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…

Need Mulch? If you are 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 just go directly to the boy scouts site right here. My mulch is being delivered in just a couple of weeks…anyone like to help??

Searching For Bank Owned or Short Sale Homes For Sale?  You can search for bank owned homes for sale as well as short properties using our real estate search tool:  VIPHomeFinder.com  You can create your own search criteria, save your searches, get alerts of newly listed homes for sale and much more!

Beckett Ridge Community Garage Sale:  The Beckett Ridge community garage sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 14th, 2011 from 8:00am – 4:00pm.  The Beckett Ridge Homeowners Association will run ads in the local newspapers.  You can find more information regarding the Beckett Ridge garage sale and the homeowners association on the Beckett Ridge Homeowners Association website: http://www.beckett-ridge.org/

Our facebook fan page of the week is: West Chester Township It is a brand new page on Facebook for West Chester Township!  You can find information on events and news going on in our township.  As of this writing their page very few friends, so I ask that you visit their fan page, become a fan and invite your facebook friends to do the same.

While you are on facebook checking out West Chester Township, please visit and become a fan of our facebook page: www.Facebook.com/LowryTeamRealEstate

What is my home worth? Want to get a good idea of what your home is worth… Get your own Personal Real Estate Market Update

Searching for homes for sale?  Search all of the homes for sale in West Chester, Beckett Ridge, Liberty Township, Mason or Monroe Ohio… Search The MLS

Relocating to Cincinnati? Request our free Relocation Package for information on West Chester, Beckett Ridge, Liberty Township, Mason or Monroe Ohio… Get The Lowry Team Relocation Package!

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

Buying A Short Sale Property by Dave Scully, Guest Blogger on RealEstate-Ink.com

Every buyer in the market wants to get the best deal. You may want to begin your search for a new home with properties that are on a “short sale”. First, let’s define what a short sale is. A short sale is when the sales price of the home is less than the amount the previous owners currently owe on their mortgage. In a short sale the borrowers are likely in the foreclosure process. Therefore the Bank must approve and sale and that is who your Realtor will be negotiating with.

Search For Bank Owned And Short Sale Properties For Sale Here

When buying a short sale you must be prepared for a longer negotiating process and closing process. As I said earlier you are dealing with the bank who must approve the sale of the property. The banks have so many short sales and foreclosures on their books that they do not react as quickly to an offer on the property. Also, the bank will allow you to do a whole house inspection, however they will require the sale of the home to be on an as is basis. I encourage every buyer to get a whole house inspection. However, on a short sale most banks will not make ANY repairs to the property.

Once your loan is approved and you are cleared to close we can typically close you within a day. However, on a short sale the bank will want to see the closing statement and review it for up to 72 hours prior to close.

They key to a successful and timely closing on a short sale is knowing what to expect and when to expect it. Personally I refer to short sales as “Long Sales” as they take a little bit longer to close due to the owner being the bank. I recommend you expect to close a short sale in 45 days instead of the 30 days that we can close a loan.

Get Your Mortgage Preapproval From Dave Scully Right Here! 

Contact Dave Scully

 Have a home that you need to sell in short sale?  Vist www.LowryTeam.com

Today, nearly 1 out of every 6 homeowners in America is behind on mortgage payments. The last thing a homeowner wants to face is the possibility of foreclosure, but troubles with finances can happen suddenly and without warning, leaving a homeowner desperate. But foreclosure can be avoided, credit can be saved, and financial futures can be salvaged. First, identify the options.

 There are a number of alternatives homeowners can consider. An experienced professional can steer you in the proper direction, so you can find your financial solution quickly and handle any mortgage and loan issues with care. Here are just a few suggestions how one can avoid foreclosure:

 Modification - A mortgage modification involves the reduction of one of the following: the interest rate on the loan, the principal balance of the loan the term of the loan or all or any of the above. This typically results in a lower payment to the homeowner and a more affordable mortgage. With the modification plan, delinquent interest, taxes, and /or insurance payments are added to your unpaid balance on your mortgage. Homeowners who qualify for this program may be able to extend repayment of their past due bills over the remaining term of the loan.

 Government Loans & Assistance Programs - Homeowners who can make the monthly payments on the mortgage may qualify for special government loans that create a second lien on their property for the unpaid amount. This money is then made payable to the US Government.

 Pre-Foreclosure Sale - Foreclosure can wreak havoc on your credit rating. If you are in danger of losing your home and are unable to make payments, you have the option of selling before any marks can be made against your credit.

 Short-Sale – While this may be the best solution for some, it is important to understand that there are 3 “must-have” criteria to qualify:

1.    Financial Hardship – a verifiable issue that has or will cause you to miss payments or have financial difficulties

2.    Monthly Shortfall – When your total Monthly Income minus your Total Monthly Expense = Negative amount

3.    Insolvency – You must not have the means to pay down your mortgage.

 You do not however have to be completely broke–this is a common misconception, the lender will want to see that over time you will not be able to pay your mortgage obligation. Having money in the bank for living expenses is common and will not disqualify you.

Temporary Forbearance

Another less common way to avoid a home foreclosure is to get a temporary forbearance on your mortgage, which means that you repay the back amount that you owe on your loan over a certain amount of time. This is good if you can afford to make your monthly payments, but had a crisis which forced you to miss a payment. When you choose to do a temporary forbearance to avoid a home foreclosure, you should know that your payments will usually increase slightly, but you will be able to get back on track with your lender and resume making your regular payments when you have repaid the back amount.

Different homeowners will qualify for different options to avoid foreclosure. Seeking the advice of a professional is a good step in preserving your property and your credit rating.

 In my over-12-years in the real estate industry, I have witnessed many clients and friends lose their homes through foreclosure. That is why I specifically designed a department of this company to help other people avoid the foreclosure nightmares that I’ve witnessed. We know that good people sometimes have a few bad breaks.

No matter what, the worst option is to…
Do Nothing – Absolutely the worst.

Take action Now!

Call or email us, we can help.

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

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

Interest Rates Are Low!  A $200,000 30 year mortgage at the current rate of 4.60%* can save you ten’s of thousand’s of dollars over the life of the loan versus the same loan with the 5.50% rate from earlier this year!

Buy a home now and gain so much more than what was possible with the $8000 tax credit. You really don’t want to miss out on this savings and opportunity.  On top of the great savings the low interest rates present, there is another opportunity.

The inventory of homes for sale right now is really great and the prices on many of these homes are really good. To start your home search contact us today at (513) 874-1830 or visit our website, www.LowryTeam.com.  Buying a foreclosed / bank owned home or a short sale can be a great investment opportunity under the right circumstances.  If you would like to receive a FREE list of foreclosures & short sale homes for sale you can request a list using our Foreclosure Finder Service

You can also start your Search Homes For Sale right 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 Congress is close to passing a law to give homebuyers who were under contract on a home purchased by April 30 an additional three months to close on the home and still be able to claim the federal homebuyer tax credit.  The new deadline is going to be September 30th, 2010.

This will not extend the deadline for homebuyers to qualify for the tax credit.  To qualify for the credit you had to have purchased and had a fully executed contract by April 30th, 2010.

The reasoning given for the extension was that many homebuyers were not going to be able to close on their new homes in time for the June 30th deadline due to a backlog of loan applications that lenders were trying to handle.

The real issue here though, are the short sales.  Many of these sales were not going to able to be closed in time due to the long delays that occur in trying to complete a short, thus there was going to be a large number of  “fall-thru’s” (sales which do not close) and all of these properties were going to be coming back onto the market with a large number of them headed for foreclosure.

Looking for deals on short sales and foreclosures in West Chester & Liberty Township?  >>Get a free list here

Relocating To West Chester, Liberty Township Or Mason, Ohio??  Request Our Free Relocation Information Package By Clicking Here!

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”. 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…

The Union Centre Bash:  There have been a number of questions recently regarding the Union Centre Bash and when it was, etc.  So after a little research I found that it is no longer called the Union Centre Bash, but is now known as the Union Centre Boulevard Blast.  It is scheduled to be August 13 -15, 2010.  According to an article in the Journal News that I found online the “Blast” will be more of a regional draw, employing some best practices from similar showcases across the country.  The direction of The Blast will be directed at families, adults, teens and children with multiple activities happening at the same time, “sort of like what you’d see at a state fair.  You can reach the entire article online here >>Union Centre Boulevard Blast

New Listing: 5466 Sugar Maple Run, Liberty Township, Ohio.  Check out this new listing in Falling Water subdivision in Liberty Township, Ohio.  This is a terrific two story home located on a private,  wooded lot and features a finished, walkout lower level, island kitchen w/ adjoining morning room & hardwood floors and much, much more!  >>See all of the details including interior photos, video tour on LowryTeam.com

Searching for foreclosures or short sales?  Get a list of all of the foreclosed (bank owned) homes and short sale homes listed for sale in our area for free.  Don’t pay for a list of foreclosures, short sales or distressed properties and don’t pay a subscription fee to any website for one either.  These are homes that are listed for sale and you can have the information on these homes for sale, for free and without any obligation by just clicking here >>Request your list of foreclosures and short sale homes for sale here

Homes Sales Graph West Chester & Liberty Township

2010 Home Sales in West Chester & Liberty Township, Ohio:  The tax credit is over and now is when we find out if the homebuyer tax credits for both the First Time HomeBuyer and the move up homebuyer have had an impact on home sales overall.  The key thing to watch moving forward is the unit sales numbers each month for West Chester & Liberty Township compared to last year.  As can be seen on the graph, the last couple of months have seen home sales above last years totals.  The real indicator of the housing market’s recovery will be what happens moving forward with home sales.  Clearly the homes sales in West Chester & Liberty Township Ohio picked up when the tax credits were in effect, but what remains to be seen is; Will the home sales in the next few coming months remain at or above last year’s numbers so that the total sales numbers for the year remain above last year?  If the sales remain stable and we can stay at or above last years sales numbers, then we would have to judge the tax credits to be a success in stablizing the housing market.  If the sales numbers in the few months are not able to be sustained and in fact fall to levels below last year, then all we will have accomplished will be to move sales up into the early months of the year from the later months (July, August, September) and we will not have really improved the West Chester & Liberty Township housing market in the long term.  What you can see on the graph is a steady increase in the home sales from January through May of this year in a much more dramatic peak than in the last two years indicating that there clearly was an impact from the homebuyer tax credit incentives.  We will continue to monitor the home sales numbers and we will see where we go from here.   >>You can read my 2010 1st Quarter Real Estate Market Report here

Our facebook fan page of the week is: West Chester Farmer’s Market  You can find information on the Farmers Market, the products that are available there through the summer and more.  As of this writing their page has 129 fans, so I ask that you check out their fan page, become a fan and invite your facebook friends to do the same.

While you are on facebook checking out the West Chester Farmer’s Market fan page, please visit and become a fan of our facebook page:

Relocating To West Chester, Liberty Township Or Mason, Ohio??  Request Our Free Relocation Information Package By Clicking Here!

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

Relocating To West Chester, Liberty Township Or Mason, Ohio??  Request Our Free Relocation Information Package By Clicking Here!

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

Is a short sale or foreclosure the right deal for you?

With the first-time homebuyer tax credit deadline having come and gone, you may be asking yourself, “What now?” Fortunately, the door is now open to a new wave of savings: distressed properties.

For many buyers, the term foreclosure brings up images of run-down homes with no heat and rotting wood. While this is still the case for some homes, it’s no longer the standard. In fact, first time buyers are snatching up distressed deals in decent condition for great prices. 

According to a November 2009 Keller Williams Research Buying Distressed Properties Survey, 40 percent of all buyers for bank-owned foreclosures (REOs) were first-time buyers in 2009. 50 percent of all short sale buyers were first-time buyers.

By definition, a distressed property is one that was purchased with a loan and the homeowner is no longer able to make their mortgage payment resulting in foreclosure – or if they’re lucky a short sale – meaning they owe more on the home than it’s currently worth. With a 20 percent increase in foreclosures from 2009, distressed properties still remain a large portion of home sales and are going to continue well into 2010 as homeowners continue to feel the effects of an economy on the mend.

If you’re in the market looking for a home in West Chester or Liberty Township, Ohio and are prepared for a unique transaction, a short sale or foreclosure property for sale can be a great option. Here’s why:

Prices are low – Buying a foreclosed (bank owned) property is an excellent way to get a home for less. Research shows you can save 10-40 percent over the price of similar properties in a traditional sale.

Mortgage costs are low – With rates hovering near historic lows, financing costs to are favorable. Keep in mind, rates are always changing. It’s important to begin the pre-approval process so that you know how much you can realistically afford.

You have options – The number of homes in some stage of the foreclosure process still remains high. RealtyTrac, a site dedicated to tracking foreclosures across the country, estimates that there are approximately 2.1 million homes in some stage of foreclosure in the United States.

Sellers and lenders are motivated – According to data from RealtyTrac, in April, one in every 387 households in the country has received a foreclosure filing. The bottom line is that many sellers are still feeling the pain of a down economy and are anxious to out get from under a home that is putting stress on their current financial frustrations. While it is still an emotional transaction, these sellers are willing to come down on price or even consider concessions such as helping out on closing costs. Banks holding on to large portfolios of Real Estate Owned (REO) properties want to unload quickly – and price these home to sell.

Your best ally when purchasing a short sale or foreclosure property is an expert. Always have a professional REALTOR® by your side to help you make informative decisions.

Get a Free list of foreclosures and short sales with no obligation emailed to you by clicking here!

For more information about short sales and foreclosures in the West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge and Mason Ohio areas call me or email me.  We are happy to help!

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

Search the entire MLS database of homes for sale here!

 Wondering what your home is worth in today’s real estate market? Request a market analysis here!

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

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

A short sale can be time consuming and complex

A short sale is the selling of property to avoid foreclosure, the catch being that the property is being sold for less than the amount owed on it.  What makes a short sale tricky is that the sale price is not up to the seller, the lender has to agree to the purchase price.  The home owner isn’t walking away with any money at closing in the case of a short sale so he doesn’t care if the home sells for a dollar, the bank’s involvement is to reduce their loss as much as possible and the buyer just wants a bargain.

The basic process of a short sale is:

• Although many believe that a borrower must be in arrears on loan payments this is not necessarily true
• Borrower or broker contacts lender to discuss the possibility of a short sale
• Potential buyer makes offer, knowing what is owed by borrower/owner of property
• Lender reviews loan and offer
• Borrower has to show/prove financial hardship
• Lender and broker discuss value and condition of property and examine any offers
• Lender makes final call

The short sale process looks easy on paper, follow the steps and the deal is done, short sale completed.  However, in reality the communication between the borrower, lender, Realtor and potential buyer is complex and time consuming.  Simply wanting a short sale won’t make it happen.  Using a CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert) eases the pain and insures you better success when trying to complete a short sale.  “Being in financial stress is not easy on anyone and and having received the CDPE designation will help me get the job accomplished in a more timely manner and help create a successful real estate transaction for my clients” said Eric Lowry.

Looking For Information on Avoiding Foreclosure or More Information On Short Sales?  Visit My New Website: WestChesterOhShortSales.com

ERIC LOWRY EARNS PRESTIGIOUS DESIGNATION TO HELP HOMEOWNERS IN DANGER OF FORECLOSURE

Eric Lowry of Keller Williams Realty, West Chester, Ohio has earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. This is invaluable expertise to offer at a time when the area is ravaged by “distressed” homes in the foreclosure process.

Short sales allow the cash-strapped seller to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even though it is lower than what is owed on the property. With plummeting property values, this can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy. More and more lenders are willing to consider short sales because they are much less costly than foreclosures.

In the Cincinnati, Ohio area, an increasing number of homes are in danger of foreclosing. It is happening in all price ranges. Local experts say that even high-priced homes are not immune.

“This CDPE designation has been invaluable as I work with sellers and lenders on complicated short sales,” said Eric Lowry. “It is so rewarding to be able to help sellers save their homes from foreclosure.”

Alex Charfen, founder of the Distressed Property Institute in Boca Raton, Fla., said that Realtors® such as Eric with the CDPE designation have valuable training in short sales that can offer the homeowner much better alternatives to foreclosure, which virtually destroys the credit rating. These experts also may better understand market conditions and can help sellers through the emotional experience, he said.

The Distressed Property Institute opened in January 2008 and provides training on-site and online. The CDPE is the premier designation for Realtors helping homeowners in distress and handling short sales.

“Our goal is to educate as many people as possible so we can help as many homeowners as possible,” Charfen said.

For more information about CDPE designation or to find a certified distressed Realtor in your area, please call 1-800-482-0335.

Looking For Information on Avoiding Foreclosure or More Information On Short Sales?  Visit My New Website: WestChesterOhShortSales.com