Cleveland Real Estate News

Posting this today was inspired by the PD’s article on Box Creations, a North Olmsted based toy company that uses cardboard for their products.  They are getting much National recognition, even though only being officially in business since October of 2010.  The brains/CEO’s of the company are former American Greetings employees…very creative people!  Check out Box Creations website here.   The toy products are affordable and dynamic looking and fun…and successful!

The next company struck me because it’s a CPA firm, voted one of the top mid-sized companies in 2010 (in NE Ohio).  Cohen & Company   has a cool niche.  From their website: 

 Cohen & Company specializes in a wide variety of accounting, tax, and planning issues. Working closely with the entrepreneur, we provide advice on operating and managing the business. Learn how building a relationship with us can help you meet your (or your client’s) goals.     

Cohen & Company has five locations in NE Ohio and now also three affiliated locations in Florida.  They have been around since 1977.   They have jobs available, according to their website, but what I really liked was their Internship program. Are you in college, thinkng being a CPA might be a good choice?  Their internship program includes short term assignments, attending company meetings, and other activities you would experience as a licensed CPA.  They also require community service work….  check out Cohen & Co’s web page on internships.

The last company featured today also advertises itself  (I paraphrase only a little) as  a toy company, but a digital toy company.  Find A Way World  has been around for about six years only, but their patented audio player called Playaway® is out (it’s pre-loaded, which I gather is very exciting to consumers) and the company is very well recieved and recognized all over the U.S.  FindAWay World  was voted one of the fastest growing companies in the Country by Inc, magazine.

I love that it was started by five native Clevelanders. Picturing them sitting around tossing a nerf basketball and coming up with ideas.  Anyone use Playaway® ?   Would be cool to support a local company when buying a video/audio player.   Their website says Playaway® can hold up to 60 hours of audio.  That sounds darn competitive, no?  Seriously, it sounds  like this 2 oz audio books specialty player would be great to own. And they have Playaways available all over the World already!

Congrats to these companies for being what our area has been historically…innovative and insanely creative!   Peace Out  3C

Over the past few months I’ve written an offer for a family relocating here from Tennessee, I’ve begun a home search with someone who moved here from California, and sold a house to a gal who was transferred here for work from Indianapolis.  Now I have a client who moved here from Manhattan, a buyer moving up from the Columbus area (buying one of my listings, not my client, but still moving here)…and working with an East Coast couple who want to live in Tremont because it reminds them of the East Coast (I agree, and that’s the first time I’ve had anyone mention the similarity). 

The other thing to note is, lots of calls and Internet contacts from people in general who want to buy homes.  I love that so many of them are beginning their search so they can move in the Spring or Summer.  Makes it a lot less stressful for them than having to do it in a hurry when leases run out. 

Also finding a LOT of people who want to rent.  I had a single family rental listing in West Park.  By the end of the first week, I had over 60 calls on it.  And yes, it’s now rented (listed 9 days total).  It’s a seriously good rental market.  If you have a single family home that’s been on the market for a while and have the flexibility to list it for rent …and list it at a fair rental value….chances are you will find a tenant.  3C

Interesting, KeyCorp is not as large as the Too Big To Fail Banks  — CoreBrand did a survey, as they have been doing for several years, and included Key Bank in their list of eleven brands that will disappear in 2012.  They are a NE Ohio based bank. I found this analysis from February of 2011 which discussed how Key was having difficulty keeping shareholders happy, and we are now about a year later with apparently the situation the same.

Some of the  other entries were not surprising, like Kodak.  The writing has been on the wall, although there has been talk that they hold digital patents that could keep money coming into them for a while.

I spent time as a facilities manager when I was much younger (!) and working at Donnelley Directory in Maryland.  We had a huge workforce at the time, and quite a few offices.  We dealt with Steelcase Furniture, who supplied most of our office furniture.  Very solid, easy to move cubicle arrangements (we were constantly changing office layouts).  It’s on the list, even though they ‘do well.’  It’s  a U.S. company!  So if you need office furniture, you might want to help keep them in business.  Unlike some of the trendier furniture offices choose to buy, Steelcase is built like a tank and spending money on replacement is not much of an issue.  To end this public service plug, there is a Steelcase store on Prospect in Cleveland

And Avery Dennison is on the list due to being swallowed up by 3M.  They make sharpies and highlighters, among other things.  I find it hard to believe these things will disappear. 

If you want to hear what another source predicts on same topic (and who knows if either is right), check out ZetaBoards.com’s list of brands that will disappear this year.   They include Soap Opera Digest Magazine (web competition and disappearing soaps), Sony …and they agree with Saab and Sears (on CoreBrand list).    3C

January 16 2012 update:  The Economist weighs in on why Kodak is struggling to stay alive and uses their rival Fuji as an example of a similar company that has adapted and seems to be positioned to stay competitive. The article is called The Last Kodak Moment. 

Several clients (quite a few, really) have gone through the loan modification process to see if they can keep their homes instead of having to sell.  One client has had a particularly rough road for almost three years now.  Yes, three years trying to get Bank of America to modify their loan.  At one point they were offered a savings per month (minimal, to say the least) but even at that, the offer never officially came to fruition in the form of changing the amount due on a bill!  Endless attempts at sending paperwork to the bank, having receipt confirmed, then mysteriously all that paperwork finds it’s way to the Bermuda Triangle that is a large bank and they have to repeat their efforst from step one.  And not just once or twice, many times!  It’s funny that banks this large seem to have enough staff to get a loan through in a relatively timely fashion but any other dealings are left hanging for years. I can only imagine how frustrating this is.

Why is it so hard?  Not sure.  Found this post because I had been told that middlemen servicers do the loan mod work at many large banks and that costs money.  So they drag their feet about it. I don’t know if that is really true.

A few months ago the media reported that government stats showed a disappointing number of people get loan modifications, even though there was a mandate for banks to offer it.  The articles made it sound like people were just not doing it.  I have to ask the question: Is the percentage so low, really, because people just can’t get the darn thing done? 

Modifying your loan is not for the faint of heart but it is still a good idea to try.  I suggest (if you live in NE Ohio) you contact Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland with an amazingly experienced staff and the ability to navigate the sharky waters …. and it’s a non profit so you are not paying a private company to do this work for you. 

3C

NHS of Greater Cleveland is looking for interested volunteers to help prepare tax returns for northeast Ohio residents that will be taking part in this service. There are numerous benefits in volunteering, including;
- Receiving FREE IRS Tax Preparation Training and Certification
- Assuring that low-wage taxpayers receive high-quality assistance
- Saving clients more than $2 million in tax preparers’ fees
- Helping to build wealth in our communities and strengthen our neighborhoods

At the tax sites, you will:
• Prepare an electronic federal return
• Prepare an electronic state return
• Prepare a paper local return
• Ask survey questions so we will provide better services next year
• Provide an opportunity to build assets
• Provide outreach for legal advocacy
• Provide access to sign up for other benefits
The ideal volunteer:
• Has prepared their own or others tax returns
• Is detail oriented, and are able to think through the process of filing a tax return
• Comfortable with using a computer and filing returns electronically
• Available to volunteer several times (but not for every time slot) between
January 24 and April 14, 2012
Tuesdays 3-7 pm
Thursdays 3-7 pm
Saturdays 10 am- 2 pm
If you are interested in learning more about the volunteer needs at Neighborhood Housing Services, please contact Darren Hamm at 216.458.HOME X318, or by email at

dhamm@nshcleveland.org.

I knew businesses had charges for setting up plastic card services, because I managed a retail shop that refused to allow Amex since it’s fees were higher.  I paid no attention to the overall issue of using plastic however. 

Did you know that every time you use your cards a merchant pays the card company a % fee?  They also have fees for closing out sales amounts each day,  statement fees.  Some they have just because they offer the service.  Did you know that if your card is swiped and it’s declined, they get charged a fee for that too?

I found this site, Merchant Seek, which lists some generic fees. 

I’ve spoken to local merchants recently.  Unless their volume is really high, it can be quite expensive a service.

So if you are wondering if there are ways to help our local economy, you might try to have green cash on hand whenever possible!  Shop local!  3C

Purchasing a short sale follows a few standard rules, but there is always something new thrown into the process.  My clients and I came across just such an event when the bank (the mortgage holder for the current owner) sent out a form to fill out stating we are not in any way related to the current owner (meaning family related or business related).  I’ve seen these statements as part of bank addendums before, but this is the first time we were asked to all go to a notary and have them document that we in fact do not know the owner.

My client requested to use his bank.  Made sense.  The bank said uh, we don’t hold the mortgage on this loan so no, even though you are a customer here, we can’t notarize it!  I found that odd.  Another bank was closeby so we hopped over there and even though my client, nor I, were customers of that bank, they notarized our form for us.  A happy outcome.  Hat tip to Charter One Bank on Lorain Avenue.

I bring this up to pass on a good story yes.  But also to let you know that these are some of the reasons short sales can take a bit of time.  Paperwork!  3C

I know you don’t want to waste your time when you are looking for a home.  Tackle the big issue first. What are you qualified to buy?  You might be pleasantly surprised.  Of course you could also be disappointed.  Find out first by contacting a mortgage lender who is able to give you an actual bona fide   pre- approval letter to use.  This means NO pre-qualification letters.  Yes, there is a difference.  A pre-qualification is, sadly, not worth the paper it is written on.  It means a lender has asked you a few questions, in order to get you on their hook, but it doesn’t mean you have answered enough questions to be sure you can get a loan.  When talking to a lender, please stress that you will not accept a pre-qualification, you need a pre-approval.  If that lender says they can’t get you one, then move on to another lender!  I don’t care if you’ve been working with one particular bank or lender for years.  Do not accept a pre-qual.  And while we are on the subject, if you come to me with an offer to buy one of my listings, I will not let you write until you get an actual pre- approval.

If you are one of my new buyers I will have advised you about this.  But sadly, I’m getting the idea that not all agents are willing to pass on their professional knowledge, and they accept this pre-qual and show homes. 

I know that my time is valuable, but I want you to think about this in terms of your time.  Why would you want to waste your time looking at homes if you can’t afford to buy one?  You can always go to open houses if you just want to see what’s ‘out there.’  Kill some time instead of going to a movie lol. 

Too much disappointment on the part of buyers who can’t buy what they want, sellers who may have even taken their homes off the market for several weeks thinking they had an accepted deal.  And yes, agents who would love to be independently wealthy and able to cruise homes knowing they are not going to get paid for their time anyway.  Speaking for myself, of course! 

Peace Out – 3C

It’s been quite a year for many of us, hasn’t it? On the plus side, I have had no health issues and for that I am grateful. I’ve also learned how much better a tough year can be with the support and love of friends and family.  Without them I would be bereft! 

I’ve learned that two full years of continuous daily exercise helps drop the weight.  By quite a bit!  My dog is a great companion, but also a big help keeping me walking, even if it’s raining or snowing. We walk an average of 2 miles a day (unless there is more than a few inches of snow).  There are even times now, when I want to walk and he looks reluctant lol.

I’ve learned a bit about tougher real estate deals.  Issues other people have spoken about that had not been part of my experience…until this year.  I’ve learned that you can have a few homes waiting to close and find them taking as long as the end of a Wagnerian opera  (if you’ve ever heard one, you get my drift lol).  I’ve had a lot of empathy for a few clients who had to suffer through short sales.  I’ve  worked short sales for years now, but for some reason, they seemed to stall in the Bermuda Triangle more often than not this year.  A few worked.  No matter how much I discuss how long it might take for a bank to say yes they accept the offer or no they do not, it still seemed to be painful for this year’s clients.  I have one client who moved here with a relative and they really, really need to move and get her settled.  I know that.  And still we wait.  I had one client move here from another state as well….she was much more patient than one would expect, but in the end, she had the ability to search for a new home and move into one that was not a short sale.  I still say short sales are not for the faint of heart.

I’ve learned that many more of my clients are people who are moving into NE Ohio, as opposed to people moving out.  I’ve seen more activity in Old Brooklyn this past year.  I’ve seen more activity in my neighborhood as well.  For a few years there, it seemed as if people had opted out of both neighborhoods (I’m in the West Park/Bellaire Puritas area).   This year, buyers were back. 

I’ve learned that social media is going to stick around.  That every few months there is a new flavor of the month: Google+, now something called Pinterest.  I find that Facebook is still my favorite social media site.  2012 also saw me go back to Twitter.  This year, I can tell, I will be spending a bit more time in LinkedIN.

I’ve learned that there are more good eateries in NE Ohio than I have time or resources to eat in!  But I will continue to try to test them all. 

I’ve also learned that the rental market is hot, no joke.  And no surprise if you think about it.  Some people need to rent after losing their homes.  Some need to repair credit and can’t buy either.  Some just don’t want to worry about owning, they want to rent.  Consistently seeing weekly requests for single family home rentals.

There are a few people with very intriguing home development ideas.  A  fellow agent is working on a plan to develop homes out of rail road containers here.  And his first set of plans is very cool!  I talked with a guy who plans on building a few really nicely designed town homes. 

And I’ve learned the best way to sell your home, no matter what, is to make sure it’s up on repairs, not overly cluttered (just heard the phrase this week: clutter eats equity…that is SO true).  And I’ve learned some heart wrenching stories from people getting their homes ready to sell because they are forced to (death in family, unable to keep up payments)  and their stress is palatable.

So it’s been a year of mixed experiences.  I’m tipping a virtual glass (clink) to all of you and hoping 2012 is measurably less stressful for NE Ohio, and for you and your families.  Peace.  3C