Welcome Randy Young to the HOME Real Estate family
September 2nd, 2010
Randy Young
Randy Young is a third generation real estate agent joining the HOME Cotner office.
Randy is licensed in Iowa and has been selling in Des Moines for the last three years. He is originally from Lincoln and has recently moved back with his wife Renee, daughter Jazlyn, and son Kyan. When he is not selling real estate he can be found spending time with his family at the lake.
Randy can be reached at (402) 594-8300 or Randy.Young@HomeRealEstate.com.
Posted byHOME Real Estate
Grandson of Harry Rotthaus wins scholarship
August 20th, 2010
Remington Rotthaus
Remington Rotthaus, grandson of HOME Real Estate agent Harry Rotthaus, was a recent recipient of a $1,500 2010/2011 Future Leaders Scholarship from AmeriSpec Home Inspection Service and TNT Termite Services.
“As one of your true ‘Partners of the Community,’ we believe education is the key to a successful future,” an AmeriSpec release said. “Our commitmnent toward education is another way we will continue to differentiate ourselves from other inspection companies in the Omaha and Lincoln metropolitan areas.”
Harry Rotthaus is an Associate Broker at the HOME Real Estate Cotner office, with over 40 years of real estate experience.
Posted byHOME Real Estate
Official July numbers for HOME
August 6th, 2010
In July, HOME dominated the market with 40 percent of all closed transactions. Here are the June numbers from all HOME Real Estate offices including Lincoln, Seward and Milford:
- $33,343,540 Total Volume Sold
- 204 Total Sides Sold
- 213 Sides Placed Under Contract
- 553,450 Page Views on HomeRealEstate.com
- 50,190 User Sessions on HomeRealEstate.com
- 40 New Saved Searches on HomeRealEstate.com
- 975 New Saved Properties on HomeRealEstate.com
- 113 New Customers on HomeRealEstate.com
- 1,291 Visits to Facebook.com/HomeRealEstate
View our monthly Market Snapshot here.
Posted byHOME Real Estate
Selecting Your Buyer’s Agent
August 2nd, 2010
You want to buy a house. You need an agent. How do you find someone to work with? I am amazed how people make this selection.
Sometimes people call me to show them a house I have listed, sometimes people just call the office, ask for an agent and I am the one on floor duty, sometimes I meet people at an open house, sometimes I am recommended. What is surprising to me is I have never been interviewed for the position. No one has ever asked for references. No one has ever asked how many transactions I have handled. Rarely someone asks how long I have been in the business.
This is one of the biggest purchases you will ever make. You need good advice, a good listener and someone who is working for you in the transaction who knows what they’re doing.
If you are thinking about buying a house, find a real estate agent first. Some good places to start: ask people who they recommend and why, go to open houses and see if someone clicks with you, if you know someone in the business call them, go online and look at websites. Pick three names and schedule interviews. Let the agent know you are interviewing for a buyer’s agent. You will surprise them—that’s ok. You are putting a lot of trust in this person and you will be spending a lot of time together.
Questions I suggest asking:
1) How will I be notified about houses available on the market that meet my criteria?
2) What is your availability to show me houses?
3) How many houses are you willing to show me?
4) How will I contact you? What is your usual response time?
5) Will you educate me about the contracts and process? How?
6) When I find a house I like, how will I know what to offer?
7) What do you think about getting an inspection or home warranty?
8) Do you have experience with short sales and foreclosures (if you want to look at these properties)?
9) What are the pluses and minuses of buying distressed properties?
10) How many buyer transactions did you handle last year?
11) Can I have three buyer client references? Call them.
12) Why should I work with you?
The intangible item for you to consider is your gut. Do you think this real estate agent will represent you well and look out for your interests? Will you enjoy spending time with this person during the process?
What do you think is the best way to find a buyer’s real estate agent?
Posted byElizabeth Katt
Create your own Seller’s Market
July 29th, 2010
There is a lot of talk these days about buyer’s markets and seller’s markets; I hear clients ask me where we are on a weekly basis. The truth is each seller has the potential to swing it to their advantage based on the listing price of their home.
Take this example…a single family home comes on the market in your neighborhood. If the median home value of comparable houses is around $125,000 that is the market setting the average price on the homes in the area. If the seller’s wanted their house to sell after an average amount of days on the market (DOM) they could list their home around the comps pricing and expect a sale. Most sellers are convinced that their home is valued above the median neighborhood price and might try listing it around $135,000.
If you can expect to get 10 people interested in buying a average house in the area, you may have just cut your list of potential buyers down to 2 – thus creating a buyers market on your home. A limited amount of buyers intersted in a particular home creates more supply than demand (remember econ class). If, however, the seller listed the home right away at $115,000 they would have successfully created a seller’s market by increasing their demand (buyers) on their home. Increasing the buyers could potentially create multiple offers on the home and (hopefully) generate an offer at or above listing price.
The home prices at $135,000 will likely remain for sale until the supply in the neighborhood runs dry, which could take months or years. That home will eventually be reduced in price to compare it with other homes nearby but the sellers will have lost out on their time and resources. In summary, create your own SELLER’S MARKET in any part of the country by listing your home at an aggressive price.
Posted byAshley Person
By MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star
The federal homebuyer tax credits helped propel local home sales in the first half of the year to their highest level in three years.
According to figures released last week from the Realtors Association of Lincoln, there had been 2,001 home sales through the local Multiple Listing System as of June 30.
That’s a more than 13 percent increase over the same period in 2009 and the most since there were more than 2,100 sales in the first half of 2007.
Sales of new homes, which have been a drag on the market for several years, were up even more.
For the year, sales of new homes are up more than 40 percent after increasing nearly 150 percent in June.
Despite the good news, most signs point to a slowdown in the second half of the year.
For the second straight month in June, pending sales – sales that are under contract but have not yet closed – were way down compared with last year.
“As expected, there was a reduction in the number of pending home sales in June, compared to those in June of 2009, due to the April 30 Homebuyer’s Tax Credit deadline,” said Nicole Jensen, executive vice president of the Realtors Association.
The tax credit, which offered $8,000 to new buyers and $6,500 to repeat buyers, expired at the end of April.
Despite continuing closings of sales related to the tax credits, sales of existing homes in June were actually down compared with June of last year – 370 to 396.
“We definitely foresee that the volume of home sales are going to curtail and are going to curtail pretty quickly,” said Kent Thompson, the elected president of the Realtors Association.
Still, Thompson stands by an earlier prediction he made that home sales will be up overall for the year.
“I think that Realtors, as a whole, will have a good year this year,” he said.
Mike Rezac, owner of Rezac Construction and president of the Homebuilders Association of Lincoln, is not as optimistic.
Despite the spike in sales of new homes, permits so far this year are down slightly compared with where they were at this time last year.
While that may not sound so bad, Rezac points out that last year was a 29-year low.
“I don’t see this being a terribly strong year,” he said. “We’re really holding out for next year.”
Posted byHOME Real Estate
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CNNMoney names Lincoln 16th-most affordable housing market
July 13th, 2010
From the Lincoln Journal Star:
Lincoln is the 16th-most affordable housing market in the country, according to CNNMoney.com.
The website recently named its top 25 markets based on how well median income matches up to median home prices.
According to CNNMoney, Lincoln has a median household income of $67,613 and a median home price of $125,000.
“As in other heartland housing markets, the Nebraska capital enjoyed steady, unspectacular home price appreciation during the boom and has suffered little in the bust,” the website said in explaining Lincoln’s rank. “Buyers can expect to pay around $200,000 for a nice three-bedroom house.”
Posted byHOME Real Estate
June numbers are in!
July 9th, 2010
Here are the June numbers from all HOME Real Estate offices including Lincoln, Seward and Milford:
- $57,509,776 Total Volume Sold (Up 1% over prior year)
- 372 Total Sides Sold (Down 1% over prior year)
- 220 Sides Placed Under Contract
- 480,383 Page Views on HomeRealEstate.com
- 33 New Saved Searches on HomeRealEstate.com
- 613 New Saved Properties on HomeRealEstate.com
- 61 New Customers on HomeRealEstate.com
- 43,450 User Sessions on HomeRealEstate.com
- 811 Visits to Facebook.com/HomeRealEstate
View our monthly Market Snapshot here.
Posted byHOME Real Estate
From the National Association of Realtors Government Affairs:
After a close brush with the deadline, Congress has passed an extension on the Home Buyer Tax Credit closing deadline, the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act (HR 5623).
The extension applies only to transactions that have ratified contracts in place as of April 30, 2010 that have not yet closed. The legislation is designed to create a seamless extension. The new closing deadline for eligible transactions is now September 30, 2010. There will be no gap between June 30 and the date the President signs the bill into law.
The National Association of Realtors worked closely with Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle to enact this important legislation. Extending the Tax Credit Closing deadline will help provide additional stability to real estate markets across the nation.
For additional information on the extension, visit www.realtor.org/government_affairs.
Additionally, the United States Senate has passed the National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2010 (HR 5569), extending the National Flood Insurance Program until September 30, 2010. This will allow transactions to move forward. The bill is retroactive and covers the lapse period from June 2, 2010 to the date of enactment of the extension.
For more information on the Flood Insurance Program, visit www.realtor.org/government_affairs.
Posted byHOME Real Estate
Welcome HOME Jessica Elsbury, Ethan Brown and Arnold DeWeerd
June 16th, 2010
HOME Real Estate would like to welcome the following Realtors to the company: Jessica Elsbury to the Cotner office, Ethan Brown to the North office, and Arnold DeWeerd to the Pioneer Greens Office.
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- Ethan Brown
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- Arnold DeWeerd
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- Jessica Elsbury
These agents can now offer their clients the service, strength and stability that HOME Real Estate is known for. All HOME agents have undergone licensing through the Nebraska Real Estate Commission, as well as completing an additional training program offered by HOME Real Estate. They are all members of the Realtors Association of Lincoln, Nebraska Realtors Association and the National Association of Realtors.
HOME Real Estate, an affiliate of HomeServices of America, is the area’s leading real estate company serving the Lincoln, Seward, and surrounding areas. The company’s agents are committed to providing clients with exceptional service in all stages of the building, buying, and selling process, including real estate, mortgage, title, and insurance. For more information about HOME Real Estate, visit www.HomeRealEstate.com.
Posted byHOME Real Estate
