St Louis Real Estate Voice

St. Louis Real Estate Voice - Building Inspection - Fireplaces

fireplace got a little warm Are you going to use your fireplace this heating season. . .you better read this!

Cooler weather is right around the corner and homeowners should consider getting their fireplaces ready for service for those cold winter nights. Home buyers who are purchasing a home with a wood burning fireplace should ensure that the homeowner has properly maintained this appliance. A standard ASHI inspection will address most concerns a buyer may have during the real estate transaction inspection. The inspector will know when conditions require further evaluation.

The National Fire Protection Association, (NFPA) has addressed the minimum chimney inspection standards and classified three levels of inspection.

A level one inspection includes the readily accessible portions of the chimney exterior, the interior fireplace, and portions of the chimney connections that are accessible. The inspector should be looking for the basic soundness of the chimney structure and flue as well as the basic appliance installation and connections. The inspector should also verify if the chimney is free of obstruction and there is proper clearance with combustibles in accessible locations including basements, attics, and crawl spaces. Level one inspections should be included in your report, in the fireplace section, at the time of the real estate transaction.

Level two inspections includes inspecting everything listed in a level one inspection with the addition of video scanning equipment to examine and positively determine if the internal surfaces and joints of all flue liners incorporated within the chimney are performing as intended. No removal or destruction of permanently attached portions of the chimney or building structure is required by a level two inspection.

When a level one or two inspection suggests a hidden hazard and the inspection cannot be performed without special tools to access concealed areas of the chimney or flue, a level three inspection is highly recommended. Removal or destruction, as necessary, of permanently attached portions of the chimney or building structure will be required to positively determine if safety hazards or conditions exist.

Your home inspector will be able to advise you of the appropriate level of inspection needed for your particular house. In addition, regular yearly inspections are recommended for all chimneys, fireplaces, and vents. Each year unsafe chimneys cause significant numbers of injuries and deaths, and account for more than $200 million in property losses. Don’t become a statistic, get an inspection.

Posted by Harry Morrell | Read More | 1 Comment » | 10.07.2008

St. Louis Real Estate - New Face, New Voice

Filed under: Mortgage News

Greetings…
I’m Aprille Trupiano and I’m excited to be a part of the St. Louis Real Estate Voice community!

In today’s volatile financial market, it’s important to have expert advisors supporting your most important decisions. Along with the other professionals on the St. Louis Real Estate Voice, I look forward to contributing to those decisions for you and your family.
As a Mortgage Banker, I approach each and every consultation with my Borrowers bearing the same principal in mind - to provide sound information that is relevant to my clients’ future. I am not interested in “closing the deal” today to get you a loan that will “just do”. Today more than ever, you have to know how your financial decisions will impact you tomorrow. I am committed to securing you a mortgage that will serve your needs today as well as protect you and your family in the future.
Call me at (314) 878-7900 or email me at Aprille@FirstIntegrity.com to get a complimentary copy of my Special Report, “How to Select a Personal Mortgage Consultant and Why Having One is Important to Your Future”. There’s no fee for the report, but being misinformed can be very costly.

Posted by Aprille Trupiano | Read More | Your Comments Are Welcome! | 10.06.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch October 4th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
October 4th, 2008
The Anatomy of St. Louis Real Estate

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario. Your questions and comments are welcome!

The St. Louis Real Estate Market this week is seeing 100+ fewer listings than last week and fewer homes accepting contracts. Our pending ratio is better than one percent below last week at 10.89 percent and we are seeing more listings expiring and staying off the market, at least for now.

It’s no wonder, with all the financial news this past week. Between the $700 Billion Bailout package issues this past week and now we’re still not sure whether Citicorp or Wells Fargo owns Wachovia’s banking and/or securities departments. What else can we throw on the fire to make buyers and sellers in our marketplace sit and wait??

Another issue that has hit home with us this week is is our first-hand experience with lenders tightening the screws with not only their lending requirements but also their appraisal review procedures. It really does seem to follow that tightening lending practices would include adjusting appraisal reviews.

Buyers in today’s market—take note: Depending on where in the St. Louis Metro area you are buying, a good tip would be to talk to your lender and get a real good idea of how their appraiser will set values and how they will look for comparable properties when appraising your new home. What we have seen is that appraisers and lenders are looking back about 90 days for comparable sold properties and not looking much further out than 3–5 miles at the extreme from the subject property. Depending on the area you are buying in, they may not look outside of your subdivision or zip code. This shouldn’t be a problem in a lot of the St. Louis Metro area, but there are isolated areas, and price ranges, where this scenario can cause major headaches.

Lenders right now are being extremely cautious; The last thing they need is to create more “Toxic Assets” on their books. I can’t say as I blame them, but the buyers out there need to be very aware of this.

Buyers-when you look at comparables prior to making an offer on that dream home, pay careful attention as to where they are and how long ago they sold. That should give you an idea as to what an appraiser will see also. Talk with your real estate professional, as they should be very in tune with this process.

ARE YOU thinking of buying or selling a home? Contact Doug Aegerter or Art Wagner for more information and a FREE Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of your home or your neighborhood.

St. Louis Real Estate St. Louis County Market Watch October 4th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Jefferson County Market Watch October 4th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate St. Charles County Market Watch September 27th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Benchmark Report September 2008

The report begins by breaking the market into 17 distinct price ranges. Then we show current listings and current pending listings which creates a pending ratio, which is helpful on a week to week basis to see if activity is increasing or decreasing in a price category.

The report also shows the last 6 months of results and compares the data to the same 6 months of the previous year.

The Market Analysis includes data on:

Number of Active Listings (Current)
Pending Sales (Going to closing)
Pending Ratio (Active vs.Pending)
Sold (Closed transactions last 6 months)
Expired (Last 6 months)
Average List Price
Average Sale Price
Average List to Sales Price %
Days on Market (DOM)
Months worth of Inventory (Based on current pending rate)
Buyers Market: > 7 months of listing inventory

Transitional Market: 5 - 7 months of listing inventory (sometimes called a “balanced” market)

Seller Market: < 5 months of listing inventory

Average % Sale Price/List Price (0-30), (31-60), (61-90), (91-120), (120+)DOM

Notice that you’re paying a penalty for over pricing. . .hey. .it’s a fact!!

The Benchmark Report is produced monthly for:

Single Family Residence
Ranch Style
1300 - 2000 sq.ft.
3 Bedrooms
1.5 Bathrooms

Art Wagner can be reached at art@stlouisrealestatevoice.com

Posted by Art Wagner | Read More | Your Comments Are Welcome! | 10.05.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch September 27th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
September 27th, 2008
The Anatomy of St. Louis Real Estate

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario. Your questions and comments are welcome!

The St. Louis Real Estate Market this week shows more signs of slowing down a bit with fewer active listings, fewer homes accepting contracts and our pending ratio has dropped below 12 percent. Our average list prices have dropped a bit with average sales prices inching upward slightly, thereby pushing the list to sales price percentage a bit over 95 percent.

As we head into Fall, we are seeing buyers in the market being advised to offer anywhere from 15 to 25 percent less than list price for a home they wish to purchase. Either they think the St. Louis Market is really that bad, or are just getting inaccurate advise from their advisor, whoever that may be. Even homes that have been on the market for 120 days or more are still selling in a 92–96.6 percent range. Yes, somewhere along the way, the price of the home may have been adjusted, but if that is so, the home was overpriced from the start. You will find most of those homes in the “expired” column of our report.

We spend a lot of time with people, helping them understand the real St. Louis Real Estate Market. We wish everyone in the Real Estate and Financial Services businesses would do the same. It just might help to instill a bit more consumer confidence, at least locally.

ARE YOU thinking of buying or selling a home? Contact Doug Aegerter or Art Wagner for more information and a FREE Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of your home or your neighborhood.

St. Louis Real Estate St. Louis County Market Watch September 27th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Jefferson County Market Watch September 20th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate St. Charles County Market Watch September 27th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Benchmark Report August 2008

The report begins by breaking the market into 17 distinct price ranges. Then we show current listings and current pending listings which creates a pending ratio, which is helpful on a week to week basis to see if activity is increasing or decreasing in a price category.

The report also shows the last 6 months of results and compares the data to the same 6 months of the previous year.

The Market Analysis includes data on:

Number of Active Listings (Current)
Pending Sales (Going to closing)
Pending Ratio (Active vs.Pending)
Sold (Closed transactions last 6 months)
Expired (Last 6 months)
Average List Price
Average Sale Price
Average List to Sales Price %
Days on Market (DOM)
Months worth of Inventory (Based on current pending rate)
Buyers Market: > 7 months of listing inventory

Transitional Market: 5 - 7 months of listing inventory (sometimes called a “balanced” market)

Seller Market: < 5 months of listing inventory

Average % Sale Price/List Price (0-30), (31-60), (61-90), (91-120), (120+)DOM

Notice that you’re paying a penalty for over pricing. . .hey. .it’s a fact!!

The Benchmark Report is produced monthly for:

Single Family Residence
Ranch Style
1300 - 2000 sq.ft.
3 Bedrooms
1.5 Bathrooms

Art Wagner can be reached at art@stlouisrealestatevoice.com

Posted by El Jefe | Read More | Your Comments Are Welcome! | 09.28.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch September 20th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
September 20th, 2008
The Anatomy of St. Louis Real Estate

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario. Your questions and comments are welcome!

The St. Louis Real Estate Market this week continues our September trends with a few less active listings. Buyer activity remains steady, as homes are accepting contracts and our pending ratio is holding above 12 percent so far.

The price ranges that tend to keep our market moving; $100,000 through $300,000, are exhibiting pending ratios still at and well above our average pending ratio.

St. Charles County is an area where this is very noticable as homes over the $300,000 price range have come to a crawl. The average pending ratio in St. Charles County this week is 12.4 percent, driven by the very active price ranges that move the St. Charles area. In the $100,000 through $300,000 ranges, pending ratios are as high as 38 percent.

If you have a home in St. Charles County listed at $600,000 and above, you had better be ready for some long days on market, as very few homes in these price ranges have accepted contracts in the last 30–40 days.

ARE YOU thinking of buying or selling a home? Contact Doug Aegerter or Art Wagner for more information and a FREE Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of your home or your neighborhood.

St. Louis Real Estate St. Louis County Market Watch September 20th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Jefferson County Market Watch September 20th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate St. Charles County Market Watch September 13, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Benchmark Report August 2008

The report begins by breaking the market into 17 distinct price ranges. Then we show current listings and current pending listings which creates a pending ratio, which is helpful on a week to week basis to see if activity is increasing or decreasing in a price category.

The report also shows the last 6 months of results and compares the data to the same 6 months of the previous year.

The Market Analysis includes data on:

Number of Active Listings (Current)
Pending Sales (Going to closing)
Pending Ratio (Active vs.Pending)
Sold (Closed transactions last 6 months)
Expired (Last 6 months)
Average List Price
Average Sale Price
Average List to Sales Price %
Days on Market (DOM)
Months worth of Inventory (Based on current pending rate)
Buyers Market: > 7 months of listing inventory

Transitional Market: 5 - 7 months of listing inventory (sometimes called a “balanced” market)

Seller Market: < 5 months of listing inventory

Average % Sale Price/List Price (0-30), (31-60), (61-90), (91-120), (120+)DOM

Notice that you’re paying a penalty for over pricing. . .hey. .it’s a fact!!

The Benchmark Report is produced monthly for:

Single Family Residence
Ranch Style
1300 - 2000 sq.ft.
3 Bedrooms
1.5 Bathrooms

Art Wagner can be reached at art@stlouisrealestatevoice.com

Posted by Art Wagner | Read More | Your Comments Are Welcome! | 09.21.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch September 13th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
September 13th, 2008
The Anatomy of St. Louis Real Estate

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario. Your questions and comments are welcome!

The St. Louis Real Estate Market this week is pretty much a mirror image of last week, so I won’t bore you with reciting numbers—just click on the Market Watch report for this week and read the numbers for yourself.

The part of the current Market Watch that bears some discussion is the comparison of this week’s total average statistics versus this same week last year. This week, we are 615 active listings fewer than last year at this time. Our pending ratios are comparable, with almost 700 fewer homes sold and 500 less expired listings in the past six months compared to last year’s same six month time-frame.

So..when your neighbor, collegue, buddy, or real estate agent expounds on the state of the real estate market and says we have too much inventory and pricing is falling into the toilet, please do us all a favor and SET THEM STRAIGHT.

Pricing wise, our average list pricing has actually risen slightly since the beginning of the year, while average sales prices have held their own pretty closely in most price ranges.

The price ranges that have decreasing average sales prices are still less than one percent, except for the very high priced ($800,000+) homes in St. Louis. Click this LINK to see our chart where we track six month average list and sales prices comparing this year to last year.

All this means that our local St. Louis Market is very stable, as compared to many other parts of the country. It’s those “other” parts of the country that get included in the mix when the news media gives us a blanket statement that, “The real estate market is terrible.”

Now, all we need is the Mortgage Industry and lending institutions to discover a “cure”, regain some real stability, thereby helping consumer confidence rise accordingly and our market will begin to show more positive signs of improvement.

Yes, I know the Fannie-Freddie take-over, bail-out, or whatever you want to call it, hopefully will help, but we’ll see what happens with that. Lou Barnes, who writes for Inman News, put an article on Inman News last Friday entitled, “The Politic of bailout: a waiting game”. It is definitely worth a read. Click HERE to go to the article.

ARE YOU thinking of buying or selling a home? Contact Doug Aegerter or Art Wagner for more information and a FREE Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of your home or your neighborhood.

St. Louis Real Estate St. Louis County Market Watch September 13, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Jefferson County Market Watch September 6th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate St. Charles County Market Watch September 13, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Benchmark Report August 2008

The report begins by breaking the market into 17 distinct price ranges. Then we show current listings and current pending listings which creates a pending ratio, which is helpful on a week to week basis to see if activity is increasing or decreasing in a price category.

The report also shows the last 6 months of results and compares the data to the same 6 months of the previous year.

The Market Analysis includes data on:

Number of Active Listings (Current)
Pending Sales (Going to closing)
Pending Ratio (Active vs.Pending)
Sold (Closed transactions last 6 months)
Expired (Last 6 months)
Average List Price
Average Sale Price
Average List to Sales Price %
Days on Market (DOM)
Months worth of Inventory (Based on current pending rate)
Buyers Market: > 7 months of listing inventory

Transitional Market: 5 - 7 months of listing inventory (sometimes called a “balanced” market)

Seller Market: < 5 months of listing inventory

Average % Sale Price/List Price (0-30), (31-60), (61-90), (91-120), (120+)DOM

Notice that you’re paying a penalty for over pricing. . .hey. .it’s a fact!!

The Benchmark Report is produced monthly for:

Single Family Residence
Ranch Style
1300 - 2000 sq.ft.
3 Bedrooms
1.5 Bathrooms

Art Wagner can be reached at art@stlouisrealestatevoice.com

Posted by Art Wagner | Read More | Your Comments Are Welcome! | 09.14.2008

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch September 6th, 2008

Filed under: St. Louis Market Reports

Saint Louis Real Estate Market Watch by Art Wagner @ Keller Williams Realty Southwest, Sunset Hills, Mo.
September 6th, 2008
The Anatomy of St. Louis Real Estate

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario. Your questions and comments are welcome!

The St. Louis Real Estate Market this week begins September with fewer active listings and our average pending ratio at 12.29 percent. Our six month survey of closed transactions ( solds) continues to inch upward due to the numbers of homes that accepted contracts a few months ago and are finally at the closing table.

Our six month survey of market rejected (expired) listings is also increasing as sellers are coming off the market for various reasons; school starts, frustration with the selling process, or not wanting to sell during the upcoming holidays. WHAT!! Yes, sellers are looking forward enough to realize that being on the market now could mean over the holidays also.

With sellers coming off the market and would-be buyers still sitting on the fence, it appears that our inventory has increased by our average 8.1 months of inventory. Actually, inventory is still going down, evidenced by less active listings. Compared to last year in the same six month time frame, in 2008 we are well below 2007 levels of homes sold by almost 1400 homes.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprises Oversight (OFHEO) just recently released their report of home price changes by state comparing the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2008. Once again, Missouri and the St. Louis area is showing a pricing increase over second quarter 2007 of .9 percent. WHOOPIE! A point nine percent increase may not look like much, but it is further evidence that the St. Louis area and Missouri as a whole really is ahead of the doom and gloom national averages. You can check out the complete report, if you wish by clicking on: www.OFHEO.gov.

One of our biggest challenges as real estate consultants in St. Louis is helping buyers and sellers understand the REAL market conditions in St. Louis.

AND…if you weren’t aware of it, mortgage rates dropped again for the third straight week based on Bankrate.com’s weekly survey of the largest lending institutions across the country. Check it out at www.Bankrate.com.

This is a great time to buy OR sell a home in St. Louis.

ARE YOU thinking of buying or selling a home? Contact Doug Aegerter or Art Wagner for more information and a FREE Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of your home or your neighborhood.

St. Louis Real Estate St. Louis County Market Watch September 6, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Jefferson County Market Watch September 6th, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate St. Charles County Market Watch August 30, 2008

St. Louis Real Estate Benchmark Report August 2008

The report begins by breaking the market into 17 distinct price ranges. Then we show current listings and current pending listings which creates a pending ratio, which is helpful on a week to week basis to see if activity is increasing or decreasing in a price category.

The report also shows the last 6 months of results and compares the data to the same 6 months of the previous year.

The Market Analysis includes data on:

Number of Active Listings (Current)
Pending Sales (Going to closing)
Pending Ratio (Active vs.Pending)
Sold (Closed transactions last 6 months)
Expired (Last 6 months)
Average List Price
Average Sale Price
Average List to Sales Price %
Days on Market (DOM)
Months worth of Inventory (Based on current pending rate)
Buyers Market: > 7 months of listing inventory

Transitional Market: 5 - 7 months of listing inventory (sometimes called a “balanced” market)

Seller Market: < 5 months of listing inventory

Average % Sale Price/List Price (0-30), (31-60), (61-90), (91-120), (120+)DOM

Notice that you’re paying a penalty for over pricing. . .hey. .it’s a fact!!

The Benchmark Report is produced monthly for:

Single Family Residence
Ranch Style
1300 - 2000 sq.ft.
3 Bedrooms
1.5 Bathrooms

Art Wagner can be reached at art@stlouisrealestatevoice.com

Posted by Art Wagner | Read More | Your Comments Are Welcome! | 09.07.2008

St. Louis Real Estate - Read this before you pull the rip cord !

Filed under: Mortgage News

A Quick Thought on Early Retirement by Chris Scheer, Cornerstone Mortgage

For all my Anheuser-Busch friends, clients and those Financial Planners helping them make the decision on whether or not to take the early retirement offer that has been sent to them. If they are considering restructuring their debt or refinancing, they need to do that prior to accepting the early retirement. Once they have accepted the package, their probability of continued employment has ended, even if they are going to be Plan_ahead employed at the time the loan closes. Any severance package that includes income, if the income is not going to continue for 3 or more years will not be used for qualification purposes when attempting to get approved for a loan. In the current underwriting climate, underwriters are getting better at doing their job and with all of the news coverage of the proposed merger, I would hate for someone to have a loan denied because they did not plan ahead.