Kenton County, Independence/Erlanger, 1483 Shirepeak Way

Spectacular home! 3 Finished Levels.  4bd/4ba.  2 story great room.  Vaulted ceilings in master bedroom.  Kitchen with stainless steel appliances, corian countertops, island & walk-in pantry.  Finished lower level with rec area & walk-out.  Theatre room w/extra insulation for sound dampening. Conveniently located just off of Turkeyfoot Road and only about 1.5 mi to Kenton County Golf Course.

Please visit www.NickDailey.com for more information about Northern Kentucky real estate.

Northern Kentucky – Boone County YTD Market Report 6/10/08

This report is geared towards getting the consumer a better overall feel of our Boone County real estate market here in Northern Kentucky.  Included is the # of homes currently for sale, the average days on market, the # of homes sold so far this year, how the #’s compare to the same time last year, and few other pertinent stats.  This report only contains statistics for single family homes.  Condominiums, townhomes, and land are not included.

Active – 1014

Pending – 201

Sold – 579 (691)

On average, the list price was $241,192 ($243,226), and the sales price was $201,686 ($201,946)  The median list price was $194,900 ($197,205), with a median sales price of $173,000 ($171,500).

All figures in parentheses are for the exact same time period of ‘07.

The average Days On Market (DOM) was 101.  As compared to 94 days for the same time last year.  Not really that different, huh?  Historically, our market has been very consistent.  The total sales are down, and there are more listings expiring before they’re sold, but if you have a good real estate agent, they can help you work through a successful sale.

Please remember that each seperate part of the Boone County real estate market is different as well.  Some neighborhoods/cities are just more desireable than others to different buyers.  Petersburg is probably going to take longer to sell a home that if it was in Union.  Florence and Richwood offer first-time homebuyers more options…and so on.

If you’d like data for your specific neighborhood or city, please call or email me and let me know.

For more information on the Northern Kentucky real estate market, or to search the enitire MLS without registering, please see www.NickDailey.com.

Market Data – Explanation

From time to time, I’ll be updating different areas of our Northern Kentucky real estate market.  Some posts will give you general information about how the market is doing as a whole, others will break down the real estate activity in Boone, Kenton, or Campbell counties; and still others will give specifics as to what’s going on in a particular city, or even neighborhood.  Hopefully you’ll find the info useful, and won’t need to depend on the doom-and-gloom reports you hear on the National news stations each night.  This information is mined directly from the Northern Kentucky MLS, and is compiled along with a secondary market report that gives access to the full tax records…not just sales where a Realtor was involved.

Please keep me in mind if you are in need of a Realtor in Northern Kentucky.  I have my finger on the pulse of the market and will do my best to make you comfortable in what can be a confusing market.

For other real estate related information, and for a FREE search of the Northern Kentucky MLS, please see www.NickDailey.com.

New Construction – KY – Boone County – Union – 11660 Agarwood Drive

If you’re looking for Northern Kentucky new homes, please visit the ‘New construction’ tab on www.NickDailey.com.  Besides this amazingly constructed home, there are still 9 other homesites available!

****Update: 7/16/08 – Price is now $600K!!*****

Beautiful new construction in Walton (unincorporated taxes, Ryle Schools) KY!  This home features approximately 4800 SF, and sits on a picturesque .8 acre homesite with a lakeview in the Estates of Richwood (located approximately 1.5 miles from the Richwood Exit off of I-75).  The main living area is highlighted by 18 ft ceilings (10 feet in the LL), gorgeous stack-stone fireplace, built-ins prewired for your flat-screen, Brazilian Maple floors, walk-out to a covered patio, treyed ceilings in the Master and office, walk-in shower w/double shower heads, Maple cabinetry.  The lower level hosts a gaming area, prewired 100+ inch projection screen w/7.1 Surround sound, workout room, extra bedroom, walk-out, and 2nd FULL kitchen!

Sellers’ options when facing foreclosure

When facing foreclosure, it’s important to know what options are available to you as a homeowner.  Normally, the clients that I deal with aren’t in a state of mind that is conducive with making a rational decision very easily.  All of them are stressed out, that should go without saying.  This has been weighing heavily on their minds for the last several months.  Not to mention, the stress from the foreclosure action is normally compounded by whatever got them into the situation in the first place.  Admittedly, some people just got greedy, and borrowed more than they knew they were going to be able to pay back after any adjustments.  For others, life happened.  Maybe a spouse passed, or they’re currently going through a divorce, or a child got sick and now the medical bills are overwhelming, or one income was cut due to a job loss.  There are many, many reasons for why, but in the end, they all conjur the same emotions.  People are left feeling ashamed, embarrased, and many times, helpless.  If a foreclosure does hit your credit report, you can count on your score dropping by approximitely 250 points!!  So what CAN you do as a homeowner to avoid a foreclosure?

Repayment Plan – You may be able to work with your lender to come up with some sort of repayment plan.  Remember, this will increase your payments.  Not only are you responsible for maintaining the payment as originally agreed upon, but now there are several months of unpaid bills (arrears) that need to be caught up.  For example: Your payment used to be $1000/month.  Let’s say you’ve missed 3 payments.  (Banks are somewhat flexible in the timing of the repayment, but it’s usually about 6 months.)  Using 6 months as a guide, you now need to pay $1500/month, on time, for 6 straight months.  This usually only works if the problem that got you in trouble in the first place is FIXED.  Meaning, you and your spouse worked things out, or the company that let you go now has a new position availble for you.

Forbearance – This process suspends or reduces payments…temporarily.  If you have good communication with your lender, and can prove that your current hardship is only temporary, sometimes they will work out a solution for you.  The late payments are not forgiven though.  The arrears are going to be factored back into the loan, usually at the end.  Meaning, if you were 3 months behind, instead of paying off your loan 06/20xx, your last payment will be due 09/20xx.

Loan Modification – It is possible for the lender to restructure your loan for you.  Through this process, the actual terms of the loan are changed.

Partial Claim – For FHA loans only.  In some cases, HUD will loan the borrower $3K-$4K for arrears.  This loan is attached to the property as a lien.

Deed in Lieu – This is commonly known as a voluntary foreclosure.  Basically, the homeowner gives the keys back to the bank and surrenders the property to them.  This will still show up on your credit report as a foreclosure, and is it possible for the PMI insurer to file a deficiency judgement.

Loan Assumption – With mortgage rates dipping into the 4’s a few years back, many lenders removed this clause from their loans.  They knew rates couldn’t stay that low for very long, and if someone wanted to try to assume the payments on a loan, the bank was better off to have them apply for a new loan…with a higher interest rate.  That being said, there are still some loans out there that are assumable.

Bankruptcy – If a Chapter 13 is filed, you may include your house, and no action will be taken for up to 5 years.  Please be aware that on average, only 3% of Chapter 13 filings are successfully completed, and often the foreclosure proceedings will resume after the BK is discharged.

Short Sale – This has become the most viable option for many homeowners who find themselves behind on their mortgage.  Mentally, the owner needs to prepare themselves to leave the home.  The key word in ’Short Sale’…is sale.  Please see my earlier post ‘What is a Short Sale?’

I’m still researching whether or not you’re allowed to ‘buy back’, or ‘lease back’ your home from an investor.  Any insights to this matter would be greatly appreciated as I’ve ready many contradictory articles.

Please see www.NickDailey.com for more information on Northern Kentucky real estate.

What is Pre-Foreclosure?

Pre-foreclosure is the period between when the foreclosing lender files the Lis Pendens or Notice of Default (Depending on whether or not your state is judicial.  In Kentucky they file a Lis Pendens.), and the time of the actual Sheriff Sale.  This is the time when you should be working REALLY hard (i.e. Contact Me) to figure out your options.  In some ‘quick’ states, this can be a matter of just a few weeks.  In KY, you normally have between 120-150 days before any court ordered action is taken against your property.  This depends on the county.  You can also help buy yourself some more time if you make sure to respond to the initial attorney’s filing within the time frame allotted, which is around 3 weeks.   Either the homeowner, or their attorney can file the letter.  The response needs to be filed in the same clerk of courts office that sent the letter, and you also need to send a copy of the letter to the attorney who is handling the foreclosure for the bank within 3 days of filing.

Most of the short sale (for more on short sales see my post What is a short sale?) clients that I deal with have a property in pre-foreclosure.  When a property is in this state, the bank has specific departments to handle the file.  It’s commonly referred to a the Loss Mitigation, or Workout Department.  These departments try to remedy the file before it gets passed off to their REO (Real Estate Owned) division.

Please see www.NickDailey.com for more information on the Northern Kentucky real estate home buying/selling process.

DISCLAIMER

This probably should have been my first post… 

While some of the discussions on here may become a bit technical with regards to legal and or tax implications, they are based solely on my experiences.  I am not an attorney, and in no way should you take the writings on this blog as legal advice.  Always consult your attorney to see how your specific set of circumstances could be legally affected.  I am not a CPA.  Any tax-specific discussions are related to my personal/business finances and you should consult your accountant to see how your specific set of circumstances could be affected. 

I AM a licensed real estate agent in the state of Kentucky.

Fore more information on the home buying/selling process, please see www.NickDailey.com.

What is a short sale?

Please see www.NickDailey.com for more information on Northern Kentucky real estate.

A short sale is an agreement between a lender and a borrower to settle for less than is what owed on the loan.  Obviously, many things need to be factored in before this decision can be made.  If you are 3 months or more behind in your mortgage payments, chances are the company that services your loan, your lender, (i.e. Chase, Wells Fargo, Countrywide) has begun foreclosure proceedings.  This doesn’t mean that there aren’t still solutions for the homeowner.  But lately, after exploring all the other options (and I’ll get to those in a later post), many homeowners have decided to attempt a short sale.  I say attempt because not every situation is set up for a successful short sale to be completed.  Your lender is going to want to see that you/your family are experiencing a hardship of some sort that is not something that you will able to remedy before a Sheriff Sale is scheduled.

Before the lender will even look at an offer that is for an amount lower than your payoff, they require a ’short sale package’ to be submitted.  The items to be included can very a bit from lender to lender, but in general, most banks will review the same set of documents.

Here is what you’ll need:

1) A hardship letter – this is a one page document written by the homeowner explaining exactly what brought them into their current situation (i.e. divorce, job loss, death of a spouse, rate adjustment) that no longer allows them to make their payments as scheduled.  Be specific, and honest.  The person assigned to making the decision about your loan WILL read this in it’s entirety.  If it doesn’t match up with the supporting documentation, that’s the easiest way to have your short sale request denied.  I used to have my clients hand-write these for a more personal touch, but after talking with a bank’s loss mitigation manager, he suggested they be typed.  It’s just easier for them to read after faxing…

2) Tax Returns – Many people make the mistake of just sending in their most recent W2.  While that may suffice on occasion, they would really like a better overall picture of your financial situation.  Normally no more that the first 5 pages or so will work.

3) Bank Statements – You’ll need to get copies of your bank statments for the last 2 months.  This one is pretty easy.  They want to see exactly how much money you have.

4) Paystubs – The homeowner will need to submit paystubs from their last two pay periods.

5) Income/Expense Statement – If you’re requesting a short sale, you need to show the lender exactly what is coming in and going out every month.  For a better chance to be accepted, include every expense that you currently have.  (If you’re working with me, I’ll provide a sheet with a professionally itemized template to work off of.)  Be sure to include insurance, car payments, utilites, credit cards, mortgage payments…everything.  Again, the person assigned to your file WILL review this, and it needs to match up with your bank statment.

If you’re an agent, you also need to include the following:

6) Purchase and Sale contract

7) Listing agreement

8 ) MLS Sheet showing current Days on market (save your COMPs/relevant market data for negotiating leverage later on if necessary)

9) Authorization to Release form – this allows you to speak directly with the lender on behalf of your client.  This should be attained at your initial consultation.  It must contain the homeowner’s signature, SSN, and loan #.  Please be aware that if you’re working with certain banks, they can expire from time to time, so be sure to ask the bank rep if that is the case.

10) A preliminary HUD-1, or at the very least, a net sheet.

Now that we have the bulk of the specifics out of the way, let’s review a few other factors that go into whether or not your short sale request is accepted.  Firstly, and this is something that I’ve only recently been made aware of, but makes a perfect sense, does the loan have PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance)?  This will determine whether or not the bank will be recieving any compensation from an insurer of the loan.  Most often, it is around 20%-30% of the total debt owed to the bank.  So if the payoff (including principle balance, taxes, insurance, PBO fees, and attorney fees) is $200,000, and the insurance is for 30%, the bank will be getting a check back from the PMI company for $60,000.  Think that makes a difference in their answer?  You bet!  Unfortunately, many of the loans written in the last few years were done without having the owner pay PMI, by using 80/20 products.

Besides PMI, there is another major factor that goes into an acceptance.  You need to see who your mortgage company is servicing the loan for.  Many times it’s not the same entity.  Countrywide, for example, does service many of their own loans, but they also service loans for investors like Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and FHA.  Why does this matter?  Because different investors have different guidlines for acceptance.  They have a certain percentage that they are willing to take, and this is usually non-negotiable.  Only in very rare circumstances will they step out of these guidelines, and it won’t be by much.

Here are some other items to be mindful of while you’re working through this process:

• The departments that are handling these files are BUSY!  Even after you’ve submitted your complete short sale package, it could be up to TWO MONTHS before anyone is even assigned to take a look at it.  From there, it can be several more weeks to get an answer.  They need to order their BPO, and review all the supporting documents.  Some of the poeple working in these departments have 120+ files to process at a time.  And with the influx of new short sale requests, banks are expediting employees through training programs.  What used to be a position that required at least a year and a half of training through all the departments, is now a process that can take as little as 6 months.
• Be patient! (see above )  This isn’t like a normal retail sale where you can work out a deal with your agent over the weekend.  This is a process, and will take months to complete.
• Deficiency judgements are a possibility.  (I’ll post specifically about this later)

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of the short sale process.  It’s long, and fairly complicated.  But in the end, everyone really does win.  The bank has one more property that they don’t have to take back and resell.  The end buyer normally gets a pretty good deal on the home.  The agents get extra business that they didn’t always know was available.  And most importantly, the homeowner avoids the foreclosure and maintains the ability to own a home in the future.  That is assuming that they’ve learned their lesson, and are diligent in repairing their credit from the late mortgage payments.

#1

I just wanted to get a little something down to get started.  I hope to be able to use this space as good place to share ideas and experiences that may be able to spark an interest in somebody else, make us all think a little, or enlighten me on a new topic.  Everyone has their own ideas and experiences and sharing those leads to a collective wisdom that could benefit many. 

Primarily, these writings are going to center around my career as a RE/MAX agent, and the latest tips, tricks, tools and market data that I’ve come across.  I want to use it for a cosumer to get a good feel for the overall processes; and hopefully that will lead to more of a feeling of control when entering the current real estate market (best case as my client).  I’ll discuss articles that I come across, and share info from the latest seminars that I’ve attended. 

I guess that’ll do it for now.  Check back soon…

And please visit www.NickDailey.com for my RE/MAX website.