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Russell Nolting

Damian Gerard

Greg Abel

Foreclosures made up 31 pct. of home sales in 2Q

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44267325/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/

“Foreclosure sales, which include homes purchased after they received a notice of default or that were repossessed by lenders, accounted for 31 percent of the market in the April-June quarter, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.”

2011 2nd Quarter Home Sales In St. Louis County over $100k
St. Louis County Only – No condos – Homes over $100k only

1,654 Privately Owned – 91.48%
119 Bank Owned
26 Government Owned
9 Owner By Contract
——————————-
1,808 Total Homes Sold

65 listings sold had “Short Sale” mentioned in the agent remarks (3.59%).

According to this data, only 8.52% of homes sold were distressed homes.  If you add in the Short Sales the total rises to 12.11% of homes were distressed home sales.

Housing sales in St. Louis region are mixed

Housing sales in St. Louis region are mixed
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/article_ffb9859f-fd00-53d9-9b5e-fd1b18208840.html

Great Article by Tim Logan, but it drives me crazy how convoluted the national numbers are reported, and this article shows that even the local numbers give mixed reports.   Different areas have different results, this is to be expected, but lets take a look at St. Louis Homes over 100k.   these are the typical homes that the top St. Louis real estate agents on our panel are dealing with.

Comparison of Home Sales in 2nd quarter of each year
Homes over $100k Only (no condos)

1,808 in 2011
2,354 in 2010
1,927 in 2009
2,364 in 2008
3,078 in 2007
3,245 in 2006
3,244 in 2005
3,243 in 2004

These numbers tell us that there were 546 (23.2%) less home sales this year in the 2nd Quarter than last year.

This is to be expected with the national and local media reproting end of the world real estate slowdowns.

August Home Sales Were Actually Terrible

http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2010/09/23/august-home-sales-were-actually-terrible/

This is the headline from Forbes last year, August 2010.  Instead of waiting a full month or another quarter to hear the news, let’s take a look a what august has done in the first 28 days.  Let’s predict the headlines so we don’t have to act so shocked every time we read it.

First 28 Days of August Year over Year Comparison
434 in 2011
410 in 2010
584 in 2009
678 in 2008
765 in 2007
863 in 2006
997 in 2005
985 in 2004

Okay, so according to this, at the end of September we can expect to have Headlines that read, “August Home Sales Up 5.85% Over Last Year”.   And since the first 28 days in July produced only 420 sales the other headline should read that sales were up 3.3% month over month.

Questions and Answers

I realize this question has been hit on many times however I would like to get some objective advice on my current situation.  Here’s the deal.

I purchased a home in 2007 for $165,000.  Its a small, cute bungalow thats rough around the edges and from a distance looks good but up close, not so good..  Long story short the house had an offer of $150,000 but didn’t pass inspection and after becoming tired of the situation my realtor convinced me to drop the price to $139,000.  Weeks have gone by and nothing.
So to the main question.  Being that the house has good curb appeal but needs work (windows, siding, etc. about $15,000) do I update and hope that this attracts buyers along with recouping the update costs and some “equity” or do I just dump it by lowering the price until it sells. One way or another I’m losing money..  Does anyone have any experience with this and is there a general rule of thumb on these “shitty bitty” houses?

- Dave

I am recently divorced after 23 yrs, was a stay at home mom, my daughters are 22 & 20. The allimony covers the bills just barely. Should I sell my home going w approx. $200,000 or stay and build more equity and sell in a 3 yrs when my allimony is done. I worked since the divorce but have been laid off. I would rent since my life is in a transition period. Is it a waste to pay rent? Will the equity I build staying 3 more yrs be smarter than paying cheaper rent and banking some of my allimony?

- Carol

If I bought at the peak (2007). When can I think of selling my condo, or should I consider foreclosure. Will I ever be able to sell it?

- Therese

We are possibly interested in buying a specific property but are not yet working with an agent or bank. The seller’s agent showed us the property for sale. She was helpful and comes from a reputable brokerage. We were not really in the market for a new house until we saw the seller’s listing. We have not done much work to prepare our own house for sale or contacted a realtor for a market analysis. If we aren’t able to agree on a price for the seller’s house, we probably will not continue house shopping aggressively. However, we would benefit from a realtor’s input on preparing our own house for sale.

Should we ask the seller’s agent to represent us for the sale of our house and the possible purchase of the seller’s property? Or is it better if we work with our own agent? Should we select an agent from another brokerage?

Grateful for any input.

- Wess