Sandy Maline Cleveland Real Estate

Outlook for 2012, in my opinion.

2012-02-03T16:44:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year! I really think we are starting to see a turn around in the real estate market. If you are on the fence about buying my recommendation is to buy now while prices are still low and the interest rates are at the lowest they have ever been!

The deals are still out there. You have to be patient and keep an eye on the market. I have been in many multiple offers in the past few months.

My biggest advice is don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Half the time I am showing a really great value and the buyer wants to get a even better deal and ends up losing out to a multiple offer. If you are working with me and I say this is a good deal BELIEVE ME!

If you are selling your home it is still brutal out there. You have to be the best condition on the market at the best price. If you are not willing to paint a little here and there or replace old dated carpet the market is going to make you pay anyway. The buyers won't pay top price for a house that needs work, even if it is a little work.

Recently I was just< on a listing appointment and the potential seller asked me if I could sell the home without having to put them through the displeasure of showing it. Boy do I understand where they were coming from! Showing your house is no fun. It is a neccesary evil. Just like going to the dentist, you don't want to go and get drilled but you have to for the long term benefit. Selling of the internet is more likely to happen in a resort market where people may actually buy houses off the internet without seeing it in person.

So here's to 2012. It looks like it is going to be a good one!

Avon Lake Ohio is a very welcoming community

2011-12-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

Recently this last September I moved to Avon Lake. I have spent most of my life in Lakewood Ohio. Lakewood will always have a special spot in my heart. I spent 6 years in Bay Village and found it to be centrally located for my work but I wasn't impressed with the city and its services considering what I was shelling out for it. I have to say I am impressed with Avon Lake. Within the first week of moving here I recieved a welcome letter from my city council person. He invited me to his next meeting to get acquainted. Of course I was too busy moving to go but I felt welcomed! Then I recieved a letter from the water and sewer department. This letter told me about their services and how proud they are about what they do. Just recently I recieved a letter from the library inviting me to stop by.I have never lived in a city that reached out to its new comers so nicely. Everything is so convenient with the state of the art shopping up by route 83 and Detroit. Hienens is so beautiful I had to call a few friends and tell them it is like shopping in Hollywood! ( I come from a grocery store background) I can get used to this! I live real close to Giant Eagle and they are definately keeping up with the pressure of Hienens. Their meat,produce,wine and bakery are great. The discounts on gas can't be beat!Back to the library, well all I can say is WOW! They have a wonderful space and a childrens center for hands on learning plus a special childrens library. The people were all very friendly. When I signed up for my new library card they welcomed me to the neighborhood!The city just built a brand new swimming pool with slides and all sorts of play yard contraptions. The school system ranks at the top. I can see why Avon Lake continues to grow. It really is a nice place to live. I can't wait until the Lear exit off I 90 is open. It will be really convenient. The Cleveland Clinic just opened a new facility off of Lear. With all this I can still buy farm grown vegtables off the farm stands just down the street!

Sandy Maline Cleveland Real Estate: Looking back at this past year in Real Estate

2011-12-27T13:37:00.000-05:00

Sandy Maline Cleveland Real Estate: Looking back at this past year in Real Estate: This past year was a very busy year. I showed over 700 properties. A lot of them were vacant bank owned properties. Of my 26 years in Real ...

Looking back at this past year in Real Estate

2011-12-27T13:36:00.000-05:00

This past year was a very busy year. I showed over 700 properties. A lot of them were vacant bank owned properties. Of my 26 years in Real Estate I think this year I worked the hardest and made the least for my efforts.

There has been a shift in this business. A few agents have been able to get bank owned listings. These agents are listing so many properties they can't keep track of their business and have had to hire help. Now why can't the banks just spread this out to other people like me! I am supposed to be Fannie Mae approved but as of yet, no business. I did get awarded a HUD contract but that proved to be more frustrating and time consuming than it was worth.

I have become very adept at selling short sales. These are properties that are selling for less than what the owner owes the bank. It is better for the seller to do this than to get foreclosed. A short sale actually helps the market because the seller lives in the house up until the transfer of title. Most of the time the banks will give the seller relocation money so they can move. A short sale protects the property from vandalism and cuts down on vacant houses in the niehgborhood.

So if you know someone who might need to do a short sale I'm your gal!

The appraisers are all over the board. Stress sales are causing values to go down. The market has not equalized yet. There is still money out there to purchase, but you have to have a job and good credit. When a house is priced right it will sell. Unfortuanately what that price is, is never what the seller wants to hear.

If you have a mortgage that is 5 1/2% or higher REFINANCE now if you can!! Call me I will help you find the best deal out there. If you are in a stress situation call me, there is help out there.

All in all I feel this coming year is going to be better. I have more business going into this coming year than I had in the last few years. I am feeling very optomistic. Cleveland is having a little surge in growth with all the construction downtown. Ford is ramping up in Avon. So there are more job opportunites than there were last year. Hopefully the doom and gloom is in the rearview mirror.

It has never been a better time to buy a house. The rates are at their lowest and the housing market is thought to be near the bottom! Some other locations in our country are actually experincing growth. If you are selling one home to buy another, you will make up the loss you took on the new house. Don't think of it as losing money, think of it as trading assets and the value will return. I'm Sandy Maline if you want to talk real estate call me 440-554-2260

Cleveland's Fall market update

2011-10-01T11:03:00.000-04:00

Recently I read an article in the Plain Dealer encouraging people to sell their homes themselves. Save on the Real Estate commission. Now I can't blame anyone for trying to save money. But I've been a top producer in the Cleveland Real Estate market for over 26 years and I have to say this is one of the hardest markets I have endured.

The bottom line is that you have to be the prettiest face on the market at the best price to sell.

I sold my dream home in Bay Village last month and purchased a brand new home in Avon Lake with my Financee (which is turning out to be a better dream!). I have to say it was more painful selling in this market then in the past. In order to be the prettiest home in the price range I spent about $10,000 to spiff it up. I put new granite, sinks and faucets in the kitchen updated the appliances. I changed all the exterior light fixtures. Once all this was done the house sold and of course for far less than I wanted it to. All in all I took a big beating and loss on the house. I feel like I made up for that loss on the purchase so I'm not going sit around and cry about it.

The problem in this market is most people can't afford to do what I had to do to get my house sold. Most of the people on the market are in some sort of financial hardship that prevents them from doing the spiff up that they need to do. The buyer, if they consider the house will of course take tens of thousands off for these repairs if they consider them at all! If your home needs work you are competing with bank owned properties.

There is movement and things are selling, they just have to be priced right and appealing enough to make someone else want to live there. I have a few saying I find myself repeating over and over.

"If you can smell it you can't sell it"

"Nobody wants to buy someone elses dirt"

"You can't sell it if you don't show it"

My personal favorite when the seller doesn't want a sign out front.

":Okay you want me to sell it but not let anyone know you are on the market?"

The other important thing to remember is just because you need a certain amount of money out of the sale doesn't mean the buyer is going to give it to you. Get realistic.

As far as using a professional to sell your home, well all I can say is, not all professionals are alike there are some really good agents and there are some really bad agents. If you feel that you know enough to take the biggest asset you have and handle it fine, good luck, there are alot of shucksters out there. Most buyers don't really want to deal direct with the owner so you narrow your playing field in that respect. You also have limited marketing compared to the huge network our real estate industry has built. I know that my listings are on so many sites I can't keep track. I pay out money monthly to be everywhere so that your listing gets noticed. It is a team effort between you cleaning decluttering and showing off your home and me following up on leads and agents to get a dialog going.

I read an article that said it will take 89 years to get through all the bank owned properties that are in the pipeline. I believe that article might just be right. The banks are very difficult to deal with. They aren't cutting anyone a break and I am seeing them force people into hardships over small amounts of money that should be worked out instead. All I can say is, If you are going to sell in this market get ready to take a beating and if you want to do that alone (without an agent), uninformed, have at it. It is a frustrating process no matter what, having someone who knows the language of real estate in your corner seems like a smart move to me.

Mid Summer Market update

2011-07-25T11:32:00.000-04:00

There are certain trends in decorating that are more in demand than others. This is what will make the difference in selling at a reasonable price, getting showings or not selling at all. For one thing Oak cabinets are out! You can dress them up with granite but most of the buyers out there in today's market only want to see Oak on the floors. Another huge decorating mistake is laminate floors. I would say 9 out of 10 people do not like laminate floors! Everyday I see more and more laminate floors. It is like putting counter-tops on your floors. The funny thing is the price for laminate is really not different in price from ceramic tile or hardwood!

Today I went through 290 listings for a buyer of mine. I was looking for the things they are looking for in a home. Their goal price is around $250k and they want what is considered current trends in decor. The old brick fireplace is out. Gold plumbing and door hardware is out. That old Williamsburg style wood framed fireplace mantel is out. Contemporary is in.

The photos that the Realtor put on the MLS are so important to the sale of the home. I will go out to a house and re shot photos over and over and update for each season. So many times I see toilet shots and fuzzy shots that do nothing to sell the home. The worst marketing attempt is no pictures at all!

Landscaping is really important to seal the deal. I showed a home that must of spent 50k on landscaping alone. It was magnificent to look at but it wasn't practical for most of the buyers for that home because it is in a development which attracts families with children. There wasn't a play space for kids because of the elaborate landscape. Also my buyer said if the kids were grown they would love this, but upon reflection realized the maintenance of it would be more work than they were willing to do. The point is don't overdo it, but do spend some money to create a nice environment. Patios,Koi ponds and decks are big. Old wood decks are not as desirable as the new deck product that doesn't rot. A pool and hot tub do not sell houses. Having a Pool will limit the the number of potential buyers for your home.

I have had people call me and ask if putting a slate or tin roof would be a good idea. My answer is always do it if you want it but don't expect to get your money back. These are quality items that actually over improve your home because a buyer will not pay more money for your home if you have this improvement. Heated driveways are also a great little extravagance but don't expect to get your money back. It only makes the home more desirable. As always it is kitchens and baths that sell. Keep the house clean of lots of clutter and overdecorating. My favorite saying is "If you can smell it you can't sell it"!

Cleveland Ohio Real Estate Update

2011-06-29T09:39:00.000-04:00

This year is definately better than last year. I am seeing a lot of people purchase homes and owner finance them back to family,friends or employees. This is the best investment you can do right now. You can get interest on your investment and have something tangible like the title to the house as collateral. I think this is a great time to invest in some of these bank owned peoperties if you have the money.

I am still seeing people lose their homes. Some who have struggled to hang on are calling me to find out their options. The banks are just nasty to deal with. At this moment I have been waiting for a short sale bank negotiator to call me back. He has emailed me that he will call me before 1 pm today. I am doing everything to keep my phone line open so I don't miss his call. My seller is desperate and wants to get the bank to work with the offer that is on the table. I know the negotiator has about 400 other properties he is working with. We are just another phone call and number. I'm the one in the trenches feeling the emotions of the homeowner and the potential buyer.

I hear advertisements on the radio about Save your home but the Federal government is doing nothing about the shake down the banks are doing to the general public. The banks basically force you into selling your home. This is not The American Way!

Alot of these people could simply hold on if the banks would let them readjust their interest rate to a lower current rate. If you are in trouble you can't qualify for a refinance so what is the point. I've had people who lost their jobs and just needed to add maybe 4-6 months on the back of their loan and they would be able to stay in their home but the process is not n place to make this any easy solution.

I did finally get a call back from the negotiatior. It turns out the appraisal on the house is too high! Now if this was an outright pruchase the appriasial would be too low! So they are telling me I have to wait 3 more months to possibly get a new appraisal and maybe then I can get this house sold. In the mean time I will send in my own comparable sales and show the feedback on all the showings and maybe they will work something out. Unfortunately not with this buyer who just walked from the deal!!!

There are a lot of problems with these bank and mortgage systems. The best advise I can give you is try to work with a bank who services their own loans. That way if trouble happens you might be able to work something out. Right now the trap is wide and open and good people are falling in left and right.

Taxes they keep climbing!!

2011-05-19T10:37:00.000-04:00

I don't understand it but today I checked all my current listings to see if I needed to update the taxes for the new tax bill. Sure enough every listing I have had the taxes go up! Now how does that happen when we have had a drop of values in our area as much as 22% in the last 5 years!

How do our real estate taxes keep going up when our values are down? Simple question. My taxes went up $900.00 this year. I was told The Board of Revision had finally lowered my house value but still my taxes went up.

Bay Village passed a school levy. When I did the math I figured I would break even between the lower tax value and the new levy but somehow I have to write a check or pay a higher mortgage.

Add this to lower income and a crushing recession and you have just put people who may have been just holding on, over the edge. What really pushes my buttons is the people on Capital Hill keep getting more benefits, more income,and more opportunities while we cut out more and more things out of our lives. I'm not just talking about not being able to shop at Saks anymore either!

I haven't gone to a doctor in two years because the last time cost me $800.00 and I have health insurance! I went to get my eyes examined and get a new perscription for glasses and it cost me $300.00. I just joined Kaiser and to my relief I get to go and get check ups without extra cost!But the lingering question is how come my taxes keep going up and now my city services are about to go down!

Where is all the money going? Does anyone in the government know how to really keep books and watch the bottom line.

Making progress with one city plot at a time

2011-05-18T10:11:00.001-04:00

I made a new internet friend recently. I have been reading the work of Manfield Frazer. He is a writer who I see on Cool Cleveland.com. His articles about Human rights inspired me to contact him through email and tell him that I am a fan of his work.

We have been holding a long conversation for a few months now. He sent me his book that he wrote and I was very surprised to find out that he is a past convicted criminal.

I am reading his book and I have to admit that I can't read it for a long period of time because it sparks such passion in me. I get angry and want to do something to change the way things are.

This man Mansfield is articulate, smart and compassionate. He is a bear of a man and you can't help feeling comfortable around him as he has a warm welcoming charm or charmisa that he has sharpened over his 68 years.

Yesterday I went down to East 66th and Hough to see Mansfields vineyard. Yes, I said that right, vineyard in the middle of Hough!! I haven't ever been to the Hough neighborhood. All I remember about Hough was when I was six years old there were terrible riots and people got hurt and killed all protesting for equal rights. As a little girl the message that I had in my head was don't ever go there.

I was surprised to see so many new homes with beautiful landscapes. Here, Mansfield used to be a part of building homes in this area. He himself lives right across the street from the vineyard in a very nice newer home. I was not surprised to see all the vacant property and vacant buildings.

Mansfield is looking at the opportunity here. He worked with Cleveland Land bank to start his vineyard. He got the land from them and some seed money to get started. He also has the community involved. He is teaching kids in the area how to farm. He wants this movement to continue with his goal being a winery right across the street from the Cleveland Clinic and next to their new projected 10 million dollar hotel.

He wants this all to be a community centered enterprise. Giving the people in the area a chance to learn and work with in the development. He is looking for organic inner city farmers and has a few bio domes planned with the help of some philantrophic donations. All this will be a community based learning and work opportunity center. This is giving the people in his community hope and a postive direction with a fantasic goal.

This started with one little city plot. He calls it The Vineyards of Chateau Hough. Come on you have got to love this! He is looking for sponsors to donate $1000.00 to sponsor one of the 18 rows of grapevines. This money will go toward the funds to help pay the neighborhood kids that are farming it. He is also putting together teaching center on how to grow a vineyard. Yes it is a write off this is a bonafide charity! The sponsors will get a spot to advertise their company and will get all the publicity Mansfield can throw their way.

When I met Mansfield yesterday we stood on the corner of Hough and East 66th under his big umbrella in the rain and talked about what his goals are. I was so enthused I asked to be a part of it.

Good Bye Middle Class in America!

2011-05-16T10:22:00.000-04:00

I have just had a really grounding experience. Recently I received a $25 gift card from a business that I do business with as a thank you. This business card was for (can I say the name) Saks Fifth Avenue.

It took me several weeks to get around to driving out to the East side of town to shop at the Premium shopping mall in Cleveland. It has been a really long time since I went to Beachwood. I have always loved to at least make it out there a few times a year in the past.

Since I have had a declining income since 2006 shopping at the higher end stores has been at the bottom of my list of choices. I was so surprised to see how busy this mall was. In the middle of a recession!

Well I went into Saks thinking well maybe I can find a nice sweater on sale and use my $25 dollars off and have something new and nice that maybe will give me a little lift.

Have you been shopping there lately!!! Everything was $300 to $500! When did this happen? I have a credit card there I used to shop there. I can't even afford a wallet! I will admit that there weren't a lot of people with bags of purchases!

Nothing has spoken to me in more valid terms than this. There are tons of people out there shopping here at these prices and I am not one of them! I know I have always been middle class. I know that once in a while I get to score a first class seat in a plane or be invited to a loge to view a game.
I am fine with this being not an everyday thing. I appreciate them more. But Hey! The divide has grown to such a big difference that I can't even imagine even flirting with the luxury lifestyle. You know pretending I'm one of them by shopping in one of those stores or staying a night in a fabulous hotel.

I don't know if this is all smoke and mirrors. But there are poeple making fortunes on the backs of the working class and no one is doing a damn thing about it.

I have read a lot about World War Two and the thing that absolutely blows my mind is while people were being taken from their homes and put in concentration camps other people were living just fine and in fact capitalizing on it. Turning a blind eye to their neighbors and friends because of one stupid reason (religion, status) or another.

What is different today? People are losing their homes left and right. If you don't have a good credit score and a job you can't get a job or a good one! You can't get help with your loan at least not the majority maybe 3% do.

Are we really thinking of electing Donald Trump to be President? OMG!!!I know my age group were teens in the seventies but come on have we all lost our minds? What happened to the America I knew that cared about its citzens no matter what their background. You know the melting pot!

What happened to the land of milk and honey and opportunity for eveyone!

Sorry about the rant! I guess I'll just shredd my Saks credit card and carry on!

Sandy Maline Cleveland Real Estate: In the trenches selling Real Estate in Cleveland O...

2011-02-24T10:17:00.000-05:00

Sandy Maline Cleveland Real Estate: In the trenches selling Real Estate in Cleveland O...: "Every morning I check the Multiple listing service (MLS) for the market update. This is a list of new homes on the market that are either ne..."

In the trenches selling Real Estate in Cleveland Ohio

2011-02-24T10:16:00.000-05:00

Every morning I check the Multiple listing service (MLS) for the market update. This is a list of new homes on the market that are either new to the market, re listed, reduced, increased, under contract, sold or expired. Today one third of the new listings were bank owned. I can't check to see how many of the others are a stress sale but I would guess another third.

In the past Realtors in the Cleveland market didn't get real involved in the rental market. I can remember saying it just doesn't pay enough. Today I am involved in leasing properties actively! I can make the same money leasing a property that I would make selling a low end bank owned home. The difference is when showing the properties the rentals usually have the snow shoveled and the heat on. This has become a luxury when showing houses! The only good thing about not having the heat on is that the bugs go dormant.

Things have shifted and to stay afloat you have to shift with it. When I list a rental property I put it in the MLS and market it online almost like a property for sale. What I have found to be interesting is the agents that show my rental listings. So often when talking with other agents they talk a big game. Hardly will another agent admit that the market is tough and they are struggling to make the money they once did. When a top producer from a competitive company shows one of my rentals and looks to co broke a commission of say $650.00 I know they are struggling. Game face is gone no more bullshit!

Breaking that down they get half of that and then they split that half with their broker. So what he or she is looking at making is $175.00. Some companies will nickel and dime their agents for other fees like a processing fee making that $175.00 even less. Not so glamorous now is it?

Recently the biggest competitive company out there with agents than any other company (not naming names) has pulled a fast one. When they bring a potential tenant they have added language to their paperwork which is called Agreement to enter into a Lease. Way at the bottom of the paperwork they add language which states that if the potential tenant purchases the property within 2 years the owner will pay the agency a full commission. The problem here is it cuts out the listing broker!

I kept thinking why would Joe big bucks from XYZ company show my rental to making a whooping $175.00? It turns out that because he is looking to skunk me and my client out of our business relationship!

Do you really want to do business with a company that does business like that? Just like the casinos they didn't get that big by being a nice guy like me.

I'll stay small, make a good living and sleep well at night. When and if I make it to the Golden Gate I will look whomever greets me straight in the eye knowing I have lived and worked honorably.

Selling Real Estate in todays market

2011-01-30T08:10:00.003-05:00

There are two types of real estate that is selling in todays market. One is new or resale property. The other is bank owned or distressed properties. As a Realtor I would prefer to make my living selling new or resale properties. Unfortunately the bulk of the market (where the money is at)is currently in the distressed market.

I know a few agents out there that have worked themselves into a nice little niche in the distressed market. One of my colleagues has focused his business on this market for over 20 years. He is doing very well but it is not without a cost.

Out of the top agents in distressed sales there are a small number who actually do a great job. Most of them won't even call you back when you send them an offer. My colleague who has been doing this sort of business for over 20 years does a great job. He has a full staff to market and check on the properties. They check the homes every week to make sure there are no squatters and the house is secure and not damaged further.

As an agent when I show distressed sales there are a few issues that I don't usually have with a non distressed sale. The biggest one is will the property be secure. Walking into a vacant house that is not secured for the opportunity to sell it is not my idea of making a good living. Over and over I find these homes missing locks. Also no one shovels snow for these houses. So if I am showing distressed property I am going to dress like I'm having a snow day. There is nothing worse than walking through snow drifts up to my butt to show a vacant home with no heat.

Once a buyer decides on which distressed property to buy we start a whole new set of issues. Are there multiple offers? Will the listing agent even call me back? If it is a short sale how long do we have to wait for an approval? After all this will the bank pay me my commission?

A lot of the people handling bank assets don't have a clue what they are doing. I have found myself having to make dozens of calls just to get the smallest thing accomplished. Like will you accept this offer, can we close this deal, how do I get into this property?

As you can see it is not a pleasant way to make a living. After 26 years of selling real estate I am afraid this distressed market has taken its toll on me. I am 53 years old and I don't want to have to carry a firearm to show houses and make a living.

I applied to Cuyahoga County to work for The Board of Revision. I applied on line. I took a test on line and then went through 3 interviews. Early January I received a phone call telling me that I have the job and they gave me a opening salary offer. After some negotiation I accepted. I had to have a background check and a drug test. I went down to Ontario and Lakeside and filled out paperwork. My start date was January 31, 2010. I was told that I am not supposed to act as a real estate agent in Cuyahoga County because they felt that it would be a conflict of interest.

On January 31 I was told not to come in to work. My new tentative date of hire would be February 14, 2011. On February 9th I got a call telling me that the County withdrew their job offer. After several phone calls I found out that because I am a real estate broker that they felt it was a conflict of interest. If any of my agents sold real estate in The County I would get a percentage of the real estate transaction and they felt that would not be acceptable.

I guess I will continue to sell real estate and not get to be a part of the clean up down at The County. I was honored to get the job and wanted so much to bring some integrity back. I will not close my company down for the opportunity to work for the government.

In order to make a living in real estate in todays market I guess I will be taking a Firearm safety class and acting like Annie Oakley!

2011 will it be better than 2010

2011-01-28T09:43:00.002-05:00

As far as Real Estate goes I think that we may be seeing some hope for this coming year. I have been busier than the last few years in January. My colleagues in the Real Estate profession are all stating that they are seeing more interest this year. Of course they always talk big, but I do have some friends that actually tell it like it is and they concur with me.

For the most part I have people looking to make a good investment. I talked with my accountant about taking self directed 401k money and purchasing real estate with it. He wasn't real excited about it. Well I remember 20 years ago I was looking into a 1031 exchange program and no one was excited about that either. I pushed forward, I talked with the IRS to get the low down and set up a third party company to handle the exchanges and saved my clients tons of money!!

I am seeing incredible opportunities to make money. If you don't mind being a landlord this is the time to purchase investment property. One deal I just did will bring in 20 percent profit after taxes and insurance. If my client uses an equity loan to purchase this, he will get a interest write off on his taxes and be able to pay it back within 5 years! Then from there it is all profit. Do three of those and you can retire comfortably.

I own rental property, it is not easy to be a landlord. You have to be tough but have compassion. I always try to fix things right away. My tenants are my customers and I want to make them happy. Like any customer client relationship if they don't pay, you have to make a decision to work with them or severe the relationship.

I have had to evict people and it is not a feel good experience. I have also worked out payment programs with tenants who were going through a tough time and found them to be thankful and loyal tenants because of me being willing to work with them. It is a fine line here where if you are too nice you get taken advantage of. I am known for being quick to evict. If you are 5 days overdue you get a letter posted on your door. If you don't respond to that letter I go forward with the eviction. If you do respond and have a good reason I will work things out. This is what any other business relationship does. Too many people let this go on and on and that is how you lose money.

So if you think you have the stomach for owning property . . . This is the time to BUY!!! You know the saying buy low sell high!

Sayulita I like to call it See you later

2010-12-07T12:37:00.010-05:00

When traveling there are few places that haunt you to come back like Sayulita does. That is why I call it See You Later. This is a little village just over the mountain and through the jungle from Puerto Vallarta. It is a really neat drive if you have the guts to drive in Mexico. We have been looking for great locations in the Puerto Vallarta area to represent back here in The States to potential snow birds. I really love this little village. When we arrived we drove down this little street pictured above. It didn't look like much, of course that is how everything in Mexico is, they hide things behind walls. After we drove down this street it just kind of opened up into this quaint little town.

This is known as a surfer beach. It reminds me of an old hippie town. Everything is beautiful and laid back. The beach front is gorgeous and they have really great restaurants and hotels right there. You would never know this if you just drove by. We thought we were being so adventurous coming to check out this town. When we got here it was full of gringos just like me! This is a big retirement community with a lot of people from Canada living here. There is a wonderful development of new homes along the beach. You have to have the get a way from it all attitude to live here. Personally it is too small for me. I am a city girl that needs a lot of entertainment and choices. However I can't get this place out of my mind. I will be in Puerto Vallarta soon and we plan to visit Sayulita while we are there. I will be updating my site with the new construction prices and pictures and a link to the sites there. This place is like a secret favorite spot.

Let me explain a Short Sale to you

2010-12-06T09:43:00.004-05:00

Many people today are facing really stressing decisions. When someone is unemployed for a while their bills start to overwhelm them. The first instinct is to try to save the house. Some people will take every penny they have just to make that mortgage payment. With home values in a drastic free fall most homeowners have lost most of their equity. If you can hang in there until the market returns you might be alright but what do you do if you now owe more than your house is worth? You do a short sale.

Some people just sit back and let their home get foreclosed on. This is bad for you and the entire economy. A short sale is when you negotiate with the bank to sell your house and they accept less than you owe. The Realtor Association has been vigilant in getting the government to push the banking industry into working with you and me (the Realtor) to get your home sold. This past April they sent a standard set of rules that the banks are supposed to adhere to.

The best rule for you the home owner is if you work with them at the time of closing of the sale they will give you cash for keys. It is anywhere from $1000.00 to $2000.00. this is to help you move. The government has told the banking industry that they have pay the Realtors commission but limit is to 6%. This is good because a short sale takes an incredible amount of time out of the Realtor. Before this rule a Realtor would work sometimes 18 months only to be told by the bank sorry no paycheck for you!

If you are employed and have decided you don't want your house anymore and that you'd like to just get rid of it because there is no value a short sale will not work for you. In order to be an acceptable candidate you must have a hardship. Losing your job, losing a spouse, getting transferred these are acceptable hardships.

Another good thing about a short sale is that the government has passed a little tax loop hole for you. If you short sell your house the difference between what you owe the bank and what your house sold for used to be a taxable gain! I know this sounds nuts but if you sold your home for less and the bank forgave you the difference our government looked at that as a gift or some kind of gain and they taxed you on it. Really you can't get blood from a stone but they do try. Now if you short sale your house the tax rules give you a pass on this tax. Now here is where you have to pay attention. . . If you get foreclosed on you may be responsible for this tax!!!

So I'd say there is incentive to work with the bank and not just walk away. Also by doing a short sale the price of the house usually sells for 30% more than a house that has been foreclosed on. So by working with the bank and your Realtor it benefits all of us and helps stop this spiraling decline of values.

You would think that the bank is eager to work these out. No they are not! There are all sorts of reasons for this. I call it getting through the gatekeeper. The bank likes to see a house on the market for at least 90 days before they are willing to even talk about working out a short sale. The want to see a market history that you actually tried to get a sale price of what you owe on the house. They also want to see your financial statement. If you have 25g's in the bank forget about it! If that money is in your retirement account they won't touch it for now.

My job as a Realtor is to get through the gatekeeper. I will call these people several times a week and be treated like an idiot from them until one day they decide to work with me. One day they will be kind and the next day we can end up starting all over again. I often wonder about these people that work for the bank. Are they so overwhelmed with calls and other short sales that they can't possibly work effectively? Do they sleep well at night knowing that they made it a step harder for some poor guy in Ohio to work with the bank? Do these people have any training or do they know what they are really doing?

By the time you really get the bank on board you have usually had a offer that you called them about for several weeks. Finally you will know if they are working with you if they order an appraisal. The problem is we are in a declining market. An appraisal in todays market is worth less three months from now. So if that buyer walks away from the offer after waiting patiently for the bank to respond you now have an appraisal that will be too high in the present market.

If your loan on the house is an FHA loan the bank will only order two appraisals. I have to tell you the appraisers can only give todays market value and some of these guys aren't really that good. The bank has to handle the short sale according to FHA rules. The bank is going to ask FHA to give them the difference in what the house sold for and what you owed. This is what FHA is all about it is the insurance on the loan. Our government insured that you would pay this loan. That is why you paid extra money in closing costs when you purchased and you also had that ugly monthly MIP (mortgage insurance premium). I think our government has to get a little tougher with these lenders before they reward their business behavior with the insurance checks.

It is a quagmire but it is still worth the effort because it helps our entire country to do the right thing and try to get the best price for your house.

Some thoughts on the Health Care battle

2010-11-06T09:19:00.004-04:00

Stop me if I'm wrong but is John Boehner on our side? He wants to stop the health care bill that was voted on last year. I understand this fear of socialized medicine. I am a self payer. That means I don't work for the government or a big company that gives me health care insurance. I don't look forward to big fat pension or double dipping into retirement. Again I am self pay, which means I am a "have not". It seems it is "The Have Nots" against "The Haves". Or maybe it is the other way around.

Anyway yesterday I received a letter from Medical Mutual my health care insurance. This letter was to inform me about what to expect with the new health care reform. I was a little nervous when I started reading it. In fact, I waited to read it when I had time to really think about what I was about to read.

I was shocked by how wonderful the news was! In this new reform;

1.I am allowed to go to the doctor and get immunizations without charge.
2.I am allowed to get preventive health care with out charge!
3.My son can be on my insurance until he is 26 years old.
4.If I have a child that has health issues they have to insure him until age 19.
5.They are no longer allowed to put a lifetime cap on my insurance just a yearly one.

Can someone please tell me what is wrong with this?

I have been afraid to go to the doctor for over two years. Every time I have gone it has cost me big bucks! Once my doctor wanted a test done and told me to go to a certain place to get it. I had to pay for the test out of pocket because of some insurance double talk that made the place I got the test not to be covered. Do you think my doctor would call me back after I got the bill? Do you think the insurance company cared? No, it took me two years to pay it off!

Am I missing something here about Health care? I was thrilled with the news I received yesterday. John Boehner can you please explain to me why this is bad?

Sandy Maline Cleveland Real Estate: Big Versus small

2010-10-25T17:42:00.000-04:00

Sandy Maline Cleveland Real Estate: Big Versus small: "In today's world it seems people keep thinking with the Big Box mentality. Some think Big is better. Sometimes Big is better! Sometimes yo..."

Big Versus small

2010-10-25T17:05:00.003-04:00

In today's world it seems people keep thinking with the Big Box mentality. Some think Big is better. Sometimes Big is better! Sometimes you can get a better price when you order in large quantities. Sometimes a large company can out do a smaller company on price because of shear volume.

In Real Estate this is not the case. In fact the larger the company the more expensive it will be to work with them. Usually when I pay top dollar for something I want the best quality or the best service. There are a few industries that have been able to duplicate their service or product in such a way that they can deliver the best quality and service while continuing to grow to enormous sizes.

The hotel and entertainment industry such as Disney, Harrahs and Marriott come to my mind as symbols of large companies that have been able to keep quality and service while becoming huge entities.

Real Estate service can not simply be duplicated because of the enormous emotions that go into a purchase or sale. I've trained some really great agents when I have been in management roles. Everyone always adds their unique personality. Most of those really great agents are also no longer selling real estate because of the emotional and financial roller coaster they found this business to be.

I guess you can say I'm a little fish in a big pond and that suites me just fine. Like the big box company you don't see my sign on every other street. I don't tend to have my houses on the market forever either. If a seller will actually listen to me, we will get the house sold.

The other Advantage (love that word) is I can change my marketing strategy. The big box real estate companies have what I call a broad marketing campaign. Every house gets put on that campaign. The only way something different happens is if the agent is willing to pay extra money on top of what they are paying the big company already for the broad based marketing campaign.

Evey home is unique. With the internet I can get a home in front of the right buyer by being extremely internet savvy. I am constantly learning new tricks to stay on top of this ever changing technology. A large company can't do this. Have you ever seen a real estate listing on line without a picture? You will never see one of my listings on line with out a picture. That is just a small example of quality and service you can expect with a little fish in a big pond!

A brief description about Mortgages

2010-09-22T08:54:00.000-04:00

The American dream of home ownership is becoming a nightmare to the middle class. It absolutely amazes me that the general public still has the mind set that because they are "American" and live in the United States that they are some how protected from fraud and theft. People sign mortgage documents without reading what they are signing.

When you purchase a mortgage there are a few different options to keep in mind. First is the Government backed loans referred to as Ginnie Mae loan products. These are VA and FHA loans. What this means is the government issue insurance to back the loan. These loans were designed to give the people of this country an opportunity to purchase a home with a fixed rate over a manageable period of time like 30 years.

A VA loan is a loan product specifically designed for our Veterans. If you served in our countries Navy, Air Force, Army or Marines Corps you are entitled to a zero down loan. The cost of this loan is a little more expensive than a traditional loan and most of the cost can either be mortgaged or paid by the seller. The mortgage insurance for this loan is paid by the government. The benefits of this loan are that the mortgage insurance is paid for you and you can purchase with no money down. You will need to show some money however to qualify for the loan.

An FHA loan is 3 1/2% down with mortgage insurance. There are several FHA loan products. One of the best loan products that is frequently overlooked is called a 203k. This loan allows the borrowers to purchase a home that may need work. Say you have your eye on a house that needs a new roof or replacement windows. You can purchase the home for whatever price you negotiate with the seller then add the cost of repair to the loan. You will have to put 3 1/2% down on the total amount that you will finance. The great thing about this is the house transfers title and then you can have the work done and the money is in an escrow account to pay the bill when the work is finished. This loan isn't cheap but you usually get a house for a better price when it needs work so it all evens out at the end.

There are traditional loans called Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. These generally start at 5% down. Some of these will stop charging mortgage insurance at 15% loan to value. Meaning if your home is worth $100,000 and your mortgage is $85,000 your $15,000 in equity is 15% loan to value. Private mortgage insurance prices vary depending on how much you have in equity and what your credit score is.

When I refer to Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae these are the names of the products that resell on the secondary mortgage market.These are called Mortgage backed securities. People invest in these and until recently it was a pretty good investment. By making this an investment product it frees the money up to lend more. What has happened is it kind of got out of whack. This was a good thing and it helped get our country out of the 1930 depression. When people lose jobs and were unable to pay their mortgages it created a financial tsunami. When people default on their loan these securities go down in value. If there aren't investors in these securites there is no money. The Federal Government has been investing in these and of course selling these securites.

There are several types of loan products that you can get in all three groups. The best and safest is the fixed rate. This can be for any amount of time. Generally people do 30 years. If you make one extra payment a year you will save thousands of dollars and payoff your mortgage in 20 years. There is a loan product that is kind of hard to find it is called a biweekly mortgage. It is set up on the extra payment principle. You take whatever the 30 year mortgage payment is and divide in half and pay that every two weeks. This will result in an extra payment a year which will pay down your loan in 20 years. You can get a 20, 15,10 year amortized loan as well.

The adjustable rate loan (ARM) is a little more tricky. This is where you really need to read the fine print. If you see an ARM described as 3/2 that means every 3 years it can adjust up or down by 2%. These loans are based on different indexes. Most are based on Treasury securities rates. The lender adds a margin to whatever index they are basing their ARM on. Basically the cost of money with a profit added in.

Always make sure there is a cap on the ARM. There are different kinds of Caps. There is a cap of the life of the loan. Meaning it will not ever adjust over say 7.5%. There is a cap on the amount you can adjust on in every adjustable cycle. Like 5 years or 3 years.

Third Federal has an interesting ARM. They are showing a 5/1 and a 3/1. This means the rate is locked for the first 5 or 3 year cycle. Then it adjusts every year up or down by 2%. They state that you can re lock your rate anytime for the cost of $495 The cap on the life of this loan is 5%. This is a great product if you are planning to move soon or want to take advantage of the lower rate and make extra principle payments. In general adjustable rate loans are risky especially when we are at the bottom of the market. You know it can only go up. The savings is usually 1%.

Another loan is the interest only loan. This is one that I think the banks should start to take another look at. When you have people in a recession like we are in. If we can modify their present loans to interest only for a set time like 5 years then we can keep people in their homes. If after 5 years they haven't been able to correct their situation, they probably won't and should look for less expensive living situations. An interest only loan can cut the cost of the payment in half.

There are interest only loans out there, but the problem is most of these products are put out by mortgage companies. Mortgage companies are in the sales business. Their entire goal is just to sell mortgage loan products. After a mortgagee purchases one of their products Mortgage companies generally sell the loans.The servicing of these loans go to several companies that get paid a fee to collect the money on the debt instrument. The problem with that is the companies that do the servicing aren't that great. I have heard horror stories about the servicing company double charging, or foreclosing on a home because money that was withdrawn from an account went to the old servicer and didn't get credited to the new servicer. By the time a borrower can get the situation repaired there is usally all sorts of penalties and fees that you have to try to get waived. Most of these companies are incredibly hard to work with.

In short get a fixed rate loan try to make principle payments or one extra payment a year if you can. If you do a ARM be careful understand it completely before doing it. If you find you are in some sort of hardship call your bank before you get behind and try to work something out. As you can tell I'm not a fan of mortgage company loans because your loan becomes a piece of paper with no face behind it. If you work with a bank that you use on a regular basis hopefully they will help you with some sort of modification. Most important make sure wherever you get a loan from make sure they service their loans. Third Federal does not sell their loans and will always be the servicer. They do not have FHA or VA loans and tend to prefer at least 15% down. Most banks keep the servicing of the loan as another tool for the bank to earn income. Always ask about the servicing to avoid the nightmare to can result from ending up with one of the bad companiesout there.

Look what our Congress it up to now!

2010-09-11T11:44:00.001-04:00

I recently got this in an email and it really bothered me!
The Time Has Come:

Governors of 35 states have already filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene a Constitutional Convention.

This will take less than thirty seconds to read. If you agree, please pass it on.

An idea whose time has come!

For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest was to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform ... in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We are not supposed to have an elite that is above the law.

I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.
A Constitutional Convention - this is a good way to do that. It is an idea whose time has come. And, with the advent of modern communication, the process can be moved along with incredible speed. There is talk out there that the "government" doesn't care what the people think. That is irrelevant. It is incumbent on the population to address elected officials to the wrongs afflicted against the populace...you and me. Think about this...
The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.
Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

I'm asking each addressee to forward this Email to a minimum of twenty people on their Address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one proposal that really should be passed around.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ."

We need to do something about this! Like write your Congressman today!

I agree with Donald Trump

2010-09-10T08:43:00.000-04:00

Donald Trump is known as a great Real Estate investor. I have not always been a big fan of his, but I have to side with him on this one. Donald called Inman Feisal Abdul Rauf, lets just call him Inmam for this article. He is the man who wants to build the Mosque in New York close to Ground Zero in New York. Donald offered this man 25% more plus all closing costs to purchase the building from this man with the agreement that Inman would not build a Mosque within a certain amount of blocks from Ground Zero. The man countered Donald.

Her are the details. Inman bought the building for 4.85 million and some change. Donald offered 6.2 million and some change. Inmam countered at 20 million.He has since been quoted to say if someone wants to give me 18 - 20 million I will sell it. Donald's take on this guy is that he doesn't have the money to build a Mosque. In fact Donald thinks this guy is using emotional blackmail on the people of the United States to get rich or richer! Talk about cold hearted business!

Are we going to let this guy pull this off? He has gotten the public so upset and outraged using our countries laws of freedom to fuel the fire. Like a game of chess what is the next move here?

Donald doesn't want to give into Imam's use of emotional blackmail to make him rich. Inmam has a pretty shady background. Otherwise this is this guys style! Ugly yes but do we let him win and get the best of us?

Donald has stated that Inmam has stated that he would be interested in selling. Donald and I think this guy is grandstanding and the he has no real interest in building a Mosque. Do we call his bluff? What happens if Donald and I are wrong and he does build this Mosque so close to Ground Zero.

I say lets call his bluff and see what he does. If he comes up with the money to actually get the building started then we can start using other methods to delay and add expense to his plans.

I looked at the building site and it really isn't that big! Usually a Mosque takes a lot more space. I thought that a Mosque would require more area for parking. This property is a building that has buildings on both sides of it with no space in between. Every Mosque that I have seen is a monument style building with lots of space around it. Plus the entry of the site has to face Mecca their most holy city in Islam. Does this site allow that? I can't tell from Cleveland, Ohio. So unless I'm wrong the property might not be the proper site according to their Islamic rules to even construct is correctly!

Lets get smart here and stop letting Inmam manipulate us on our emotions. Lets use our heads here. I believe that Donald Trump is on to something. This guys is trying to pull off the biggest real estate deal in New York with the use of emotional blackmail! I guess that is a legal form of terrorism!

Program Hr 3648 Mortgage Relief

2010-08-23T10:58:00.000-04:00

If you are having trouble paying your mortgage because of job loss or health issues. You can find some help out there. There are a few situations where you can apply to your lender for a loan modification. This is a tedious task and requires a lot of paperwork.

In order to qualify for a loan modification you need to show that you are in a temporary hardship situation. Most of the time when the mortgagee loses a job they find they can't pay their mortgage. After exhausting their savings many people have gone into their 401k's incurring expensive penalties just to keep their heads above water.

A loan modification can give you a few months to try to resolve the hardship and get back on track. Nothing is free. A lot of these tack on a few extra years or thousands of dollars so that you can pay this back on the back end of the loan.

After you've exhausted all your savings and still can't get a job or your new employment is paying far less than you used to get paid you will find that you may need to sell your house. Downsizing to a less expensive house would be the logical thing to do. The problem is most people are under water on their mortgage.

The government passed a law called HR3848. This program is a Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act. This is to help stem the tide of foreclosures by removing the tax burden resulting in debt reduced through mortgage restructuring or debt forgiveness in connection with short sales.

I have aligned myself with Program HR 3648 as the Cuyahoga Representative. This company has named itself after the debt relief bill. This is a privately sponsored Nation-wide initiative to help the me help the homeowner successfully negotiate the process of a short sale.

The importance of this initiative is to help someone who qualifies for this program to restructure their lives and stop drowning in debt. It also helps the housing stock from continuing to decline in values. A short sale sells on average at 87% of the value of a regular home in the neighborhood. A foreclosed home sells for 57% of value.

It is best for all of us to support this process. The problem is handling a short sale is very time consuming. Now with Program HR 3648 helping me in this process of the sale we can get these properties sold and off the court foreclosure list.

Call me if you need my help.

Buying a bank owned home and dealing with Repairs

2010-08-08T12:24:00.000-04:00

I recently passed the class for the designation of 203 K Specialist. What that means is I have been properly trained to help buyers get a loan that includes money to do repairs on the property they buy. I have been doing to this type of loan for years but now it is popular because of all the bank owned properties out there selling at below market values. If you are planning to purchase a property and live there you will qualify for this type of loan. This loan is not for investors or new construction. It is an FHA loan that, with a lot of paperwork can get you money for a new roof, remodel a kitchen or bath, replace windows or even buy appliances! There are two kinds of this type loan. One is called Streamline. This is the easier of the two. A buyer can get up to $35,000 for repairs above the cost of the purchase price. There are all sorts of rules about what can be done and what can't. This type of loan can not do structural repairs. If structural work is needed the buyer has to do the Standard 203k loan. There are only a few lenders who do these. It is important to use a lender that is good at this or it can take months! I have partnered with Lowes home improvement store to help people make this an easier transaction. In turn working with this program we can get some of this housing stock sold, put people to work and repair some of the blight in our neighborhoods. So if you are afraid to buy a house because of the possible repair bill give me a call and I'll put my 25 years of experience to work for you. I am also working to get my Certification in Real Estate Construction so that I can be more helpful in this process. After over 3000 house inspections I'm pretty good at this already. Just don't ask me to run a chain saw!

Poker Face

2010-07-30T15:25:00.001-04:00

I don't have a poker face. This has caused me some difficulty in my growing years. As a child I just didn't know that you could see my thoughts on my face. I thought my parents were somehow telepathic that they knew what I was thinking. It didn't occur to me until Junior High School that it was me and my facial expressions that were giving my thoughts away. I had this Principle who said "you know I can see what you are thinking, it is written all over your face".

Because of this flaw in my general personality, I decided that I would just be truthful. I really had no other choice. This has gotten me into trouble over the years. It has also been one of the core strengths in my business! My clients tell me all the time that they appreciate that I am honest. Well I don't really have a choice do I!

I have always studied top producers in my profession. I have been able to achieve the status of top 3% in sales in Ohio and have held on to that level for more than 20 years. For whatever reason I have not been able to get to that top 1% level.

Some of the people in the top 1% level have teams so they may not really be doing all that much more than I am. But there are a few agents that come to my mind that have created this powerful icon of themselves that people just call them to come list their homes!

I have studied these people and many of them are my friends in this business. They all have one thing that I do not have and that is a poker face! They can sit across a table from you and keep their personal thoughts masked behind their poker face. I am not saying they don't have some finesse that maybe I could use a little more of, but come on I do have people skills or I wouldn't be where I am today.

What kind of person do you really want to do business with? One that can't lie and manipulate you or one that can? Maybe having a poker face is what it takes to be a great salesman. I read the book The Worlds Greatest Salesman, it is a little book written by Og Mandino published in 1968. It is about working really hard with honesty. I loved the book so much I gave it out to all the agents I worked with that year. If being the top 1% means working with a poker face well, I'll just be happy at the top 3% for now!

The Market is coming back!!!

2010-07-16T10:25:00.000-04:00

I can feel it, the market is coming back! After the April 30 tax credit deadline the market just went to sleep for about six weeks. Showings and inquiries were way down.

There is nothing that drives me crazy like not having enough work to do! This past week have shown signs of activity. The MLS has had properties that are not bank owned actually go into pending some of which were in the luxury market. My listings are getting activity and some really good interest I am thrilled to report!

So if you have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for a great deal, stop sitting. The values are incredible out there. I am showing properties priced $50,000 less then the seller purchased them for. The rates are at the lowest they have ever been.

If you are a seller and need to do a short sale give me a call. I have been doing those before it was popular. I am an Independent Agency which means your privacy is protected with me. I won't charge hidden fees like some of my competition does.

The foundation of my business is based on Honesty, Integrity with Ethical business practices. No smoke and mirrors, no hiding behind a team, just old fashioned good customer service.
You can contact me at sandymaline@gmail.com or 440-554-2260

Super Deals in Cleveland

2010-07-12T09:21:00.000-04:00

The month of May has been one of the worst Months for home sales since 2001. The tax incentive seemed to bring buyers out until the end of April. What the public doesn't seem to understand is the current interest rate 4.5% is a far better deal then the tax incentive program. The slow month of May brought housing prices down again so now is really a great time to make a purchase! Not only are you getting rock bottom prices but the interest rate is lower than it has ever been in decades!

If you are considering a move in this market and you alread owna home sell it first if you can. Buying a home before you sell is very tricky. The only way I would recommend that you purchase first is if you have been relocated to a new area or there is some other motivating issue forcing the move.

I have seen some of the best Real Estate deals this past month and it is very enticing to want to jump in on one of these. The other day I was searching the MLS and there was a one bedroom condo in Rocky River for $19,000.00 can you believe that? It needs some work but this is like buying at 60% off! Call me if you want to take Advantageof the market.

Real Estate Teams, What is the consumers benefit?

2010-06-12T11:14:00.000-04:00

Absolutely nothing! When you see a real estate team advertised what you are really seeing is a subgroup of agents packaging their listings together to make them look more successful on the marketplace. Usually you will find one or two good agents as the leaders of the team. A productive agent normally gets a better share of the commission from the broker for whom he or she works. What these agents do is the recruit agents that are part time, new or just low performers to the team offering them a higher share of commission on their transactions in exchange for their use of the Team name. The leaders of these teams get an override from these agents. One particular team is advertising that they did 124 transactions last year. As a consumer you might think this is a good number. It is all smoke and mirrors. This team has 18 agents working under the team name. 18 divided by 124 equals less than 7 transactions a piece! If I only did 7 transactions in a year I would be out of business! The other problem with the team is the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing nor does it even care. It is all about money and how many players they can recruit to the group. When you see an Independent Broker like myself I don't have a team to hide behind. I don't have a big company with attorneys who work on my payroll. When you work with me, you get me. I don't have an attorney on my payroll. I have my feet to the fire and can promise you that you will get an honest hard working agent who will do her best so that you refer me to others and use me over and over again like my past customers do now.

Real Estate Companies are they all alike?

2010-06-07T19:40:00.000-04:00

How do you decide on who to list your house with? Some people think that the bigger the company the better off they will be in selling their home. This isn't so in today's real estate business.

Back when I first started selling real estate in the mid 80's it was essential to go to work in the office. We were computerized but that was the extent of it. There was one or two computers for all 50-60 agents to share. We would wait in line for the chance to get on line and search for properties for our buyers.

Every morning the office secretary would run an update on the market. This list would hang on the wall and the first thing you would do is check the list. It would have what was new on the market, expired, pending, reduced and sold. All this information was black and white, no pictures.

When a new listing was posted that might fit your buyers criteria you would run out and drive by it. Then if it was really nice looking from the outside you would try to see what inside amenities it had written on the printout. If it looked good you would call your buyer and try to get them to make an appointment. Once a week you would send out a list of homes that might meet their needs.

Every Tuesday we would caravan to all the new listings that were put on Brokers tour. This was a great way to get your property out there into the agents mind in case they have buyer or find a buyer for your listing. This was a lot of work!

Now we have a computer system that lets us work out of our home offices. The MLS has up to 25 color pictures of the home, an aerial view and map to see locations. Not only are dimensions available but the Realtor can readily look up past sale and mortgage history of any particular home.

With all this information so readily available you would think this would make for better showings. The buyers gets an email about a property that fits their criteria. They can view all of this in the comfort of their home. Nevertheless we still get showing that give feedback "like well my buyer doesn't like splits" or "my buyer wants a bigger yard". I always want to say did you look at the information online?

With all this technology what makes a company different? Everyone knows the biggest companies name. They can easily find their website. The large companies have a market plan that their agents use. It might be their website and nothing more! The good agents pay extra for additional marketing. My personal monthly expenditures are focused on Internet marketing. I am on all the same websites as any of the bigger companies but as an independent I pay extra dollars to be as accessible on all sorts of websites even though all my listings are on all the other companies sites as well. Market values,Realtor.com's expanded site, Market leader, Cleveland.com, Trulia, Zillow the list expands daily. Also strategic targeted Post card marketing campaigns.

It isn't the companies size that matters it what is this agent doing above and beyond the normal MLS and Internet marketing. What other things are they going to do to get it sold. Are they still doing the things that used to work in the 80's. I was one of the first people to have my own computer at my office when I was with the "big company". I was one of the first agents to use a digital camera. Staying on the cutting edge of innovation is essential. So when you are looking at who you should hire to buy or sell a home don't think big box when it comes to real estate. Think Guerrilla marketing. Experience and knowledge with a great reputation is what I bring to your table.

You didn't miss out on the Homebuyer credit

2010-06-03T10:04:00.000-04:00

You didn't throw your money away if you didn't get in on the home buyers credit. The rates just dropped to 4.6% for a fixed 30 year loan. This is down from 5.25%. To break that down if you purchased a home for $100,000.00 at 5.25% with a 30 year amortization your principle and interest (PI) should be $636.11. With the lower rate the new PI would $607.24. Doesn't sound like much but it is a savings of $10,393.20 over the life of the loan!

Also if you make one extra principle payment a year on a 30 year loan you will pay that loan off in 20 years instead of 30. This is another way to make HUGE SAVINGS!The reason this works is the extra payment takes from your principle but your payment is based on 30 years, when the principle gets a little chunk paid down the amortization starts to ramp up, paying more off faster.

We have a new wave of bank owned properties coming on the market. Listen baby boomers who lost some retirement money, this is a chance to make some of that money back! If you are good with home improvements, fixing and repairing things around the house put that talent to work.

If you purchase a bank owned home for $60,000.00 and you use your equity of your present home to purchase it outright. The equity line will be approximately 3.4% depending on what bank you use. This will be a variable loan usually amortized over 15 to 20 years. So lets say it is amortized over 20 years. Your initial PI will be $558.13 a month. Add insurance and property taxes the payment will be $758.13. You rent the house out at $1200.00 per month. That is $441.87 profit a month! What you do is take half of that and pay extra on the loan paying the principle down. If you can convert the loan to a fixed rate after some time all the better. An equity line doesn't cost anything. A regular mortgage costs about $2500.00 to put in place. Most equity loans have a time variable. For instance it can be what is called a 3/5 arm. That means it can go up or down 3% at the time of adjustment every 5 years. Look for this type of term instead a monthly variable. This will protect you from the rate changing and give you a little time to be ready for it by paying down the principle with the extra $200.00 a month. After 10 years you should have the house paid off. The entire amount can now go toward your retirement or you can sell it and cash out.

I can't think of a better way to make money other than winning the lottery! It isn't all bread and butter though. You will need to make sure you are renting to a good reliable tenant. There are some really good companies out there that will do background and credit checks for $30.00. Call me today if this is something you would be interested in.

My Mexican Adventure

2010-04-19T11:01:00.000-04:00

Arrived in Puerto Vallarta Mexico with no trouble. Rented a car and got to the condo. Pedro gave us a nice studio suite with a view of the ocean and pool from the balcony. We are three stories up so we can turn the air conditioner off at night and open the balcony window and listen to the waves of the ocean.
The waves are unusually high for this area. The people who live here are a little freaked out about it. We are getting settled in and setting up computer, getting parking tags etc. We joined Golds Gym for the month I am really excited because they have spinning and aerobics, yoga and boxing! For dinner we ventured out to The Romantic zone. This is becoming our favorite area. It has loads of restaurants and shops on the oceanfront. There are some older condos that we plan to check out. We had dinner at Marazuls and Jack stepped out of his comfort zone and had Shrimp Stuffed Pablano peppers. They were very good along with rice and beans. Something he would never ever eat in the States. We are going to try to lose weight while we are here. We stopped in a bar called Nacho Daddy and met some Expats. Want to buy one of those T shirts before we leave. They are always so happy to be here and always encourage the move!! We met a women who had her foot in a cast like boot. She was looking for Tylenol, I looked in my purse but since I changed purses I didn’t have any. We started talking and it turns out that she retired here at age 50 from Texas. She said she has been coming down here since she was eighteen. She downsized all her stuff and put her stuff in storage to make the move. She got a job as a Hotel manager. Then she opened a bar with a group of people and along the way she fell in love. Great story! We also met some other Expats who had too many tomatoes that they had grown and this seemed to be their biggest problem!

Jan 24, 2010
First big day. We planned to go to San Sebastian, this is a small mountain town that has its own homegrown coffee. We started our day by going to Golds Gym and did the tread mill. Because it is Sunday they don’t have any classes scheduled. We had a real hard time getting our act together. I must of gone up and down the 3 flights of stairs 8 times today. Every time we would start out we had to turn around and go back to get what ever it was we forgot. Going to San Sebastian si not easy, now you have to understand the way driving is in Mexico. You go right to turn left. You can only do this at certain left turn lanes. It is very confusing and you have to know where you are going way ahead of time which poses a problem when you don’t know where you are going. So we knew that we will be turning around and over passing our destination a lot. Well we couldn’t find the road to San Sebastian so we ended up in Neuvo Vallarta. Drove around and decided we don’t like Neuvo Vallarta. This is a place you go if you really want to be in Florida. It is very pretty everything perfect and nothing is close for walking to a store or restaurant. Seeing lots of golf carts. We ate at Guidos and had salads. We are trying to lose weight so this is what we are going to eat. Jack is being a sport about it all. So far real estate prices seem to be 200k and up. 200k appears to buy you a one bdrm 800 to 1400 sq ft depending on the view and condition. There doesn’t seem to be any system for a buyer to use to find all the information. Exhausted we went back to the Condo and went to our favorite massage shop. We got 75 minute massages for $25 or 300 pesos. They were great and we were very sore I think from traveling. They gave us a room with two tables and we had a male and a female. The male worked on me and at first I was nervous because he had work boots on and just a white T shirt. It turned out that he was fabulous!! His name is Rapheal and I will be back to see him again! We went to the pool that is on the roof top. It has a beautiful view of the mountains. This pool is quiet without all the vacation activity. We met a women who comes down every year for a few weeks. And we met and older Canadian couple that has been coming here as well for years. They are not timeshare owners but they came for 3 weeks. They didn’t want to go back and plan to spend more time here next year. They said the wind chill factor was 42 below zero at home.Of course that is ceilius not Fahrenheit It occurred to me that Canada doesn’t have a Florida. So this is their Florida. The Mexican government works with the Canadian government to exchange medical care since they are both socialized. After a rest and shower we went back to the Romantic Zone for dinner at Daquari Dicks. Again I watched what we ate I had a Asian salad and Jack broke down and had braised short ribs. We stopped at a bar called Joe Jacks Fish Shack where I met the owner who came from Iowa. He told me to email him if I had any questions or if he could help us in any way. He was in the process of building a condo for 200k one bedroom with a view. He didn’t think I could cut it here in Real Estate. Said everybody is in real estate here. What else is new!

Jan 25 2010 Monday
Started our day at Golds gym. I took a spinning class and it was in Spanish!! They have the best equipment here. The bikes have a heart rate and calorie monitor plus the spin wheel has a numbered adjustment for resistance. I am learning my Spanish numbers real quick this way. Tough class burned 368 mexcian calories which is like 800 american. We decided to go to Sayulita, I call it See U Later. Going through the mountains was a blast see picture above. We missed the exit of course and drove about 10 miles too far. When we pulled into Sayulita it was a cute little town. We were starving so we parked the car and walked around. Everything is kind of hillside leading to the Ocean. We found a fabulous beachfront restaurant called Don Pedros. I had a fabulous seared Tuna salad with a light lemon dressing. Jack had and ate a whole pizza I had some crust. The good thing is he didn’t have any meat on it. So I made him walk all over. We found this really cool cemetery on the way to a special beach see attached pictures below.

Then we found the most incredible Hotel see pictures with insane views!!. I have to say I really liked Sayulita. I wouldn’t want to live there but a couple nights would be great. On our way back to the car I saw a man standing outside an office with a manila envelope. I asked him if he was a Realtor and he said yes! He practiced real estate in Canada then 5 years ago made them move there. He loves it gave me his card and was happy to set up an appointment just to talk. He said we could use his phone and office if we needed too. Really nice guy I liked him right away. Hopefully we can do some sort of business together. Possibly referral!

This is the view from over the pool shot and this picture of Jack is the path to get to the hotel. Prices from $110 a night to $950 a night for a 3 bdrm house . We asked for a brochure they gave us a piece of paper with the rates. A grounds keeper told us to talk to Giavonni at the blue hut on the beach. Giavonni was no where to be found. He’s the property manager. I know that I could do a better job marketing this place!!! We left Suyalita exhausted from all the walking and went back to the condo. We were really beat so we took a short rest and shower before we met with Keith. He owns a Guest house here in Puerto Vallarta in an area that is either the Romantic Zone or Rio Cuale . This is a very Gay friendly area. Keith also owns a real estate company in Cleveland. I like to think of his company as a kind of brother company to mine. We met at a Favorite restaurant called the River Café. It is a beautiful outdoor restaurant with a view of the River and there are Iguanas in the trees all around. The food here is fabulous and it is considered expensive. We are buying Keith dinner to get as much info from him as we can. He would do this for free because we are friends but I felt better in starting this way. He talked about all sorts of important stuff. Like if you get pulled over by the police they will hand you a folded paper you have to be humble and treat them will absolute respect. Put about 250 pesos in then folded paper and give it back apologizing to him for the inconvenience. Another neat thing is Mexico has socialized medical. They have low taxes and support most of the government off oil. No one is really hungry here anymore and they have lowered their teen pregnancy rate by 7% . Their childbirth rate has gone down and so has the birth deaths. They are also lower than USA. To get anything done here takes a whole day. So if we decide to apply for a permit of any sort plan on a whole day. Be patient! I guess that will be Jacks job! Keith doesn’t feel real positive about me doing Real Estate down here. He thought I should open a sauerkraut store instead. He said it is hard to get into the mls here and getting paid for a transaction could be difficult. I told him my plan but he preferred the sauerkraut idea. See in Puerto Vallarta there are shortages of certain things. Keith likes to have a Rueben party on New Years day and finding sauerkraut is a big challenge. The point he was making is find what is missing and fill it. Real Estate has too many hurdles. He also thought we should invest in a multi family property in his area. Not bad advise . Keith is an Urban Planner so this is where most of his insight comes from. He took us to some local bars where Jack was eye candy to the patrons. I had a blast!!! Jack is a really good sport.

14 days left to get in on the Tax incentives to purchase a home

2010-04-16T11:06:00.000-04:00

Today is April 16, 2010. There are only 14 days left to take advantage of the tax credit for purchasing a home. There is no talk about extending this credit at this time! You don't have to be a first time home buyer to take advantage of this!!! You can get a $6500.00 tax credit by purchasing a home and $8000.00 credit for a first time home buyer. You must be under contract by the end of April and close before June 30 2010. You don't have to have your present home sold to qualify for this. If you are thinking about selling your home, GET IT ON THE MARKET NOW!! We don't know how the market will act, when this incentive ends. Overall the market is moving. The low end is showing a lot of movement. Prices are not starting to go up yet. We are starting to see more movement in the upper price ranges over $300,000.00. Forbes recently printed an article about Bay Village having a 32% increase in value. Unfortunately while I'd like to believe this to be true, I have to dispute the math here. I live in Bay Village so I really would like this to be true. Forbes magazine used median price ranges to compare averages. Well Bay Village has Lakefronts. A few of those Lakefronts sold. Lakefronts in Bay Village sell anywhere from the very low end of $400,000.00 to 3 million. Forbes states that the average priced home in Bay Village is $250,000.00. You can see why a few sales on the Lakefront can have a dramatic affect on the median price range.So the increase is not 32%. If it was, I would be selling my house today! If you are looking for real facts in the Cleveland Real Estate market call me I will not mislead you!

Our Country can't see it's own Crisis!

2010-01-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

I was saddened to see all the pictures of Haiti. That country has been in such turmoil for so long and this catastrophe is just unimaginable. Our country ran to aid them. We sent troupes and I hear 100 million dollars worth of help. I am glad to see this type of humanitarian efforts. We may be able to provide some relief while rebuilding the infrastructure of this country. This could actually be a turning point to come out of this devastation with a positive new beginning. The loss of lives would at the least bring something good to the people who survived if the help that comes their way can truly rebuild and dramatically change the current woes of this country. With all that said I feel like our country is in denial about it's own situation. Sending all this help and money is like having your neighbor who in the midst of bankruptcy giving you a gift of money! How can we save the world if we don't save ourselves first! Why can't we look at what is going on in this country, loss of jobs and homes, corporate corruption, health care for only the lucky and rich, and loss of retirement benefits just to mention a few. We need to see our country as if it were in a crisis too. There is an email going around that really seemed to make some sense. It said that there are 40 million people over the age of 50. If the government gave each of those people one million dollars under the following conditions we could fix our own problems.
1. Must retire this would open 40 million jobs fixing the employment crisis.
2. Must buy an American made car. Auto industry fixed!
3. Must pay off mortgage or buy a house. Housing crisis fixed!
4. Every American to get the same health care coverage, health care crisis fixed
This would cost 4 trillion dollars. We spent 3 trillion to bail out the banks. Wouldn't you rather see this happen? You know that it would actually work!
Back to health care. I think it should be a right just like and education (to grade twelve) is a right in this country. Maybe we need regulation? The hospitals are making huge money while bankrupting it's clients! Isn't that somehow a humanitarian crime.

Is anyone out there listening?

2010-01-03T11:13:00.000-05:00

Today I read in The Plain Dealer that the government is considering asking the people of the private sector to bail out the government employee retirement benefits program. Their argument was that if we don't do this, we will suffer the loss of teachers, police, firemen and city workers! If you are a government employee you should just stop reading this because you won't like what I have to say. The article went on the say that these lucky individuals retire with twice the benefits that the private sector does. They also stated that they are excluded from paying social security taxes because they have their own system and that the private employer is burdened with 6.2% in social security taxes. This alone is enough to put most people out of business. On top of all that these government employees get their own health care and it is way better than anything the private sector can even think of getting. IS EVERYONE OUT THERE CRAZY!!! We should be having another Boston Tea Party! Things have just gotten way out of perspective. We are eliminating the middle class. Do you know what happens when you eliminate the middle class? It becomes the "Haves" against the "Have nots". This whole health care debate is just that! Well I am a "have not"! I am self employed and I won't go to the doctor unless I have to because I can't afford my monthly premium to go up anymore. I don't have anything to count on but myself for retirement. I have struggled these past 4 years to keep from going under financially. I have downsized my business. While I have done everything to cut costs and be responsible the government continues to find more ways to get more money out of you! They want additional money for garbage collection, and sewer costs have gone up. If there ever was a time for the government employees to cut back it is now!!! I can't do it anymore. I am not going to bail them out. Isn't this the system that some jerk invested in a coin collection? Why do they get 88% of their regular pay when they retire early like age 48 and I have to work until death or at least 72 years of age to get a whooping $1500.00 a month which out of that I have to pay most of it to health care costs. On top of all that did you know that your Senator or Congressmen has cart blanche to travel at our expense all over the world! Yeah that's right! Say the Governor of Ohio decides he wants to go to London for a few days. He calls someone in our government who makes all arrangements for not only him but his entourage to show up first class with everything attended to as long as he schedules a meeting with some dignitary. They don't have to accomplish anything! Just have a meeting. Meanwhile they spend 1000's of our tax payers dollars having a grand old time. This has got to stop. How do you take all this away from the "haves" and start giving some back to the "have nots"? I don't know. I do know that if I was a "have" I would fight pretty hard not to lose any of it. Meanwhile "have nots" aren't fighting!! What happened to our Declaration of Independence where "all men are supposed to be equal"? I don't see equality when the government employees who have the power to vote for our benefits have a better and different set of benefits. Why should they vote on something that doesn't affect them! Why do the people that don't benefit get to make this decision? It doesn't seem right to me. The "haves" are voting if the "have nots " should have benefits like them and now they want us to bail their system out!!Is anyone out there listening? Maybe I am becoming a Socialist but this is just inhumane.

Extension of Tax Credit

2009-11-09T09:10:00.000-05:00

With great expectations the house and senate passed the tax credit. This is now up to an $8000.00 dollar credit ($5000.00 less than the old one) for first time buyers with higher income limits. It also passed a credit of up to $6500.00 for the move up buyer. You have to have lived in your present home for 5 years within the last 8 years and be under contract for either credits by April 30th and transfer by June 30 2010. Did this cause more activity in the Real Estate market? Not yet! I am hoping that there is a delayed response to this. I know I plan to put my house up in February. I practice Real Estate in Ohio. It is November and while we have had incredible sunny and warm weather the market still feels kind of dormant. Here in Ohio from November to March traditionally the market slows down. With this new tax incentive we may have a better sales season this winter. As long as the weather holds out I have hope. When the snow gets going and there is a foot of snow out there motivation to look at real estate become pretty low. You can't see what you are buying for one thing. It seems that every winter I have a buyer who drags me out to look through all sorts of properties and they never buy. I have had these people call right after blizzards! Usually they are going through a life change like divorce,death of a loved one, bad break up or adjusting to an empty nest. No matter how long I have been in this business I still get had by one of these at least once a year. The point is We have a great new tax incentive right smack in the worst season for my location. Hope it has the same energy as the last one. I guess I will buy some UGGS (those ugly warm boots) this year and watch out for the emotional buyer who just really needs attention and not a house.

Free Real Estate info

2009-10-26T10:17:00.000-04:00

There is a lot of real estate information out there. Recently I got a first hand look at how harmful this information can be in the wrong hands. I had a customer who was looking for a rental property. Instead of calling me to show her the properties that I was sending her she thought she would cut out the middle man -- "Me" and go direct to the properties that she was interested in. The thing about this is she wasn't paying me for my service! The seller pays the commission. This person knows that she isn't new to the business and her mother is a retired Realtor. Well anyway on a drive by for one of the properties she noticed a condo that might be perfect. She had the listing agent meet her at 7:30 am at the property. This guy is working for the seller. He told a great story and before you know it she was not only renting this property but buying it!! She went on the various websites the give estimates of value like Zillow, Trulia, Hometrends. She saw that the average sale price was $174k. The property that she was interested in was selling for $162,900. The agent told her that he just listed it in August. He failed to tell her that it was last August 2008. She negotiated a wonderful sale price of 158k having them professionally clean it and replace the carpet. Well she was so proud of herself she called me to brag about what a great deal she got for herself without my help. I am still baffled by this because my input would have cost her nothing!! As she was going on and on about it I kept thinking why is she calling me! What is the point here. As I listened to her I realized I knew the property. I can remember showing it twice over the last two years. I asked her if it was the one I thought it was and sure enough it was. This is a unique property in a development. Every other property built there is a townhouse style with 3 bedrooms and a lot more sq ft. There are only a few 2 bdrm ranch style units built here I think two. So when she went to the website she got an average number of 174k. The problem is the she bought the smallest unit in the development. That average number is going to be high. You can not replace a good appraiser and a good Realtor. We have information and experience that the novice home buyer does not! When it costs you nothing to use a professional for advice over a website why would an educated person do this? Ego ! I have to believe she just wanted to show me that she didn't need me. This is like talking to a friend that lets say sells cars. Getting all sorts of info about a certain car and the cost of that car and then going to the competitor and purchasing it. Then calling that friend to brag about it. I don't understand this behavior. It happens over and over again to me and my fellow Realtors. Maybe it is the lack a respect the general public has over this industry. All I know is she paid about 13k too much, will probably decide it is too small and now be stuck with another property that has a higher mortgage than you can sell it for without taking a loss.Before this decline the rule of thumb was you need to live there for 5 years to be able to get out even. That is in a good market. All I could say is it will be a good rental property. I'd love to hear your comments!

35130 Sullivan, North Ridgeville, OH | Powered by Postlets

2009-10-26T10:05:00.000-04:00

35130 Sullivan, North Ridgeville, OH | Powered by Postlets

Aging Why do some people do it better than others?

2009-10-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

Recently I have been noticing that some people just don't seem to be aging as fast as others. Now that I'm fifty this is something that I am paying a lot of attention to. The other day I went to a Real Estate mini convention. I have been in this business for 25 years now. So over time I have gotten to know a lot of Realtors. When I was at this mini convention I saw an agent that I have not seen is maybe 10 years. She looked better than when I saw her ten years before. I told her "you don't age"! She laughed at me. I asked her if there was something special that she was doing? Like being a vegetarian, or using a new face cream ect. She just laughed me off saying oh you know I drink and smoke all the time. Then she said no she doesn't smoke. I know smoking ages you and I know drinking is supposed to do the same. Could it be that simple? Just don't pollute your body? Now here's the really odd thing. The class that I took with Miss fountain of youth had a speaker. His name is Hal Becker. I have seen him 3 times over 25 years.He fought a really tough battle with stage four cancer. This guy is energy on steriods. Now usually when you fight a fight like that you look like you've been through a tough time. He looked great!! I sat there wondering what was it that Miss FY (fountain of Youth) and he had in common. They both had great looking skin, their hair wasn't thinning but vibrant! Miss FY had the body of a high school girl without looking sickly skinny. Hal was in great shape bubling with energy and fit as can be!I don't think it comes down to just good genes. The one photo at the top of this article is of a woman aging from 20-70 She is a doctor that believes in skin therapy and sells a product for that. I think it has something to do with diet and exercise. I'm going to bug Miss FY and find out if she works out and what her diet is like. I think I might bug Hal too. Does anybody have any ideas here?

Issue 3

2009-09-20T11:21:00.000-04:00

First of all What exactly is issue 3? I looked it up on smartvoter and this is what it reads like:

To adopt Section 12 of Article XV of the Constitution of the State of Ohio.
This amendment to the Constitution would:

Permit up to 31,500 slot machines at seven horse racing tracks and at two Cleveland non-track locations. Permit expanded gaming in the four Cuyahoga County locations if approved by the county's voters. Distribute the revenues as follows: 55% to the slot and casino owners and operators. 30% to the Board of Regents for college scholarships and grants to eligible students and administration of the program. The remaining revenues to be divided among local governments, race tracks for purse money, gambling addiction services, and The administration of the Gaming Integrity Commission comprised of five members appointed by the governor and the majority legislative leaders. The moneys provided by this amendment are to supplement and not supplant existing and future constitutional obligations to post-secondary education and local governments.

All these Ads about 34,000 jobs coming to Oho. Then we have the ads that state these jobs won't go to Ohio people because the Casinos will hire out of state professionals. Now lets look at this. First of all if 34,000 people move to Ohio for a job that is going to bring growth to our state. I know if 34,000 people move to Ohio I will probably be selling a few homes. The banks and grocery stores will get more clients. Restaurants will have more business well you see where I am going with this. The statement that all these jobs will go out to out of state workers is just crazy. First of all how many professionals are left out there. Every other state has opened casinos all around us. Seems to me they will have to do some training to get good help. Also if you were really a good professional in the casino business wouldn't you be in Vegas, or St. Marrten somewhere with better weather than Cleveland Ohio. So the claim that it won't help us is just wrong. Then there is the moral issue. Gambling is dangerous and a sickness. Do you really believe that people who have this problem aren't doing it because we don't have a Casino? Do you really believe that we are drug and crime free because we don't have a casino? Do you really think we don't have prostitution? Come on get real!!! The thing that bothers me in this bill is that the revenues from gambling won't go the city or state. I understand that to encourage new growth we have to give a little. I understand that all these workers will be paying taxes and boosting our economy. We need a Casino in the Flats! They have the Green light to get started with the development. Along with the Medical Mart and Convention Center we may have a shot at an economic turn around. If you have been to Windsor or Detroit you will see that the only thing going is the Casinos. Well we have theaters, the Rock Hall of Fame the Science Center. Wonderful museums and a botanical garden that is absolutely beautiful. We have Fabulous restaurants and neat little sections of town like Tremont, Little Italy to name a few. All this with a lake view!!Come on Cleveland so what if every tax dollar doesn't go to the City and State , so what is some people move to Ohio because of this. Lets vote for Growth and change that can make a difference for all of us!

My Rant about health care

2009-09-01T17:15:00.000-04:00

Recently if you read my blog you will know that I had the opportunity to experience our health care system in action. I went to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack. The doctors decided to "ADMIT" me overnight for observation. I have highlighted the word admit because it is wrong. They commit you. Once they do this you can not leave on your own free will. They threaten you with your insurance company telling you that they will not cover your bill if you leave without getting "released" from the doctor. With that in mind, that is how the system starts to treat you. You are no longer a person with rights. Any rights for that matter. They will poke and prod you all night and order whatever tests that they can. Now take the same person with out health care. Chances are they would take a blood test to evaluate the levels of whatever it is they look for I think enzymes and release them once they see the blood levels aren't jumping with bad enzymes. Why I am writing about this months after this experience? This big fight regarding health care is insane! No one is saying what really needs to be said!! The price of health care has gotten out of control in this country. My one night stay in the hospital billed out to a little over $10,000.00. That is insane!! The hospital that billed this is "non profit" I have never seen a more profitable non profit in all my life! Then I went for a follow up stress test. Between the observation (I saw the guy once when he let me out) Echocardiograph and stress test that bill came to over $1500.00 of which I had to pay $230.22. My total patient cost was around $2000.00. I have insurance!!! This is the problem. I am afraid to make appointments to go to the doctor for "well" visits.I think of insurance kind of like a car insurance if I get too many tickets or have and accident or two then my rate goes up. I can barely afford my rate now. Let alone the deductible payments. To top that off can anyone understand the billings that they send you? I went to see my regular doctor who I see maybe once every two or three years. Thought I should follow up. The bill that came in the mail said she charged $330.00 for that visit! The insurance company paid $169.69 of it. I paid $25.00 when I got to the appointment. Somehow $133.22 is not charged because I went to the right provider! Once she sent me for a test and I went to where she asked me to go and it was the wrong provider! I had to pay out of my pocket $800.00. Not only is it too expensive but it is too confusing!! If I had my health care paid for me and my deductible was nothing I wouldn't understand what all the fuss is about either. I am a middle class hard working self employed citizen that at any minute could be put into bankruptcy if I get a catastrophic illness! Why don't we hear that costs are out of control and Americans have the right to basic health care. Who are these people that are against trying to fix a system that has gotten so far out of whack? I've talked with Canadians and they don't complain about their health care. We do!

In the trenches look at the current Market

2009-08-05T16:24:00.000-04:00

The 8k stimulus at first appeared to be doing just what is was supposed to do. I was so busy running as fast as I could to sell as many houses as I could while the going was good. I don't feel like the stimulus has done what it set out to do. It was a quick flash in the pan stimulus. The market has settled back down. Homes are still selling but the hot market is anything under 140k. If your home is priced above 140k it has to be the best on the market in its price range, or have some other outside factor like special location,amenities,design etc.The problem is the stimulus was supposed to trickle up. Get the rest of the market moving. It has in some respect but not enough and not enough to take off on its own. The lending environment is tightening. Commercial loans are almost extinct. The seller has to be giving away a golden goose for the bank to lend on it and if they do lend on it, It won't be on very good terms. You will also need a very large down payment. Cash is king in the commercial sector. The problem is the sellers still don't realize just how hard it is to finance a commercial property right now. There are several great loans out there for first time home buyers. If a buyer has good credit and verifiable income they can even qualify for a few zero down programs. Yes that's right zero down is still out there for a chosen few who have stellar credit and very verifiable income.

I think as the lending market tightens it is going to get uglier out here. City revenues are down 30% because of lower property values and lost income tax. Cities are looking for money and trying to shake you down for taxes even if you don't owe it. I have had this happen so far myself. I recently moved my office to Lakewood from Rocky River. Lakewood is trying to get me to pay taxes for 2008. My office didn't move until 2009. My accountant has written three letters so far. They came up with some figure of what I owe. I have no idea where they came up with this number! My accountant said they are going after everyone trying to shake as much money out of people as they can. This tells me we are in for a very hostile few years with the government. I have always taught my children that you should always pay your taxes. The government is the worst entity to owe money to. The government can go into your bank account and take your money. It can freeze your assets and garnish wages. You are better off owing the local loan shark than our government.

Now we are stimulating the car industry with cash for clunkers. I fear it will be the same thing a false economic growth. There are reports out there about the market getting better. These reports are from sales that happened two months ago. In two months we will see it all fell back down again. Now this car thing will be the same. The good part is everyone in that industry will get a reprieve like we did in the real estate industry. I was able to pay off a lot of debt from the last good run. So hopefully the people who are connected to the car industry can do the same.I am thankful for the last band aid in the real estate industry. Most of us were on the brink! I don't believe that these give aways are going to save us. We need some real industry with jobs attached to get the economy moving. Until we start putting people to work all the fake money give aways won't do anything more than a band aid affect. I hope that this electric car thing will help in creating a industry that can help add jobs and create a product that is in need and easily marketable. If they keep the price point where they say they will it should do just that. It is almost like Ford and the assembly lines all over again. The idea of making the car more affordable. Between insurance and gas onwing a car has become just a dream to a lot of hard working people out there. My son gave up a car (well they took it because of parking tickets downtown) 3 years ago. He rides his bike 7 miles to work and 7 miles home. I worry about him because he works downtown late into the night. He is saving for a car and and has hope to own one by next year.

Day 5 end of trip

2009-07-27T08:33:00.000-04:00

I can't believe we got all that stuff on the bike! We packed up and drove to Niagara on the Falls. We went to the old Casino. The guard at the parking garage let us park by his booth and we have locks for the cases. Jacks new favorite machine is the penny and nickel. You bet $1.50 to $3.00 each time. He really kept winning but only $20.00 at a time. Better than losing! We had lunch at Monticellos right behind the old Casino and it is one of those old restaurants that have weathered time. Frank Sinatra music playing good menu with a New Orleans accent. We were the only ones there. Dave the waiter was great. Jack got a roast beef Po Boy. I had a salad. I took a bite of Jacks sandwich and it was soo good! We went to the Harley store and I got a great sweat shirt. We probably stayed at The Falls a little too long . We got started for Geneva on The Lake at 3pm. We arrived around 6pm. I was exhausted! We had to unpack the bike. At a gas station stop Jack suggested we get out that damned GPS. I refused. He said do you know where the next Hotel is . I said no, we'll find it. Sure enough there were signs everywhere we drove right to it. If we had used that damn GPS thing we probably would have arrived at 8pm. I knew the minute we pulled up to the New Lodge at Geneva I had made a mistake. This is a family oriented place. Nothing wrong with that when you have family but when you are two 50 years olds coming off a bike and having stayed at the Lap of luxury in a Serene Tranquil setting like the Oban Inn, the last thing I want is a circus.This was a big atmosphere adjustment! We got checked in right away and our room had 5 kids and two adults across the hall and next to us. I hoped that they would be to worn out and go to sleep. It was fine until 3am. My room didn't have any shampoo. I was supposed to meet some of Jacks friends and here I am all haggard with no shampoo. I did my best. I was a little cranky at this point. The friend is Kates' best friend that is Jacks deceased wife. I really want her to like me. I was a little nervous. My sister Cheryl called and i told her about meeting Mary. she warned me not to drink too much wine. God knows I might say something wrong! Thanks for the encouragement! In my family I take after my mother who had a knack for saying just the wrong thing at the wrong time. My friends are used to it and sometimes even a little amuzed by it. We went down for diner and decided to sit at the bar. Grown up area! The bartender was great. The poor guy tried to take good care of us but the food service was not great. Jack got his burger about 10 minutes before I got my order. I tasted his burger ans spit it out! It tasted like sawdust. I'm like his taste test canary. This has happened before. He'll just add more ketchup and then wonder why he has stomach ache. Now he lets me taste it and sure enough not good. The manager said this was not the first complaint today and took it off the check. We split my pasta diner it was great. Jacks friends Mary and David came right when we finished diner. They have three kids. Two girls 8 and 2 and a little boy 3years old. They liked the bike. They were very nice and we had a good time. They told us of some of their friends that are dong the Lake Erie thing on real bikes! Back packing all their stuff.
Camping when they need too. Wow, and they are at their last leg of their trip too. They started out last Saturday and were in Toledo last night planning to be back in Euclid today or tomorrow. I thought I was doing great on the back of a motorcycle. This girl who just rode over 600 miles on a bicycle in 8 days get a trophy of some sorts. I think the guy should marry her right on the spot. I mean how many women are going to do that! Back to Geneva on the Lake Lodge. If you look at the pictures it kind of looks like a prison from the outside. Our room was clean and large. We had a view of the pool and the lake. It was funny to notice that the headboard was bolted to the wall. The room did not provide real glassware. It had Styrofoam cups for coffee with a machine and plastic glasses. We went from luxury to just okay accommodations. The bar had Labatts for Jack. He is not a big drinker he'll have one or two beers after riding all day. It is just nice when he gets to have what he likes. Now we have to figure out how to get all this stuff packed back on the bike again. It is only 50 miles home so this will be nothing.

Niagara on The Lake Day 4

2009-07-26T08:20:00.000-04:00

With the damn GPS safely locked in the safe we planned our day the old fashioned way. The goal was to relax and rest today. After a very healthy breakfast of fruit, yogurt and pastry we set out for the Harley store. It was a really pretty ride to the store and interesting location. I lost my sunglasses so we had to buy a new pair. Then we found a winery with a restaurant and cooking school. Strewn Winery. We had lunch there. The setting wasn't as pretty as the last place and the wine wasn't as good. The food was excellent but Jack was busy through most of the lunch working out a repair on one of the rental properties back home.Thank God for friends you can count on that are in the trades. Major plumbing problem so we got in touch with Lou. He came right out and fixed everything so we could continue to enjoy our trip. Got back to the hotel and rested until it ws Spa time. Massages and steam room and a natural spring hot tub were delightful.That wonderful pedicure that cost me a fortune didn't last long. My boots ruined the paint on my big toes. Rested up and had a super diner here at the hotel. Walked around Niagara and finally found a bar with Labatts for Jack and Glenlivet scotch for me. I am kind of tired of the wine for now. Would like some Australian Shiraz or California Chardonnay. Last night we tried to have diner at Prince of Wales Hotel. It is a stuffy place with a high end attitude. I love a good chef so I'll put up with it.Jack and I dressed nice. I had on a dress, he had a dress shirt. Well the girl said it will be a few minutes so we said we would wait at the bar. About 30 minutes go by and I watch her sit a dozen or so people. I asked Jack to see if she forgot us. When he approached her she did not recognize him or apologize for the mix up. She was down right unpleasant. He came back and told me what happened. So we decided our money wasn't good enough for them and got up to leave. We went up to this hostess to tell her why we were leaving and again she had no idea who Jack was. Now he is a really big guy. You don't forget him easily. This made Jack a little mad and of course he felt disappointed because I had looked forward to dining there. He asked to speak to the manager. He was the Sommilar (wine stewart). He tried to seat us right away but by this time we didn't want to dine there. There was another couple trying to eat there and the air head hostess told them it would be a few minutes and to take a seat in the lobby. I told them they should stand right there because she would forget about them and that the people who actually got a seat did the same. I have been getting emails from this Vintage hotel line for years. After this experience I won't be returning. The Hotel Oban Inn that we stayed at was wonderful. The rooms were small but lush. I have to say I think Canadians think a double bed is a Queen! The spa was great all the service providers were absolutely great! The rest of the guests weren't real sure about us with the Harley. Funny how people think! We are ready to get back on the road and head for Geneva. Rain is looming and I am sure it will be an adventure!

Ingersoll to Niagara on The Lake Day 3

2009-07-25T10:29:00.000-04:00

Before we started out today I suggested a route from the map. You know the old fashioned way to travel. We agreed on a route and set out.We took the highway for half the route. Hamilton was the destination and then we were to get off and ride the road along the lake again This time it was Ontario Lake. Well we got off in Hamilton and sat in a parking lot playing with that damn GPS. I finally said put that damn thing away. We always do fine traveling without that damn thing it is just spoiling our time. I said lets just head South and East because that is the way we are supposed to go. Lets just head in that direction and see what happens like the old days before that damn GPS. Well it worked out just fine we came up to a Travel Center I went in found out where the Harley stores are and where we could have a nice lunch at a gourmet winery. We took the wine route from this point on, to hell with the lake! It was beautiful, lots of neat and quaint spots. We found the winery it was called The Kitchen House Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery. We went into this old brick house and were seated out on the patio.Now this is vacation. To hell with that damn GPS! I ordered a heavy oaked Chardonnay and it was just fabulous! Jack got a Martini but only one. He likes Labatt Blue Light and Canadian beer. Before we left Jack said this is great I can get all the Labatts I want in Canada. They are cutting it out of a lot of bars in Cleveland. Well even in Canada Jack can't get his Labatts!
Her ordered a pork tenderloin with sweet peas on top of a blue cheese crusted bread surrounded by roasted cherries grown right there on sight. He moaned with every bite. I am definitely educating his palate! I ordered Salmon on top of mashed potatoes in a bur blanc butter sauce with caramelized cauliflower. Wonderful! This is what vacation is all about! Then we set out for Niagara on The Lake we are to stay at Oban Inn & Spa. We have been so prepared for rain through this whole trip. After that exceptional lunch followed by cappuccino we let our guard down and we got drenched!
After the soaking we made it to the Inn and got right into our room. Everyone was very nice. This is an artsy crowd and the Harley look is a bit upsetting to them.Brings the rebel right out in me! Especially when Jacks shirt says "There are no Rules!

Windsor to Ingersoll Day 2

2009-07-25T10:18:00.001-04:00

Windsor to Ingersoll Day 2

Well we have been pretty lucky. We have dodged the rain everyday so far. We had a rough day today. Jack bought this GPS thing to hook on the bike. Our plan was to drive route 3 along the lake to St Thomas then go North to Ingersoll. First we thought we would go to a UPS store and mail our leathers back home. They take too much room and we realized we will not need them. This was a big mistake because it took us away from our plan. It rained a little but we were prepared. We could not find the UPS store so we set out for the lake. The damned GPS fought with us all day. We put 350 miles on the bike and got nowhere. I finally said the hell with the scenic route lets take the highway and get to our destination. It was a really tough ride. We were tired and the bike is heavy with all the luggage. I had high expectations for the Elm Hurst Inn. We have a Queen bed with a big Jacuzzi waiting for us. The place looked a bit run down. They checked us right in and gave us really big brass keys. They had knights of armor in the hallways and it looked like a big sandstone castle. They put us in the basement! No window just glass block. The Jacuzzi was big but the room didn’t measure up to Caesars! We were a little spoiled there. We showered and dressed for diner. It was a quaint dining room with other couples. The food was good and the service was excellent. After the long day fighting with the GPS the Jacuzzi was inviting. Jack fell asleep in it. He is a big guy and I was worried about how I was going to get him out of it. I should of let him sleep there. The bed was really a double bed and it was too soft and lumpy. It was really quiet but we both woke with back aches from the lousy mattress. Breakfast was included. We walked around the grounds and Jack went back 20 miles to London to get more Harley shirts and I stayed for a magnificent pedicure. When I got the bill I realized why it was such a great pedicure it cost $62.00!! The place was little Hokey but it had a personality. Everyone was very nice. Lots of people have weddings there. It was kind of weird because it felt like we were the only people there wandering the hallways. It was a Thursday, I am sure it lights up on the weekends. On to Niagara on the Lake.

Windsor Ontario at Ceasars

2009-07-23T08:27:00.000-04:00

Well we didn't need any sun screen! Jack being the engineer that he is had the weather all mapped out so we left for Canada at 9am. Got all the gear packed onto he bike and started out. ten miles into the ride we had to stop and readjust the baggage. We were stopped at Lorain Park and this little old man came up to us admiring the bike. He said he has been riding for 30 years and it is getting too hard for him now. He has a "83" Harley. He was also checking me out which was a little creepy but he was cute with the strangest pair of sun glasses. Wish I had gotten a picture. We made good time and by Sandusky had to put the rain gear on. Jack looks like a clown in his rain pants! (see picture above)We got to the Hotel about 2pm and everyone was great. The bellboys, the front desk and the room has a fantastic view. We lost/won money in the Casino, had a great diner and on the way back to the room we got to share the elevator with Micheal Bolton and his bodyguard. Michael looked old and tired skinny with grey hair and a horse face. He was very self involved and didn't look at us.I think he was angry about something. The bodyguard had a cheap suit on and he was one of those heavy set Asians with long braided hair. I was pretty happy to find out that we were staying on a higher floor than he was, made me feel a little special. Anyway it is over cast and we are waiting the rain out to start our journey to Ingersoll Ontario. We are staying at a beautiful resort called Elm Hurst. We are taking the long way up rte 3 along the lake and then up from
St Thomas to the hotel. We over packed of course and are trying to figure out how to get our leather coats home so we have more room for Jack to buy Harley shirts! This time if we run into any crazy old men I am going to take their picture.

Trip around Lake Erie

2009-07-18T09:42:00.000-04:00

Okay so I'm going to show you another side of myself. Yes at 50 I have joined the growing midlife crisis Harley crowd. Jack bought his motorcycle 2 years ago and we have been having a lot of fun riding around and going on short day trips. The great thing is he has this crazy thing for Harley shops. Where ever we go he has to go to the Harley shop and buy a T shirt. From the beginning he said anything I need to do with the Harley he will buy it for me! Good deal! So every time we go into a Harley store I get to go shopping. I have not taken advantage of this too badly. Got some great boots! Anyway we are planning this trip around Lake Erie. All this time of living here, I have never thought about driving around it. Of course he is traveling with the luxury queen so you know we won't be camping. I thought I would write about the trip as we go around the lake. We leave Wednesday and our first stop is Windsor Ontario. We are going to stay at the Caesars Casino resort. Sometimes when we check into a hotel all bikered up they don't react so well. Once a little girl refused to get on the elevator with us! We don't even have any tattoos!I guess the wind blown look is enough. So keep checking back I will keep you posted on this adventure! Right now I have to figure out how to pack 6 days worth of clothes in a saddle bag the size of a purse!

Update on Real Estate Financing

2009-07-17T11:36:00.000-04:00

It is the old Chicken or the Egg dilemma, Catch 22. We are faced with a Real Estate crisis comparable to the Great Depression of the "30's" . So what does the Fed do but tighten all the loan products out there. They have put harder rules out to stop all these bad loans. The problem is common sense has gone right out the door with it.
Getting a commercial loan is like finding gold in the mountains. This is so stupid, because we have all these foreclosed homes that could become investments and retirement vehicles for those who still have a job. There are no investor loans out there that don't rob you blind. The banks that are giving investor or commercial loans want "A" property. New development. So what happens to all this foreclosed property? If you don't have cash you can't buy. I would love to take out my 401 k, whats left of it any way and invest it in one of these bank owned foreclosures. My goal would be to pay it off in the next ten years so that I might have a chance to retire and use the rental income to live on. The old days if you had 20 to 25% down on an investment property good credit,and a relationship with the bank you could get a loan on that property based on the income flow of the property. I just had a bank turn down a perfectly good loan because the bank decided they didn't like the property. The buyers had excellent credit and income. The property brought in more than three times the amount of the loan payment, the buyers have other income property, but no they turned it down 6 weeks after it sat on the banker desk! The terms were horrible. Either they were willing to give a 6.5% deal adjusted every three years amortized over 20 years but only a 15 year commitment with nasty pre payment penalties or a 4.25% one year adjustable with no pre payment penalties amortized over 20 year with only a 10 year commitment. Now I know some banks got burned,but the loans they were doing had no common sense. People with sketchy credit and unverified income got low down payment loans with nasty ARM adjustments. I am no rocket scientist but it seems to me that if we want to heal this housing crisis we need to put some loan packages together that are targeted toward getting rid of inventory. We can couple this with an incentive to buy the neighborhood foreclosure and use your IRA to fund it. This investment then becomes another investment tool for the future of the buyer.This will help fix the next crisis of a bunch of aging baby boomers with no income to support themselves in their golden years. Maybe we need to speak up and start a grass roots campaign before this crisis gets out of hand. If you can't finance these properties the values will continue to fall.
If you are going to buy one of these to live in you can get an FHA 203 k loan at 3% down and if you qualify you can get a 2% grant from OHFA so that you only need 1% to buy and then with the 203 k loan you can finance the repairs into the original loan. This avoids second mortgages and works extremely well. They should have this package for the investor but require 20% down. I feel if someone has shown good credit and the skill of owning rental property they should be able to qualify for an FHA 203 k investor loan. The problem is there isn't one. Maybe if we write our congressman and use the term FHA 203 K investor loan long enough they will make it happen.Kind of like putting the cart before the horse!

Cleveland City workers freedom to move elsewhere

2009-06-14T11:08:00.000-04:00

I suppose if I have a Cleveland Real Estate Blog I should put my two cents in on the latest news regarding city employees having the right to live where they choose. Just that sentence alone puts it kind of in perspective in my book. Isn't that the idea of being an American and living in The United States? The right to live where you want to? The reality is that you probably want to live somewhere else but you can only aspire to live on the lake or in San Francisco etc. That is what our country is made of Aspirations, Goals, and Dreams. The consensus is that now that the city workers some 8000 I hear can move anywhere they would like to, the city might implode! Well out of my last five sales in Cleveland on one of them "had to live in the city". The family that "had to live in the city " would of bought there anyway. They are members of a church in a community of people that draws them there. The other four sales three of them were in the medical field and they wanted to be closer to work and save on the extra taxes you pay when you work outside the city you live in. The fourth one just happened to find the house he liked best in Cleveland. No matter what you say or how you spin it. You still get a lot for your money in the city. Cleveland has pocket neighborhoods some stronger than others. Westpark,Tremont,Old Brooklyn and Ohio City are examples of areas that continue to thrive. When you travel to different cities in other towns I have found that the successful ones have these little niche places. China Town and Little Italy (which we have)can be found in New York,Toronto, and even Detroit Michigan. Taking our common interests and letting them shine attracts more attention,business and economic development. Whether it is culture,art, or religion focusing on what makes an area tick is what will keep these communities strong. Rules to make people live in certain locations may have an small impact on value but I believe it will even out. As long as you get more bang for your buck people are still going to live in the City.(picture by Hector M. Vega)

The state of our Health Care

2009-05-25T09:14:00.001-04:00

I recently had the opportunity to see first hand how our medical system is doing.
Since the first time buyer market has been so alive I am running as fast as I can trying to be everything to all and get every possible sale. We don't know what the future holds here in Ohio . Well I guess I over did it a bit. About a week ago I had chest pains. So I took and aspirin and a very nice glass of scotch and settled into a nice hot bath. This worked very well. Then a week later I had the same feeling chest pains anxiety, sweaty shaky feeling. I just read an article in More magazine (magazine for 40 an up)about women and heart attacks and how the symptoms are tricky. Jack my fiance and Lynn my girlfriend who works for the clinic talked me into driving to the hospital. I was really scared. I started to cry. I called me oldest son just in case he was around. When he answered the phone (which is rare) My little voice came out. You now when you try to talk normal and you sound pathetic! He was at work and said he would be right there. Of course I told Jack to stay at work because we don't want him to lose his job. Sometimes when I look back at the way I think I find it strange. Amazing my loved ones hang in there with me.
Once I got to the hospital I kind of felt stupid. Here I am dressed for work in a skirt and high heels. When I went to park they asked me why I was there . To get past the guard arm and into the parking lot I had to tell the guard that I am bringing myself to the emergency room. That was just weird. If it was someone else who said I AM TAKING HER TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM! It just seems okay then. I get in there and have to wait for triage. I am standing there thinking I might faint! If I do will I split my head open too! Finally someone comes out of the door to talk with a man and I say excuse me I think I am having a heart attack!
She says come with me so I follow her her thinking this is strange. My legs are shaky, I am a nervous wreck and I think I might cry. She drops me in front of a desk of nurses and doctors and says to them can you take this she thinks she is having a heart attack. One guy says follow me. So I do and my legs are still there they haven't gone out from under me yet. I am shaking but no one really seems to care. He gets to a room and he says to me to wait outside he needs to clean it up. Great. No one offers a chair. I am still shaking and my chest feels tighter and I am now crying
My phone is ringing Oh, I have a business call, I let it go to voice mail. In fact I just turn it off at this point.I am feeling like I might just sit on the floor right there in the emergency room, high heels skirt and all. I am a germ Phoebe though and the thought of what is on that floor keeps my head busy enough to keep me standing. Finally they put me in the room and I sit down with relief that I am not going to crash down on the floor. These people act like I know my part here. Finally this guy says we need you to take off you shirt and bra, we have to hook you up. Oh okay and that's when their little party started! I am a real scared cat when it comes to needles. Before I know it I have a needle in one arm electrodes all over me. They had me aspirin. Give me Nitro. Shoot my belly with something that really hurts. I have oxygen. My blood pressure is very very high. They keep asking questions about is this normal for me. Of course not!My son gets there and shortly after that Jack arrives. They are concerned. It takes a few hours to get me blood pressure down. I have my blood drawn every three hours always from a different source. They admit me it takes hours to get a room. I am going to share a room with a ninety year old lady. She looks very nice and excited about the company. Oh no this isn't good at all. They tell me they are going to keep me for observation.I tell them that's okay I can go now I feel fine. The tell me that I am not allowed to leave on my own free will. I have been admitted which really means committed. I have lost all free will. They poke and prod and draw blood. The room next door sounds as though there is a party going on. People talk in loud voices at 2 am nobody is allowed to sleep. What happened to those lovely nuns who tiptoed down the hallway shushing people to be quiet and the gentle touch of a caring person. I am a human pin cushion. I haven't had a drink of water,or food for over twelve hours. Jack tells me I am not a good patient. He gets me a Walkman so I can plug my ears and not appear to be unfriendly. he brings me a book and recharges my phone/blackberry. What a wonderful man I have found! He takes really good care of me. Now it is my goal to get out of there. They schedule me for a Sono gram of my heart. Finally it is my turn for this test. I pass with flying colors. I talk to this very charming heart specialist with a beautiful accent. I tell him that I liked my scotch treatment a lot better then his. He laughs and schedules me for an out patient stress test and thankfully releases me from that mad house. The sweet roommate of mine is sad to see me leave as I can't get out of there fast enough. I get home and sleep until the next day. This whole time I have manged to do business via blackberry. The first day back I am up and running like a hamster on the wheel all over again. Lucky for me Memorial Day is coming and I can get a little break! Never once while I was in that hospital did anyone ask me my preference of treatment. They didn't care if I was a vegetarian or if I wanted holistic care. It was drug upon drug upon drug. The nurses would show up and administer what the doctor told them. The doctor spoke to me maybe 3 minutes total once I was admitted. The emergency room nurses and doctors seemed more human to me. The emergency staff talked to me like I am a person. I will never go to the hospital again unless I am carried in or kicking and screaming. That is an ordeal that I hope I am lucky enough to avoid. There needs to be changes to this system beyond billing and giving available care. We need to bring some peace and comfort through those doors. I felt like I was trapped in a horrible medical experiment. It is very clear to me that these nurses are overworked. The stress on their faces were apparent. There was a big management meeting the day I was there and everyone was talking about it. I think they have too many Chiefs and not enough Indians. Everyone seemed fearful of losing their jobs. I gotta say the place was packed they certainly were working at full capacity from my standpoint. Somethings gotta give. Unless you are a big money donor to the hospital the care is comparable to flying coach. They squeeze as many in, offer few choices and cut the staff to bare bones. Not my idea a quality care!

Spring Market

2009-05-13T08:47:00.000-04:00

As soon as The Obama $8k credit was issued the market thawed. I have been running seven days a week showing houses like it was 1985!! Thank you I am thrilled to be working hard again and selling property. It is still a tough market. The prices are still down and the homes that sell are either a rock bottom price fixer upper or the best priced and in the best condition. This goes across the board. All neighborhoods and prices ranges. The buyers out there wants a deal. If you find yourself thinking about selling the sooner you realize that you are going to take a hit on your price and make it up on the other end the faster you will get your home sold. I have seen pristine homes priced what seemed to be fair just sit there. If you are listed for sale and you are not getting showings the market is telling you that you are priced too high. I recently got engaged. My Fiance is getting ready to list his house. We have redecorated every room in the house. Added new carpet and a new roof. 10k later we are ready to put it up. Some guys don't get this( I'm lucky Mr Right got it) so I always tell them if you were going to sell a car what would you do? The first thing they say is clean it and shine it up. Well that is what you have to do to sell a house too. Remember when your house is on the market you are showing it, living in it is what you do when you are not showing it!

Stimulus plan and the current real estate market

2009-03-03T09:05:00.000-05:00

I am feeling optimistic for the first time in two years. Since Obama passed the stimulus plan I have been showing houses like the old days! I am working a 7 day work week happily. Whether you agree with this new president or this stimulus plan, I have to admit my phone is ringing. I feel like the market is picking up and that I may actually have a good year. This feels so much better than the downward spiral my business was experiencing. The good news is that all the pencil sharpening I have done will help expedite my recovery.

I don't know if the worst is over yet. I do know that I have seen some changes in the real estate industry since this downturn began. Gone are the days when an agent would run a contract to close it at midnight. Brokers opens that used to be packed with agents looking to see the latest listings, have become an outdated method of selling. Along with Thank Goodness! Open houses. Yes, you still can get a few buyers through and yes you can still sell a house through an open house. Open houses also have a bad side in that it invites complete strangers into your home to wander through, and depending how busy it is sometimes unattended. If the home is vacant it puts the agent in danger as we have just seen two attacks on Realtors in the recent news. The Internet has made it easier to view listings on line helping to eliminate a lot of homes that just would not do.

The biggest change is the way the agents are doing business. They have also lost that urgency. It used to be you would write a contract and get it presented usually in person. Now you fax it off or email it to the listing agent and wait to hear the outcome. With the invent of cellphones, email,text messaging,scanning the real estate agent can handle the contracts anywhere. In the past I have missed my sons second birthday party, Left a dinner party or a picnic, that I was giving, cancelled a date with friends all just to close a deal. Because when that buyer decided to write an offer it wasn't closed until delivery. Delivery meant that like superman I would drive through a snow storm to get an initial on a contract(which I have done).No wonder I've been divorced twice! Now we simply email it off and fax it forward. This is good news.

With all this technology we have also gotten some lazy Realtors out there. This past weekend I was denied 5 showings! With all the news about how hard it is to sell a house in this market you would think that you would at least be flexible about getting people in to see your home. I talked with several other agents and they have complained about the same thing. Some of these homes have been on the market for over 300 days. Maybe they are just tired of showing it. One was removing wallpaper so we rescheduled. There are still some many houses on the market that you don't always get a second chance. If I try to show it a second time and they can't accommodate me I just take it off the list. One agent I talked with said, oh well my buyers wrote on something this weekend(lucky her) so whoever denied a showing lost out.

There have been big changes over the last ten years. I think that this market has made me a stronger agent. The thought of a seller having to write a check at closing to get their home sold used to be unfathomable. After losing money myself and taking the hit I can only sympathize. It just is, what it is! I have watched people pay off their credit cards with the equity of their home and live large off the equity and expect to sell with no consequence. I find myself saying frequently I am no magician! Hopefully this stimulus will get buyers not only out there but buying. That will help get things moving such as the banker and the title company, the movers and the carpet industry. When people buy new homes thry spend more money in decorating, and landscaping ect. Hopefully this will employ more people which starts the cycle moving round and round instead of plunging further down. I am no economist. I do believe if people are buying homes, that means people are spending money on other things related to their home purchase.
I'd love to hear your comments! Sandymaline@gmail.com

Our Political system

2009-02-17T09:29:00.000-05:00

Is everybody crazy out there? I am so appalled by the corporate and political greed. There is no shame in what we used to call white collar crime. Not only have these large corporations robbed their companies blind but it as if they are raising the bar on white collar crime. They even have the audacity to ask our government to bail them out!! Then we vote in a new president whose entire campaign was around stimulating the jobs of the middle class. The republicans stood on the podium and took pieces and parts of the bill and made jokes about it. For instance there was some money appropriated toward wetlands in California. Part of this project was to get a certain rodent that is good for that environment back to a healthy number. This senator (I don't remember which one) called it a 3 billion dollar bill for rodents! That is not what it was but if you are a senator and don't feel like reading the 1000 page bill all through the night you might have believed him. This is not fair or healthy politics. I would hope that they would sit down and go over line by line of this 1000 page bill together and work out what is best for all of us. Instead they stood on podiums and picked things apart so that the truth and the problems were too hard to see. I don't believe this is what our fore fathers had in mind. I believe when Barack Obama talked about partisanship he meant working together. This wasn't working together on either side. How can you work with someone when they are taking pieces and parts of a bill and making a mockery of it. Maybe it is time for the common man to start having the opportunity to hear all these bills that are to be passed by the government. It is the computer age! Why can't we put a copy of this bill in front of the senate out there for all to read. Why can't we update it as things are negotiated. Why can't we cast an Internet vote about how we feel about these things. We are the ones paying for it after all! Let me know what you think! Sandymaline@gmail.com

My experience with prejudice

2008-11-05T14:49:00.000-05:00

There will be a positive impact against race and prejudice with the next President being the first black man to fill this role. My own experience with prejudice was in elementary school in the 60's. Back then your ethnic background your religious choice were what defined you. I am a mix of Polish,Dutch,and German. My mother was a rejected Catholic and my Dad a Methodist ( I thought). Turns out he was raised Lutheran but referred to himself as just spiritual. The reason I thought I was a Methodist is, my grandparents would take me to church once in a while. That church was a Methodist church at the corner of their street, so that is where I went. My family as it turns out were kind of ahead of everyone else in understanding that all the Christians were really in the same group or at least focused on the same goal! My mother was rejected from the Catholic church because she married a Lutheran. This had a huge impact on her and it carried over to the way she raised her three daughters. I was brought up to have a curiosity about all religions and view them as an outsider. My Catholic friends would take me to church. They would try to teach me their prayers. They always reminded me that "you know you are going to hell because you are not a Catholic". As a child that can really give you nightmares! Growing up in a primarily Irish/Italian Catholic neighborhood was to say the least a challenge on my self esteem. They were the majority while I was the minority. The most negative thing that I had going for me was that out of all three ethnic backgrounds somehow I was The Pollock in the neighborhood.I don't know how this happened because my name didn't end with "ski". Back then one of the first things people would ask you was what your ethnic background was, then what religion. I must of innocently answered the question to someone and it stuck. My mother was pure Polish. Whenever I would come home and tell her how the kids called me a Pollock she would say, be proud! We are good and strong people that have suffered great indignities. (sounds like the Jewish people,African Americans,Chinese ect.)Well everything changed for me in elementary school when the Italian Pope died and they elected to every ones surprise a Polish Pope. Even though I wasn't Catholic this meant so much to me. How can you pick on me for being Polish when the Pope is Polish I would say. I would say we are good people!I didn't even grow up with other Poles or speak the language and here I am speaking on their behalf. This Pope turned out to be a great leader. Thank God!! His leadership gave me self esteem and pride. My group had a place in this Society because we had one of us in a great leadership role. I wasn't less than the others or the dumb Pollack anymore. I was still going to hell but now I could do it with pride! I think about this and see Barack Obama as this same kind of leader for not only the black community, but all those that have felt less than because they aren't white. As time has gone on, my lack of religious affiliation isn't important anymore. I think Pope Paul did that too. He brought his brand of religion together with the other Christians. Most important, he also reached out to all the other religions beyond Christianity. He stood for people to be good to one another no matter what their views were.He stood for Humanity and civility. My school mates that picked on me didn't do this because they were exceptionally mean children . They did it because they didn't know any better. Raising the consciousness of how our actions have a negative impact no only on us but the people around us should be our priority. We stand for Freedom and Democracy, doesn't it begin here with simple humanitarianism! I have high hopes that Obama can do this too for our culture to make us one people as we should be. My experience is nothing of what the Black American has struggled through. They had to raise themselves from slavery over two hundred years of struggle. In 1863 when President Lincoln signed the Bill of Emancipation giving them freedom they rejoiced. Their rejoice came to an end as they were held down by lack of education,employment and the simple right to vote. I will never compare my simple ethnic and religious struggle to the plight of the Black American. This is a monumental moment for them. I do understand from my little experience with prejudice the pride that they are feeling. They have a great role model in Barack Obama along with many others like Colin Powell and Condolessa Rice. I hope this can be a new beginning in a more civilized America. With that said I will talk about being a women in a male society during to 60's and 70's another day. You can contact me at sandymaline@gmail.com

Political Excitement

2008-11-05T13:00:00.000-05:00

I can't remember an election that held so much excitement, enthusiasm and interest. My 23 year old son called me from Nevada at eleven o'clock (my time) with such excitement to tell me the news about the new President. His enthusiasm is just an example of what this election has done for the American public. My son was a voter but really didn't feel that his vote counted. This election brought hope and tears of joy and relief. After placing my vote I found myself getting all choked up as I left the voting booth. This is the first time in my life that I watched every debate and stayed up to watch the final vote and the speeches from the candidates. John McCain showed his best side as a hero full of grace in his speech last night. It takes a strong and dignified man of character to stand in front of the public and gracefully take defeat. I hope that in the coming year that Obama will find a position for John Mc Cain to help in our struggle to over come the obstacles ahead.
I had such fears for our future if Mr. Mc Cain was to be elected. Even though he has fought congress and the senate for change I still felt he stood for the "Old Guard". We need to make greed a thing to be ashamed of. The current culture in the white house seems to celebrate greed and deceit. I was afraid for women's rights with the Rowe versus Wade act. I fear too much religion in politics. It is going to take a lot of work on behalf of all of us to keep this momentum moving forward. It is time to stand up against corruption in all facets of our lives. I remember when I was a little girl and John Kennedy was president. I loved him. I remember when the president made a television announcement we all watched with great anticipation of what he had to say. This was on a black and white television with really poor reception by the way. As a six year old child I would listen to his speeches and repeat different slogans like "It is not what our country can do for us but what we can do for our country". I feel the same excitement now! I have hope that we can rebuild and make this the great country that we all love. I also like to the idea of not being afraid to criticize something about our country. That we should be in a constructive state of mind. The past few years you were afraid to speak out against certain things. I was even afraid to speak out loud that I was voting for Obama because "Old Guard" was so guarded and made you feel like a communist, socialist, or a liberal. I have to say I just couldn't take it anymore! My business has been trampled by the economy, my lifestyle diminished but most important my hopes and dreams had been shattered. I have new hope that maybe I will get to retire someday. That I might even pay off my bills and mortgage. That health care isn't out of reach for me. That my retirement account could come back to what it once was! I sell real estate for a living and have for the past 24 years. Hopefully the market will start to rebuild it self starting with one step at a time. At least we are moving forward now!! you can contact me at sandymaline@gmail.com

My trip out West with my 18 year old: Cleveland Ohio real estate, Politics

2008-09-26T10:54:00.000-04:00

My 18 year old graduated from high school this June. He decided to join his brother in Las Vegas while he is trying to figure out what he is going to do with his life. He bought himself a 1993 Cadillac De ville for $1800.00. It had 168,000 miles on it. We set out for Las Vegas from Cleveland Ohio. It was a very comfortable ride but expensive at every gas stop. We got as far as Evergreen Colorado before the radiator blew. Luckily I had one of those cool GPS gadgets that let me know where to closest repair shop and hotel were located.
We called AAA and within a half hour we were rescued from the mountain side highway where we broke down. The tow truck driver was wonderful and even dropped us off at the hotel after dropping our car at a service station that he recommended based on the mechanic. We had our car fixed at Big O Tire store in Evergreen, Colorado. I have to say they were wonderful. They fit us in and fixed the car in one day. We only had to stay over one night and were on our way the following day. Thank you Evergreen Colorado!

The reason I am writing this blog is on our way out west we stopped at a diner in Illinois. There was a young girl who was pregnant that was our waitress. She was having a conversation with another patron that seemed to be a regular. What was disturbing about their conversation was she had no idea that Hilary Clinton was not still running for office. The guy she was talking with told her that Hilary dropped out of the race and was now backing Barack Obama. She was very surprised! She said she was going to vote for Hilary anyway. What I found to be so disturbing is that no one had a clue of our basic political system. They were unaware that Hilary and Obama had a primary election and that Obama won! This is what is referred to as the dumbing down of America! I truly fear this coming election. If you watch Mc Cains advertisements they are focused on this group of somewhat illiterate people. Maybe we should have a test before you have the right to vote! Should everyone, even the illiterate really have this right. Don't you think that maybe this should be an earned right. something that you are not born with but have to pass a test of competence! Kind of like a drivers license but a voters license! By the way i am pro choice!

Uncle Sam's bailout of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac from the trenches;Cleveland Ohio realestate

2008-09-22T10:04:00.000-04:00

As a small broker in Cleveland Ohio my impression "from the trenches" of this latest government bail out is definitely a different perspective. What I saw in the industry before the Fannie Mae Freddie Mac bail out of the bank owned properties were selling for pennies on the dollar. It was like the wild wild west in real estate. A great big give a way! This had a huge effect on the regular market. The inner city and the first ring of suburbs are the ones that have suffered the most. High end markets are not feeling this as badly as our middle class properties. High end markets have suffered some losses in value but it appears that it is still moving along unlike the lessor priced properties. Why would someone buy a home on the resale market if it wasn't hugely discounted like many of these bank owned properties. The answer is few were. You could buy a double for 80k or less and put a few thousand dollars into it and end up with a huge equity savings. I have seen some of these bank owned single family homes in very good condition. You will see that they were on the market before the people lost their home. Then when the bank takes it over they put the property up for half the price. I have seen banks turn down offers on these properties only to turn around and put them up for far less than they would of made. I personally have been involved in three of these recently. The new buzz word in real estate is short sale. I have been doing short sales for 24 years. Sometimes you work out a deal but most of the time you get caught up in a bureaucratic web of who's on first base who's on second. Half of the people presently employed in the loss mitigation departments have no real estate background. They don't understand the dynamics of the industry. They just do what they are told and carry a huge work load. Since the bail out any bank owned property that was listed has had a really hard time getting answers on offers. I have had an offer in on one for over a week. Before the bail out anything in escrow seemed to be tied up. Now that the bail out occurred the properties that are in escrow are all getting cleared off the books and the deals appear to be set to close. All the brokers that I know who work the REO market are complaining that the listings are all dying out. Their sources of business continually keeps changing. Maybe this is a good thing! Maybe the slow down in the marketing of these bank owned properties will give the regular market a chance to catch up. I do know that "from the trenches" this last week made the phones stop ringing. It is the end of September and we have a long winter a head of us in Cleveland. Making a living in this continually declining environment has never been more challenging.

Rant on Community Development Programs

2008-07-24T15:28:00.000-04:00

The other day I had a client that I sold a home to in 1995 come into my office for advice on investing in real estate. A lot of agents would listen to this persons situation and figure how many homes they can sell them. This is what I call making a fast buck. I explained to this person the good and bad of owning rental property. Call me a Buzz kill but until you own it outright there really isn't much profit. You used to be able to count on inflation to help make the profit grow. By this I mean as value went up you could raise the rents and try to pay off your loan quicker or use that money as extra income. I own rental property and I haven't raised rents for 4 going on 5 years now. My taxes have gone up and the cost of repairs,services, gas, water and sewer have gone up. As I sat there I realized that this person has a great background in Human resources. I suggested starting a non profit community development program. My idea is that you get some government grants and funding, or find private benefactors to finance people in depressed areas of town. This community service would be like an old fashioned bank. The goal is to teach people how to purchase and own a home. It also would have programs on simple home repairs along with how to balance a check book and even open a checking acct.,write a check and avoid penalties. This service would also look to develop businesses in the area to support the neighborhood. A dry cleaner, florist, funeral home, grocery store, shoe repair, ect. Isn't this how banks got started? Isn't this how we started the American dream? The problem is there are all these community service organizations collecting funds to do just this but not delivering the goods. Yes a few people earn a paycheck and some people benefit. We need to revamp the system and make some huge changes and hold people accountable when they get these funds. All I see as a Realtor is a bunch of smoke and mirrors. Lets have a housing fair put a few homes on tour and serve lunch! We need a grass roots campaign that starts with educating those who want to live in a community and help build one. We have to start making opportunities for these people instead of just handing them a house or free rent. Everyone feels better when they have earned something and can be proud. There is an organization called Habitat for humanity. It gets a bunch of do gooders together to build a new home that they turn over to some lucky family. This is what I call a hand out. It is not teaching them how to survive.there is an old statement about teaching a man to fish.when you teach how to fish you teach him how to eat for life. Give him a fish and you only feed him for one day. We need to pull together as a community and start teaching the people in these lower valued communities how start being a part of a community with home ownershipb usiness, and pride. Cleveland magazine just had an article about beigna true suburbanite. You took a quiz and it was funny but it said a lot about values and neighbors. A great example of one man making a huge difference is Clint Williams who owns a small real estate company in Berea and Olmsted Falls. About 30 years ago before I got into real estate I went on a job interview to be a decorator. The man I met was Clint Williams if my memory is correct. I didn't know him or of him in any way. I was young and he was trying to explain to me his vision. I met him at his commercial development in Olmsted Falls. Back then it was a couple of old buildings. They didn't have anything but shells. They were kind of old looking like frontier land at an amusement park. I don't know if it was because I was young or if he just couldn't explain his vision to me but quite frankly I thought he was crazy. I left the interview not wanting the job and went on with my life. Many years later I got into real estate and again crossed paths with this man. Now I am not saying I like this person, we never could see eye to eye. He beat me out of a couple of sales because I was working in his area or neighborhood. The man was shrewd and and good business man. I never take getting beat out of a deal well so I can't say I like the guy, but I respect him. If I ran into him he wouldn't know who I am. My response to him has been to stay out of his way and kind of fly under the radar when operating business in his part of town. That was back when he listed and sold property. Now I think he is into developing commercial deals more. Back to how he is a good example of developing a community and making a profit too. He took what I thought was a bunch of ugly buildings and built a old western style outdoor market with cute little shops and restaurants some of which I have blogged about already. This one man created what I believe is the core of what makes Olmsted Falls charming and quaint. He was working in this town before anyone else thougth it was worth while. When I was new in the business he ruled. You couldn't compete with him on his turf. He has moved on to bigger things and is not such a formidable force now but he has left behind a community that he shaped and formed to be a viable community. He had a vision which I couldn't see 30 years ago but today I marvel at it. I remember that interview and how I thought he was crazy. I bet a lot of other people did too! I don't believe he did this because of great community spirit. I know from my meetings with him it was for profit. Good old fashioned American greed done the right way where everybody wins. Kind of like Legacy Village and Crocker Park but on a much smaller scale. This is what we need to do. Congress just passed a bill to give our community some funds for revitalization. We need to hold these people who get these funds responsible. I am tired of smoke and mirrors and bullshit. Maybe they should stop giving this money to non profits and start letting some dreams come true with old fashioned entrepreneurship.

Return visit to Quince in Olmsted Falls

2008-06-23T16:07:00.001-04:00

Jack and I went back to visit Quince this past Friday June 20,2008. Well I only get the plain dealer on Sundays so I was surprised to see how busy they were. I said to Jack do you think it is because of my blog! Of course it wasn't Quince was in the Friday Magazine that Friday. It was packed! We got a table on the second floor and I actually liked the atmosphere better up there. There is a bar with stools and the decorating is a little more comfortable. You could tell the staff was really working hard to keep up. I was a little worried that we might be in for a bad experience. I am delighted to say that the service was excellent. Gregg Korney the chefs parents were there helping out. They are not shy and you could tell that customer service was nothing new to them. His father was charming and his mother adorable. The poor parents were running up and down the steps making sure everything went smooth. Thanks to their helping hand it was seamless. The food came promptly. Jack ordered the steak special. It was seasoned to perfection and set on a cloud of garlic and horseradish mashed potatoes. I actually moaned out loud when I tasted his. I ordered chopped steak in a mushroom ragout and roasted vegetables,only eleven dollars! It was fabulous. The flavors were so satisfying like eating comfort food. We decided that this is one of our favorite restaurants for now. We are looking forward to our next Quince experience!

Sandusky Restaurant Find

2008-06-18T17:31:00.000-04:00

Recently I got to visit Sandusky Ohio, Okay I'll admit it I went there for bike week! Call it a mid-life crisis. Amongst the street fair of deepfried cheese, corn on the cob and elephant ears I found a jewel of a restaurant. It is Zinc Brassarie located at 142 Columbus off E Market. Right downtown. This precious little find had an excellent wine menu,try "Show" a great cabernet. Everything that came out of the kitchen looked soooo Good!The salads had a wonderful light but tasty dressing. Good bread with flavored butter. Dinner selections for every palette. You can tell the owners put extra care into everything that came out of the kitchen. The service was even great! The owners Audrey and Ceaser are really friendly. They met in Hyde park while going to Culinary school there. This is their dream to have a great little high end Bar restaurant. Thank goodness because Sandusky really needs this gem. After a tough day at Ceadar Point or one of the many fun attractions in Sandusky stop by for a nice relaxing dinner or lunch.

Mid June Activity Report Cleveland Ohio

2008-06-16T09:21:00.001-04:00

The real estate market took a slight slide the last few weeks. It is my opinion that the current gas prices are starting to take its toll on the general population. Showing activity is down. Even new listing activity is down. Nationally there was a slight spike in new construction prices. Again I think this is due to the gas prices and higher cost of materials. The spike in new construction prices isn't a sign of things looking up, maybe more bleak. In the beginning of the year I thought we were set for a rebound, this slight drop has me concerned that we are in for a far bigger set back then the economist predicted. The suburbs are stabilizing but the urban and first suburbs are feeling real pain in pricing. Maybe it is time for radical change. Maybe this Moral majority should step aside and let them build a few Casinos in Ohio. Redevelop our downtown lake front with some fancy Casinos and Hotels and shops. The flats could be a fabulous condo community with riverfront boat docks with restaurants.
Our goal should be to make Cleveland a convention stop. Gambling is the only way to compete with New Orleans,San Francisco,Orlando, and Hawaii, we have to utilize our assets. Then and only then will we start to see a real rebound.

Restaurant Review

2008-06-12T15:34:00.001-04:00

The Moosehead No 3 Hook and Ladder

OLmsted Falls,Ohio

The owners of The Moosehead located in Westlake,Ohio hit a home run with their new restaurant. They are located on Columbia where Columbia does a little turn. It is on the East side just before the tracks. They are located in the old firehouse and spent some money. The decor is just a cute as the Westlake Moosehead but this is fresh, new and larger (so you won't have to wait for a table). It has two bars and dining areas. Two outdoor patios. One that overlooks a wooded ravine and creek. The other overlooking downtown Olmsted Falls. The menu varies just a little bit from the old Moosehead. There are more Vegetarian choices for one thing. They have a deep fried Twinkies dessert. Great sandwiches and salads.

Upscale casual. The service people all dress in adorable costume. It is bright and friendly and I strongly recommend it. NO liquor license on Sunday
Another great restaurant is Quince

just across the street from the Hook and Ladder in the quaint Olmsted Falls

shopping area. The chef has been with some of the top places in town such as Sushi Rock,Velocity,and Giovanni's. This doesn't have a lot interior pizazz but the food makes up for it. The menu is exceptional and very creative. I had the seafood mac-n-cheese and it was fabulous. I couldn't come near to finishing it so I bought it home. My teenager polished it off and he doesn't even like seafood. My companion had the special strip steak with bacon and Gorgonzola. I have never seen a more generous serving of toppings. Wonderful!! The salad was light but tasty. I will put this on my list of favorites. Get off the beaten path and try Olmsted Falls for your next dinner out.

Not open on Sunday

The best time to buy in Cleveland Ohio

2008-06-10T12:19:00.000-04:00

Just posted a new article check it out

Is your home still a good investment?

2008-04-09T11:36:00.000-04:00

I sell real estate in Cleveland Ohio. We are in a declining market. That means values are going down. So what do you do if you are thinking of making a move? First of all some moves can't wait. If you are in the process of getting a divorce, settling an estate, faced with a relocation, etc.
The faster you get into reality of the present market and look at what the market is doing as compared to your property the faster you will see a sale pending sign in the yard. Homes are selling. The buyers are educated and armed with more information than ever because of the Internet. Gone are the days when some poor jerk happened into your open house and fell in love and purchased your home. Buyers look up your past history. I know when they are interested because they tell me what you bought your house for. They look at the neighborhood through websites like Realtor.com and Zillow. They can see what the average is for market time, sale price per sq ft, etc. for each neighborhood. Realtors are no longer the gatekeepers of information.
You have to be the best looking home and the best price. Price is the driver in this market. If you are trying to sell your home for what you think is a comfortable price then you are not priced right. The only clients that have a sold sign on the front lawn are the ones that sold for what they felt was a painful price. That is what happens in a declining market. If you are looking to purchase a new home and take advantage of this excellent opportunity to upgrade, than this is how your have to approach your move; 1.Realize that you are getting great price on your
purchase 2. Realize you have to give a good deal on your house. You are just trading assets. Hopefully, the new home purchase is in a more expensive, more stable area. When the market returns you will be fine. Decide which property you want to be riding on when the market starts to go back up. Realize the losses are larger the higher the value . You are going to have to ride this out where ever you are. You might as well take the opportunity to upgrade now instead of later. If you are happy with your home and aren't considering a move. Look at the foreclosure down the street from you and think about buying it for rental property. You can sell it when the market goes back up and in the mean time you have helped stabilize your own neighborhood.

Some good news in The Cleveland Real Estate Market

2008-04-06T12:13:00.000-04:00

I have never seen such opportunity to get into ownership as I have seen in this recent market. If you have ever dreamed of becoming a land baron this is the time to make your dreams a reality. If you have a stable income, good credit, some cash to work with and the ability to fix property it is time for you to get off the bench! The bank owned properties are selling for a substantially lower prices than normal resale properties. You have to be ready to replace torn out plumbing, update electrical and probably replace the furnace and hot water tank. Other than that some of these homes have really nice interiors. Years back when a bank owned property came on the market it was pretty beat up. With the pace of foreclosures and people just simply giving back their homes it has become and incredible opportunity for the wanna be investor. Some words of advise though, don't bite off more than you can handle. I have seen some really good people take on too many properties or extend themselves to far out just to find themselves in the same boat as the people they hoped to profit from. http://sandymaline.blogspot.com

Ohio officially designated as Declining Real Estate market

2008-04-04T10:50:00.000-04:00

As of April 1,2008 the State of Ohio has been labeled as a declining market. This is across the board for the whole state. I have been told that the banks are now considering your real estate property values are now 7% lower than they were last year. This is an average. If you are in a more volatile market such as Cleveland proper you may be looking at lower even values.What does this mean to you? If you are using a line of credit on your home you may be hearing from your bank soon. They are very likely to lock your line at its present loan amount and lower your limit to what you have presently extended on it. If you are selling your home, the loan qualifications just got tighter। If you are an investor looking to make a good deal in this time of opportunity you will need more cash out of hand to purchase. Is this good? Not really this is going to cause more problems. Instead of the banking industry looking to take advantage of this market and find a way out they have just buried us into a even harsher environment. http://sandymaline.blogspot.com

Cleveland Real Estate Crisis

2008-02-27T11:43:00.000-05:00

I may not be a economist, but I am in the trenches selling real estate in Cleveland. I have never seen so many vacant and foreclosed homes in my 23 years of selling. I am a full time agent and this is my only form of income. The market is brutal. We need to reinforce rules of the industry more than ever before.
It is also very important to understand that there are two markets out there. The foreclosure market where you may get a really great deal or end up with a money pit. Many of these foreclosed homes have been sitting vacant for years. The plumbing has been ripped out. Electric has been vandalized. When you buy one of these you don't really know what you are getting yourself into. If the property has sat through a winter with no heat it is no telling what hurdles you will face getting the property to good condition.
The other market that is out there is the lived in resale that has been cared for and updated. Many of these are in absolute mint condition. These homes are selling! They just aren't getting 2005 prices!! If you buy one of these homes you are not missing out on the deal of the century. You are getting a home in prime condition that hasn't increased in value over that last 3 years. Maybe it even decreased as much as 10%. The important thing to realize is when the market rebounds. Historically values start to increase again. So whether you are buying as fixer upper that you will put thousands of dollars into or getting one that is in prime condition you will still come out ahead in the long run.
The other dilemma is selling a home in this market and then buying. If you are buying a bigger home you will take a small loss on the selling end of your home but you will make up for it on the purchase end. Like transferring stock at a down period but purchasing one that has a greater opportunity to increase in value.

It is a tough market. Hopefully all the part time nonprofessionals will get out. Real Estate is still the best investment. You can live in it,write off the interest and taxes, and earn money by paying down your mortgage and during times of inflation your value grows.

Sandy Maline