The holiday weekend provided time away from Cincinnati real estate.  The good news is that very few people I crossed paths knew that I’m a Realtor.  Better news, they openly talk about problems with the market and, their Realtors.  I really don’t know the “real details” but most of the problems seem to stem from raggedy process that a lot of  home sales seem to follow these days.In the good old days, most purchases (sales) were like a fairly predictable board game-think Monopoly.  You shake the dice, moved around the board and eventually the game concludes with a winner.  Occasionally there were some bumps- players sent to jail or a competitor with so many hotels on a property that you begged for mercy. 

Playing Monopoly is fairly orderly and many real estate transactions play out the same way. 

Unfortunately many of today’s deals are play out more like “Chutes and Ladders”.  You remember ”Chutes and Ladders”.  No orderly path, just on the verge of crossing the finish line and whoa….down the chute only to start the process all over again.  No amount of plotting or partnering saves a player from their fate.

If you remember “Chutes and Ladders” you have some insight into many of today’s real estate transactions.

Everybody (sellers, buyers, title companies, inspectors, lenders) all moving along -then somebody hits a “chute” and we get to start part of the process all over again.

“Chutes” can appear when:

• inspections are not completed in a timely manner
• title issues
• lenders change their minds about the loan halfway (or 3/4 of the way) through the process.
• buyers or sellers don’t communicate with their agents
• agents don’t communicate with buyers or sellers
• relocation company intervention
• short sales- lender(s) dragging their collective feet

Understanding the rules and the type of real estate board game you are playing could help reduce some of the frustration.

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Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving!

People want to know what is happening in real estate throughout greater Cincinnati area. For a quick look at Market Action Reports by zipcode see below:

45011

45014

45040

45069

45208

45223

Prices are sliding down a bit- indicating a continuation of a buyer’s market.   This is the short version of the detailed information available for the zipcodes- call or email if you would like the details.

Related Articles: Last Week’s Numbers

According to the Multiple Listing Service of Greater Cincinnati the following HUD properties have sold/closed.

If you are tracking and/or bidding on HUD properties the report provide.  Or stay ahead of the real estate market by subscribing to thecincyblog now!

There is a lot of information floating around about the recently passed home buyer tax credit bill.  The Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors produced a useful informational piece about the extension as well as details about the credit for “repeat” buyers. For current property owners, the repeat buyer could be just enough of an incentive to move on to your next home.

See sections of the article below: 

Eligibility requirements have been broadened to make the money available to both first-time homebuyers and “repeat” homebuyers who have owned a home as their primary resident for at least five of the past eight years. For most people, maximum qualifying earnings is based on their adjusted gross income (see line 37 on the 1040 federal tax form).

In most situations,single buyers can now earn up to $125,000 per year and get the full credit; and joint filers can earn up to $225,000 per year. The credit decreases for single buyers who earn between $125,000 and $145,000 and for buyers filing jointly who earn between $225,000 and $245,000. Home buyers earning more than the maximum qualifying income – over $145,000 for singles and over $245,000 for couples – are not eligible for the credit.

In either case, you must have a binding purchase contract no later than April 30, 2010, and you must close the transaction by June 30, 2010.

—Reported by the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors®

The Board also provided a simple table explaining eligibility: