Cleveland Real Estate News

A white-picket fence, a green lawn, a big front porch with an American flag waving in the wind…for many, that’s the American dream. We all know there’s no place like home, and no one deserves a place to call home more than those who have devoted their lives to serving our country. And VA loans are there to help this dream come true for as many veterans as possible.

If you served time in the military and are now looking to buy a house, the benefits offered by the VA are absolutely worth looking into. There are different qualifying restrictions for veterans of different branches of the military.

o      Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or Marine Corps: service of 181 days during peacetime or 90 days during wartime

o      Reserves or National Guard: service of 6 years

o      If you are the spouse of someone who died in service

Of course there are exceptions to these rules if you could not complete your allotted service time due to injury, a developed condition, etc. But if you do qualify, you’re in for some benefits offered by few other loans.

o      No down payments, even when financing 100% of your home purchase

o      Lower interest rates than conventional loans (by about .5%-1%)

o      No monthly PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance)

o      Lower closing costs

What’s more, VA loans are backed by Veterans Affairs (hence their name), a department of the federal government. What does this mean? It means that banks are more willing to prepare loans for people – even if they have less than perfect credit or little income – because they know that VA is ultimately responsible for a percentage of the loan. So if you’re nervous about potentially not qualifying for a VA loan because of your credit history, or if you’re nervous about making all of your loan payments, don’t be. The VA has got your back, as long as you meet the VA’s eligibility requirements. You and your family deserve to have a home that you love, and a VA home loan can be a big boost to help you achieve your dreams of home ownership.

3C Note:  any questions, please contact James at

The Federal Appeals Court has spoken and they said Cleveland has no merit regarding recouping monies from banks who set up sub prime lenders who as we all know helped make a mess of the housing market.  You may recall my post about foreclosure rates jumping 24% in 2006. Not surprised, just an fyi. 

Christine Ricciardi of Housing Wire covers it in good detail here.  Cleveland picked 21 banks, was less specific in scope than Baltimore was when they tried to bring a somewhat similar suit…they lost too.  One of the panel of judges talked about drugs and arson and housing neglect, not sub prime lending.  Didn’t all that happen after the sub prime lending?  Just sayin’.

 Peace Out – 3C

I get Realtor® Magazine because, well I’m one of them lol.  Over the last few years, energy issues have become more prominent ‘need’ items on home buyer lists.  For example, 2009 surveys found that buyers listed energy efficient appliances as very important.  I find that home sellers are not as attuned to green or energy efficient issues…although they automatically are if things like furnaces and windows are newer.

Just a few thoughts for today:

1.  No matter if you are selling your home or just living a happy life in your community, you can ask your utility providers (like First Energy, for example), to do an energy audit on your home.  Sometimes a private contractor will also do it for free or a small fee.  You could make a wish list of things to do to improve your home for a) sale or b) lower monthly bills!

2.  New green homes are fabulous.  EcoVillage’s town homes, at least the ones who opted in for solar panels, seem to pay about $75/month year round for utilities.  All this is good.  If you live in a sufficiently ‘green’ home like the one above, there IS one thing you might want to check out.  The tighter your house, the more chances exist for a radon gas issue.  Some communities (mostly lake side) have always had a higher ‘watch’ for radon, but now green homes should be added to the list.

The good news is, radon testing and radon issue abatement are both simple and low cost.  Remember when we all started putting carbon monoxide alarms in our homes? Just think of radon as a similar issue, IF you have a nice, tight house with low bills. 

3.  There is still a Federal Tax Credit for repairs/replacements like new windows.  If you have been meaning to get them, now might be the time.  Check with your tax preparer to get the details on what’s available tax-wise.  Other things like weatherization qualify too.  If you want to do a preliminary check on tax credits for energy issues, you can go to the Energy Star site here. 

The Government has an energy services website for info on choosing energy efficient appliances wisely.  They make a wise comment on this site: ‘….don’t make a purchase decision until you think you understand your choices and the trade-offs you are making…’

Performances are Fri.-Sat. July 23 & 24, Thurs-Sat., July 29-31, and Fri.-Sun., August 6-8. Curtain times on Thursday, Fridays, and Saturdays are at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3:00 pm. All offerings are at St. Patrick’s Club Building, located at W.38th and Bridge Avenue* in Ohio City and include free parking.

Obama just signed the Financial Reform Act into law, and one area not widely discussed sets aside monies for out of work home owners, so they can keep up with their mortgage payments.  It’s unclear to me if only Federal (HUD) loans will be affected or assisted.  The mandate is that the program begin October 1st 2010 but since it just became law, details are not yet available.

This Market Watch article on Federal monies for the unemployed  by Amy Hoak is worth a read.  It also discusses the model for this Federal program for mortgage assistance, which is a Pennsylvania program in effect since 1983.   This program is called the Philadelphia Unemployment Project.  What a good read. Seems there are 550,000 Pennsylvanians out of work.  The June stats I saw for Ohio were about 625,000? I was also intrigued to read on the PUP site that they own 26 vans used to transport people without other means, to their jobs.  The website is very cool, also a good read.  It sounds like a great grass roots organization with a now 30 year history of doing things that help the less advantaged in Philly.  Reminds me of ESOP here in Cleveland with a slightly broader scope.

One more site stood out while I was researching this post. Simply Hired.  They claim the most popular Cleveland companies with jobs available are Best Buy, The Cleveland Clinic, Rockwell Automation, IBM and The Dandy Project. What I liked about this site is the ability to go to the job page for each of these companies and link through LinkedIn to see who you might know who works there.  Networking  the 21st Century way! 

Peace Out -3C

So the Tea Party is jumping on the Free Internet bandwagon?  That would be great, but, not so much. They are complaining that big brother (well, Obama) shut down 73,000 blogs ‘willy nilly.’ Again, not so much. My understanding is that these sites were all participating in piiracy of videos. You know, that pesky thing called copyright and royalties? Read the email below:

 “…U.S. Authorities Shut Down WordPress Host With 73,000 Blogs. fter the U.S. Government took action against several sites connected to movie streaming recently, nerves are jangling over the possibility that this is just the beginning of a wider crackdown. Now it appears that a free blogging platform has been taken down by its hosting provider on orders from the U.S. authorities on grounds of “a history of abuse.” More than 73,000 blogs are out of action as a result.

I had a request to analyze home sales in Cleveland Heights.  The market is different from neighborhood to neighborhood, from city to city.  Cleveland Heights has experienced high home listing inventories over the past three years, and as of today, there are 417 single family homes listed for sale.  That is still 1) high 2)good for buyers because large selection….depending on whether you are a glass is half full or half empty thinker lol.

My stats are gleaned from listings/sales with area brokerages. These stats cover single family homes.

What style/price range of homes have appealed to buyers recently?  48 homes  are currently ‘contingent’  or ‘pending,’ meaning 48 buyers wrote offers that got accepted by sellers and now they are waiting for loans to be approved, inspections to be done (contingent) and titles to transfer (pending).  We know listing prices for homes in these categories but are not privy to agreed upon sale prices until the homes close. Having said that, here are some examples of homes waiting to transfer to their new owners.

1) 3BR, 1 1/2 bath 1919 built colonial on Somerton. It was listed for $99,500

2) beautiful brick 4BR/1 1/2 bath Tudor on Janette with a finished (large) third floor, sun porch, and garden landscaping that apparently attracts lots of song birds. It was listed for $114,900 when it went under contract.

3) brick ranch on Monticello with 1500 square feet of living space and 3BR/2 1/2 baths. It was listed for $125,000

4) listing said ‘violation free’ (Cleveland Hts has a point of sale inspection required by the City when homes sell, email me for details).  Gorgeous 1925 built center hall colonial  on Washington Blvd.  Updated kitchen (large, pretty), lots of clean wood floors.  It was listed for $179,900.

All four of these homes (and most homes listed for more than $70k that sold) were in move in ready condition, most with expensive updates done for buyers (like kitchens or baths or roofs).  Buyers were able to choose since the inventory is high, and they chose, mostly, move in ready.  I suspect a lot of these buyers were first time home buyers.  Some of them may have missed the deadline for First Time Home Buyer Credit (it got extended till Sept as long as you were already under contract).  But I’m finding that people were still buying after the credit date expired (June 30th).

How about homes that sold, and how about we compare 2010 sales (Jan through July) for 2008, 2009, 2010

329 Single Family Homes have sold, so far, in 2010. The average sale price was $115,370 and $55 a square foot.

306 Single Family Homes sold Jan -July 2009. The average sale price was $98,653 and $44 a square foot.

Lest you think we will find a steady ‘up’ trend, here is 2008

311 Single Family Homes sold Jan-July 2008. The average sale price was $120, 576 and $54 a square foot.

Yes, there is an increase, substantial really, in all of NE Ohio, for home sales in 2010.  What the comparison of the last three years tells you is to be careful.  Stats can be set due to many factors.  Could be a few more expensive home sales occurred in 2008 to jack up the average sale price.  Or it could be that sales are basically stabilized for the moment, since there isn’t that much difference in the three year stats.  What we do know is that homes sold, are still selling, even though the Tax Credit is gone. 

Hope this was useful!  Peace Out – 3C

Parma still has a sizable inventory of homes listed (over 500) but having clients in Parma afforded my business partner Melissa Bennett and I the ability to scope out the market there. What we found: good traffic at open houses, good group of qualified buyers.  And they bought!  (almost 400 sold this year.)  The stats above and the detailed ones I am going to provide are for single family homes (which make up the bulk of the for sale housing stock in Parma). As usual, my stats come from my investigation of homes listed and sold with area brokers.

Let’s get to the details !

There are 595 single family homes listed for sale right now. There are 24 listings around 90k, including a ranch on Velma with an updated kitchen and three bedrooms.  It’s listed for $89,900.

You could buy a bungalow with 4 bedrooms and two full baths on Liberty Ave with good square footage. It’s also listed for $89,900.

The average Parma single family home listing price is $122,124. For around that price you could buy……a cape cod home on Tuxedo for $119,000 with 3brs and 1 1/2 bath, a large kitchen a pretty landscaped yard.

A 3 br, 1 and 1/2 bath brick ranch on Ridge Road for $119,500 and a brick ranch on Dell Haven for $122,000.

Are homes selling after the Federal Tax Credit deadline passed?  Yes. Homes pending or contingent on our multiple listing service (meaning waiting to transfer owners) number 81 homes.  That is a healthy group of buyers.  The average listed price for homes buyers currently found attractive enough to  put under contract is $97,675.  

380 Parma single family homes have sold since January 2010.  They ranged in price from $19,900 for a smaller, 2br home on Russell, to a fancier 4br, 2 bath home on Lourdes which sold for $222,000.  Yes, there are still foreclosure issues as there are in other communities, but of the 8 pages of listings sold in Parma, the bulk of the sales occurred between the prices of $80,000 and $115,000.  This includes a listing Melissa and I sold at 1208 Parkleigh for $89,900.

Did you know that Parma is the largest suburb of Cleveland? The population is around 87,000 (we’ll see what the 2010 census states, but for now, these stats come from the last census).

Parma City Schools

City of Parma Events and News

Home Values In Parma  Go here if you want to learn more stats about your own Parma home and the neighborhood in general!   

Any questions, don’t hesitate to let me know.  Peace Out – 3C

I’ve had discussions with Realtor® buddies from around the States and asked if they have a condo season.  Most said no, although Florida and California weighed in with a ‘yes.’  I don’t know if other agents here feel there is a condo season, but I do…..just based on buyer trends in my personal business since I started in 2003.  It seems that condo buyers appear more frequently for me starting on July 5th.  This year has been no exception.  That doesn’t mean they all buy, which leads me to the stats so far in 2010. 

One note: some sales are single family town homes, so they won’t show up in this analysis.  But they still count as housing sales in these communities – and admittedly, there are fewer town homes downtown than condos (to say the least!)

Anyway, how are sales stacking up so far?

Since January, 17 condos have sold between West 10th (just east of the Superior Bridge) and University Circle/Little Italy. 

The average sale price for these 17 homes is $283,173 and $190/square foot.  What sold?

Riverbend (that west 10Th address) is represented with a fabulous one bedroom  sale.  And I do mean fabulous, over and above your normal one bedroom one bath unit there (it’s a great building and I’ve sold and listed a few in it)

Point at Gateway at 750 Prospect (near the Gund….no LBJ comments please!)

Random Road had a few sales, not just one (Little Italy).

Grand Arcade, Warehouse District on St. Clair

Beacon Place (near the Clinic at E. 82nd Street)

Circle 118 (univ. circle) had several sales, it’s a gorgeous newer development with amazing floor plans and finishes.

Joshua Hall (a gem  on Prospect with only  a few units, built out by Korfant and Mazzonewho normally do commercial only.  It was nice to have them venture into residential, they did a fabulous job on this smaller building with a handful of loft style/exposed brick units and wonderful rooftop decks.   I sold one there this summer)  Korfant and Mazzone do a great job renovating and yet preserving the architectural character of the neighborhoods in which they purchase.

Villa Carabelli in Little Italy

Pinnacle on Lakeside.  (with more than one sale, so anyone who says luxury condos are not selling, think again!)

The part you may find interesting (I know I do) is the growth in Fairfax and University Circle.  It’s definitely another Cleveland success story.  And I love that it’s happening on the East side.  The 17 sales are pretty evenly divided between the already existing places downtown and in the warehouse district, and the newer homes in The Circle and Fairfax.  Good stuff.

Moving to Cleveland?

You can read about the 1000 new homes on University Circle’s Development Co website here.

You can read about the Fairfax neighborhood’s development in an older article on EcoCity Cleveland  here.

Housing isn’t just about buying a place, is it?  Michelle Jarboe of the PD wrote an article about a week ago on new University Circle apartments planned.   And there is a cool map to help any out of towners with locations.

Peace Out – 3C

140 Public Square, one sale, great view of Public Square and

I’m not surprised, but then again, I’m in the business.  I know a pesky Utah investor, for example, who owns a lot of property here, keeps trying to buy my listings at outrageously low prices.  I know of others, and you probably know of the foreclosed properties owned by large banks like Deutsche and Wells Fargo.  There is more to the story.  I just recently started blogging again, which means I recently started reading blogs again.  Bill Callahan and his Callahan’s Diary is still diligent about foreclosures and housing issues.  I’m bringing your attention to two.  One is basically a google map that shows how many properties are owned by an investment company on the left coast.  The next one includes a letter to Bill from that investment company. 

There are lots of reasons why some of our neighborhoods face immense challenges in rejuvenation: low population, poverty, etc.  I’ve heard the stereotypical phrase ‘absentee landlord’ all my life, but did you know just how ‘absentee’ a landlord can be? Read Bill’s posts and find out.  Even though I knew about this, seeing that Google map of properties is still startling.  These types of investors may have the best of intentions, but if you own a zillion homes somewhere, who is overseeing the properties?  Ask Cleveland’s Housing Court (or go sit in on a day’s worth of cases there) and you could get an answer.

I don’t always agree with Bill’s solutions, and am admittedly anti political party this year, but I tip my hat to him for remaining vigilant on this issue.  In some ways, I wish he had taken the CEO’s plane ticket and gone to California and talked and maybe taken Ray Pianka of the Housing Court with him.  Or better yet, EZ homes execs need to come here for an extended period of time.  They can always stay in one of their homes!   Are these people doing this because they are part of a REIT investment program?  Not sure how they can be making money on properties with no increase in investment possibilities unless they are fixed up.   Any ideas?   Peace Out – 3C

 Here is a blog post from Slumlord Watch  in Baltimore about EZ Access here and a lawsuit filed against them.   Peace Out – 3C