Bill Blog

The master commissioner's sale was held today at the McCracken County Courthouse. There were probably 50 people in attendance. Of the many properties I listed in a previous blog here are a few highlighted properties that were sold.

• 1415 Madison St, lot, appraised at $2,500. Sold for $1,700
  
• 1424 Little Avenue, lot, appraised at $5,000. Sold for $3,450
  
• 934-936 North 10th Street, appraised for $110,000. Sold for $73,500
  
• 2069 Irvin Cobb Drive, former bar or nightclub, appraised at $240,000. Sold for $200,000. This property was previously listed by a couple of in-town agents at a price between $650,000 to $775,000
  
• 1724 Monroe, house, appraised for $60,000. Sold for $40,001
  
• 1204 Park Avenue, house, appraised for $45,000. Sold for $34,000
  
• 250 Jennifer Lane, house, appraised for $240,000. Sold for $205,000
  
• 101 Sarah Cove, house, appraised for $68,000. Sold for $45,339
  
• 2865 Oaks Road, house, Appraised for $96,000. Sold for $109,100.

Many of today's foreclosures had private buyers bidding against the lenders that foreclosed on the properties. In one auction the bank actually lost the auction. I suspect the attorney that represented the lender was allowed to bid up to a certain amount. The winning bid was 1 cent higher than the banks max bid.

The appraised values were the values stated by the auctioneer.

One of the things I get a kick out of when I attend these auctions is how many of the attendees know each other. I myself knew several people there today. Like myself, several people were there taking notes and not participating.

I was just in the car listening to a talk show. The host had Sandy Dunn from the National Association of Home Builders. I thought I heard her say that the repayment requirement of the $7,500 tax credit has been removed. It is now a true tax credit instead of a long term loan.

Anyone else heard this? Is this true? I can't find anything online about this change.

Today, myself and 64 other local realtors, attended GRI 5 class in Benton, KY. The class was entitled Systems for Success. For anyone not familar with GRI (Graduate Realtor Institute), it is a series of classes realtors attend for a variety of reasons. Among the many reasons to attend the classes, we learn to better work with buyers, sellers and other agents. We also learn how to conduct business more efficiently.

I particularly like attending these classes because I get to meet new peers and talk with friends. One of the ways we meet new peers is by working in groups on brief group collaborations. We also exchange business cards so we can provide client referrals to some of the agents we meet (networking).

Of all the good conversation I had there was one thing in particular that was said that most, if not all, agents had noticed. Most agents have noticed a significant increase in business since January 1st. Some agents said their buyers were waiting until after the annauguration took place. I personally noticed an increase in business shortly before that event.

Many visitors to my web site enjoy checking the foreclosures page on a routine basis. The master commissioner has auctions on the last Monday of each month inside the court house at the bottom of the stairway. A notice is placed in the Paducah Sun on the second Friday of each month listing the properties to be auctioned. The same list is also on display in the hallway near where the auction is held.

Generally, any bank lender foreclosures that are held are purchased back by the lender. These autions are usually not purchased by auction visitors. There are properties to be auctioned from time to time that are unrelated to failed mortgages.

This January 26, 2009 there are several properties being auctioned. Most are lender foreclosures but there are several this month that are being auctioned to pay delinquent taxes, nuisance code liens or are the result of a dispute between parties. Habitat for Humanity has foreclosures this month as well. This month I have listed auctions that would likely be available to a private buyer or investor.

• 1415 Madison Street - Judgement to collect $10,531.78 due to nuisance code liens and delinquent taxes, interest, attorney fees and auction costs.
  
• 1424 Little Avenue - Judgement to collect $10,941.37 due to nuisance code liens and delinquent taxes, interest, attorney fees and auction costs.
  
• 934-936 North 10th Street & 2069 Irvin Cobb - Recover costs of $11,231.57 for delinquent taxes on both properties. Recover costs of $3,568.72 for citation liens on the North 10th Street property. 934 -936 North 10th Street is 2 tracts measuring 134' 6" x 48' x 134' 6" x 48'. Tract 2 is 134' 6" x 24' x 134' 6" x 24'. 2069 Irvin Cobb is 1.024 acres according to subdivision plat.
  
• 1724 Monroe Street - Recover costs of $64,276.42 to recover judgement plus attorney fees and costs of sale.
  
• 1204 Park Avenue - Recover costs of $41,161.30 plus contingent deferred interest and costs of the sale. This is a Habitat for Humanity foreclosure. Lot size is 50' x 165'
  
• 1316 Madison Street - Judgement to collect $13,439.98 due to nuisance code liens and delinquent taxes, interest, attorney fees and auction costs.
  
• 927 Finley Street - Recover costs of $18,634.45 plus contingent deferred interest and costs of the sale. This is a Habitat for Humanity foreclosure.

As noted in the information posted in the Paducah Sun notice, these homes are generally not available for inspection even if you intend to bid on a property.

I intend to attend this auction. If you have any interest in any of these auctions let me know what you have in mind. Maybe I can provide assistance.

...unless you are serious about selling it.

Yes, if you aren't serious about selling your home I'll pass on listing it. When I try to sell a home for a client I invest a lot of time and money. If you unable or unwilling to maintain the home in a good, clean condition or not willing to negotiate a fair price then we are likely wasting your time and mine.

When I list a home I gather important information about the home for placement in the MLS. This single entry gets your home listed on many, many web sites. An example of a few commonly used web sites are Realtor.com, Zillow.com, Trulia.com and my own and most other realtor web sites.

In addition to the MLS, I typically place your home with a brief description in the Paducah & McCracken County edition of the Catalog of Homes. This catalog displays many homes for sale in McCracken county. The catalog is used by buyers, sellers and others just to pass the time. Placing your home in the Catalog each month is not free and does not guarantee any responses.

Furthermore, I place a Prudential Real Estate yard sign in your front yard so that passersby will know your home is for sale. The sign has the well known Prudential name and "The Rock" logo on it as well my name and phone number across the bottom. The yard sign indicates that your home is being sold by a professional and allows interested parties to call me for more information. If someone wants to see your home I will coordinate an appointment for them to see the home.

I also place your home on a few additional web sites I frequent. Some are free and some are not. I may place ads in local newspapers from time to time along with Open House notices if you permit me to host. The typical open house in the Paducah area is performed from 2-4pm on Sunday afternoon.

This process may go on for months.

So, if you are serious about selling your home, in the current market, I'll be happy to list your home, advertise it and show it. Otherwise, you might consider waiting until market conditions improve.

In early 2008 a friend of mine that works at the vets office referred my name to a friend of hers that was looking to purchase a church. He called me from his home in Florida. I gathered pictures and information on a couple of churches he wanted info on and emailed them to him.

All the churches were priced really cheap. One of them was in good shape and was being sold by the former church members who had attended. Their families had attended this church for many years and were sad to have to sell it. They were being very particular to who they sold the church for. When my client and I were gathering info on the church and he was considering making an offer, without even seeing the church, we had another buyer who was making an offer as well. I learned that other buyer's offer was turned down because he wanted to sell the items in the church piece by piece. The persons responsible for selling the church turned that offer down pretty quickly.

The church had the pews and the pulpit still inside. If I remember correctly the sound system was still in place as well. The basement leaked a little. Some of the shingles were blown off the roof. The church members had buried steel rods on the church property to mark the property boundary from the cemetery next door. The parking lot had grown grass over a majority of the gravel.

During the closing my client, Ron Henry, asked us to pray with him and he showed us a video he had produced himself. This video took nearly an hour for all of us to watch. The person's present besides myself and Ron were the broker doing the closing and the representatives from the church. Ron made it clear to the former church members he had no intention of destroying the church. As a matter of fact I believe the agreement even stated that if Ron ever decided to get rid of the church that the former church member's would have the opportunity to buy it back at the same price.

I hadn't heard from Ron since the closing. My job was done. The church building was near the town of Clinton, KY, nearly an hour away from my home and work. That friend that referred Ron to me brought me a newspaper article that was written a few months ago. I was so impressed I wanted to share it with everyone else.

Read the article to see what Ron did with this church building! Here's to you Ron!

The economy may be in trouble but there are always opportunities regardless of market conditions.

Interest rates are another advantage to home buyers. Rates are about as low as they get. With today's interest rates you can save a ton of money over the length of a 15 or 30 year loan. A few years ago when I refinanced my home loan the length of my loan dropped from 30 years to 15 years. My payment stayed the same.

Another, lesser known advantage to buying a home now is a tax free loan available via the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. This loan is available to qualified home buyers when the 2008 or 2009 tax return is filed. To be qualified, a home buyer must not have owned a home in the past 3 years. The amount of credit is equal to 10% of the purchase price but no more than $7,500. If you purchase the home after Jan 1 2009 but before the deadline of July 1, 2009, you can still receive the credit by filing an amended 2008 tax return.

Remember, I said this is a LOAN? You receive the money via your taxes but it's equivalent to a interest free loan. After two years the money must be repaid via your tax return. If you claim the full $7,500, your tax return will pay back $500 each year over a 15 year period until the full amount has been returned.

Another key point... if you sell your home before the amount has been repaid at a profit you must pay off the loan with any profits. On the other hand, if you sell the home at a loss the loan is forgiven.

Another important detail I've read regarding pay back of the loan at tax time is you may need to adjust your federal tax wage withholding to ensure you cover the credit pay back.

More details are available on Realtor.org and at KAR.com

Friday the December issue of our local Catalog of Homes was released. The Catalog contains many homes that are for sale by local agents. It does not contain a complete list of properties for sale but it contains many.

This month's issue was noticeable thinner. I compared last month's issue and found that it does indeed contain fewer pages. The last issue had 115 pages. This issue has 102 pages.

I don't have a page in the Catalog this month myself. The homes I had listed have either sold or expired so I didn't place an order. The expired listings have sellers waiting for the market to rebound before they attempt to sell again.

While talking to my broker about listing incentives, we talked about how the current problem isn't getting people to list their homes, it's getting buyers for those homes. Although interest rates are going lower and lower, people are being very cautious during these tough economic times. The market hasn't come to a complete standstill. Not everyone halts their life during a recession. If mortgage rates go down to 4.5% we expect buyers to come out again.

Personally, I obtained my own home loan with a local mortgage officer using a VA loan. When I purchased the home in 2001 I got a rate of 7.5% and a 30 year term. I refinanced with another VA loan and the same mortgage officer back in 2003. My rate went down to 5% and a 15 year term. My payment went up a handful of dollars but it was WELL worth the savings.

My broker and I also spoke about how the local board of Realtors had nearly 20% of their agents not sell a single property in 2008 and they expected several agents to escrow their license in 2009.

You know, I've never attended as many auctions in my whole life as what I've attended this year alone. I've attended a few RARE Auctions, a court house auction, an online real estate auction (not eBay) and a few others. I don't know about the past but this year you can really get some good deals at a absolute real estate auction.

I went to another auction this past Saturday. Up for absolute auction was a 2,900 square foot home. The home was valued at around $300,000. It was a 2 story home, 4 bedroom with 3.5 baths. Most of the home was outdated but it was maintained well. The outside of the brick home was in very good condition. I believe they said it was built in the 70's by a reputable construction business - of which the son of the construction business had lived next door for a while.

The owner of the home had past away 3 years ago. The widow had built a new home and moved into that home with her daughter. The auctioneer asked for a moment of silence before the auction began in respect of the family. I don't know if they were present but I didn't hear him mention the family being there. All of the owner's belongings were about to be auctioned off as well.

Although the home was really nice and large with a good neighborhood the home didn't yield much. As with the previous auctions the auctioneer appeared dissappionted or maybe even embarassed that the home was getting so little response. I think there were 3 bidders that bid but near the end one had dropped out. A young family ended up with the house at $145,000 - not including the 10% buyers fee tacked on by the auctioneer.

Like I said, I don't know about previous years but the auctions I've seen in my area recently have been good for the buyers but not so good for sellers unless they only want to get rid of the property quick.

Some have said the slump in the economy might be at the trough of the slowdown and we should expect a recovery to start at anytime. I was hoping for the same but after I received an email from a friend that listed many major retail stores that are scheduled to close their doors I'm not so sure we've even close. I verified a few of these store closings in case the email was fraudulent. I don't know about you but when I saw this list I immediately foresaw a series of further declines on Wall Street each day these stores close their doors for good.

Here is the list of stores closing some locations or closing completely:

• Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide are to be shuttered
• Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug,and Catherine's to close 150 stores nationwide
• Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
• Cache will close all stores
• Talbots closing down all stores
• J. Jill closing all stores
• GAP closing 85 stores
• Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January
• Wickes Furniture closing down
• Levitz closing down remaining stores
• Bombay closing remaining stores
• Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January.
• Whitehall closing all stores
• Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
• Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
• Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ (New Brunswick)
• Macys to close 9 stores after January
• Linens and Things closing all stores
• Movie Galley Closing all stores
• Pacific Sunware closing stores
• Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
• Sprint/ Nextel closing 133 stores
• JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
• Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
• Wilson Leather closing down all stores
• Sharper Image closing down all stores
• K B Toys closing 356 stores
• Lowes to close down some stores
• Dillard's to close some stores

A few these stores that are closing in Paducah occupy buildings that cost tens of thousands of dollars in rent each month. It's hard to imagine these stores could pay that much money in rent, employees, utilities, supplies, inventory, etc..

On the brighter side, compared to what we've been paying for gas I feel like the oil companies are practically give it away now. On top of the lower prices I used a discount from a local SuperValue today. They provide a discount on their gas when you receive certain products in the store. With the two discount receipts I had I saved 48 cents on gas with a 15 gallon limit. I filled up my Lincoln Navigator for just $1.02 per gallon!