Real Estate Information

If you’re looking for some fun in the sun this summer, the Missouri State Fair is the place to be! Starting in Sedalia on August 11 and running for ten more days, the fair has everything from concerts, special events, and homemade-goods exhibits to games and fried food on a stick. For more information on the special events happening this year, click here.

There are also competitions of all the farm animals you could imagine. There are goats, horses, cows, chickens, bunnies, pigs, and even a mule show! These competitions are bound to please every member of the family and and create smiles and memories.

The Missouri State Fair also offers great deals on admission depending on the day. Even with the hard economic times, you’re guaranteed to find a deal that fits your wallet. Listed below are the some of the different deals.

• August 11^th – Two-buck Bonanza! ($2 admission for ages 6 & up)
• August 13^th – Pepsi Day ($1 off adult admission, $5 off carnival ride wristband)
• August 14^th – Military Appreciation Day (FREE for active, veterans, and delayed entry recruits with proper I.D.)
• August 14^th – 17^th – Five After Five ($5 admission after 5 P.M.)
• August 18^th – Thrifty Thursday ($4 admission all day; $1 for ages 6-12)
• August 21^st – Fair Finale/Half Price Day ($4 all day; $1 for ages 6-12)

This year marks the 109^th year that this event has been entertaining the citizens of Missouri. To make this summer one to remember, visit the Missouri State Fair.

IT'S SO HOT AND DRY in St. Louis, Missouri .....

....the birds have to use potholders to pull the worms out of the ground.
....the trees are whistling for the dogs.
....the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
....hot water comes from both taps.
....you can make sun tea instantly.
....you learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
....the temperature drops below 95 F (35 C) and you feel a little chilly.
....you discover that in July it only takes two fingers to steer our car.
....you discover that you can get sunburned through your car window
....you actually burn your hand opening the car door
....you break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 A.M.
....your biggest motorcycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out      and end up lying on the pavement and cooked to death?"
....you realize that asphalt has a liquid stage.
....the potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter
....the cows are giving evaporated milk.
....farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard boiled eggs.

INGREDIENTS FOR A WINNING RECIPE

By Jim Lange

If there is one truism in life – and especially the business and professional world – it is that “stuff happens,” things transpire for no apparent reason, things you cannot explain.

An important sale you were expecting to close after extraordinary effort suddenly falls through.

• You lose a major client, without warning or understandable cause.
• You do not receive the promotion you had been expecting to get – or you do get the promotion, but it fails to turn out as you had hoped or anticipated.
• A key staff person suddenly resigns and goes to a competitor, after you had invested much time and money in training that individual.

 When things like this take place, we often wonder, “What did I do to deserve this?” or even, “Why did God have to do this to me?” Sometimes we will never gain a satisfactory explanation. Other times, however, we do receive an answer to our “why” question. The following story provides a wonderful illustration:

 A daughter was telling her mother about how everything in her life seemed to be going wrong, that she was failing her math class, her boyfriend had broken up with her, and her best friend was moving away. Her entire world seemed to be crashing down.

 As the daughter was expressing her tale of woe, her mother was baking a cake. Pausing from her activity, she interrupted her daughter to ask if she would like a snack. The daughter responded, “Absolutely Mom, you know how much I love your cake!”

 “All right, here, have some cooking oil,” her mother said, reaching the bottle of oil toward her daughter. “Yuck!” said the daughter.

 “How would you like a couple raw eggs?” the mother asked, holding them out toward her. “No, Mom – that would be terrible!”

 “Would you like to eat some flour then?” the mother inquired. “Or maybe baking soda?”

 “Mother, why are you asking me that? All of those would be awful to eat!”

 At that point the mother replied: “Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake. And if you forget to include even one ingredient, the result will not be very good.

 “God works the same way,” the mother continued. “Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all together, in His perfect, all-knowing order, they always bring about an outcome for our good! We just have to trust Him – and eventually they all will combine to make something wonderful!”

 This is why the Bible can give us this promise: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, those that have been called according to his purpose”
(Romans 8:28).

 © 2011 by Jim Lange. Jim is a chapter president with Truth@Work (www.christianroundtablegroups.com), a ministry to people in the workplace. He writes a regular online blog, www.5feet20.com, and is the author of a book, Bleedership: Biblical First-Aid for Leaders. He and his family live near Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A.

You've probably heard well-meaning folks tell you to not do business with a  friend...ever!    There are some valid and not-so-valid reasons for doing so. 

As a friend, more than anything, I want to make sure that I do an excellent job because we probably have mutual friends and word would spread fast if I didn't take care of one of them.  Secondly, and more importantly, this person is near and dear to my heart therefore I care about their welfare and want to help them make a wise decision.   

You have to be careful that friends don't take advantage of each other...i.e, that they expect a discount because you are friends or that they can call the professional at home after business hours and talk about work.  Even the professional needs to "turn it off" when they come home to family.  

 Conversely, the professional needs to be sure that he/she isn't being too casual with the friend simply because they are familiar or taking advantage of the situation and treating them with less than the utmost courtesy and professionalism. 

The best advice is if you choose to work with a friend, be sure that your friend is competent.  Everyone has to start somewhere, everyone was "new" once, but decide if you want to be the one they "practice on" or would you prefer that the biggest investment of your life be handled by a professional with years of experience who is also considered by their peers to be one of the best in the industry?    

  Watch this video http://youtu.be/NrJXWhU85Fs about working with a friend...it's just funny. 

I am at the RE/MAX International convention in Las Vegas, NV March 6-11, 2011.   Chairman and Founder Dave Liniger makes another prediction for the future of real estate in 2011.  He has been in real estate for almost 40 years and has seen the peaks and valleys of this leading economic indicator.  (Forgive me for the abbreviations and short sentences, but I was typing as fast as he could talk.) 

In March 2006, Mr. Liniger said we are in a bubble.  People hated him, got a lot of backlash and hate mail at the time but it was true.  In early 2007 he said this will be the worst housing crisis our nation has ever seen and he was correct.  In early 2008 he said the market is what the market is, figure out how to do business with the changes we have.  In March 2009 at the annual convention he said, "We are not at the bottom yet."  He was correct.  In 2010 he said we are in a soft recovery.  Now for 2011, he says "As United States recovers, so does the world.  We are the economic engine of the world economy.  Oil is going up, it's not an aberration.  Saudi is our best friend and they have excess capacity of 6 billion barrels a day, but are limited by Opec.  Oil is not going to be a long term problem, but markets move on emotion not on fact.  GOLD:  It's a bubble.  Don't go running out and buy gold.  Take American dollars, stocks and bonds.  

We have regained 80% of our losses from 3 years ago.   It will continue to recover.  World Unrest:  We've been involved in famines, wars, etc for years gone by.  Christmas Sales were up in 2010... they were down for 4 yrs in a row.  Auto sales are going up rapidly.  Employee productivity going up.  Unemployement 8.9 but will go up over 9 again but inching it's way down.  Service sector and small business has been the fastest rate in 5 years.  Consumer confidence has gone up.  Top wage earners are spending again.  Investors are hungry, hedge funds are going together; we are working through the foreclosure mess, pent up demand is starting.  We are doing the same number of real estate transactions now as the year 2000.  Now we have 27 million more Americans than we did then.  People who are sharing housing are going to go out and get their own.  He believes it will come around faster than most economists expected. 

However, there are still 7 million homeowners who will go through the foreclosure process before we're done with this catastrophe.  RE/MAX has more specially-trained Realtors to handle short sales and foreclosures than any other company. Citibank has agreed to refer all their distressed property homeowners to 3 local RE/MAX agents because they know that RE/MAX sell more homes per agent than any other real estate company and has more distressed property certifications than all the other companies combined.   

Mr. Liniger went on to say, "We have survived the worst housing crisis in the history of the world."

Now that's good news for all of us!

The President has signed the bill extending Mortgage Insurance tax deductibility through December 31, 2011. This makes it a great time to tell your customers how they can use Mortgage Insurance to buy a home sooner and enjoy predictable payments, while benefiting by deducting the premiums from their income taxes. And MI can be canceled once the home buyer builds enough equity.

Details on Tax Deductibility for MI Remain Unchanged

• The home purchase or refinance loan must close between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2011;
• Household income must be at or below $100,000 for a full deduction of premium;
• The premium deduction is reduced 10% for each $1,000 of income over $100,000;
• The premium deduction is prorated in the first year based on the month the loan closes;
• Applies to primary residence and one other residence purchased for personal use by the taxpayer;
• Monthly, annual, and single MI premiums are eligible. Financed premium deductions should be taken over a seven year period.

Anyone who has gone through the process of selling a home knows…it’s a lot of work! But anyone who has gone through the process of selling a home smoothly knows that one of the best ways to ensure a smooth process is to do that work upfront.

 Getting a home pre-inspected (and then addressing any ‘red flag’ items) before putting the property on the market can save a great deal of headache down the road. Avoid the last-minute hassle of finding contractors! Save money by taking time to choose contractors who can offer the best deal to do the work!  And, by all means, spare yourself the heartache of not being able to get the problem solved down the road, and watching a buyer walk away as a result.

 Despite the fact that I have been encouraging sellers for more than 4 years to have their homes professionally inspected prior to going on the market, some sellers are reluctant to spend that money ($400) up-front when they know the buyer will still be having their own inspection; or they truly believe there isn't anything wrong with their home or they just don't want to know.  Some of our recent closings, during the height of the $8,000 tax-credit frenzy where Title Companies were burning midnight oil to meet closing deadlines, encountered frustrations and last-minute inspections and repair hold-ups…cutting awfully close to closing time. And let me tell you, such a situation is fun for no one.

 Case #1: Mr. Seller forgot to disclose an un-vented basement bathroom, caught by the buyer's inspector but which seller refused to correct; buyer accepted. However, the County caught it and required it to be done which led to a scramble to find contractors who could get the work done in the week just before closing. Seller again was adamant that he wouldn't pay for it.  Buyer wanted the house so badly they agreed to pay 50%.  Total cost borne by both:  $2000.      

 Case #2: Miss Seller waited until the very last minute to finish repairs necessary to obtain a compliance certificate from the county, though she had been aware for 4 months of the repairs needed, leading to frantic calls to the County inspector to make sure he could re-visit the home before closing.  Coupled with her incredibly busy job and the fact that she wanted to use her own contractors, there was much anxiety to ensure that nothing was missed.   

 Case #3:  Mrs. Seller informed me the roof was old & I suggested it be replaced before going on the market; she wanted to negotiate it instead. We mistakenly let the buyer choose their own roofer because any leftover money from the $6,500 roof credit she was giving him could be used for his closing costs.  Buyer dragged his feet getting roof bids. The two roofers he chose came with their own set of issues: First one didn't have insurance; second quickly got insurance but wanted 50% up front; third one (the bid she got) wanted 50% down.  Finally we settled on my roofer who was insured and didn't require any money up front so 4 weeks later and 2 days before closing, the roof finally went on, but the VA appraiser had to come back out and make sure the roof was on before the loan would be granted.    

Thankfully, none of these sellers saw their transactions fall apart. The properties closed and everyone left the closing table…relieved. But, they each endured needless anxiety that could have been prevented. I’m sure that in hindsight, each of these sellers would have rather they opted to have their homes pre-inspected, which would have given them the chance to address most of these issues before the pressure was on to get the job done.

Your Realtor’s job is to help you expect the unexpected. (One of the reasons we urge you get your home pre-inspected!) However, we do live in a world of uncertainty, and with the changing industry practices involving lenders, appraisers, inspectors and the like, the unexpected will sometimes occur. This is why your Realtor should also be capable and well-informed, able to ease your mind and defend your wallet when those “surprises” come along. Be comfortable with and be confident in your agent’s ability to handle whatever surprises come your way. It can make all the difference in making sure that if a transaction gets “bumpy”, it ends up a smooth one.

Is anyone else as aggravated as I am with St. Louis County municipalities and St. Louis City demanding that sellers make corrections/modifications/repairs to their home that either A) existed when they bought their house or B) could have been pointed out while the seller lives there and taken care of over time?

Case in point:  The City of Rock Hill in the County of St. Louis, Missouri. 

In the last few years, sellers in this city have been forced to spend thousands of dollars to retrofit their homes either at the whim of the inspector, or because Rock Hill thinks it's their job to protect people from stupidity.  A recent home re-occupancy inspection for a home in this city noted several “violations” and required fixes of said “violations”. Such requirements included adding a light fixture to the basement stairwell where one already exists, adding balusters to the stairwell so a child cannot fall off, dry walling the interior of a basement garage and building a concrete stoop for fire-safety, and installing a railing or bushes as a barrier to falling off a 5-foot retaining wall. 

Further review by the seller of the city’s International Property Maintenance Code revealed that none of the described “violations” were really violations at all! The issues are not stated in the maintenance code, and therefore the seller has wisely chosen to appeal the predications with the city.

Although conditions at this home have been this way for 50-60 years, now that a seller wants to move, the city decides it's time to make this property "safe".  It makes me wonder, if these issues are so inherently critical to ensuring an occupant’s safety, why didn't the city choose to take action to protect the current owner’s safety before now?

Just recently, in another comparable circumstance, the seller of a house in Webster Groves was forced to dead-wood her 40 year old oak tree in the front yard at a cost of several hundred dollars. Sure, I suppose a branch could have been ripped from the trunk in a storm and possibly hit a car driving by…but why didn't the city notice the dead branches of her tree while driving through her neighborhood in the last 12 months? Why does this become an issue only now?

If these inspectors are REALLY concerned about safety issues in the neighborhood, why aren't they routinely driving through looking for how an average citizen might be harmed simply by living in their community? (And caulking the bathtub?  How is that a safety/health violation that requires compliance before an Occupancy Permit will be issued?  Yes, that came up on a Webster inspection, also.)

I’m just going to say it…I'm weary of the government acting as my protector and treating us as if we are all helpless victims. Does the government serve a place in our society for protecting the common good? Absolutely. Have recent circumstances shown an unhealthy extension of their influence and involvement in the home sale process? I believe so.

The truth is that the tougher these supposed "code violations" become, the more agents will be unwilling to extol the qualities of living in that community, knowing the kind of repairs and modifications the buyer-turned-seller will have to do…and decreasing the ease or motivation for moving real estate, particularly in the current market, serves no one.

Next up, Laclede Gas predications, Cap and Trade and the new Transfer Tax.

The Missouri Housing Development Commission just passed a $35 Million economic development initiative to provide tax relief to middle and low income Missouri homebuyers who purchase a home in 2010. 

 1. $15 million to pay the first year of property taxes for qualified homebuyers who purchase a new or existing home after January 1, 2010. This has the opportunity to help between 9,000 and 11,000 Missouri families making less than $100,000 a year.

 2.  $5 million in assistance to qualified homebuyers to help with down payments and closing costs. This helps potential homebuyers overcome the obstacle of coming up with enough cash for a down payment and closing costs. MHDC has been a national leader on this front.

 3. Additional assistance to homebuyers who purchase an energy-efficient home or purchase energy-saving appliances. This is an opportunity to raise energy-efficiency standards in Missouri, making a positive impact on both the economy and the environment. It's a win-win.

This economic development package provides property tax relief to thousands of Missourians at a crucial time in our economy without spending Missouri tax dollars. This will be paid for entirely out of MHDC's reserve fund and federal recovery funds already in our possession. This comes in addition to more than $100 million in recovery funds and more than $19 million in reserves already allocated to boost Missouri's economy and put Missourians back to work.

If you have been thinking of buying a home and waiting for "the bottom", now is the time to make that move.  Call me for a list of qualified Mortgage Lenders and let's find you a home.