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How Residential Real Estate Differs From Commercial Real Estate Transactions

How Residential Real Estate Differs From Commercial Real Estate Transactions

How Residential Real Estate Differs From Commercial Real Estate Transactions

When people hear the term real estate it is often meant to cover broadly real estate in general.  Basically the land and anything attached to the land like a building, home, factory, warehouse or something else.  Within the real estate world itself residential and commercial real estate are generally looked at differently.  Frequently agents specialize in residential or in commercial real estate since the way each are sold can be quite different.  Residential real estate often has many more federal, state and local laws and regulations that govern the transaction whereas commercial real estate usually does not have as many restrictions.  This article takes a look at some of the differences in residential and commercial real estate.

Financing Differences Between Residential and Commercial Real Estate

One of the big differences encountered in commercial versus residential real estate is that with residential real estate there are a number of government programs and loans that allow buyers to purchase residential real estate for low to zero money down and have low interest rates.  With credit scores as low as 580-600 in some cases homebuyers can buy a home with little money down with a 30 year fixed rate mortgage.  With commercial real estate on the other hand buyer’s credit scores are closely looked at and lenders want to see strong credit as well as sufficient assets to protect in case of default on the loan.  Commercial lenders do not have the same government loan programs and instead will offer loans with high interest rates and shorter terms...

Smart Tips For Selling A Multi-Family Building

tips for selling a multi-family building

Tips For Selling A Multi-Family Home

Many out of state buyers are looking to make a purchase of a multi-family building here in Cincinnati, Ohio and Northern Kentucky due to the lower cost as compared to other states.  With the lower cost and higher Return on Investment (ROI) out of state investors are lining up to purchase great cash flowing properties and as a result Greater Cincinnati multi-family properties are at 5-7 year highs.  While demand is high that does not mean multi-family building owners can expect a cake walk when it comes time to sell.  Multi-family building owners still need to prepare their buildings so that they attract buyers who want a ready to cash flow building as opposed to those buyers looking for a bargain.  Bargain hunters will only be interested in a building if the price is in the bargain range.

A multi-family home is a building that allows for two or more families to live together in separate apartment/living spaces but generally under one roof.  Conventional mortgage financing can be used for multi-family buildings when there are no more than two to four units in the building.  Anything more than four units requires commercial lending products in order to purchase.  Due to the allowance of conventional mortgage financing for 2-4 family buildings buyers can actually buy one of these buildings as owner occupied and pay a lower amount for down payment (anywhere from 0% to 5% depending on the loan program).  If a buyer does not intend...

What To Consider When Buying An Older Home

what to consider when buying an older home

What To Consider When Buying An Older Home

Depending on location, sometimes the only options available for a home to purchase are homes older than fifty years old.  Homes older than fifty years old have their own unique architecture, design, and build condition and for many homebuyers the unique charm is what draws them in.  Prior to buying an older home, homebuyers would be wise to read up on all the different issues they may encounter in an older built home so that they can better be prepared to identify if updates have been made or old conditions still exist that may need ongoing monitoring or updating.

The Home's Electrical System

Modern homes have electrical boxes with breakers rather than fuses and use copper wiring to run electricity to the various parts of the home.  When older homes were built in the past often times the electrical wiring consisted of knob and tube wiring or aluminum wiring with a fuse box.  Additionally prior to 1959 the use of a ground wire was not required in homes.  A ground wire allows electricity to travel into the earth (ground) in the event of a short circuit as opposed to shocking the person flipping a switch or plugging in an electrical device.

A fuse box acts much as the circuit breaker boxes do today in that if too much power goes through the line a fuse would burn out stopping the flow of electricity.  With a fuse box the fix was to replace the burned out fuse with a new fuse.  Current circuit breaker boxes only need to be reset once and as long as the high power surge has stopped the power will start flowing again as normal.  If an older home does still have a fuse box then homebuyers should have it inspected...

October 2017 Greater Cincinnati Luxury Real Estate Market Report

October 2017 Greater Cincinnati Luxury Real Estate Market Report

The October 2017 luxury real estate market showed a slight uptick in sales and median price in the Greater Cincinnati area.  The last quarter of the year is typically the slowest of the year when it comes to housing sales as fewer people are interested in moving during the cold months and holiday gatherings can interfere with the process of selling a home.  Look for the current trend to continue throughout the rest of 2017.  A Federal Reserve interest rate hike may start some movement in the housing market in one direction or the other.  Consumer spending has increased but it has come at the expense of consumers tapping spending at record levels since 2009 which cannot lead to a sustainable expansion.  Check out the links below for more details.

greater cincinnati luxury real estate market report october 2017

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