later.

The 2009 extended tax credit for buyers is going to end this Spring.  If you are definitely going to buy in 2010 you are rather foolish to NOT take the governments free $8000 or so.  (I admit that it is borrowed from China, will have to be paid back with interest by our children, and will help to further bankrupt America – but YOUR not taking it won’t help.)

2. Don’t Buy JUST Because of the Tax Credit.

Sorry – many people are buying now who should NOT be buying.   There is a TOTAL COST of owning in Perrysburg that many buyer’s gloss over with stars in their eyes as they swoon for a great listing.  Taxes.  Insurance.  Upkeep.  Please consider carefully ALL of these costs.

3.  Lock In Today’s Great Rates!

The $ multi-billion dollar mortgage buyback program that the Fed has been running will be winding down soon. When it does most experts are forecasting a .5 to 1.5% increase in nominal interest rates for all fixed rate loans.

4. Buy A Short Sale.  If You Can.

I believe that in 2011 we will look back and say that 2010 was the beginning of the short sale bloom.

Short sales are right now:  the best deals, the greatest value, the best kept property, and surprisingly hassle free if you have patience.   You can call me and I will “evaluate” you for short sale tolerance.

5. Save Your Cash.

Start saving $$$$.  You are going to need at least 10% down for an FHA loan if your credit is not spotless.   And, by the way, you ought to have at least that much down or you should not even be buying a house in this volatile market, IMHO.

6.  At Least Consider an REO Listing.

These poor lenders are trying so hard to move this inventory . . . and many of the bank owned listings I have in Perrysburg are GREAT buys.   You can usually get a great deal.  We can often find a good loan program that meets your needs.  There is no shame in buying one!  You can find ALL the active Perrysburg REO’s at my REO site - www.ToledoBankOwned.com

7.  Forget About Flipping For Fun and Profit.

Not unless you are a seasoned investor professional with experience, cash, and contacts.  You are also probably on a first name basis with me so that I can feed you the one or two deals that are “flippable”.   Otherwise do not try this – way too dangerous.  And you are competing with the banks, HUD, and the myriad of REO’s in the “shadow inventory”.

8. Get a High Deductible Insurance Policy.

I have learned a few things from my insurance selling brother www.ModeneInsurance.com.  And one is that you are not really going to use your home owners policy anyway – not for anything small.  (If you do – they are watching and will JACK YOUR RATES UP!)  You are going to use your property insurance for a really big claim.  So get a high deductible policy and save some serious money.  Those insurance guys – they make enough money anyway and will gladly sell you a cheaper, high deductible policy.  (If you talk to my brother Dave . . . ask him what lovely desk accessory I bought for him).