INDIGO,

My husband Bob and I went small town shopping in Defiance today! I’m sure you’ve all heard of Indigo, this uniquely glamorous shop has a lot to offer, starting with friendly service, as soon as we entered we were greeted! The owner made us feel right at home. The service was impeccable, friendly and I knew this was a store that I would frequently visit. We small talked, shopped and checked out all there packages. Spa treatments, acupuncture, massage, and yoga+ Pilates. Any of these would be great x-mas gifts for that someone special in your life (hint, hint) Bob, you do read my blogs right? lol
Dawn

Fort Defiance Antiques

I entered this shop in search of something you cant find at your usual department stores! It was a step back in time. I found myself remembering my childhood, old dolls, barbies, fine china, and seeing things that were always at grandmas house, a great memory. This store features many, “New looking Items,” that have a wonderful history to them. They were all loved by someone at sometime and would like to be cherished again! Some amazing furniture picks also and priced to sell. Stop by and have a look for yourself. Defiance has a lot to offer. Make your gift this year unique and not mass marketed! This is your chance to beat the massive crowds. Have fun on Black Friday ..
Dawn

Four All Seasons

I would have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this classy, tucked away store.
It is as I would call it a one stop shop. It has various items to choose from all very unique and enjoyable to browse. As soon as I opened the door I smelled this amazing fragrance it was a candle called Hot Maple Toddy, it smelled so great I had to buy one. I must say I’ve never been so pleased with a candle; it made the entire house smell delicious within minutes. They also had an enormous amount of merchandise displayed very well I couldn’t stop shopping! Seasonal items, floral arrangements, pictures, country décor, and so much more. I had a great conversation with Connie and Dale. Normally Connie is on her own but today she had brought her husband Dale in and put him to work! He was having a great time pricing the new merchandise and saved the day. Great job Dale, way to step up! Connie was very sweet and helpful, I’m so glad I stopped in. I would have missed out on some great low priced gifts if I had passed on by this one!
Needless to say my husband and I enjoyed shopping there and left with smiles on our faces, bags in our hands, and many awesome gifts, some for myself of course, but overall I would definitely recommend this unique shop to all my friends and relatives! If your gonna be up town Defiance Add this one to your shopping list the store is located at 316 Clinton, right downtown! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!
Dawn

October Highest Sales in two years

It was just announced this morning that the sale of existing homes jumped 10.2% last month.  It is assumed that most of that had to do with the ending of the first time home buyer's tax credit.  However, that credit was extended until next summer plus there was the addition of the tax credit for existing home owners. 

I would suggest that if you are considering taking advantage of the tax credits that are available to not wait until the end for a couple of reasons.  1) The more people who wait, the higher demand for the houses toward the end thus providing less choice of homes and potential higher prices.  2) The more buyers in a particualar time frame, the harder it is for the houses to get closed on time because the lenders and others involved get back logged.

Just some thoughts for you to think about. 
scott

List your home during the Holiday Season?

I have mixed feelings about listing homes during the Holidays here in N.W.Ohio...
Who is out house shopping at Christmas time? Who is out in the cold rain and snow looking at houses let a lone buying one? Who has the time do add house shopping in the middle of baking, cooking, wrapping visiting friends and family...it is just plane busy, busy, busy time of the year!!!
On the other hand... that is a lot of busy people out and about in their neighborhoods and communities who just might see your yard sign amongst the the snowman and Santa out front...
If buyers are looking at homes in November and December I can just about bet they are serious buyers so you need to be prepared for them to come on in!
When your home is on the market in N.W. Ohio during the winter months take extra caution at your front and back doors... be sure to remove snow and ice. 1) so there is no slipping and falling 2) prevent the weather conditions from coming in doors on shoes and boots...always keep your entry ways clean and clear!
Have area rugs just inside the door allowing buyers to wipe off there wet snowy boots! After all you cleaned your floors for the showing right???
List your home during the Holidays? You betcha!

Black friday

Wow, Thanksgiving will be here before you know it! and as always those great after thanksgiving sales. Are you ready for all the stampedes in the we hours of the morning? well if thats not your cup of tea, then their may be an alternative. I was on blackfriday.com yesterday and many of the sales are going to be available online. That would be awesome!! also they may go on for two days to a week to help crowd control. I hope everyone who is brave enough to go out will be safe and careful. good luck to all of you and I hope you get all the deals you really want. Don't eat too much turkey!!lol
Dawn

New Home Search Tool on Website

It's been a little bit of a battle for us to get our home search tool up and running on our website, but it is finally there.  It's a powerful tool in the hand of any person who is looking to purchase or even sell a home.  With it a person can look at all the homes in Northwest Ohio that are listed by any agency who uses the Toledo Multiple Listing Service (That's litterally thousands of homes at your fingertips). The homes can be saved in a file then the person can receive emails when there are changes to the house and when other houses match their search criteria.  This is helpful for both buyers and sellers.  Buyers benefit for the obvious reasons for searching for homes, but sellers can get an idea of homes on the market and what is happening with homes that are comparible to theirs.

There are several search options available including map searches and address searches.

Go ahead and spend some time on the site and see what you can find.  I think you'll be impressed with our search tool and will quickly appreciate it.

Thanks,
scott

Unbelievable interest rates!

I chatted with two mortgage lenders today, they are both shouting about there low interest rates... if I was a loan officer I would be shouting too! I'm a Real Estate Agent and I guess I want in on the "shouting worthy good news"



Visit these two web sites to see the rates in detail, they are the real deal! Some are under 4.87

www.pncmortgage.com/cliffruggles

http://www.thebank-sbt.com/

Wouldn't be interesting to see what interest rates were 10-20-30 years ago? Anyone have the answer? I'm curious to know if we are in a history making event regarding the rates when getting a mortgage loan today verses years ago...

Again we at Realty Five erg buyers to get on board, we want to help you find home ownership while the rates are at there best!!

Defiance area is coming up Christmas...

Busy week end in Defiance with a busy week ahead... getting ready for the Holidays is no small event in N.W. Ohio!

Downtown Defiance boast several unique shops loaded with gift giving ideas along with home decor for the Holidays that are simply beautiful!! I was lucky enough to join my sisters and enjoy a few Christmas Open Houses full of wonderful aromas and atmosphere of the Holiday Season~ It was a fun week-end filling me with a early spirit of the season!

"Memories of Christmas" is this years theme for the 11th annual "Festival of Trees" sponsored by The State Bank and Trust Co. & Reliance Financial Services. Festival of Trees will be held again this year at The Eagles Aerie 372 on E. Second St. in Defiance, be sure to visit this week before the magic is gone until next years big event. I'm certain The Volunteer Connection greatly appreciates your participation!
For more information call The Volunteer Connection 419.782.3212

4.875% 30 Year Fixed Conventional Loan

I thought you'd like to know. I was talking with a mortgage lender last night and she told me that a 30 year fixed rate conventional loan was at 4.875% yesterday. That's AWESOME! If you own a home and aren't planning on moving you might want to consider refinancing. If you are thinking about buying a home then now is the time!!!! This rate combined with the fist time homebuyer tax credit of $8,000 or the homebuyer credit of $6500, makes buying a home or even selling a home right now ideal. There are even programs in our area that you can buy the home with zero down and have no PMI and still get that rate and the rebates! If you're even considering buying, contact us and we can give you more details about all this.

Thanks,




scott

A NEW TRADITION

Bob and I decided today to start a new winter tradition. Instead of hibernating all winter ,when it is cold as ice out we are going to go small town hoppin!!  lol  We will be visiting all the local small town and businesses to see what makes you unique. A great excuse to shop and find some great bargains too. We hope we will make many new friends and we will keep you posted on whatever it is we find new and exciting. We hope you'll drop by our blog just to find a new place to shop or visit! let me know if I can help you with any Real Estate questions.  til next time...    Dawn Carpenter

Christmas Open Houses already?

Did November sneak up on me or what? This week end in N.W. Ohio there are several Christmas Open Houses! Everywhere from the Old Red Barn to downtown Defiance with it's several unique shops we are seeing Christmas lights and displays popping up every where! Did October really come and go that fast??? It seems we were just at The Defiance High School for there annual Band Spectacular a few week ends ago... By the way the marching bands were awesome, Thanks Mrs. Booth!!

No way can anyone possibly be bored living in the Defiance area, this week end is stocked full of fun and Christmas excitement! Grab someone you Love and enjoy November:)

YTD Market Stats for the Defiance Area

Here are the market stats for the Defiance area this year from January 1 through November 8, 2009.  These statistics are only for areas that would be considered Defiance, Ohio.  If you would like stats for your particular area, just let me know and I can get them to you.

Total Homes Listed: 427
Avg. List Price: $109,209
Total Sold Units: 206
Avg. Sold Price: $94,456
Avg. Days on Market: 154

I will try and keep this up-to-date for you every week so you will have a better picture of what's happening in our market.

Thanks and have a great week!
scott

5 things to know when writing up a offer on foreclosure properties~

When attempting to purchase a foreclosure property there is some information you will need to know before you write up your offer on the property!


1) The bank or the seller loves cash deals.


2) The bank or the seller loves no inspections.

3) The bank or the seller loves quick closings.

4) The bank or the seller will put priority to a home owner buyer before a investor buyer.

5) The bank or seller will require Earnest Money with your offer to purchase, $500 to $1000 will be expected although sometimes the bank will require 10% of the purchase price.

Give us a call, email or text we know how to make your purchase contract strong so the bank/seller chooses your offer! We can help you or someone you know buy a foreclosure property with as much ease as possible.

Foreclosure homes are in most neighborhoods these days...

Are you or someone you know interested in purchasing a foreclosure property?



The banks have rules and they expect all of us to follow them! Our Real Estate Team knows what the banks want and we know how to get you what you want...



First: The banks do not want to be in the business of selling Real Estate.

Second: The banks want a sold home along with a new mortgage.

Third: They want you to buy As Is properties from them.



When purchasing a foreclosure house you will need to understand that the house is being stamped with "as is" all over it... therefor once you have a offer that the bank has agreed to, a Home Inspection is in your best interest because the bank will have you sign pages and pages of what they call "addendum's" which is spelled out in a hundred different ways that you will be buying there home"as is" so the home inspectors report is basically "for your information only" that way you will be well aware of repairs that may need taken care of either immediately or in the future. We have negotiated with banks and have successfully got them to do major repairs and pay for the repairs such as Furnace/Heating and Plumbing work... it doesn't happen every time but it is well worth the effort to negotiate repair work on our buyers behalf!

Before buying call, text, email or contact us on Facebook we will gladly answer your questions about purchasing a foreclosure property.

Marketing has made some HUGE changes, I've come along way baby!

For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed marketing! 22 years ago I was a Advertising Representative for The Defiance Crescent News, our local N.W. Ohio daily paper... I loved newspaper advertising, selling it and creating it. The rush of a daily deadline found at the newspaper office is hard to replace!

Jump ahead 22 years later... Social Media has exploded right before my very eyes! Web Sites, Links, Blogging, Widgets, Video Open Houses it is not only exciting & necessary but needed to be successful TEAM in today's world of Real Estate. No longer is placing a ad in your local newspaper the only way to reach buyers and or readers!

Over the past 5 years I have spent a portion of my time on Continuing Education & Business Conferences where I have learned up to date industry news... including my introduction to Active Rain, a Real Estate Networking/Blog Web Site. At the time I was introduced to it I didn't even know what a blog was let a lone join a Real Estate Network full of them! Now I get on Active Rain and stay here till wee hours of the morning soaking up all that I can about Real Estate Marketing & the best ways to reach our buyers and sellers in today's most up to date medias... but not forgetting nothing will replace a hand written Thank You note or a friendly hand shake at the closing table...Learning this social media information and Internet marketing is a never ending class room isn't it???

16213 SR 111, Cecil OH

Here's our newest listing.  It's a comfortable 3 bedroom home in the country with neighbors.  Best of both worlds!  16213 SR 111, Cecil Ohio 45879.  Go to our website and see more pictures and information.
http://www.realtyfive.com/

Tax Credit Extention

President Obama is expected to sign into law today the newly extended and expanded tax credit for home buyers. The most interesting addition to the credit is the new credit to existing home owners who want to purchase a new home. The National Association of Realtors website that highlights the differences between the last one and the new one. You can get a pdf download at www.realtor.org




I've been looking forward to this new extention of the credit as there are many people who have been on the fence about moving from their current home to buy a new one. This credit may be the thing that helps them with a little of the loss in equity they have faced over the past couple of years.







Best of luck!



Scott

Two New Listings

We have two new listings to report today.  The first one is a $17,000 investor special.  This house needs lots of love!  It's 315 N. Wilhelm St., Holgate, OH  Here are some outside picts for you to get an idea of what this house has to offer.  The right person can transform this into a nice rental.

 

The second listing is raw farm land waiting for the next crop to be planted.  This property is a little over 8 acres in Henry County on CR. 19

Well that's it for today.  I have another listing for tomorrow.  Hope you have a great day.

Scott

Three Cord

We all traveled to the big town of Archbold today!!! we visited Three Cord . If your wondering what Three Cord is they printed our Realty signs, Made coats and t-shirts for us also. This was a great experience to see how these things were created and was very interesting.They also have a store there that you can purchase clothing and misc too. They were very friendly and nice peolple to work with and we look forward to doing more business with them in the future. Hope you enjoyed this blog its my first one!!! Take Care Dawn Carpenter

Halloween Parade

We had a great time at this year's Halloween parade. Here are a couple of pictures of us and our decorated cart.  We ended up running out of candy and passing out all 500 of our flyers.  We didn't have enough for the whole crowd.  We'll plan differently for next year.  I just want to say thanks for all of you who cheered us on and continue to support us. 

scott