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

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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…

 

New Listing: 8419 Edgeview Drive, West Chester, Ohio. Located just minutes from the shopping and dining at Voice Of America and both I-75 and I-71.  This terrific home really is a must see. It features three bedrooms and two and a half baths, along with a cathedral great room, remodeled kitchen, large master w/ adjoining bath and first floor laundry. You can get more information and see interior and exterior photos of 8419 Edgeview Drive in West Chester, Ohio on our website, www.LowryTeam.com.

 

 

Need Mulch? As I have mentioned several times, 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 see the article in the Cincinnati Enquirer here or you can just go directly to the boy scouts site right here. My mulch is being delivered this week…anyone like to help??

 

10 Days To Tax Credit Expiration: The tax credit of $8000 for first time hombuyers and $6500 for move up buyers expires on April 30th, 2010.  Could the time to buy be after the expiration of the tax credits?  Maybe… homeowners that haven’t sold may be more likely to accept a lower price if the showing and selling activity slows after the tax credit expiration, providing an even better opportunity for a good deal.  Will the activity slow?  No one knows, we will just have to wait and see.  Also, keep in mind interest rates remain very, very low.

 

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!

 

 

It Must Be Spring:  You know it is spring in West Chester and Liberty Township when The Cone opens.  I drove by the Tylersville Road landmark this past week and the crowds were already huge.  The Cone is the local ice cream destination.  Check out their website for more information and to read the history of this local West Chester business.

 

Our Facebook Fan Page of the week is: The Cincinnati Bengals.  This week is the NFL draft and the eyes of all Bengal fans will be on the team to see which players they select.  Hopefully it will be a successful weekend for the Bengals.  Check out their Facebook page for all of the details.

While you are on facebook checking out the Cincinnati Bengals 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?

Search the entire MLS 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

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 Range 2010 Units 2009 Units + or – %
Less than $200,000 93 97 -4.12%
$200,000 – $249,999 36 44 -18.18%
$250,000 – $299,999 27 30 -10.00%
$300,000 – $399,999 21 20 -5.00%
$400,000 – $499,999 4 2 100%
$500, 000 + 8 2 300%

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 RANGE HOMES FOR SALE MONTHS SUPPLY
Less than $200,000 299 6.42
$200,000 – $249,999 140 6.46
$250,000 – $299,999 80 6.49
$300,000 – $399,999 98 9.19
$400,000 – $499,999 49 14.00
$500,000 + 54 20.22

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 Lane West Chester $833,900
2. 7347 Wetherington Drive West Chester $778,965
3. 7311 Tamarron Place West Chester $725,000
4. 6883 Harbour Town Drive West Chester $563,545
5. 7277 Southampton Lane West Chester $535,000
6. 7237 Clawson Court West Chester $529,900
7. 7286 Southampton Lane West Chester $529,900
8. 4200 Tylers Estate Drive West Chester $515,000
9. 5816 Ferdinand Drive West Chester $478,000
10. 6745 Cherry Laurel Drive Liberty 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! Wondering what your home is worth in today’s real estate market?  Request a market analysis here!

 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

LowryTeam.com: Bridle Creek Subdivision Home For Sale – New Listing

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New Listing On LowryTeam.com…

325 Bridle Pass Way, Monroe, Ohio 45050

Monroe, Ohio 45050

Monroe Schools

$224,900 – Four Bedrooms – Three Full Baths

This Is A Terrific Ranch Style Home In Bridle Creek Subdivision:

  • Cathedral Great Room w/ Gas Fireplace!
  • Eat-In Kitchen w/ Ceramic Tile Floors
  • Cathedral Master w/ Adjoining Full Bath & Walk- Closet
  • Finished Lower Level w/ Rec Room, 4th Bedroom & Full Bath
  • Professional Class Media Room
  • Large, Two Tiered Deck
  • Wooded, Rear Yard
  • Pool Community
  • Close To Schools, Shopping & Expressways

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

Search the entire MLS 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

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

by Leave a Comment

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…

 

New Listing: 325 Bridle Pass Way, Monroe, Ohio.  Located in Bridle Creek subdivision this terrific ranch home really is a must see.  It features three bedrooms and two full baths on the first floor, along with a cathedral great room, eat-in kitchen, cathedral master w/ adjoining bath and first floor laundry.  The lower level is really special, featuring a large rec room w/ wet bar, recessed ceiling and recessed lighting, a fourth bedroom and third full bath, plus a professional class media room.  

 

Need Mulch? As I mentioned last week, 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 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.

Good Reasons To Buy Now: Here is a really good article on why now is the time to buy real estate if you have been thinking of it and are just undecided or unsure.  5 Good Reasons To Buy That Home NOW!

This article makes the point that waiting to buy a home until later may in fact cost you money.  The below example spells this out pretty clearly I think:

Let’s say that you buy a home for $200,000 and make a  10% down payment using a 30 year fixed rate mortgage.  If your interest rate today is 5.00%, the monthly payment will be $967. 

But let’s say you want to wait to see if home values fall farther in the West Chester/Liberty Township area.  If home values do fall a little more and that same home can now be purchased for $195,000 with the same 10% down payment, but while you waited interest rates went up slightly to 5.25%, your payment would now be $969.  Even though you paid $5000 less, you payment is now $2 higher. 

If rates have moved up to 5.50% during this time, your payment would now be $996.  And these payments are based on the lower purchase price, if the value of the home you were buying didn’t drop and the rates went up the monthly payments would be even higher. 

So waiting to buy may very well cost you money.  Rates have started to rise, not dramatically yet, but don’t wait too long! 

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 53 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?

Search the entire MLS 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

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

by Leave a Comment

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?

Search the entire MLS 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