Have a Happy and Safe Memorial Day!

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It’s Tuesday, so this must be the Tuesday Open House.

What is Tuesday Open House?? Well, it’s clearly not an “open house”. Open Houses don’t sell homes… good internet marketing does… but it seemed like a good title for this weekly blog post.

It is my way of throwing the doors open on the RealEstate-Ink.com blog and offering up a few quick articles and facts on real estate for the West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Mason and Fairfield Township, Ohio areas. It is not intended to be all about homes for sale, but it will be about that some of the time…

Keller Williams Red Day: Keller Williams Realty Red Day is this Thursday, May 13th.  Our Keller Williams Realty Associate Partners office here in West Chester will b conducting a day long food and clothing drive to benefit Reach Out Lakota.  You can get more information by visiting our facebook fan page at www.Facebook.com/LowryTeamRealEstate and find more information on Reach Out Lakota by visiting their website http://www.reachoutlakota.org

Interest Rate Update:  Interest rates on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage continue to fluctuate a little day to day, but remain very low.  The rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage today was 4.85% with no points according to Third Federal Savings.  With rates continuing to be this low, the opportunities to move up to a new or larger home and not greatly increase your monthly payment are terrific.  By the way, the selection of homes to pick from is very good right now.  Thinking of buying a home in West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Mason or Fairfield Township?  You can search homes for sale on our website at anytime, including features like map searches, saved searchs, new listing notifications and more!  Just visit www.LowryTeam.com. 

Home and Property Values:  This section of the Tuesday Open House seems a little like a comedy show.  Just today I saw both of these headlines and reports:

Headline: “Cincinnati metro home prices up 14.5% in 1Q”  - The National Association of Realtors   reported Tuesday that median home prices rose in Greater Cincinnati year over year during the first quarter, although they dropped from fourth-quarter 2009.  Read more: Cincinnati metro home prices up 14.5% in 1Q – Business Courier of Cincinnati:

And then this:

Headline: “Zillow: Home prices still falling”  -  Housing values in Cincinnati and most U.S. metropolitan areas continued their decline into the first quarter, but a new report from researcher Zillow.com points to encouraging signs in some of the most battered markets, according to a report in Columbus Business First.  Read more: Business Courier of Cincinnati: Zillow: Home prices still falling

Moral of the story??  If you really want to know the value of your home…Ask a local Realtor that is an expert in your local area / neighborhood.  If you would like to monitor home and property values in your West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Mason or Fairfield Township, Ohio neighborhood get your own Personal Market Update that shows both homes for sale in your neighborhood and recent sales.  You can get your own Personal Market Update delivered right to your inbox with no cost or obligation by visiting www.HomeValuesInCincy.com 

Our Facebook Fan Page of the week is: Reach Out Lakota. This community organization does a lot of good in our community.  They need more than just for us to become fans of them on facebook, they need our support and donations!  As of this writing their page has 90 fans, so I ask that you check out their fan page, become a fan and invite your facebook friends to do the same.  More importantly though, consider donating nonperishable food items and clothing to Reach Out Lakota today.  Check it out.

While you are on facebook checking out the Reach Out Lakota fan page, please visit and become a fan of our facebook page:

Thinking of buying a home in West Chester, Beckett Ridge or Liberty Township, Fairfield Township, Monroe or Mason Ohio?

Visit My YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/LowryTeam

Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester, Fairfield and Liberty Township, Ohio

It’s time for the Tuesday Open House.  What is Tuesday Open House??  Well, it’s clearly not an “open house”.  Open Houses don’t sell homes, but it seemed like a good title for this weekly blog post.  It is my way of throwing the doors open on the RealEstate-Ink.com blog and offering up a few quick articles and facts on real estate for the West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Mason and Fairfield Township, Ohio areas.  It is not intended to be all about homes for sale, but it will be about that some of the time…

Real Estate Market Update:  How is the real estate market? That is the big question today.  The answer is very different depending on many factors.  What you heard on the Today Show or read in the USA Today is not going to be the answer though.  Getting your real estate market information from some national expert is a little like getting a national weather forecast:  “In the US today it’s going to be a high of 67 with a chance of showers.”  Really…where?  It’s not much different with real estate.  Some media report will say that home sales or prices will have dropped by some percent across the country.  Again, I say really…where?

Real estate is local and in the market we have today it is hyper-local.  Meaning the market is very different in one area of Cincinnati vs. another.  The real estate market is also very different depending on the price range of the home.  The first time homebuyer price range is very active right now and supply and demand are largely in balance.  Higher price ranges continue to have quite an imbalance of homes for sale, thus continuing to cause pricing pressure.  The moral of the story is… for accurate, local real estate information, contact an experienced local real estate expert.  For more local real estate information, check back here later in the week for my RealEstate-Ink Market Update Report.

Need Mulch?  Are you preparing your home to get it on the market for sale soon?  Don’t forget the curb appeal.  As the old saying goes… you only get one chance to make a good first impression.  So clean up the landscaping and get yourself some fresh mulch.  I’m not sure that there is a better way to go than to get it from the boy scouts.  They even deliver!  You can see the article in the Cincinnati Enquirer here or you can just go directly to the boy scouts site right here.  I am placing my order this week.

Liberty Township Newsletter for March:  The Liberty Township March newsletter is online and has a lot of good information whether you are a Liberty Township resident, potential resident or just live nearby and are interested in the area.  There are articles on everything from the new fire station to information on parks, road improvements, population statistics and much more.  You can find the Liberty Township newsletter here.

Our Facebook Fan Page of the week is: Cincinnati Reds.  How could this week’s Fan Page Of The Week be anything else?  It is less than two weeks until opening day!  As of this writing their page has 96,043 fans.  The Reds fan page as you might imagine has a lot of very interesting information and news concerning all of your favorite Reds players and of course Reds ticket information.  Check it out.

While you are on facebook checking the Cincinnati Reds fan page out, please visit and become a fan of our facebook page:

Thinking of buying a home in West Chester, Beckett Ridge or Liberty Township, Fairfield Township, Monroe or Mason Ohio?

Visit My YouTube channel at:  www.youtube.com/LowryTeam

 Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester, Fairfield and Liberty Township, Ohio

What is Tuesday Open House??  Well, it’s clearly not an “open house”.  It is my way of throwing the doors open on the RealEstate-Ink.com blog and offering up a few quick articles and facts on real estate for the West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Mason and Fairfield Township, Ohio areas.  It is not intended to be all about homes for sale, but it will be about that some of the time…

Wondering what homes are selling for in your neighborhood? Get your own personalized market update report for homes both currently for sale and homes that have sold in your neighborhood with our Market Snapshot System.  It’s quick, easy and best of all free!  The information comes straight from the Cincinnati Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  You can get yours by clicking here: 

West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Fairfield Township & Mason Home Values

 Check out This Month In Real Estate (video) For March:

Tax Credit Reminder: The clock continues to tick down on the tax credits.  Our First Time Homebuyer eBooks are still available and there is still time to take advantage of the tax credits and these historically low interest rates.  You can get the First Time Home Buyer eBooks by visiting LowryTeam.com here.  Just don’t wait too much longer.  You can read our previous article on the tax credits and First Time Homebuyers here.

Our Facebook Fan Page of the week is: Cincinnati Magazine.  As of this writing they have 1383 fans.  Their site has a lot of very interesting information and recommendations on Cincinnati dining, entertainment and also good neighborhood and area information.  Check it out.

While you are on facebook checking Cincinnati Magazine out, please visit and become a fan of our facebook page located at www.facebook.com/LowryTeamRealEstate

 Thinking of buying a home in West Chester, Beckett Ridge or Liberty Township, Fairfield Township, Monroe or Mason Ohio?

Visit My YouTube channel at:  www.youtube.com/LowryTeam

 Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester, Fairfield and Liberty Township, Ohio

What is Tuesday Open House??  Well, it’s clearly not an “open house”.  It is my way of throwing the doors open on the RealEstate-Ink.com blog and offering up a few quick articles and facts on real estate for the West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Mason and Fairfield Township, Ohio areas.  It is not intended to be all about homes for sale, but it will be about that some of the time…

For all of you fine dining fans out there, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the former Mesh restaurant located in West Chester, Ohio at Union Centre which closed Feb. 13, will be transformed into an “elegant, casual” Stone Creek Dining Company restaurant in the next couple of months.  You can get the full story on this West Chester Ohio restaurant here.

HomeBuyers: Why Green Is Worth It.  For new and existing home buyers alike, the options to “green up” homes abound.  Green upgrades on homes offer two-fold benefits. They contribute to a healthier environment, both now and in the future, and they can save homeowners big when it comes to energy costs.

How much impact does a green home have on the environment, you ask? The government reports that Energy Star qualified homes built in 2009 are the equivalent of… You can read the entire article on green homes and other real estate market info in this months newsletter here.

Realtor.com update:  The Lowry Team’s homes listed for sale are now upgraded and enhanced with more photos and text than ever before.  Check out these West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Mason and Fairfield Township, Ohio homes for sale here.

Thinking of buying a home in West Chester, Beckett Ridge or Liberty Township, Fairfield Township, Monroe or Mason Ohio?

Visit My YouTube channel at:  www.youtube.com/LowryTeam

 Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester, Fairfield and Liberty Township, Ohio

The Olde West Chester Christmas Walk is this weekend.  Events and activities are held on both Friday, November 13th and Saturday, November 14th.  The Christmas Tree lighting is on Friday at 7:00pm at the West Chester Township office and the annual parade is on Saturday evening beginning at 7:00pm

You can get more details at: http://www.oldewestchester.com/

Search the entire MLS here!

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Going Green May Help Sell Your Home

It’s becoming the buzz word in housing — “green” homes are what many buyers are interested in these days. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), as much as 90 percent of home buyers think that energy efficiency is a very important factor when shopping for a home. These same buyers are also very interested in environment-friendly features including having housing close to parks, public transportation, and well-designed neighborhoods with sidewalks.

The National Association of Home Builders Remodelers (NAHBR) — a council of NAHB — says that most homeowners choose green remodeling projects to help conserve energy. NAHBR recommends the following top ways to increase energy efficiency.

Read the entire article by clicking here!

Wondering about the value of your home in today’s market?  Request a Free Market Analysis.

You can subscribe to my blog via RSS.  Click here to subscribe via a feed or receive a subscription via e-mail!  Either way click the orange RSS options at the top of the page.  Of course, I never rent or sell your e-mail address… I don’t even know what it is, I never see it.

Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester and Liberty Township, Ohio

Real Estate Outlook: What’s in Store for 2009?

What will the new year bring for housing and real estate? It’s easy to look at all the negative economic news in the headlines and say – there’s no sign that 2009 is going to be any better than 2008.

But here’s a different perspective to consider from one of the country’s veteran financial analysts — Richard Bove of Ladenburg Thalmann, an investment banking company.

In a research report issued late in December, Bove said he sees a positive dynamic taking shape in the current cycle. The government has intervened aggressively in the markets to push interest rates down — most notably in the home mortgage sector.

Though it takes awhile for low-cost money to begin having its effect, Bove said he expects “housing prices to stabilize and/or rise (in 2009) after a likely boom in mortgage refinancings as rates fall and loan applications increase.”

Add in the expected massive economic stimulus package being put together on Capitol Hill with the incoming Obama administration — and there’s a good chance we’re going to see a gradual transformation of the downward cycle into a slow rebound over the coming several quarters.

Already there are positive signs of the turnaround Bove predicts…

Read the entire article in my monthly real estate newsletter for residents of West Chester, Liberty Township and Beckett Ridge.

Wondering about the value of your home in today’s market?  Request a Free Market Analysis.

If you think now is the time to begin your search for a new home, start by checking out my Feature homes for sale and then search the MLS, all on my website:  www.LowryTeam.com

Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester and Liberty Township, Ohio

An eye catching headline to be sure, but also very much the truth.

Interest rates for home mortgages are at historic levels right now which is providing a terrific home buying opportunity!  How about this: In 1981 you would have paid 16.90% for a 30 year fixed rate loan.  Today, it’s 5.15%, now that is a sale!

Check out the graph below depicting mortgage rates since 1981:

Historic Mortgage Rates

 To give this a little meaning, let’s look at a $200,000 mortgage loan:

In 1981, at 16.90% the principle and and interest payment would have been $2835.12.  (Wow)

In 2009, at 5.10% the principle and interest payment would be $1085.90 (Now that is a sale)

So you say, “Well that’s great, but that was 1981″.  So let’s compare to just 6 months ago then:

August 2008 rates were 6.49% which is a principle and interest payment of $1262.82.

That is a savings of $176.92 per month or $2123.04 annual savings with today’s low rates.

It really is a great time to buy when you consider the low rates and the great inventory of homes.

Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester and Liberty Township, Ohio