Perrysburg Blog

Which I do from time to time.

Especially when it’s a rare rural offering.

3 beds.  2 stories.  1 long, long driveway.

6+ acres with a private wood lot.

And it’s a newer 1700 sq. foot Forrester/Wherle built house.  With a basement.

Price?

$149,900.

So you will have to act very fast.   Feel free to call or email if you want to get away the City and live in the Township.

(Hint: It’s the house smack dab in the center . . . in the middle of the farm fields, and the house includes all of the woods.

I recently sent an email out about a new listing.  I used the hook “everybody asks me when are going to hit the bottom of the market”?

I don’t know.

2012?  2011?  2021?

No one does.

We are in need of a new model now.

A new model of buyer behavior.  Lender response to buyer default.  And seller behavior.   The old models are no longer working.  The chart has flaws.  Case-Shiller numbers are the best we have, but still flawed.  The new model of tactical defaults, bank “unforeclosures” to get TARP rebates, buyers who are REO’d or BK’d and have huge monthly incomes – they are all helping to rewrite the rule book.

They promise.

They promise the seller.

Who promises the buyer.

Who relies on the promise: “The Short Sale Manager will give us an answer by the 21st of the month . . . !”

Sure they will.

Because they “promised” to.

But they lied.

Things are going to happen.

Something is going to change.

Events are going to modify their promise.

Why?  It doesn’t really matter, does it?

They (the aggrieved bank/banks) are in control.  They are being harmed.  They are losing money.  They feel like they can modify what was said last month just like the upside down seller can modify the terms of the repayment to the bank.

None of this is malicious or intentional.   It just happens.

So be very careful to be FLEXIBLE when you are selling via a short sale.

And be very certain that you can be MORE FLEXIBLE if you are attempting to purchase a short sale asset.

Flexibility will be required.

The pay off for your flexibility will be worth it:  either a forgiven debt or a great house at a killer price.

Burning houses?

Increasing tax rates?

A scarcity of buyers? (not in my world – sold 2 or 3 today . . . and very busy . . . )

What is wrong?  What is the new thing?

The Busted Appraisal.

I saw this about 15 years ago with the ratcheting effect of appraisals in condo conversions.  Discreet price jumps had to conform to a steady pace of higher appraisals.

Appraisers are like pendulums – following behind the real velocity and position of the market.

But they catch up!  And they have now in Perrysburg and in all of Northwest Ohio.

Wow – to think I worried and worked appraisers to keep raising valuations in steps to help condo projects price properly.  Those were the days!

We could only wish for that problem today.

Today the problem is the busted appraisal.   The failure of the house to appraise.

Money quote from a very good news article you can read:

“There’s been a pendulum swing in appraisals comparable to the one we’ve seen in mortgage credit, from foolishly lax to overly restrictive,” said Walt Molony of the National Association of Realtors. He reported that as recently as October, one in 10 member agents said they’d had a contract canceled as a result of a low appraisal, 13 percent said they’d had a contract delayed, and 16 percent said they’d had a contract negotiated to a lower sales price as a result of a low appraisal.

The pendulum has swung.  Way back to where it was.

If you own a house with a paid of mortgage and you need to or want to sell it . . . you are still going to be severely effected by the foreclosure pendulum.

Sellers need to be informed.

Buyers need to be aware.

I do get MANY calls each day – 3 or 4 so far today – “can you give me a list of REO” in XXXXXX?

Yes.

And no.

Many of the “lists” you can get online are for homes you cannot buy, cannot see, and cannot legally even enter.

The value of that kind of list?

Zero in my opinion.

I run a website – www.ToledoBankOwned.com with a feed of live MLS listings that are currently for sale.

But that site is not totally inclusive.

I also run an email database list – which I hit with upcoming news about new REO that I am listing.

How many?  Where?  When?

It varies by the day/week.

Today is a busy day.  15 new REO assignments.

One of which is in Perrysburg.

So – you want to get the news first, simply drop me an email and I will put you on the proverbial list!

jon@modene.com

Which I rarely do.

Because you can look at the left side of my blog any day to see what new homes are on the market in Perrysburg.

But this one is mine.

This one is special.

This one is very, very hot.

1942 Tecumseh Court is in Crandenbrook.

And Crandenbrook is a FANTASTIC neighborhood.

You can walk to the park.  Your kids can walk to Ft. Meigs Elementary.

Excellent resale.

Excellent lot sizes.

I LOVE Crandenbrook (I have owned 2 houses there in the past . . . and raised my kids there).

But this house – on a quiet cul de sac, with a first floor master suite, and a three car garage is a SUPERLATIVE example of the best of Crandenbrook.  The lot, the layout, the condition – it’s all top shelf.   Priced right – what would you expect from me anyway! – at $280′s.  You can call me if you want a private showing.

Did you know you may have to pay a tax on your home?  When you sell it?

Because of the 2010 Obama Care Health Plan?

Yes.

It’s true.

But it’s also not likely.  At least not right away.

You will have to an income of more than $200,o00.

You will have to have a gain of more than $500,000.

Then you will owe a 3/8% “Medicare Tax” on your capital gain.

Some have called it the “Lawyers and Accountants Employment Tax”.

You can read the excellent article in the Washington Post for all the gory details.

So, unless you have a big bomber on River Road or the Sanctuary . . . and you inherited it . . . you are not going to pay the new tax.

(In fairness I must point out that the new tax is also on tanning, investment income, and many other things – which you WILL have to pay.)

But here’s the problem.

Honestly ask yourself this:  Are the big spenders in Washington D.C. going to ratchet the thresholds up or down in the future?

You and I both know the answer -  $500,000 will be $250,000 then it will be $25,000 (in the name of fairness) and then everyone selling in Perrysburg is going to have to fork over another 3.8% of their homes’ value at the closing table.

Count on it.

There are many.

Sewer tap fees that keep people from building.

Zoning rules that keep people from “stepping down” to the right use or “stepping up” to the best use.

But 2 that I really hate and detest, because of the “unintended consequences” that their use causes are:

1. Condo associations that want the “right of first refusal” on you or me buying into their association.

What’s wrong with that?

Example:  property has been on the market for months.  Everyone in the association knows it is for sale . . . and vacant.  But they want the right to know who is buying it so they can decide if any of their current members wants a crack at it?

Seriously?

That’s not a “right of first refusal”.   It’s a right to discriminate and try to select your neighbor.

Outrageous conduct often results from such a mischievous law.  Many years ago I was representing a divorced single parent mother.   Who hoped to buy a condo.   But the nosy neighbors did not like her single parent status and tried to keep her out.    Big mistake.  (That’s what the Fair Housing Center is for, btw).

2. Utility Bills that are the Banks Responsibility.

This one is really rearing its’ ugly head now.

From $200 electric bills to $8500 water bills.

Every little town, village, utility, and conglomerate wants my bank clients to shell out $$$$ for the utilities that the prior, now foreclosed owners ran up a tab for.

And if you don’t pay – no service. (while the house fills up with mold and water and other damage happens)

What’s the harm in that, you say?

If everyone thinks they don’t have to pay – they won’t.

If the bill keeps getting punted down the line to the next owner – at some point (which is . . . oh, right about NOW) normal business forces will stop working.  Utilities will just keep giving “free” service to free riders.   Normal Joe who pays his bill?  Sucker.   The utility is racking up bad debts and expecting you to front the money to keep them running.   Foreclosed Phil?  Once he figures out that others will pay – he will run the air and heat all the more.  Utility Dude who runs the utility?   He doesn’t have to worry about credit checks, deposits, or even shutting people off when they don’t pay!   The bank will pay someday.

Lucas County Auditor Anita Lopez is trying to put a stop to this mess.

Other counties ought to think about the consequences of their policies too.

Could be!

This chart shows that there is a move toward a more balanced supply of houses:

In the cold, cold months of Winter the 43551 had about 10 to 13 months of inventory on the market and moving off the market.

That was too much obviously.

Now?

May MSI (Months Supply of Inventory) was 4.7 months.  It was 6.5 last month.

It always drops in the Spring and Summer (mine is a seasonal business – like picking strawberries).

But the current numbers are indicative of strong demand from buyers, the continuing popularity of Perrysburg real estate, realistic sellers, and sellers moving houses off of the market.

How about prices?

Behold the numbers:

Ignore the bank numbers – and median prices for closed Perrysburg homes are right – almost exactly – where they were last year in May.

In fact, they have declined from this past Winter, which speaks of sample size issues.  The trend is steady – perhaps we have reached the end of the pricing cliff in Perrysburg?

Friday night in Perrysburg.

It went from sunny and nice to wet and wild really fast.

And, that was a little bit of wind.

UPDATE:  Now the NWS says it was a tornado!

Hit fast – south of the city limits.

My dear wife and I were off to the Perrysburg Tennis Center (that’s a great place to hide out in a storm!) and just missed seeing a barn get imploded.

Here are a few pictures of an upcoming listing I am working on . . . . now delayed while clean up occurs.

My wife has a theory -  this is the part of Perrysburg by 199/Roachton/Thompson . . . and it is where the minaret-removing tornado hit a few years ago.   It is where the horse in the air tornado hit.   She thinks it’s a vortex of lake effect and wind currents . . . well it’s too hard for me to explain.

It’s a good place to live, but you have to know how to batten down the hatches every couple of years!