Before & After

I sold this home to friends of mine a few years ago, and they lost some siding in the windstorms we had this past summer. They did an amazing transformation! Here are the before & after pics! Great job on boosting your curb appeal (one of things potential buyers will be looking for most)!

Don't have 3% cash to put down?

You may still be able to purchase a home; a brand NEW home that is! Some builders in our area are once again offering work equity programs. If you can paint and pick up a hammer (contact me for specifics), then this program will cover your 3% downpayment!

For what it's worth....

After watching the happenings in the local real estate market for quite some time now, I have to question whether or not the media is really painting an accuate picture of the local housing market . You may agree with me, disagree with me, or agree to disagree with me, but here are my thoughts and opinions on the current LOCAL real estate market that we find ourselves in.

1. Condos have been hit especially hard. They've become extremely difficult to move in this market (partly because condos are competing with single family REO homes in the same price range).

2. Newer neighborhoods (including upscale neighborhoods, prices from $325K and up), built after 2002 or so, have also been hit especially hard.

3. Most of the areas that I work in (Powell, Dublin, Worthington, NW Cols) are still selling ok, with home values only down slightly from this same time last year, usually only 1 - 2%.

4. If your home looks the best it possibly can, and is reasonably priced (the sellers aren't trying to make profits that they could have 2 years ago), your home will sell. Homes in my neighborhood are still selling for close to asking price, in 90 days, give or take!

Not all together bad news! Happy house selling!

Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac trying to curb foreclosures

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27660450

Essentially, these two giants are going to try to speed up the loan modification process, in hopes that this will cut back on the number of loans that actually go into foreclosure. Citigroup, Bank of America & J.P. Morgan Chase have recently announced similar programs. Too little too late? Who knows....

Another informative website I just came across!

I wanted to share this with all of you, in hopes that the resources available here might help you or someone you know!

http://www.commerce.gov/NewsRoom/EconomicNews/index.htm?er=true

New Listing... on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ieHajU0q_Q

I'm so proud of myself for figuring out how to do this all on my own! :)

Housing Market Stats

Home sales are strong, according to the Columbus Board of Realtors. Sales for September were only down 1.5% from September '07, and the average sales price is only down 1.7% from last September to just over $160K. To add to the already stabilizing market, there were fewer homes added to the market, making September the month with the lowest inventory in six months! The average number of days on market is going down to, to just around 100 days. These are all great signs that the Columbus market is on the upswing!