Cleveland Real Estate News

Here is a Columbus Dispatch article on Federal monies going to various States including  Ohio.  We don’t know how much yet, but might by the end of the day.  The article says we are getting $400 million……stay tuned to see how much it actually will be.  Peace Out -3C

Update: Per the US Labor Secretary, we are in fact getting the 400 million dollar grant to get started on the Cleveland to Columbus to Cincy passenger rail system.  ODOT says it will become the best rail service in America. The goal is to have these trains up and running by the end of 2012.

First up, thousands of jobs created to lay rails, upgrade and service trains, among other things. 

The fare to get from Cleveland to Cincinnati could be $26 — not bad, agreed?  We are actually going to have passenger rail!  I’m giddy!

The Daily Beast  has identified 75 hard to maneuver highways during commuting hours. They list length of the congestion(by miles), the speed (or lack of) cars can travel during these periods, among other things.  I wasn’t very surprised that the Capital Beltway in D.C. was #3.  It took me honing a certain mentality to do it with any regularity. The last time I visited the D.C. area, I remember my shoulders tightened up as I got in what I called war mode, which included heightened awareness of cars around me, and a steely gaze that may have only been noticeable to me!

The surprise to me was the second most congested highway because it was in Honolulu ! So much for paradise!

Whenever people discuss what is important to them when buying a house, it always intrigues me to hear the differences discussed.  Some people are happy with a 30 minute commute. Some consider it down time, quiet time, time to listen to a book on tape or iPod, time to enjoy talk radio. Decompression time.  Others want a five minute commute and no traffic congestion.  Some don’t mind I-480 traffic, some love the I-90 route along the lake.  All my life I’ve heard that our differences make life more interesting and I definitely agree with that.  For me, commuting any more than 15 minutes to work every day would drive me stark raving mad.

Not that I haven’t done it.  I managed a store in Gaithersburg Maryland while living in Greenbelt Maryland.  About a 30 mile drive on the Capital Beltway and I-270.  How to describe it.  If you’re looking at a map, paint a smile around Washington DC.  I worked on the left side of the smile and lived on the right side. I did it for  awhile, and that was fine.  Now? No way!

We don’t have the same congestion issues here but I know people who have to go through the Richmond Road/Chagrin Road intersection during rush hour might disagree.  Let’s just say we didn’t have any highways driving commuters crazy, at least according to this Daily Beast article.

Number One went to a highway in LA. The length of the bottleneck? Over 70 miles.   Oy.

Peace Out – 3C

For those who may have wondered if Ohio could be pro actively involved in energy companies if they started  up or relocated here, this is a good story. First Solar  is behind the Crayola Crayon company’s solar farm just being created. This is all happening in Forks Township Pennsylvania.  (I had to look it up: it’s not that far from Bethlehem; closer to NYC than PA’s western border, on the Delaware River.) I found out about it on Clean Green Tips website.   According to the article, it’s supposed to provide 10% of the energy used to create all those crayon colors, like Burnt Sienna (one of my favs).

I had a discussion on Facebook with a few people who felt getting energy companies going here in Ohio is counter productive, that they will want to be where they already are (!) ….places like California. Okay.  But apparently First Solar  is bucking the trend, so it makes sense to me that others can as well.  Just sayin’.

Yahoo! Finance featured a story today about home sellers who are less than truthful about problems that might exist in a home, when buyers ask questions.  Questions like how much are the utility bills.  The truth is, you, Mr. Buyer, might like a cooler home than I do, so if I sell you my house, your bill might be lower than mine…or vice versa.  A better question might be, does the house have any weatherization upgrades? Newer windows, insulation added, etc?  It’s also true that if someone tells you they pay $500 a month on heating bills, your bills will probably be high even if you DO like it cooler than the current owners.

Here in Ohio, we already have laws passed to help protect buyers. Every seller should be filling out residential property disclosures. The disclosures are created by the State of Ohio. They ask questions regarding structure, mechanicals like heating and electrical systems, water intrusion, roof issues.  Sellers are asked to cover the last five years of ownershp and disclose any issues that have arisen.  Did your basement flood and you had roots cut out of your basement clean out drain in 2006? Then disclose that you resolved the issue but that it did in fact happen.  You get the picture.  I think what sellers can sometimes miss is the main point about who is protected by being truthful. The buyer gets more information about the house for sure.  But the seller is given more protection as well by being truthful so the buyer knows what they are getting when they purchase.  Meaning they are less likely to try and sue you afterwards!

Often, a for sale by owner seller doesn’t realize these forms exist.  So if you are selling your home on your own, you might want to get this form from the State Department of Commerce and give yourself extra protection. 

I was surprised reading the article today that there are still states without disclosure laws.  We can be glad we are protected here.  There are always people who try to be less than truthful, but my seven year experience has proven that most sellers disclose issues in a fair and honest way. 

Here is the Yahoo! article  in it’s entirety.   Peace Out – 3C

It’s a start. Dining cars are back on the Lake Shore lines that run through Cleveland.  It’s also true that departure time is before 6am (oy) and it will be swell when there are more trips planned.  In the meantime, read the PD article about how Amtrak finally added the dining car back to the routes served through Cleveland.

For me, it would be noon before I was hungry but the trip to NYC is long enough to warrant a meal at some point during the trek. And for those of you who like steak and eggs (or breakfast at least), both are on the menu.

Peace Out – 3C

Yesterday the U.S. District Court dismissed Baltimore’s case against banks they said created blight by violating The Fair Housing Act (our case was dismissed months ago). I found a post from American Banker  on line, written by Jeff Horwitz  . It’s a good summary of the various municipal cases brought or being brought against some of the large players — meaning banks who hold a large number of foreclosures. 

The Baltimore decision was written in such a way as to indicate the city’s claim was too broad (vague? this is my interpretation) but that they could come back with more specific charges (that is from the article). 

Tricia Bishop of  The Baltimore Sun covers the story  and goes a bit more in depth regarding the issue of Fair Housing and Redlining. 

Here is a quote from her article on the dismissal ruling:

 The city could restrict its claims to specific damages allegedly suffered because of actual houses made vacant by Wells Fargo’s lending practices, he wrote.

“…He’s asking the city to paint with a less broad brush if it wishes to do that,” City Solicitor George Nilson summarized. Counselors plan to discuss their options, which include appealing or filing a narrowed lawsuit, as early as today, he said…”

Cleveland is supposedly appealing their ruling as well.  There are still other cases being brought by different cities.  It will be interesting to see if any of the strategies work.  The Baltimore ruling seemed to indicate that narrowing the focus of a suit could work.  We’ll see !  Peace out – 3C

It was quiet on the Med Mart front for a while; last we heard there was arguing over the change in plans from MMPI regarding where it would be located.  I liked the first site choice better all along.   I don’t think you have to be a staunch preservationist to not want Public Hall torn down.

Many architecture lovers (includes most of us no?) lament the fact that so many Art Deco era buildings were torn down in Downtown Cleveland.  Losing the history and beauty of Public Hall instead of restoring it never made any sense to me.  I attended the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 conference in Public Hall a few months ago.  If we were selling it (yeah I’m thinking like a Realtor® now), we’d say it’s in need of some TLC but oh what history and character.

Thanks to the Plain Dealer  for staying on top of the issue. You can read the Medical Mart news here  in an article written by Laura Johnston.  The plan is now back to the original site location and has terms (contract) you can read in the PD.  Peace Out – 3C

Take it with a grain of salt, like everything else we read, but still worth reading. It’s been 11 years since Allegheny County in Pittsburgh switched to a Co. Executive/Council form of government. If nothing else, Jim Nichols’ PD article  interviews a cross section of people who were in the trenches in Pittsburgh when the system changed.  I liked reading their perspectives. One suggestion from Pittsburgh sounded particularly good.  Get a group of 500 people together, not a measly 15 or 30  person committee to review the implementation (I said measly, not the article). I love that idea. Let everyone work around the table, so to speak,  and I know good ideas would present themselves.

The second thing I took away was not a new idea.  Focusing on why some areas are experiencing growth because of a focus on attracting immigrants. For us (as it was for Pittsburgh) this a renewed effort, not a new one, as we know from our history. Here is a quote from the article:

Aim low, as well as high, with economic development. Pittsburgh and Cleveland must regain their lost status as giant magnets for poor but entrepreneurial immigrants, said Michael Madison, a University of Pittsburgh law professor who writes a civic-criticism blog called Pittsblog 2.0. Newcomers from the Far East and India are streaming to Milwaukee, Des Moines and Minneapolis-St. Paul, saving money in crummy jobs, then starting businesses, he said. The cultural diversity, in turn, makes a city even more appealing to the educated creative classes. Strong, united and welcoming leadership should actively court foreign laborers, Madison said.

Peace Out – 3C

This means you would sign your title over to your lender and you would become their tenant.  The catch is Fair Market Value (FMV) for the rent. If it’s determined to be $850/month, and your mortgage is more than that, it won’t work. If  the FMV is less than what you are now paying per month for your mortgage, it might work.

According to the FHA guidelines, they will lease it to you for a year (during which time you would hopefully become more financially solvent). At the end of the year they have the option of continuing the lease (up to them and how timely your rental payments have been over the 12 month period).  From Market Watch: “….The bower has to document  that the new market rental rate doesn’t exceed 31% of his or her gross income….”

I read the Fannie Mae press release on this and also some of the documentation. You can find all the original forms and details on this Fannie page.

The way I read this, it doesn’t seem to be a program to help you keep your home.  There is nothing in the documentation that says after a year of leasing they will turn it back over to you.  It sounds like a way, however, to keep you from having to find other housing while still foreclosing on your home.

I still have questions over and above the one I just outlined. If the tenant cannot reclaim the home automatically, does Fannie Mae have the right (or intention) to list the home for sale during a person’s tenancy? 

I do agree that this could help with neighborhood stabilization.  And I will check on details as I can ferret them out.  I think they just rolled this program out at the end of this week.  Peace Out – 3C