Important Things To Maintain In A House

Homeownership involves much more than living in the house and slapping on some paint here and there periodically.    Homeowners need to be actively maintaining and updating the house in order to have the home retain value.  Certain areas are overlooked when it comes to maintenance and this article provides tips on where homeowners should be focusing on routine maintenance.  Skipping this maintenance can mean much larger bills down the line when something does fail in the home.

Garage Doors

The garage door themselves and the garage door opener need to be properly maintained in order to get the best possible life span out of it.  Over time the metal parts can wear down if not properly lubricated.  Metal moving parts of the garage doors will need replacement when they do wear down.  The garage door opener itself has moving parts and electronics to help it safely operate.  If the sensors that tell the garage to reverse when something crosses its path fail to work it can cause harm to people, animals and even damage a car that is in the path of the garage door.  By having the garage door and opener regularly tuned up/maintained on a regular basis the homeowner can ensure it operates safely and effectively for a long time. 

HVAC System

The Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system (HVAC) are basically the lungs of the home and keep the home’s air...

How Does A Recession Impact Real Estate?

In today's economy, it is essential to understand the impact of a recession on the real estate market. A recession can have a substantial effect on housing prices, rental rates and the availability of loans. It can also cause a decrease in construction and development. This article will explore how a recession can affect the real estate industry and what strategies investors and home buyers and sellers need to consider in order to stay ahead of these economic changes.

Are We in a Recession?

There seems to be some debate as to whether the US is in a recession as of the date of this article. Depending on where one looks there are claims that there is currently a recession whereas other sources say there is no recession.  The official declaration of a recession usually comes after the economy has entered a recession and is made by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).  Per NBER “The NBER's traditional definition of a recession is that it is a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months.”  NBER looks at monthly data that includes personal spending, the employment rate, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and more.  With employment rates and GDP being positive currently the consensus right now is that there is not an active recession today.

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How Does an Appraisal Gap Clause Work in Real Estate?

When you make an offer to the seller, and they accept, you still need the home to appraise when buying the home with a mortgage.  Even when buying a home with cash the buyer may want to make sure the value meets or exceeds the offer amount.  When buying a home with a mortgage most of the times an appraisal will be required as part of the process.  If there is a difference between the amount offered and the appraised value, the purchase could fall through.  An appraisal gap clause can prevent the transaction from falling through as this article explores.  (Be sure to check out the video down below for more on the appraisal gap clause.)

What are Appraisal Gaps?

When the agreed purchase price of the home is higher than the appraised value, those in the real estate industry refer to it as an appraisal gap. The appraised value is determined by a licensed appraiser hired on behalf of the lender to ensure they aren’t lending more than the home is worth.  For example where a contract to purchase a home is priced at $400,000 and the home actually appraises at $350,000 the lender will not allow the mortgage to be approved unless the purchase price is lowered to $350,000 or the buyer brings additional money to the closing table.  

How much additional money the buyer must bring depends on the loan to value amount the buyer is borrowing based on.  At an 80% loan to value (LTV) ratio the buyer must bring 20% of the total home value as cash to...

The data you see below is from the Cincinnati Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  Average days on market refers to how long on average a property stays on the market before accepting an offer.  The properties sold represents the number of multifamily properties that have been sold during the month being reported on.  If there is other data you would like to see please feel free to share in the comments below.

Fewer sales in the multi-family cateogry for December 2022.  Some of the slow down can be attributed to December being a typically slower selling month due to holidays.  Interest rates are likley having an impact as well.