St. Louis Real Estate-Happy New Year!

Filed under: First Time Home Buyer, For Buyers, For Sellers, Mortgage News, Real Estate News, Relocation Buyer, St. Louis Market Reports, Unrepresented Seller(FSBO)

St. Louis Real Estate Market Watch
December 29th, 2007
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!

St. Louis Real Estate comes to the close of another year. And what a year it’s been watching home prices slide downward and days on market climb into triple digits. Watching the “Mortgage Credit Crisis” unfold was, and still is, one of the major events we all are paying close attention to. Buyers and Sellers this past year have had to adjust to a new set of “rules-of-thumb” when it came to buying and selling a home. Those that adjusted quickly had great success with their buying and selling process; those that took too long to adjust helped contribute to the abundance of inventory of homes that are still available. When all the statistics are in, I think we will still see that 2007 was one of the better years in real estate here in St. Louis.

St. Louis Real Estate in 2008 is predicted to be a better picture with a slight increase in home prices and an increase in sales volume. We have a lot going for us here in St. Louis in the coming year. Just a few of the positives are:

1. Mortgage lenders are sorting out their problems and developing products to help us

move forward into 2008

2. The Fed’s Rate Cut in the last quarter of 2007 should spur more activity within our marketplace.

3. With New Home Builders slowing their production, inventories should start to level off

a bit and in turn help existing-home sales.

4. The Wacovia / A.G. Edwards Merger and the Edward Jones Co. expansion will certainly create some great real estate opportunities in St. Louis.

5. President Bush’s plan to help a portion of the sub-prime borrowers should

help to keep inventories in some price ranges in check.

SO…We’re looking forward to 2008 and all the opportunities a new year presents.

WATCH WHAT HAPPENS— Stay with us through 2008 and see if all the postive predictions come true.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Thinking of buying or selling a home? Contact Us for additional information tailored to your specific needs.

St. Louis Real Estate St. Louis County Market Watch December 29th, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate Jefferson County Market Watch December 29th, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate St. Charles County Market Watch December 22nd, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate Benchmark Report November 2007

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 (Last 6 months)
Expired (Last 6 months)1
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!   |   12.29.2007

St. Louis Real Estate – Mortgage News – Manufactured House Blues

Filed under: First Time Home Buyer, For Buyers, For Sellers, Mortgage News, Real Estate News, Relocation Buyer

Manufactured Housing by Chris Scheer, Branch Manager, Cornerstone Mortgage, O’Fallon, MO

So why is it so hard to get a loan for a manufactured house?

Over the past month I have had the opportunity to work a loan that was on a manufactured house that had been repossessed by HUD. The client came to me saying they wanted to buy this house without having sold their current home so they could have time to fix it up before moving in. The borrower was self-employed and he felt his tax returns would not support him owning 2 homes. Based upon his excellent credit I told him we had a way to do the loan if he put 10% down. We would allow him to state his income and then when he sold his current home and was ready to pay down the mortgage on the new home we would refinance him. Things were going along swimmingly until the file hit underwriting. Even though the guidelines I had for the investor said they would do a conventional loan using stated income on a manufactured home, the information the underwriter had said otherwise. At this point most loan officers would take a pass and deny the loan. I chose to switch the loan to an FHA loan and ask the borrower for the documentation to support the income needed. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Doug Aegerter   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   12.27.2007

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch December 22nd, 2007

Filed under: First Time Home Buyer, For Buyers, For Sellers, Real Estate News, Relocation Buyer, St. Louis Market Reports, Unrepresented Seller(FSBO)

St. Louis Real Estate Market Watch 
December 22nd,  2007
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! 

ST. LOUIS REAL ESTATE TAKES A BACK SEAT TO LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY SHOPPING!!

Makes sense, this time of year, as active listings and pending sales and our pending ratios drop again this week.  Even so, there is still activity in the marketplace.  Serious buyers and sellers alike are hoping for that ULTIMATE holiday gift—a new home or an accepted contract.

Once the holidays have passed, it will be interesting to see how the buyers and sellers in the marketplace adjust to all the new events in the mortgage industry.  Let’s hope 2008 will be a better year for everyone in the market. 

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales are projected to trend upward  in 2008. The NAR also predicts that the median home price for 2008 should increase 0.3% in 2008.  Read this article in it’s entirety here at Realtor.org. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OUR READERS!!

Thinking of buying or selling a home? Contact Us for additional information tailored to your specific needs.

St. Louis Real Estate St. Louis County Market Watch December 22nd, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate Jefferson  County Market Watch December 15th, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate St. Charles County Market Watch December 22nd, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate Benchmark Report November 2007

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 (Last 6 months)
Expired (Last 6 months)1
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!   |   12.22.2007

St. Louis Real Estate – Mortgage News – Shell Game

Filed under: First Time Home Buyer, For Buyers, Mortgage News, Relocation Buyer

The Newspaper Game! by Chris Scheer, Branch Manager, Cornerstone Mortgage, O’Fallon, MO

Have you ever looked in your local paper or looked in the Sunday Newspaper to get interest rates for mortgages? After looking did you take the time to call some of the lenders? What did you find? I will be that 99% of the time if you called you found out that the interest rate was not available. Or that the rate was available if you were willing to pay the points listed in the paper. If I am the consumer I am thinking what kind of game is this?

When I look at the rates posted in the paper I break them down into 3 classes;

Liars
Honest but trying to look good
Large corporation, I don’t care I am spending the company’s money.

I will work backwards on this list.

When I managed a branch for a large corporation, part of their business plan was to be in the newspaper. Their rates were not competitive and when I would have discussions with my boss he would say “don’t worry about putting a rate in there, just make sure our name and phone number are in bold print.” Their philosophy was that their name alone would get the business and that they viewed the paper as another place to advertise their name. Never mind that people were checking rates, just get the name out there in one more place. These are categorized by higher than average interest rates or the famous “Call for Rates.” An interesting marketing strategy, but it would cause the question from the consumer, what is your rate? This was all the company was trying to do, get the phone to ring.

Then you have the honest but trying to look good. I will place the company I work for now in this category. They use the put a low rate in with points trick. This is where they put a rate in with 1 origination and 1 discount point so that the rate seems as low as the others. If you were to equate that rate out to a 0 point loan then it would be a rate we could and would honor, but the rate in the paper will be expensive. At least we let you know how expensive it will be.

Lastly, we have the liars; these are the guys that use the famous bait and switch tactic. They put a rate in that is well below market, usually .25% or more and then when you call them they say that the rate was there last week but the market has moved or worse they tell you they can do that rate and then when you get your application you have charges that equate to 1 or 2 points. Again, it is the concept to do anything to make the phone ring and then get the borrower to commit. Once you have them committed you can usually coerce them or fast talk them to the closing table.

So what does the rate table in the paper do? Well I would personally use it as a guide to where interest rates are. Look for the middle of the rate scale and that is a good chance that you will be able to get that rate without excessive fees or expense.

For comments on this please contact Chris Scheer at chrisscheer@stlouisrealestatevoice.com

Posted by Doug Aegerter   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   12.18.2007

St. Louis Real Estate – Building Inspection – Anybody got a Quarter?

Filed under: First Time Home Buyer, For Buyers, Real Estate News, Relocation Buyer

LAUNDRY ROOM COMPONENTS by Harry Morrell, Allied Building Inspections

I love hearing from young first time home buyers about how excited they are about finally getting out of that small rental apartment and having their own washer-dryer in their own laundry room. No more pumping those quarters into those old dirty public machines in the middle of a cold night. It doesn’t take much to make these young potential home owners happy.

Your inspector should carefully inspect and operate all the components inside the laundry room for safe and proper service. The laundry room, whether it be in the main floor service area, a utility closet, or a basement is inspected and described in the report. Careful attention is paid to moisture or mold problems in this room. Dryer exhaust systems are carefully inspected and tested. A proper vent and dryer exhaust system is critical. One gallon of water must be disposed of for every typical load of laundry. Because of the moisture, exhausting the dryer to the exterior is a must. Indoor exhausting can create conditions that support mold growth and degrade indoor air quality. Proper exhausting is of particular importance with gas dryers. In addition to moisture and lint, a gas dryers’ exhaust duct carries the byproduct of combustion, including carbon monoxide. A lot of lint is produced during the drying process, and lint can restrict or block dryer ducts. A poorly exhausting dryer is not only less efficient, it can also be a fire hazard due to the extreme flammability of lint. Clogging can also cause moisture to accumulate and seep out the duct, leading to moisture damage. Finally, the inspector should check to see if the dryer exhaust vent is not venting directly at or near the exterior AC unit. Lint can clog and hamper AC unit operation.

Typically the washer and dryer are not run through a complete cycle do to time restraints, but are operated, and checked for age and condition. The deep sink is inspected and tested as well. The electrical outlets are tested for ground and polarity. The dryer 240 volt outlet is identified as newer or obsolete. Older 240 volt outlets are not compatible with newer and modern dryers. A gas line connection may or may not be present. This is not mandatory. If the house is serviced by natural gas, a connection can be installed for an additional fee by a qualified contractor. Drain and supply piping is identified and inspected as well. A stand pipe for washer drainage should be present.

Your inspector will make sure all your laundry room concerns are answered so all your washables come clean safely.

Harry Morrell
ASHI Certified Inspector

Posted by Doug Aegerter   |   Read More   |   1 Comment »   |   12.17.2007

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch December 15, 2007

Filed under: First Time Home Buyer, For Buyers, For Sellers, Real Estate News, Relocation Buyer, St. Louis Market Reports, Unrepresented Seller(FSBO)

St. Louis Real Estate Market Watch 
December 15th,  2007
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! 

This week, buyers choices for that Dream Home continue to diminish, as we are showing less than 5000 active listings.  To follow, the pending ratio is inching higher to 12.48%.  This is typical this time of year, but what is not typical is the recent actions by the Fed and other Central Banks around the world, and the mortgage rates on a roller-coaster, but still very affordable around 6%.

Both buyers and sellers should benefit from these recent actions by the Fed and other Central Banks around the world.  Buyers that fit into the scenarios just created will have a better chance of obtaining a mortgage or possibly locking into a more favorable rate.  Sellers therefore should have a better chance of getting their home sold in a timely fashion. 

The higher priced homes in our area may also benefit, as there is now talk about raising the $417,000 limit on conventional mortgages. Currently, a mortgage above $417,000 is qualified as a JUMBO mortgage which usually comes with a higher interest rate. 

Who knows where all these “fixes” will come to rest, but it seems that everything that’s being done is good step in the right direction.  Keep an eye on what’s happening with us by checking out Chris Scheer’s articles that are posted in our blog frequently.  You can also check current happenings at www.realtor.org. 

Thinking of buying or selling a home? Contact Us for additional information tailored to your specific needs.

St. Louis Real Estate St. Louis CountyMarket Watch December 15th, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate Jefferson  County Market Watch December 15th, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate St. Charles County Market Watch November 24, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate Benchmark Report November 2007

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 (Last 6 months)
Expired (Last 6 months)1
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!   |   12.15.2007

St. Louis Real Estate – Mortgage News – Bond Whiplash

Filed under: First Time Home Buyer, For Buyers, Mortgage News, Relocation Buyer

Follow the bouncing bond market! by Chris Scheer, Branch Manager, Cornerstone Mortgage, O’Fallon, MO

For those that take the time to check this blog often, you will notice that over the last two weeks we have had the past two Mondays highlighted by strong buying on the bond market which has driven the 30 year fixed interest rate to 5.875% and then 5.75% this week. However as you will now see, in both cases that rate did not hold through the week. On Thursday and Friday of this week Wall Street came to the conclusion that they were not going to get the .50% rate cut from the Fed that they wanted. Once that happened the blood letting began on the bond market and the 30 year fixed that was once at 5.75% is now at 6.125%. For all those inexperienced loan officers, the look on their faces as they watched the rate changes occur almost every hour for 2 days straight was priceless. Actually there was a price, it was the price that they had to pay to honor the locks that they had committed to and had not taken the time to lock with the investors.

So what does all this volatility mean to the homeowner? The millions of Americans who are looking for some relief from their mortgage payment; what do they do? Maybe the ones who were aggressive and took out 3 or 5 year adjustable rate mortgages in 2002 and 2003 and now those A.R.M.’s are going to start adjusting. They had a chance to lock in over the past two weeks at less than 6%, but only if they were on top of what was going on or their loan officer was. I know I personally talked to 10 people over the past two days that I had called on the previous 2 Mondays but they didn’t bother to return the call until yesterday or today. For them, all I could do was tell them they missed out and offer to get there information ready for the next time rates drop. But will there be a next time?

We will find out more this week when the Fed meets. At this point my crystal ball points to a .25% rate cut. Given the swing on Bonds Friday this may push the 30 year back to 6% or maybe slightly below. After that I think the Fed is going to hold steady and not do anything for another 60 days.

For your comments or questions, please contact Chris Scheer at chrisscheer@stlouisrealestatevoice.com

Posted by Doug Aegerter   |   Read More   |   Your Comments Are Welcome!   |   12.10.2007

St. Louis Real Estate-Market Watch December 8th, 2007

Filed under: First Time Home Buyer, For Buyers, For Sellers, Real Estate News, Relocation Buyer, St. Louis Market Reports, Unrepresented Seller(FSBO)

St. Louis Real Estate Market Watch
December 8th, 2007
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 to show typical seasonal trends of slowing with an increase of expired listings staying off the market, and a big drop in active listings. The good news is that our pending ratio is holding between 12–13%. This is a good indicator that the homes that are still on the market are attracting offers and accepting contracts.

The other good news is that if you are loan shopping now, you have an opportunity to get a fixed 30 year mortgage below 6%, if you qualify. Check out our Mortgage Guru Chriss Scheer’s latest articles posted in our blog for his evaluation of the current mortgage industry situations.

Also, President Bush this week rolled out his plan to help the sub-prime market problems. For an in-depth description and explaination of the program, see this article,”Who the Subprime Mortgage Plan Will Help” courtesy of RIS Media. This plan seems to be a step in the right direction, although it will probably only help 1.2 million people in the subprime market, as it targets borrowers who are relatively current on their mortgages.

Thinking of buying or selling a home? Contact Us for additional information tailored to your specific needs.

St. Louis Real Estate St. Louis County Market Watch December 8th, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate Jefferson County Market Watch December 1st, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate St. Charles County Market Watch December 8th, 2007

St. Louis Real Estate Benchmark Report November 2007

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 (Last 6 months)
Expired (Last 6 months)1
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!   |   12.08.2007