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Real Estate Blog
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Tuesday, September 11 2012
As Hurricane Isaac relief efforts continue, American Red Cross chapters nationwide are uniting to help every family create a disaster plan.
Whether it’s a hurricane, earthquake or house fire that threatens, families need a disaster plan first to make sure they are ready when emergencies happen. “Just like no coach would bring a team onto a field without a game plan, every family needs their own game plan for emergencies,” said Russ Paulsen, executive director of Community Preparedness and Resilience at the Red Cross. “When disaster strikes, it’s too late.”
Disaster plans should include designating a meeting place right outside the home in case of a sudden emergency like a fire, a location where everyone should meet if they can't go home and an out-of-area contact who can help connect separated family members. All members of the household should work together on the emergency plan and each person should know how to reach other family members.
The Red Cross has tools to make it easier for people to make or update their plan. The American Red Cross Hurricane App for iPhone and Android smart phones helps people create a plan and share it with household members and over social networks. In addition, a template to build a plan is available at redcross.org/npm.
“Being prepared is a family’s best defense,” said Richard Bissell, Ph.D., chair of American Red Cross Preparedness Sub-Council and member of its Scientific Advisory Council. “Having a plan is vital to making sure all household members know what to do in an emergency.”
OTHER WAYS TO GET READY
The Red Cross has several programs to help people, businesses, schools and communities be better prepared.
Be Red Cross Ready is a web-based, interactive tutorial that teaches people how to be ready for emergencies.
Red Cross Ready Rating™ is a free, web-based membership program that measures how ready businesses, organizations and schools are to deal with emergencies and helps them improve their readiness level.
The Ready When the Time Comes program trains employees from businesses so they can be used as a community-based volunteer force when disaster strikes.
Red Cross First Aid and CPR/AED training courses provide participants with the knowledge and skills to respond to emergencies in case advanced medical help is delayed.
People can visit redcross.org for information on what to do before, during and after emergencies and disasters.
“We can’t control Mother Nature,” said Paulsen, “but we can control what we do. And having a plan can make all the difference.”
Source: http://www.redcross.org/news/press-release/Red-Cross-Urges-Everyone-to-Make-a-Plan-for-Preparedness-Month
Monday, September 10 2012
There are more honors for a popular southern Indiana tourist attraction. Holiday World & Spashin' Safari in Santa Claus says its Wildebeest and Mammoth water coasters were among the winners at this weekend's Golden Ticket Awards in Tennessee.
SANTA CLAUS, IND.----- Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari’s two water coasters took top honors during this weekend’s Golden Ticket Awards ceremony, held at Dollywood theme park.
For the third year in a row, Holiday World’s Wildebeest water coaster was named the World’s #1 Waterpark Ride. This top honor was announced by Amusement Today magazine, which presented the results of its annual survey of the “best of the best” in the amusement park industry during the annual Golden Ticket Awards ceremony.
In addition, Holiday World’s new water coaster, Mammoth, was named the Best New Waterpark Ride of 2012. Mammoth, the world’s longest water coaster, was lauded by park guests and news media alike this season, with coverage on the Travel Channel, CNN.com, ABCNews.com, the Los Angeles Times, plus Forbes and Wired magazines.
“With so many amazing rides around the world, it’s an incredible honor to have our Mammoth and Wildebeest named the very best,” says Holiday World & Splashin' Safari’s president, Dan Koch.
For the thirteenth consecutive year, Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari were named the #1 Cleanest Park, outranking such parks as Disney World, Kings Island, Dollywood, and Cedar Point.
“For this award, we thank our wonderful Hosts and Hostesses,” says Koch. “They worked together all summer long in record heat to keep our parks clean.”
Amusement Today is an international monthly trade journal for the amusement and water park industries, based in Arlington, Texas. The Golden Ticket Awards are determined by surveys submitted by well-traveled park enthusiasts from around the world.
Holiday World will reopen to the public for six additional weekends starting Saturday, September 22, including the new Happy Halloween Weekends event during October. For more information, visit the parks’ website at HolidayWorld.com or call 1-877-463-2645.
Source: Holiday World & Splashin' Safari http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=55545
Thursday, September 06 2012
Don’t assume your storm-damaged tree needs to be cut down. Trees can easily bounce back if you follow these tips for pruning and storm protection
Many tree-care professionals don’t have experience working on battered trees, cautions Ed Gilman, a University of Florida professor who researches the restoration of storm-damaged trees.
Too often, inexperienced arborists recommend thinning interior branches. That’s exactly the wrong thing to do to avoid storm damage.
“For storm protection and recovery, you should be doing the opposite,” Gilman says. “Removing branches from the end of long limbs and retaining the interior branches.”
Even if a storm is strong enough to blow the leaves completely off a tree and bust branches, the tree can remain viable and ready for a comeback. “One episode from a storm is not enough to kill the tree,” Gilman says. The energy reserved in the tree’s roots and limbs will fuel new leaves either that year or the next year.
Storm recovery tips for trees
- Remove broken, separated, or hanging branches, but don’t prune any live wood that’s healthy. The tree needs the energy stored in its limbs to heal itself.
- Check for cracks where branches connect to larger limbs. If you see cracks, cut the limb back to the next healthy, whole branch.
- Make smooth pruning cuts — don’t leave small stumps or ragged pieces jutting out from your damaged tree. Leave the collar — the thickened base of a limb where it attaches to the tree — intact. Collars help heal pruning cuts.
- Straighten and stake a small damaged tree (4” trunk diameter or less) that’s knocked down. Water it frequently as you would a new tree.
- After flooding from a hurricane, water trees and plants freely to flush the salt water out of the soil.
When a tree can’t be saved
- If a tree leans over your house, car, or areas where people walk or play, it has to come down.
- If your tree is hanging over or touching power lines, removing it isn’t a do-it-yourself task. Call a professional tree removal firm for help.
Cost for tree removal varies according to the size and location of the tree. Expect to pay between $800 and $3,000 to remove a medium-sized tree.
Check tree roots after the storm
A few months after the storm, use a pitch fork to check the big roots coming out of the trunk to make sure they’re alive beyond the first foot or two of their length. Healthy roots are brownish or gray with hard, whitish centers. Dying roots are soft.
If your pitchfork hits solid root, great. If not, you may have to take down your tree before it falls down.
Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/plants-trees/save-tree-storm-damage/#ixzz25hBa5pwg
Tuesday, September 04 2012
Success in Evansville home sales depends on many factors -- and when your own home is the one that is being offered, you want to do the most you can with any factor you control Your home’s interior condition and design are likely to be the key considerations after a buyer has decided to make an offer. However, it’s the exterior – the view that initially catches potential buyers’ eyes – that can have a disproportionate impact on whether they get to that stage. Much of how they perceive the entire property will be influenced by that first impression. It’s the home sales industry’s well known ‘curb appeal.’
Any home’s appeal will, of course, benefit from fresh, clean looking surfaces overall. Scrubbing and painting may the first order of the day, but there are a host of other ideas that can enhance that first impression.
Stepping out to the actual curb to consciously register the view as a first-time onlooker sees it is absolutely necessary. Look at the scene the way a designer does. Is there balance? Natural symmetry is pleasing to the eye, and sometimes achieving that can be as simple as adding a balance of light fixtures or front door accents that repeat some detail.
If what your eye registers is fresh and clean -- yet also dull and uninteresting – you might add splashes of excitement by introducing colorful plants. An instant garden can be created via containers or window planters. Often, such simple touches add so much life that a home’s entire impact is transformed.
Along the same lines, home sales suffer when the details aren’t given enough thought. If you have gotten used to mix-and-match hardware at the entranceway, it’s time to pay a visit to the home improvement center. It’s not a bad idea to snap a few pictures on your way out: they will help you better imagine what styles and finishes will work with the existing design elements. Bringing along a current snapshot has prevented many a return trip. It will also help salespeople suggest ideas you might not have considered.
Another area is easy to overlook even though it can make a real difference in building home sales potential. It’s the nighttime impact – what passersby experience during all the non-daylight hours. It's amazing what adding a little bit of light can do. The thoughtful placement of outdoor lighting along a walkway or near a flowerbed can add a lot of shine to any home. Sometimes as little as $50-$100 can buy a line of do-it-yourself solar lights. Especially as we head into the shorter days of fall,adding some evening sparkle can make a big difference. By boosting your home's curb appeal, you help move it toward the front of the Evansviollehome sales market.
Care to add to the curb enthusiasm even more? Call me -- we can schedule a complimentary in-home consultation to go over more of your options! You can reach me on my cell phone at 812-499-9234.
Friday, August 31 2012
Pending home sales rose in July to the highest level in more than two years as the housing market continues showing sustained signs of recovery.
The sales index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, was up 2.4 percent to 101.7 last month, its highest level since April 2010, shortly before the expiration of a home buyer tax credit, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.
The July figure is up 12.4 percent above the July 2011 level of 90.5.
"While the month-to-month movement has been uneven, more importantly we now have 15 consecutive months of year-over-year gains in contract activity," said Lawrence Yun, the NAR chief economist.
The data reflect contracts but not closings.
Limited inventory is constraining market activity, especially in the West, which is dealing with an "acute inventory shortage," Yun said.
Still, the other three regions experienced improvement last month.
The Northeast saw pending sales rise 0.5 percent to 77.0, 13.4 percent higher than a year ago, while the Midwest had a 3.4 percent improvement to 97.4, 20.2 percent above July 2011.
Pending home sales in the South rose 5.2 percent to 111.7, 15.6 percent above a year ago.
In the West the index slipped 1.7 percent in July to 109.9 but is 1.3 percent higher than July 2011.
Existing-home sales are projected to rise 8 to 9 percent in 2012, followed by another 7 to 8 percent gain in 2013.
Home prices are expected to increase 10 percent cumulatively over the next two years.
"Falling visible and shadow inventories point toward continuing price gains," Yun said. "Expected gains in housing starts of 25 to 30 percent this year, and nearly 50 percent in 2013, are insufficient to meet the growing housing demand."
Source: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/1091-housing/246381-pending-home-sales-hit-highest-level-in-more-than-two-years
Thursday, August 30 2012
The latest industry reports are showing housing prices on the rise, and it has made more sellers want to raise their asking price, according to industry insiders.
Shrinking inventories of for-sale homes with pent-up demand is allowing sellers to charge about 5 percent more than they could have just six months ago, Everett King, president of ERA King Real Estate in Birmingham, Ala., told USA Today.
Real estate companies are reporting that sellers are having more luck with their higher asking prices, too. For example, in Tucson, Ariz., home sellers are getting 96 percent of their asking price on average, USA Today reports.
Still, others caution that sellers can’t get too unrealistic with their price expectations. The economy is still sluggish and unemployment is still high. Plus, Stan Humphries, Zillow.com’s chief economist, cautions that a shortage of lower-price homes for sale in many markets may be inflating asking prices.
Source: “Is Case-Shiller Home Sales Index Falling Behind the Times?” USA Today (Aug. 26, 2012)
Wednesday, August 29 2012
Tuesday’s measure of June home prices from the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index is likely to turn positive when compared with one year ago for the first time in two years, according to a forecast by Zillow Inc.
Prices have risen this summer for a simple reason: more buyers have chased fewer properties. But the drop in supply and the boost in demand isn’t the only reason that Case-Shiller is now turning positive. Another related factor is that the share of non-distressed home sales is rising and the share of distressed sales—foreclosures and short sales, mostly—is falling.
(Case-Shiller reports prices using a three-month moving average with a two month lag. Several other home price indices have also shown bigger-than-usual price gains for the second quarter.)
The decline in the distressed share is important for the housing market, and especially for home-price indexes like Case-Shiller. Because banks are faster to cut prices to unload inventory than are mom-and-pop sellers, home values can fall further as the share of distressed sales rises. This was the case throughout 2008, as home price declines were in virtual free fall amid a cycle of rising foreclosures.
A report last week from economists at Goldman Sachs tries to quantify the share of the decline in home prices that can be attributed to the rise of distressed versus non-distressed homes. They conclude that this “mix shift” is responsible for around one third of the 34% decline in home prices since 2006.
While distressed homes normally account for around 5% of all home sales, the distressed share reached a peak of nearly 50% in early 2009, as the housing market unraveled. The share normally falls during the stronger spring and summer months, when there are more mom-and-pop home sellers, while it rises during the seasonally weaker autumn and winter—though it hasn’t gone as high as 50% since 2009.
The share of distressed sales is still high by any historical comparison. But importantly, it is falling when compared with one year ago, which is a big reason why home prices, as measured by the Case-Shiller index, are rising again. In June, the share of non-distressed sales, meanwhile, was at its highest level since August 2008, according to CoreLogic Inc.
In May 2012, around 25% of all homes were distressed sales, down from 31% one year earlier, according to Goldman. Moreover, Goldman estimates that banks are losing less money on distressed sales than they have in the past, in part because banks are pushing short sales more aggressively. The average distressed home sold at a 20% discount to comparable non-distressed homes, an improvement from discounts of 25% to 30% earlier in the crisis.
With distressed homes yielding smaller discounts and fewer distressed sales coming on the market, home prices have stopped falling. In May, for example, the Case-Shiller index showed that prices were down by 0.7% from one year ago. Without the change in the distressed share, prices would have been down by 2%, Goldman estimates.
Local markets provide even better examples of this. Home prices have risen most sharply in Phoenix, where foreclosures accounted for 27% of home re-sales in May, down from 50% one year ago and 66% three years earlier. Goldman estimates that of the 11% home price increase over the past year in Phoenix, around five percentage points—or 40% of the total—is due to the drop in the distressed share.
Goldman economists Marty Young and Hui Shan note that returning to a normal share of distressed sales “will take several years.” But they add that the market is moving slowly in the right direction, which is “one reason we believe the Case-Shiller house price index has passed its trough and is poised for modest growth going forward.”
So will prices soften later this year? Usually they do because there are normally fewer traditional sellers competing with the banks and other distressed sellers after the summer ends. In each of the last three years, rising prices in the spring has given way to falling prices heading into the fall.
But right now, low levels of homes for sale, particularly foreclosed properties, mean that prices “will not fall in this year’s off-season, or at least not as dramatically as in recent years,” writes Mark Fleming, chief economist at CoreLogic.
The lesson here: to figure out where home prices are headed, watch the share of distressed sales in your market. The pace at which banks move to repossess properties and the strategies they use to work out troubled mortgages will have great weight on home prices going forward. Even more important will be whether housing demand weakens, stabilizes, or grows stronger in the coming year.
Follow Nick: @NickTimiraos
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/08/27/why-home-prices-are-rising-the-distressed-share/
Tuesday, August 28 2012
As regular readers know, I keep track of the national media spin on real estate matters because our Evansville home sales often reflects the tone we all pick up from the feel of the wider market. So let’s not beat around the bush: again in July, the residential real estate picture continued its rise. It has been sensible to remain cautiously optimistic about the direction of things for a good long while, but at this juncture, it’s finally beginning to look like a trend has taken shape.
“For the fifth consecutive month,” the Wall Street Journal reported in its news pages, “sales of previously owned homes notched another rise.” Evansville homeowners who have gone through literally years of sinking prices and moribund home sales must be worried as they read this –worried that someone will snap them out of this pleasant daydream. But it’s real: despite most of the other national economic news that remains considerably less encouraging, the real estate picture is heartening.
The National Association of REALTORS®, agrees. They report that single family homes, condominiums and townhomes increased sales. Single family home sales rose 9.9% over last year, with condo sales jumping a full 14%.
A low inventory of homes for sale is believed to be at least partially responsible for strong new homes sales numbers. The nation’s biggest builder of luxury homes, Toll Brothers, reported a sales leap of 57% from last year. Meantime, the price picture showed the kind of growth you would expect: median prices were up over 9% from a year ago.
Supporting trends were also interesting. Distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) were down markedly, reflecting a tightening supply. This is probably an indication that the glut of such properties has finally worked its way through the market; certainly an encouraging sign for homeowners who have been waiting to list until the home sales market strengthens. The WSJ news story would likely provide some encouragement: they feature one would-be buyer who bid on a home, but lost it to a higher bidder. He and his wife had been viewing homes all summer before finally making their offer. “Maybe I stepped in a month too late,” he’s quoted as saying.
For local homeowners who have been biding their time, that kind of quote will surely be music to their ears. If you have been watching and waiting for your own entry into the Evansville market, I hope you will give me a call to investigate the latest comparables in your own neighborhood. You can reach me on my cell phone at 812-499-9234.
Friday, August 24 2012
For everyone who rents (or leases) Evansville rental homes, it’s a choice that comes up every year: rent or buy. In addition to the common sense considerations everyone brings to that important decision, some financial measurements have been developed through the years that attempt to bring an element of rationality to a largely subjective decision.
Actually penciling out an answer isn’t always satisfactory because it is literally impossible to quantify elements like peace of mind. To some who own their homes, there is great peace of mind in controlling their own destiny. To others, the worry of being responsible for a home’s maintenance or taxes makes the ‘peace of mind’ factor a wash -- or even a negative.
Likewise, those who lease rental homes may find the lack of responsibility liberating…or the lack of control bothersome. It’s a personal preference. What makes it even less subject to mathematical measurement is that anyone’s preference is likely to change due to life and career factors. (Just try to measure that, bean counters!)
All this is to introduce a new one of those metrics just introduced by Zillow this month. The metric, which is a pretty clever one, was introduced in an online article by Zillow’s Nalina Varanasi. Her all-but-hilarious introduction describes traditional methods used to try to quantify the rental homes vs. owned homes financial tradeoffs. The unintentional amusement arises from the 850 words and seven paragraphs it takes to describe just two of them. The mind-numbingly complex ratios-divided-by-more-ratios explanations are invariably followed by phrases like, ‘but the main problem with this’ or ‘still, this doesn’t account for…’
Zillow’s new measurement is also exceedingly complex, but yields one simple number. They call it the ‘Breakeven Horizon.’ It's the number of years after which buying becomes more financially rewarding than renting. (At the exact number, it wouldn’t make a difference one way or the other). Since the Breakeven Horizon can’t take into account the very real personal value judgments, it’s as flawed as all the others. But it does yield an interesting nugget: in general, as a nation-wide average, it has been moving downward. Right now, the break-even point for most homes in the U.S. is around three years. In places like Miami-Fort Lauderdale, the break-even period comes in a scant 1.6 years.
Still, I have to admire author Varanasi’s boldly self-aware skill in her choice of headlines. Her announcement of the new Price Horizon metric is titled,
“Should You Buy or Rent? Depends on How Long You Want to Stay and Where You Want to Live (Of Course)”.
By the way, whenever you want to buy or rent, if it happens to be anywhere around Evansville, don’t hesitate to give me a call! We’ll find you the home that fits your needs (Of Course)! You can reach me on my cell phone at 812-499-9234.
Thursday, August 23 2012
Some of us have decided that life is too short to spend any time behind a lawnmower. Others decide that the real reason we have a mate is so that we can offer him or her the opportunity to get out in the fresh air and sunshine…to mow. Children can be the recipients of that very same opportunity, which will build character through hard work. Alternatively, a healthy lawn – especially a well-watered one in late August – provides an opportunity to keep the Evansville economy humming by employing a gardening service to keep it in top trim.
But for those of us who personally oversee our property’s greenbelt maintenance, earlier this month, CNN’s Money website put together a four-point tip sheet that caught my eye: it rounded up some of the best common sense lawn care ideas I’ve seen in one place. The author (Josh Garskot who wrote in @Money), claims that DIY lawn care keeps him handy and youthful. Although I could argue that a tall lemonade on the verandah might serve just as well, here’s a shortened version of what he came up with:
· Edge twice. That is, turn the edger sideways to make a vertical slice, then do the regular horizontal trim (CNN even has a tip for precutting trimmer strings and keeping them at hand by attaching them with Velcro tape – but that’s a little too far into the weeds for me).
· Let the pros fertilize. Seen as just too complicated to handle, CNN’s expert threw in the towel when it comes to trying to figure out those charts on the back of the bags. Recommendation: hire pros to fertilize (and aerate once a year). I concur.
· Forget bagging clippings. Downside: since you probably remember the fact that you should never cut more than a third of the height of the grass, you have to mow often enough to follow through on that. Upsides: the clippings will be short enough that you can just let them recycle back into the soil. And your property will look great all the time!
· Say goodbye to stale gas. Particularly after a long layoff, old gas can mean real arm-wrenching trouble getting a stubborn motor started. A few drops of fuel stabilizer is enough to keep mower and trimmer carburetors ungummed (and the air free of the bad language that can otherwise result).
Lawns can be a real property value enhancer when they’re well maintained -- but the opposite when allowed to reach meadow length. And while we’re on the subject, I hope you will always feel free to contact me whenever you’d like to tap into my store of home maintenance referrals and ideas for keeping yourEvansville property at the top of the market. You can reach me on my cell phone at 812-499-9234.
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