It's About Time!

Yes, it's about time I said something here in this blog, so here goes.....something, lol.

I apologize for not posting for the last 6 months, but things were rather tough on the old Chapster during that stretch! First of all, on May 11, I lost my beloved father Reginald back in New Hampshire, at age 93 1/2. Dad had been living at home with his wife, my Mom Viola, almost until the end. He had spent his final month and a half alternating between a hospital and a rehab center. A fiesty character, he was very active until that final month and a half, mowing his own lawn, snow blowing his driveway and "puttering" around the house. He actually passed while I was home on vacation in May, so I did get to see him and speak with him, just a couple of days before he went to his final reward.

Then in mid September, I went home to spend 2 weeks with my Mom at their home in Kingston. All seemed well. I left New Hampshire September 24. On Sunday, September 27 while holding an open house in Troy, during a slow spell, I called Mom to check in. She always got a kick out of me calling her from a Michigan open house. Well, there was no answer. Then someone came thru the open house. After they left, I called my Mom again, and again, no answer. I called the local Kingston, New Hampshire police and gave them the lockbox number on my Mom's house. 25 minutes later they called me back and told me she was sitting in her easy chair in the living room, with no pulse. Mom was gone at age 87 1/2!

So between funeral services and estate things to take care on in New Hampshire, I've been busy in 2 states over the past 4 months! Anyone want to buy a 1457 sq ft ranch in Kingston, New Hampshire? If so, call my friend Lee Bartlett at the Merrill/Bartlett Agency in Kingston. She's MY real estate agent and she'd be delighted to speak with you about the home and I'd be delighted for you to speak with her about the home.

As for here in our area, home values seem to have bottomed out, but they will not be rising anytime soon. It will take a while. You know Michigan, first into a recession and the last one out! But please think about taking advantage of the new programs out there, including the tax break for both first time buyers and repeat buyers, that are in affect until April 30. It's a great way to get into a home while receiving a nice tax break from your Uncle Sam!

I've said this before and I'm saying it again. I'll make every effort to post here at least once a month in 2010, or more as situations warrant! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

It's Been A While!

Sorry there has been no post by me since late March, but my elderly father, back in New Hampshire, had been going thru some health problems since mid March and finally passed away May 11 at age 93 1/2. He lived a long and fruitful life and was very active until being hospitalized in March. He still mowed his own lawn, got out the snow blower to clean off the driveway and did a lot of "puttering" around the house almost to the end! About the only thing he couldn't do anymore was drive a car. He couldn't pass the eye exam and lost his license at age 87. My Mom is still around, living in New Hampshire and she's 87 and just got her drivers license renewed for another 3 years.

But enough about me. How about you? If you're a first time home buyer (or have not owned a home of your own for the past 3 years), are you ready to take advantage of the $8000.00 first time home buyers credit, established by TARP, as part of our economic recovery program? You must close on your home by midnight, November 30, to get the credit and under some programs, the $8000.00 can be used as part of your downpayment. It would seem to be a great way for a first time buyer to fullfill their dreams of home ownership, while also helping the U.S. economy to get back on it's feet.

Also, for anyone who has been following this, or worrying about this, you may know, that our company, CENTURY 21 Town & Country, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in March. Well, we exited bankruptcy protection yesterday morning,
June 30, and we are back, stronger than ever, with our 7 remaining offices, Troy, Birmingham, Rochester, Clarkston, Shelby Township, Clinton Township and Grosse Pointe and 500 agents. So good news for all of us, first time homebuyers and for the many agents working under the umbrella of CENTURY 21 Town & Country and our owner, John Kersten.

Spring Has Sprung!

Remember last March when we got all of that snow? I think it was like the 4th snowiest March on record. This March, nothing, as the month came in like a lamb and may go out like one as well!

On the real estate front, interest is picking up around our CENTURY 21 Town & Country Troy office. Our 80+ agents in Troy, including me, are being kept hopping by a huge increase in phone calls over the past 3 weeks, people wanting to look at houses! There's been a similar increase in home showings in March. So there is a pent up demand out there. Here in Troy though, in February, the median sales price was 170,000, compared to about 220,000 in February, 2008. That's not unusual though for this time of year, as the higher priced homes, that will bring the median sales price up, don't usually come on the market until April, even May. That's why it's best to get your home on the market now, to avoid the rush. Yes, sales prices are down considerably from where they were 3 or 4 years ago, but you're also going to get a nice bargain on the new home you buy!

The last I checked on Thursday March 19, 30 year, fixed rate mortgages were running at about 5.50% with a 720 credit score and no points with a 20% downpayment. With a point, that rate was down to 4.75% with the 720 credit score and 20% downpayment. An FHA 30 year fixed rate mortgage, with a 620 credit score and 3.5% down, was running at 5.75% with no points, 5% with one point. For all of the latest on mortgage rates and for the best advice and service possible, give my pal Dave Tumey of Cambridge Mortgage a call, at 248-526-2210!

Another good point to make on the housing market is, with these rates, you can't miss! People have been buying up foreclosed and bank owned homes and that market is starting to deplete, which means that the time is coming, when buyers will have to stop looking at foreclosures and bank owned properties and start looking at good, solid private owned homes! IT WILL HAPPEN!! Oh, and happy spring!

Good News!!

Well, here it is, mid February and already there's severral pieces of news! First of all, there's a big benefit for first time home buyer, in the new, Economic Stimulus Bill. First of all, let me state that the bill defines a "first time homebuyer" as a person who has not owned a home for at least 3 years. Now for the good part. If you're a "first time homebuyer" and you buy a home between 1/1/2009 and 9/1/2009, you'll receive up to an $8000.00 credit on your federal income taxes. So you'll receive a credit on your taxes of 10% of the purchase price of the home up to $8000.00! In other words, purchase a home worth $150,000 and you'll receive the $8000.00 credit. Purchase a $70,000 home and you'll receive a credit of $7000.00. This is a great way for first time buyers, to get into a home more easily AND the credit does not have to be paid back.

Another piece of good news on the financing front, FHA has increased the size of their loans in our area under the new Economic Stimulus Bill to $297,500. That's an increase in the amount that FHA will finance of about $26,000. So for those thinking about buying a home in the $300,000 range, you can now get FHA financing! We're all still waiting on the analysis of President Obama's home mortgage recovery plan, which was announced in Phoenis this afternoon!!

Finally, you may have heard this on the radio or seen the story on TV or read about it in the newspaper. The company where I am an "independant contractor" (a salesperson working strictly on a commission basis), CENTURY 21 Town & Country, did file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday, February 12. This has no affect on me whatsoever, nor does it affect my clients. CENTURY 21 Town & Country has been the top producing firm, in the entire CENTURY 21 worldwide system for 13 consecutive years. Our service and committment to quality is unquestioned. As a company, we will emerge from Chapter 11, even stronger and more viable than before and will continue to serve our clients with unparalled service and quality, for many more years to come!!

We are not the first, large local real estate firm to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the past several years, nor will be be the last. It's all a result of the current economic conditions in the real estate industry. Many other companies nationwide have filed for Chapter 11 and have emerged stronger and better companies after their re-organizations. Why just yesterday, Donald "You're fired" Trump, filed for Chapter 11, again! So I look forward to and CENTURY 21 Town & Country looks forward to serving the public and our cherished clients, not only now, but in the weeks, months and years to come!

Interesting Stuff

Well, again it's been a while since I've posted. I vow to try to post at least once a month in 2009 and by the way, I hope everyone out there had a good Holiday season and a happy start to the new year! I got to visit New Hampshire, again (3 times a year now), to visit my parents who celebrated their 65th wedding anniversery just before Christmas. They had actually been displaced by that huge ice storm that whalloped New England on December 11. They're home was without electricity for 8 days. My folks tried to stick it out for 3 days without heat, but that was enough and they went to a shelter which had been setup in their community. By the time I got there to start my 2 week vacation, they had been back home for 4 days. Also, you could not believe the destruction I saw. About a half mile south of my parents home, a large elm tree snapped in half and abviously took some utility wires with it, then about a mile north of their home, not only did a large oak tree split in half under the weight of the ice, but a utility pole along the side of the road split in half and toppled over. No wonder my favorite 93 year old and 86 year old were without power for 8 days!

Just thought I'd let you know of something exciting on the real estate front. If you are a first time buyer, you can take advantage of a First Time Homebuyers Credit which has just been setup since the first of the year, as part of the Economic Recovery Act. If you have purchased or will purchase a home between April 8, 2008 and July 1, 2009 and you are a first time homebuyer, or have not owned your own home for the past 3 years and are buying now, you are entitled to a credit of $7500.00 on your federal income tax. It's like an interest free loan of $7500.00, in that you have to repay the $7500.00 to Uncle Sam, over a 15 year period. This is for the purchase of a main home. It's not good for vacation homes or rental properties.

There are some other stipulations for getting this credit, but it's worth checking out at this website: http://www.IRS.gov and there's more good news. Right now the powers that be in Washington under the new administration, are talking about waiving the payback rule. In other words, if they approve the rule change, you would be able to get the $7500.00 First Time Homebuyers Credit and NOT have to pay it back. So stay tuned! I'll have more on this, as it becomes available. In the meantime, visit that IRS website or contact my favorite mortgage banker, Dave Tumey of Cambridge Mortgage at 248-526-2210.

Housing Prices In Recession

Well, not that you didn't know this already, but if we aren't in a housing recession right now, then my name isn't Paul Chapman. I've had two of my listings either sell or go pending in the past month and in both cases, the home sold or will sell, for far less than the owner paid for it!!

House number 1, was purchased in May, 2006 for $385,000. It closed in late September for $315,000 after 10 months on the market. If my math is correct, that's a loss of about 18% in the homes value in a little over 2 years. House number 2, as I write this, is pending and will close within the next couple of weeks after 6 months on the market. It was purchased for $161,000 in April, 2000 and will close for $118,500! That's a loss of about 26% in value over a period of over 8 years.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has a campaign out this year which says that over time, a home will double in value every 10 years. Now this may be true, but it's hard telling that to folks who right now, are "upside down" on their mortgages. This is something none of us in the real estate business have ever been through, so it's hard to judge what's going in. This is new territory for all of us. But over time, a home, if you hang on to it, will be a good investment.

Home buying is like the stock market. You have to be in it for the long haul. Buy a home now and turn around and sell it within a couple of years and you could find yourself "upside down." But take the case of house number 2. They had the home for over 8 years and look at the loss they took. Luckily, they are not "upside down" on their mortgage. It's just that they purchased another home and were getting tired of making two mortgage payments, so they are selling the house I have listed at a sacrifice price!

Again, people keep asking me "when will the housing market snap out of it." All along I've been telling them, by the summer of 2010, even though many, who know far more about the economy than I, were saying we'd snap out of it during the second quarter of 2009. With the current financial crisis, even those who know far more than I about economics, have adjusted their thinking to right about where mine was all along, the second quarter of 2010.

Has It Been This Long?

Has it really been almost 3 months since I've posted anything here? I can't believe it. Well, since I last posted I've taken a 2 1/2 week vacation to New Hampshire in late May and early June and I discovered one thing while there. Their economy may be better than it is here in the State of Michigan, but they're having the same problems real estate wise that we are here! They just started a little later than we did. Our real estate "free fall" began in the summer of 2005. Theirs began about a year later. I also sense that Michigan will be the last out of our real estate problems, when compared to the rest of the country.

I keep reading and watching and listening to reports which say the country will pull out of it's economic problems in 2009. Even economists here in Michigan are saying the same thing about the State economy. I doubt that however, so I'm telling folks plan on the rebound coming in 2010! I realize that's a long wait, but it's going to take that long to clear out all of the housing inventory that's currently for sale in our area. It won't be an easy stretch, but we have bottomed out in my opinion. But right now, we're just sort of meandering around on level ground, not going up, home values wise and not dropping fast, either.

As for when your house will be worth what it was say, in 2004, you've got a long wait. Once this housing crisis turns around, don't expect your home to instantly jump in value to where it was 4 years ago! No, it will take 5 to 7 years to recover the value that your home lost. So if Michigan starts to come out of this slump in 2010 and your home was worth $200,000 in 2004, expect it to be worth $200,000 again in 2015! After that, don't expect the 4% to 6% rise in home values per year that we had in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Growth will be at a more modest 2% or so per year. Them's the cold, hard facts as they say. That's MY opinion and I'm sticking to it!!!

Happy rest of the summer!