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Invitation to the 2011 Holiday Benefit Auction

The Anderson East Regional office of Coldwell Banker West Shell won for the most Cincinnati Red's tickets sold for the 2nd consequtive year. As a reward, the Red's Community Fund took us for a private tour of the inside of the stadium. We saw the press boxes, locker rooms and dugouts. Then they fed us lunch...what a great day. Congratulations to the St.Louis Cardinals on the 2011 World Series win. But, also, a big cheer for Josh Hamilton...what a great Story. We are proud of our former Cincinnati Red.

A Spooky AER Location

Techsperts

We are so thrilled to have Liz Deardorff in our office. Liz is our e-marketing coordinator. She helps the agents with social marketing and electronic format marketing. Pictured here is Liz teaching one of her "Tuesday Tech Tips@2" classes. Liz is part of Coldwell Banker West Shell's initiative to not only supply the agents with all the tools needed to thrive in their business, but to also supply the support to help agents implement the tools.

Market update and projections 8/24/2011

Our Market Projections are holding fairly steady. With all the ups and downs of the current market, our projections for real estate are unchanged. The only thing that is uncertain is how quickly banks will release the pent up foreclosure. There is one thought that the mortgage companies will slowly release this "Shadow inventory" onto the market, this would bring about a slower processing of the inventory, but may also not impact pricing as dramatically I, on the other hand, would rather rip off the band-aid and have all of the foreclosure (shadow inventory) come onto the market at once. This would impact pricing, because each home sold at foreclosure pricing will be a comparable for every "normal" sale home. But this method would speed up or shorten the time for market recovery. The faster we can move the shadow inventory through the market, the faster we can have a healthier market.
Until it happens, we are not sure what the banks have planned. But the results will roughly be the same. This fall and winter (through the 1st quarter of 2012) home prices will drop,sccording to a vast number of economic sources, anywhere from 3 to 4.5 percent. If the band-aid is ripped off, the the end of the 1st quarter 2012, prices should begin to rise through-out the year from 1.5 to 2 percent. Should the "Shadow Inventory" be leaked out, by the end of the 3rd quarter, prices should rise about 2-2.5 percent. Each method will lead to, it is speculated, a three year trend in rising home prices. But in order to get to the increase, we must 1st weed through the forclosures.
This is a great time to buy. With very low priced homes and Mortgage rates at a 40 year low. We anticipate a lot of buying traffic.

Community Events

At Coldwell Banker West Shell, we have opportunity to service all aspects of the community. Yes, our primary focus is home sales – that’s the driver of our business, but it also enables us to utilize the relations that business generates to do so much more.
We have one more game left for the season, at the Great American Ball Park, selling “Split the Pot” tickets for the Red’s Community Fund. Yesterday we sold over $3700 in tickets. The money goes to support Little League baseball in Cincinnati. We are on track to break our record from last year.
But we have another project, which our company is involved in and each office is responsible for their share. On September 24th, we will have a Gala event title “A Night in the Wild”. The money raised will be split in several ways. A portion will go toward the Coldwell Banker Foundation, which supports several charitable organizations – such as “Pro-Kids, Habitat for Humanity, The Fine Arts Fund, as well as others. Another portion of the proceeds will go to the Cincinnati Zoo; each office is Sponsoring an animal. Ours is Rizzo the polar bear. We will be taking donations ( www.anightinthewild.org ) we ask that you vote for Rizzo- a dollar a vote. There will also be sponsorship levels, which we would gladly accept. Your business would also be highlighted and featured at the event. Each office will also have raffle items. The other portion of the proceeds will go to a charity chosen by the office with the most votes. Our office has chosen The Junior League’s “Kids in the Kitchen”, which fights childhood obesity through education and hands on training. We look forward to your support and participation. I will be posting a flyer with more information, shortly.

Lifting is hard, but it makes you stronger

I work for a company that makes you lift the heavy things. As a matter of fact it is the focus and not something you do only when you have to. Sometimes this is what I like least about working here. Things that are hard to do are hard to do. As a matter of fact, I don't know anyone who loves to do it, but as any great lifter could tell you, the results are very satisfying. Our President, Joe King, is fond of saying "I want us to be tomorrow's real estate company today". This is a tall order, this is the heavy stuff. Sure it is not that difficult to achieve certain feats of strength once, but the hard part of "tomorrow's real estate company today." is that tomorrow is always the future. In order to keep up with tomorrow, we must do the heavy lifting, today. But the results that we are achieving, for tomorrow, are well worth the push and the strain today. We have become far stronger in all areas of our business, marketing,technology,organizationally, community/charitable involvement and most of all - agent development. None of this has been easy, but the results look really good on us.

Cost vs. Value Report Holds Valuable Appraiser Insight

Cost vs. Value Report Holds Valuable Appraiser Insight

NAR Market overview

CBWS Anderson East Regional
A good market overview from the NAR: http://goo.gl/tBkqI
June Existing-Home Sales Slip on Contract Cancellations, but Prices Stabilize
www.realtor.org
Existing-home sales eased in June as contract cancellations spiked unexpectedly, although prices were up slightly, according to the National Association of Realtors®...

Quick market update

Currently,in our area, home prices are holding fairly steady and will most likely do so for the next 2 months. Until the mortgage companies unleash the back log of foreclosures (caused by the "robo signing" debacle). This hold up has reduced the number of "lender involved" properties on the market, by roughly 25%. When these come onto the market , and at what pace, property values will drop another few percent. This, according to the majority of economists, will happen this fall. Home sellers should price their homes to sell now - they may not see the same values, again, for 2 years.
This fall will be "The" best time, perhaps in generations, to buy a home. Prices will definitely be at their lowest and interest rate will still be around historic lows. We expect a buyer frenzy, as wll as a great time for investors.
About the middle of the first quarter of 2012, will bring about the end of this market and the begining of next. We should begin to see an uptick in prices, which if all goes as economists predict, will continue until sometime in 2015.
It is necessary that we finish this correction. It is also worthy to note, as prices begin to "tick up" late winter/early spring of next year, they will be comming in off their lowest point...they will be comming off the bottom.
The people who buy this fall, if they hold onto their homes for 3-5 years, should see good appreciation. What has come down, will go back up. and once it is up, it will not do so forever.
Take advantage of the market, but I advise buying a house to be a home and not an investment. This fall will be a great time to buy that home.

Positive comments from Diamond Jim Watson

This is so nice to see.

Our Market right now

By now everyone knows that all real estate is local. Different areas are affected to different degrees, but with few exceptions, they are effected in the same way.
Last Winter we were predicting rapid sales this spring, because of the pressure on pricing from banks unleashing large volumes of forclosed properties over a relatively short period of time. This did not happen exactly as predicted, because of the now infamous "robo-signing", which was seemingly just a lazy and improper way for mortgage companies to relieve their books of an abundance of foreclosures. Or as Fannie Mae phrased it:“Our foreclosure rates remain high. However, foreclosure levels were lower than what they otherwise would have been in the first quarter of 2011 due to the delays caused by servicer foreclosure
process deficiencies
and the resulting
foreclosure pause.”
Although sales have been strong, an odd thing has occurred. May sales dropped below expected levels,because of a lack of supply of foreclosed and short sale properties. This meant that the investors were temporarily dropping from the market and home sales were "normal" sales. We actually saw a rise of "Short Sale" prices from 85% of market value to 90% over the past quarter because of a shortage of supply. Our area showed a leveling out of home prices over the past few months. The next 90 to 120 days will probably be the best time to sell your home, because the mortgage companies are expected to unleash the pent up forclosure or "shadow market". When this happens, these will become comparables and competition for all homes on the market, which will place a downward pressure on prices. This will and should bring investors out again.Many forcastors are pedicting historic record numbers of home to be sold. This will be necessary to clear the market of 'bank involved' sales. Then by the 2nd quarter of 2012, prices should rise and we should see a much more normalized market.
It is important to realize that if you have your home for sale or are thinking about it, that what what might seem a loss on the value of your home will be made up in the next home you purchase. Many buyers are buying into homes that they could not previously purchase and the mortgages will be low, because of the price and our current interest rates. Which is different than the circumstance that brought us into this market. Home prices will be what are affordable, not just mortgages. It is an opportunity to buy your dream home. And though you will certainly see large equity gains in 5 years, it is important to change our focus on why we buy homes; a home should be our castle, our safety, our security and our haven - I believe we need to stop viewing them as get rich investments. Real Estate is a commodity and not a product. prices will go up and prices will go down. bubbles will rise and bubbles will burst. But the place your family lives is home.

Randy Wax showed some agents a sneak peak at the new website and went in depth at the functionality, tools and really cool personalization of the agents profile websites. A lot more personality will be able to come through. A lot more agent directed customization and a very user friendly website.

Graphic Artists in Residence Amelia High School

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2011

The Anderson East Regional office of CBWS was fortunate enough to Donate money to Amelia High School. Curriculum Director, Tanny Mcgregor, worked with the Ohio Arts Council to bring in Graphic Artist, Carol Tyler, to teach students how to create their own Graphic Novels. Literature, Social Studies and Art were combined to create their books. Check out the video by clicking on "Artist in Residence"

Sunday June 5th Madisonville Recreation Center

Because of our efforts at the "Split The Pot" game on Friday, we were able to host a Match Game, Anderson Vs. Madisonville in Madisonville. It was more like a picnic. The teams were mixed, so they weren't just playing with their team mates. It was a hot day so only three innings were played, but the real fun was 100 water balloons we launched out to the kids and a Great Cook-out provided by Ron's Barbecue (that spicy met bit me back). and there were prizes for all the kids and a few lucky adults. It was a Great time.

Split The Pot Game on Friday June 3rd

The Anderson East Regional Office had the opportunity to, once again, sell "split the Pot" ticket for the Reds Community fund. 9 agents from our office participated. We sold over six thousand dollars in tickets in 4 innings. The folks in the bleachers were the most generous, thank you. The winning ticket holder took home almost $3,000. And Shirley Winters, pictured above, was either having fun with the Hooters girls or contemplating a career change.

Kelly and Jeff Weir danced to a secon place finish raising about $1000 for the Clermont county Board of disabilities. We are so proud and pleased to work with agents who desire to give back to the community as well as to help others.
Kelly Said:"Jeff and I wanted to thank each and every one of you that donated to the Clermont County Board of
Developmental Disabilities and helped support us in our 'Dancing with the Stars' endeavor :o) We can't express how touched we were at the outpouring of well-wishes and donations from so many of you! You are truly wonderful and even though we know, every day, that we are blessed, this has made us even more aware than usual that we are surrounded by caring, thoughtful people, like you. The county board for Developmental Disabilities is a great organization that we were thrilled to be able to help, with your support. I can tell you sincerely that the people involved in that organization appreciated every dollar you gave. So, once again, thank you so, so much."

Amelia Artist in Residence/Cbws donation

We contacted Tanny Mcgregor from West Clermont Schools and offered money to support a project of her choice. She contacted the Ohio Arts Council and hire Carol Tyler, a graphic novelist. Carol and the School staff created an interdisciplinary program, where the students made their own graphic novels. Tanny said that this project was impactful and one the students of Amelia High School would remember long after graduation

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