West Chester & Liberty Township OH Real Estate: Tuesday Open House

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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 search, 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?

 
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

West Chester & Liberty Township OH Real Estate: Tuesday Open House

by Leave a Comment

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…

 

Buying A Home: One of my favorite writers and the author of Seth’s Blog, Seth Godin had a great blog post last week on how to buy a house.  Actually he termed it how to think about buying a house.  It is an really good article that is definitely worth taking the time to read.  You can read How to buy A house here

 

Mortgage Interest Rates: The interest rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage was just 4.90% this morning.  If you are thinking about a 15 year fixed rate, you can get that today for just 4.25%.  Both of these rates were with no points.  These mortgage rates come courtesy of Third Federal Savings.  With rates this low, moving up to a larger or newer home seems like a very good decision.  For instance… if you are currently in a home with a $200,000 mortgage at 6.00% your principal and interest payment is $1199.  Moving up to a home with a $300,000 mortgage at 4.90% carries with it a monthly principal and interest payment of $1592, just under $400 more.  Clearly there are many factors to consider including your job security, other monthly bills, etc., but if the time is right for you personally, this is a great opportunity to move up!

 

 

Keller Williams RED Day: Keller Williams Realty Red Day plans are underway! On May 13th, the Keller Williams Associate Partners office will be conducting a huge food and clothing collection drive for Reach Out Lakota!!!! Praying the day will be a huge success…Please RSVP to let us know if you would like to donate…we’ll come to your home on May 13th and pick up your donations. All you have to do is leave it out on your front porch for us. To RSVP, please visit our Lowry Team Real Estate Facebook Fan Page!

 

 

 Thinking Of Selling?: It is spring in West Chester and Liberty Township and this is a time of year when many homeowners think about putting their home on the market for sale and now is a good time to do so.  But first, consider finding an experienced real estate professional to consult with you.  It is very important that your home is ready for the market, there clearly are improvements that are critical to your home selling for the most money possible.  You can get our 20 Steps To Help You Sell Your Home In Today’s Market here for free.  This will get you started.  Also, be sure that you get a detailed market value analyis of the value of your home so that you start out day one on the market at the right list price.  You can request a Free Market Value Analysis here.  In today’s market, experience counts.  Your choice of a real estate agent could determine if your home sells at all!  Let us know if we can help.

 

 

Our Facebook Fan Page of the week is: Taste of Cincinnati. The Taste of Cincinnati is just a month away now.  Taste of Cincinnati USA is held every Memorial Day weekend in downtown Cincinnati. Started in 1979, it is now the nation’s longest running culinary arts festival.. Check out their Facebook page for all of the details.  As of today they have 2394 fans.

While you are on facebook checking out the Taste Of Cincinnati 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?

 
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

Get Your Personal Real Estate Market Update!

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What is a Market Snapshot? A Market Snapshot is a detailed real estate market report providing you with information on homes for sale and recent home sales in your  West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Fairfield Township, Monroe or Mason Ohio neighborhood.

Detailed information on each home is included on an interactive map as well as statistical data, all of which comes directly from the Greater Cincinnati Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

Get your West Chester Real Estate Market Update delivered right to your inbox:

 

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

 
 
 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

West Chester & Liberty Twp OH Real Estate Market Report 1st Qtr. 2010

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I am pleased to present my 1st Quarter 2010 Real Estate Market Report for West Chester, Beckett Ridge and Liberty Township, Ohio. In this report you will find detailed real estate information and statistics. The source of this information is the Greater Cincinnati Multiple Listing Service. By seeking out and understanding the trends in our market place we are better able to forecast the upcoming market conditions. Any thoughts and insight into what may occur in the future are solely my opinions and forecasts.

I am very focused on providing the best information possible and to being the real estate expert in our West Chester, Beckett Ridge & Liberty Township, Ohio area. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding any of this information. So let’s get started:

SALES:

There were 189 homes sold in the 1st Quarter of 2010 compared to 195 homes sold in the 1st Quarter of 2009. This represents a decrease of 3.08%.  If you simply leave it at that, it doesn’t look too bad.  However, if you dissect the market a little, you will see that things can look a little different depending on the price range.  Also, we must keep in mind that in the 1st Quarter of 2010, sales with out question have been supported / propped up by the goverment’s tax credit incentives for both 1st time homebuyers and repeat buyers.  We did not have these incentives in place in the 1st Quarter of 2009, thus one could surmise, pretty easily I think, that the percentage decrease would have been quite a bit larger if not for the tax credit incentives.

Below, you will see the sales broken down by price range, which paints a picture of several different markets within the West Chester and Liberty Township, Ohio real estate market:

Price Range2010 Units2009 Units+ or – %
Less than $200,0009397-4.12%
$200,000 – $249,9993644-18.18%
$250,000 – $299,9992730-10.00%
$300,000 – $399,9992120-5.00%
$400,000 – $499,99942100%
$500, 000 +82300%

AVERAGE SALE PRICE:

The average sale price in the 1st Quarter of 2010 for the West Chester and Liberty Township Ohiomarkets was $223,139 compared to $207,772 in the 1st Quarter of 2009, which constitutes an increase of 7.40%. So, let’s talk about what this means and what it doesn’t mean. First, it does mean that the average price of all of the homes that sold was quite a bit higher, 7.02% higher in fact.  However, what this doesn’t mean is that the value of our homes rose by 7.40% in this period. This average sale price is affected quite a bit in this case by the fact that we saw a pretty good increase of sales of higher priced homes compared to the market as a whole. This occurred while we had a decrease in the percentage of sales closed in all of the ranges under the $400,000 range, thus causing the average to be higher.

So, is this good news or bad news? Really to be honest, it is no news. To know the value of your home and just how much the value has fallen you need a detailed, analytical analysis of the current market value. You cannot draw a conclusion from market averages, and certainly not from what you read in the newspaper, Cincinnati Enquirer, USA Today or otherwise.

 

SUPPLY OF HOMES FOR SALE:

The oversupply of homes for sale is where the pricing pressure comes from. Too many homes for sale in relation to how many are selling is a critical indicator to monitor as we watch for signs of market stabilization. At the end of the 1st Quarter of 2010 we had 720 homes for sale in the West Chester, Beckett Ridge and Liberty Township, Ohio marketplace compared to 743 homes for sale in 2009. Meaning we have not seen a huge reduction in the amount of homes for sale. With a current inventory of 720 homes for sale, based on our current rate of sale we have just under 7.39 months worth of inventory for sale. Meaning if we continue to sell homes at the current pace and no new listings come on the market, it would take us just under 7.39 months to sell them all compared to a 7.75 month supply one year ago. So, relative to the pace that homes are selling, we have seen a small reduction in the inventory of homes for sale.  However, just like unit sales, these numbers can vary greatly by price range as you can see below.

PRICE RANGEHOMES FOR SALEMONTHS SUPPLY
Less than $200,0002996.42
$200,000 – $249,9991406.46
$250,000 – $299,999806.49
$300,000 – $399,999989.19
$400,000 – $499,9994914.00
$500,000 +5420.22

INTEREST RATES:

At the end of the 1st Quarter of 2010 interest rates on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage were hovering around a range of 4.95% – 5.05% which is largely the same as they were just one year ago. We have seen interest rates start to increase in the last few weeks though.  Just two weeks ago that thirty year mortgage was right around 4.75%.  So in the last two weeks rates have increased approx. .30%.   This is still a very clear example of the extreme value of today’s interest rates.

TOP 10 SALES:

The top 10 sales of the 1st Quarter of 2010*:

1. 6694 Southampton LaneWest Chester $833,900
2. 7347 Wetherington DriveWest Chester$778,965
3. 7311 Tamarron PlaceWest Chester$725,000
4. 6883 Harbour Town DriveWest Chester$563,545
5. 7277 Southampton LaneWest Chester$535,000
6. 7237 Clawson CourtWest Chester$529,900
7. 7286 Southampton LaneWest Chester$529,900
8. 4200 Tylers Estate DriveWest Chester$515,000
9. 5816 Ferdinand DriveWest Chester$478,000
10. 6745 Cherry Laurel DriveLiberty Twp.$430,000

*These sales are not necessarily those of Eric Lowry and the Lowry Team.

Summary:

The West Chester, Beckett Ridge and Liberty Township real estate market remains challenging, yet full of opportunity. Clearly the value of homes in the area has fallen over the past couple of years and frankly, in certain price ranges, the values are likely to fall farther.  I would expect in the market overall, for the rate of decline to slow, however, only when the supply of homes for sale drops and the number of buyers increases, will prices stabilize.  It will take a number of years to return to the values that we once experienced.  Exactly how long will be determined by the overall economy including the unemployment rate and of course how long interest rates are able to remain low.  This is a great market to buy a home and is particularly good for 1st time home buyers. It is also very favorable for homeowners looking to move up to a larger home.  Any loss experienced on the selling side should be more than made up for on the purchase side.
 
Your comments and questions are always welcome!
 

West Chester OH Real Estate: Beckett Ridge Home For Sale

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New Listing On LowryTeam.com…

8105 Tollbridge Court, West Chester, Ohio 45069

West Chester, Ohio 45069

Lakota Schools

$244,900 – Three Bedrooms – Three Full Baths, One Half Bath

This Is A Terrific Two Story Beckett Ridge Home For Sale:

  • Cathedral Great Room w/ Wood Burning Fireplace!
  • Gourmet Kitchen w/ New Cabinets & Granite Counter Tops
  • Spacious Master w/ Adjoining Luxury Bath & Walk-In Closet
  • Finished Lower Level w/ Rec Room, 4th Bedroom & Full Bath
  • Too many updates to list
  • Cul-de-Sac Street
  • Fenced Rear Yard
  • Close To Schools, Shopping & Expressways

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

 
 
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

West Chester & Liberty Township OH Real Estate: Home Values

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Everywhere you look these days there is news on home values.  It’s in newspapers, like the Cincinnati Enquirer, it’s on the web on sites like CNBC.com and USAToday.com and many others. Some is positive news and some news is very negative.

There are somethings to keep in mind here before you go off the deep end regarding your homes current market value.  The first is, don’t forget your basic math. Average sale prices have been going up in some areas, down in others. The average sale price is the just the value that occurs when all of the sales that occur in a given market are added up and divided by the number of sales. For example, if 100 homes have sold for a total sales volume of  $16,570,000. the average sale price would be $167,500. This simply represents the average of all of the homes that have sold and does not establish anything remotely close to a property’s value.

The second thing to remember is, when you hear these national news reports and economists discussing the rising or falling home prices, they are talking about national averages and these have nothing to do with our market values in West Chester, Beckett Ridge, Liberty or Fairfield Township areas.

These national reports are very much like getting a national weather forecast.  The average temperature in the United States tomorrow is not likely going to effect your life very much.  What you want to know if what the weather is going to be here tomorrow and if you are concerned about your homes value, you need to know the market data for our area, not some large metro area or state or country.

The best way to determine the value of your home is to get it analyzed by an experienced real estate professional. There are many factors in determining home values today and picking an average out of the air could hinder the sale of your home and frankly could cost you money. In today’s real estate market it is more important than ever to price your home appropriately.

If you would like to learn the current market value of your home you can request it 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