View our new monthly Market Snapshot, featuring facts and figures on the Lincoln, Nebraska real estate market, including surrounding areas.

 Posted byHOME Real Estate

By popular demand, “Bob” is back in the HOME radio ads, and he’s up to no good again. When will Bob learn to use HOME Real Estate, Lincoln’s #1 real estate company? Check out our new radio ad on the home buyer tax credits.

 Posted byHOME Real Estate

From the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce

1.IT WILL STRENGTHEN OUR ECONOMY

The Lincoln Haymarket Arena will generate $800 million in economic activity in our community during the three-year construction process. After it’s complete, Lincoln will see $260 million in annual economic activity – the equivalent of 65 home Husker football games.

2.IT WILL CREATE GOOD JOBS

The Lincoln Haymarket Arena will create thousands of jobs during the three years the arena is built. These good-paying jobs during construction will be added when we need them the most – during a tough economy. In the future, the Lincoln Haymarket Arena will add more than 1,000 permanent jobs at the arena and in the surrounding retail, office and commercial area. We need to do everything we can to keep and create good paying jobs, while we continue building a bright future in our community.

3.IT WON’T INCREASE PROPERTY TAXES

The ballot measure is clear: It includes language specifically guaranteeing that “APPROVAL OF THIS BOND ISSUE WILL NOT CAUSE ANY INCREASE IN THE PROPERTY TAX LEVY MILLAGE LIMIT OF THE CITY.” In addition, an economic growth analysis predicts that the Lincoln Haymarket Arena project will generate enough revenue to provide an additional $3 million in sales tax receipts to support city services. This helps ensure a stable budget for our city, reducing the likelihood of additional tax increases in the future.

4.IT REFLECTS PUBLIC INPUT AND ENSURES INDEPENDENT OVERSIGHT

The Lincoln Haymarket Arena project is the result of years of public input through community meetings throughout Lincoln. The feedback received resulted in important changes to the Arena plan. The Joint Public Agency that will be responsible for the project provides transparency and oversight of the expenditures for the project. Guaranteed audits will ensure that no funds are transferred from the general fund to the Arena project.

5.WE CAN’T AFFORD TO DO NOTHING

We’ve outgrown Pershing Auditorium. The building is over 50 years old and lacks the capacity, production space and infrastructure to support modern performances, concerts and sporting events. It is obsolete and costs more to keep open than it brings in. Doing nothing means we will forfeit having the Husker basketball team play at the arena and risk losing state high school tournaments – a Lincoln tradition. It also limits the possibility of new youth sports fields and other affordable family-friendly events that bring people together in Lincoln. In these times, doing nothing is not an option. The Lincoln Haymarket Arena is an opportunity we can’t afford to pass up.

 Posted byHOME Real Estate

From Staged Right Blog by Mary Lemon:

I’m going to give you some things to do before you have the stager visit your home. If you can take care of some of the necessary cleaning out, etc. it will be easier for the stager to actually look at your home and determine what needs to be done to prepare it for selling without having to look at all of your family pictures, kids outgrown toys, collections. This article will talk about preparing an occupied home to get it ready to put on the market.

First of all, and this is probably the most important, you need to take the emotion out of this process–forget about how much you love your collections, family pictures, etc. and think like a buyer. Start from the front and walk up to the house like you’re a potential buyer and look at the landscaping, paint, roof, front porch, door, etc. with a critical eye and determine whether you need to paint, add a new door handle, light, numbers, etc.

Then walk through each room and pretend it’s NOT your home so you can be objective. Because you’re planning on moving anyway, this is the time to clean out, throw out, give away, pack up all of the things you don’t want or need right now. If you have to rent a storage unit, it will be worth it as clutter and too much furniture and “stuff” is a real turn off.

Next time I’ll talk about doing some necessary updating before your home goes on the market if you want to get the best price! If doing the preliminary work mentioned here is too much for you, then the stager can help you with it. I’m just trying to save you some money by doing the things homeowners can usually do themselves.

 Posted byMary Lemon

Dennis Cauchon of USA TODAY recently reported on Lincoln’s steady economy. Read the excerpt of the article below, or the full article here.

To understand why some places are winning and others losing, USA TODAY examined a pair of No. 2s — the metropolitan areas of Lincoln, Neb., which has the second-lowest metro area unemployment rate in the United States, and Merced, Calif., which has the second-highest.

Lincoln symbolizes a swath of the central USA with economies that didn’t have wild highs and lows during the last decade.

Lincoln: Steady as she goes

Lincoln’s economy has been good for so long that it’s hard for many there to remember bad times.

The unemployment rate in the vibrant metropolitan area of 296,000 is just 4.1%, second-lowest in the nation.

The rate has never been above 5% since the Bureau of Labor Statistics starting tracking it 20 years ago.

“It’s like we’re on our own island out here,” says Jason Perry, a Wisconsin-born rental car manager who moved to Nebraska in 2008, when his wife, Robin, got a job in nearby Omaha, which also has low unemployment.

Lincoln is home to a major research university and national and regional headquarters for several substantial companies. It is surrounded by farms that export worldwide.

The metro area — built on the edge of the Great Plains — has the good fortune of being at the convergence of several positive trends in a dangerously weak national economy. Lincoln is:

• A college town, home to 24,000 students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Nine of the 10 metro areas with the lowest unemployment rates have major universities.

• A state capital, benefiting from a stable workforce of government jobs.

• Part of a farm economy at a time when farm income has been at or near record highs.

Just as important, Lincoln missed the real estate bubble, so it’s not suffering withdrawal from a construction boom caused by too-easy credit.

Tom Henning, chief executive of Assurity Life Insurance of Lincoln, can’t recall any significant speculative office buildings or shopping centers getting built in Lincoln during this decade’s national real estate boom that ended in 2007.

During an interview, Henning calls the company’s head of real estate lending on a speaker phone to check his memory.

Investment chief Bill Schmeeckle pauses for a long time as he recalls what’s been built in Lincoln during the past several years.

“No. None,” he says.

Henning says a real estate developer who approached Assurity Life about financing a speculative building would have been met with the common-sense question: “You mean you want to build it, but you don’t have any tenants yet?”

Construction in Lincoln proceeded at a steady, moderate pace during the last decade — and that continues today.

Assurity Life is building a new $53 million corporate headquarters. The university is developing a new research park. In May, voters will decide whether to approve bonds to start a $334 million arena for the university’s basketball team.

The city’s historic Haymarket District continues to slowly but steadily add new businesses.

The Bar & Grill has hung a sign at its future location: “Now Accepting Applications for All Positions.”

Trent Taylor, 28, who recently quit his job as a cook, says he’s not worried about finding work.

“There’s work around, just not always what you want,” says Taylor, smoking a cigarette outside a government career center in downtown Lincoln.

Lincoln hasn’t been immune to the recession. A total of 6,800 people were unemployed in December in a labor force of 167,000. That’s an increase of 1,150 from a year earlier.

“We’ve absolutely had job losses,” says Eric Thompson, a University of Nebraska economist. “It just doesn’t feel like the worst recession in 30 years or longer.”

One reason: Nebraska has among the nation’s highest rates of people holding multiple jobs, Thompson says. That means people can lose one job or be employed below their skill level, yet not count as unemployed.

Nebraska, with its high level of education, and Lincoln, in particular, have a labor force that’s attractive to employers.

“We might have someone with an economics degree working as a clerk,” Henning says.

Lincoln’s diversified economy has more than 100 companies and agencies that employ 250 or more workers, including a robust manufacturing sector. Kawasaki makes New York subway cars here, along with all-terrain vehicles and Jet Skis.

Nick Cusick, chief executive of IMS Corp., says manufacturing has been helped by electricity rates 25% below the national average.

A key reason for the low rates: Nebraska is the only state that generates all its power from government-owned utilities.

Thriving entrepreneurship and the lack of a major union presencealso have helped keep Nebraska manufacturers competitive, says Cusick, who started his company with a high school buddy in 1974.

Today, Cusick and his friend are still 50-50 partners in a company that employs 200, down from a peak of 275 in 2008.

IMS makes football goalposts, basketball hoops and electronic signs and scoreboards. The PGA Tour’s electronic leader board is one of its products.

Cusick thinks his region’s “common sense” culture helps Lincoln avoid economic peaks and valleys.

Nebraska companies typically are reluctant to take on debt because of this conservative culture, he says. Nebraska’s constitution even prohibits the state from borrowing money.

“The Nebraska sensibility — whether it’s in the public sector or the private sector — is to be cautious,” Cusick says.

Cusick vacations in Scottsdale, Ariz., every March and November. Between visits there, new shopping centers would appear there during the boom years. “Lot of vacancies now,” he says.

Lincoln was different that way. No boom, no bust. Still hiring.

 Posted byHOME Real Estate

Thirty-one HOME Real Estate sales associates attended the “Short Sales & Foreclosures: Protecting Your Clients’ Interests” course Feb. 5, sponsored by the Realtors Association of Lincoln, the Nebraska CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) Chapter and the Nebraska Realtors Association.

The course, taught by Senior CRS Instructor Robert Morris, explained the intricacies of the short sale and foreclosure processes, as well as the roles of lenders, sellers, buyers and cooperating agents involved. It also provided dialogues and systems for working with financial institutions and other owners of REO (bank-owned) properties.

Students took this course as a core credit on their way to a CRS Designation. Those in attendance are now better able to counsel homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. In addition, they can help clients navigate the process of a short sale, which occurs when the proceeds from the sale fall short of the balance owed on the loan.

HOME Real Estate had the most representatives of any company in the state taking the course. They included: Shirley Fralin, Harry Rotthaus and Jan Thomas of the Cotner office; Kim Deubelbeiss, Jeni Eitzman, Elizabeth Katt, Chris Knoche, Jayme Krueger, Susan Luxford, June Ring, Karen Roeber, Videl Sabio-Navarro, Linda Siedhoff, Brad Ulrich and Carla Waldbaum of the North office; Donald Dahlquist, Stacy Hartgerink, Charlotte Hazzard, Ellen Walsh High, Nancy Johnson, Donna Melichar, Dan Mlnarik, Pat Ohmberger, Roger Schreiner, Lenette Schwinn, Sherri Walker and Patti Whitbeck with the Pine Lake office; and Josh Bulow, Betty Burback, Kimberlee Johnson and Vern Sorensen from the Pioneer Greens office.

 Posted byHOME Real Estate

HOME Real Estate held its “Night of Champions” last night at the University of Nebraska Champions Club. Our 2009 units and volume surpassed 2008 numbers–our agents had success in a down market and had reason to celebrate.

Congratulations to the following Special Award Winners:

Top Overall Producers

Rhonda Dodson
Top Overall Producing Associate
Top Overall Selling Associate
Most Units Closed by an Associate

Abby Burmeister
Top Overall Listing Associate

The Searcy Team
Top Overall Producing Team
Most Units Closed by a Team

Paul & Madonna Kardell
Top Overall Producing Couple
Top Overall Selling Couple

Ann & Al Underwood
Top Overall Listing Couple
Top Overall New Construction Couple
Most Units Closed by a Couple

Special Awards

Kathy Dixon
HOME Real Estate
Realtor of the Year

Regina Kastrup
HOME Real Estate
Employee of the Year

Bev Neumayer
Hartley School, Steve Schleich Memorial Award

Office Awards

Merle Jahde
Top Producing Associate
Cotner

John Fink
Top Producing Associate
North

Ellen Walsh High
Top Producing Associate
Pine Lake

Rhonda Dodson
Top Producing Associate
Pioneer Greens

Paul Fry
Newcomer of the Year
Cotner

Jayme Krueger
Newcomer of the Year
North

Nancy Miller
Newcomer of the Year
Pine Lake

Jeannie Thomas
Newcomer of the Year
Pioneer Greens

Connie Boender
Top New Construction Associate
Cotner

John Fink
Top New Construction Associate
North

Renee Holscher
Top New Construction Associate
Pine Lake

Terry Kraft
Top New Construction Associate
Pioneer Greens

Marianne McAtee
Agent Choice Award
Cotner

Elizabeth Katt
Agent Choice Award
North

Lenette Schwinn
Agent Choice Award
Pine Lake

Madonna Kardell
Agent Choice Award
Pioneer Greens

Check out pictures from the event on our Facebook page or by watching the video below:

 Posted byHOME Real Estate

HomeServices of America CEO Ron Peltier weighs in on the state of the housing market.

 Posted byHOME Real Estate

Winners Tim and Kerri McDonald

Kerri McDonald of Lincoln has one less thing to worry about for 2010. HOME Real Estate, along with Woods Bros Realty, is paying her mortgage payments for the year, as she is the winner of their 2009 Cover Your Bases promotion.

McDonald and her husband, Tim, purchased their first home, a Cover Your Bases listing, in September. By participating in the Cover Your Bases program, the seller agreed to provide an upgraded American Home Shield home warranty to provide more buyer confidence in the home.

Kerri said they plan to use the money to give themselves a nest egg or to pay down extra on their mortgage.

“I’ve never won anything before,” Kerri said. “I don’t know what to make out of it. It just hasn’t hit me yet.”

The home warranty has already come in handy for the couple, and they were able to take advantage of the first-time home buyer federal tax credit. They also took part in the NeighborWorks® program, a non-profit organization that offers home buyer education and assistance, in addition to neighborhood revitalization.

“This is really going to help us out with our future,” Tim said. “With the $8,000, too, what else could we ask for? It’s just a blessing, really.”

The Cover Your Bases promotion was created to promote secure home buying and selling in an uncertain economy. Homes in the promotion included an upgraded home warranty to protect buyers from unforeseen repairs and expenses in the first year of owning their home. Entrants needed to purchase one of the promoted homes using a HOME Real Estate or Woods Bros Realty professional REALTOR®, and they were encouraged to have the homes inspected.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the results of this promotion and are thrilled for the winners,” said Gene Brake, CEO of HomeServices of Nebraska. “We appreciate all the buyers and sellers who have participated in the program.”

135 buyers were enrolled for a drawing of free mortgage payments for a year, up to $12,000 of principal and interest. Kerri’s name was drawn Jan. 5, and Tim waited until he picked her up from work to give her the news.

“It’s still just a shock to me,” she said.

For more information about the Cover Your Bases promotion, visit www.CoverYourBases.net.

 Posted byHOME Real Estate

By MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star

Fifth-best place for business and careers.

Top city in which to find a job.

Second-most-likely city to see a housing recovery.

It seems that in 2009 Lincoln popped up on more “best of” lists than ever before.

Those kudos make for interesting newspaper stories and look good on Chamber of Commerce marketing materials, but do they really have any effect on economic development?

Wendy Birdsall believes they do.

“They play a big role because we’re getting accolades, we’re getting put on the map,” said Birdsall, president of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.

“It does cause people to take a second look” at Lincoln, she said.

As evidence that people notice, Birdsall cited an October trip by city and chamber officials to Dallas to visit with site selectors and officials of companies that have Lincoln operations.

“People mentioned, ‘You’ve been making a lot of these lists,’” she said. “They do notice it.”

Read the rest of the article here.

 Posted byHOME Real Estate