Homebuyer's Tax Credit Running Out for Defiance Ohio Area Homebuyers

Homebuyer's Tax Credit Running Out for Defiance Ohio Homebuyers

This is a Defiance Ohio Home that is Available!

April is just day's away and the pressure is beginning to build as the Homebuyer's Tax Credit is about to expire. For those who want to buy a home in the Defiance Ohio area, we've noticed an increased interest in the market the past couple of weeks.

It appears that those who have waited to buy a home are beginning to see the importance of getting a home under contract. I've talked to several Defiance Ohio homebuyers who have begun getting a little anxious as the homes on the market are beginning to be scooped up by others who are also in the same predicament.

The Defiance Ohio real estate and home market is unique that, though it has not been spared from the economic downturn, it has not sufferered the fate that many of the communities surrounding us has. Because of this, I would expect the inventory of existing homes on the market here to begin to dwindle temporarily and the purchases to increase.

If you have thought about buying a home in the Defiance Ohio area, then you need to give us a call or get in touch with us through email. In order to receive the tax credit, one must have an accepted contract on a home to purchase no later than April 30th.

If you miss that deadline, you miss out on potentially $8,000 for a first-time homebuyer (someone who hasn't owned a home in the past three years) or $6,500 for current homeowners who are buying a new home.

If you are looking in the Defiance Ohio area for a home, Contact me today to get all the details about these programs. If you want to see all the listings that are available in and around Defiance Ohio then visit our website at www.realtyfive.com.

Happy hunting and good luck!

Scott
Scott Williams
Realty Five of Defiance
scott@realtyfive.com
888.766.8627
http://www.realtyfive.com/

Cheerful signs of SPRING~

There is nothing like a sunny spring day to add a cheerful touch to your afternoon, it sure helps put a little skip in your step!


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I have been showing houses on this pretty spring day and decided to take a few pictures of the signs of spring I witnessed…
The buds are here along with a beautiful blue sky!

I saw many green sprouts poping out of the earth!
 
(sounds like I'm writing a childrens book)

Landscaping is starting to shape up! It will look better each day and as you know from my previous post "Curb Appeal" is mighty important...
 
 It is hard to believe Easter is around the corner, didn't we just put Christmas decorations away?
 

Take some time in your busy day to enjoy the beauty spring brings us...I hope you like walking around the yard getting a peak at sprouts of tulips, snow on the mountain, sedum and hosta's they are all begining to show there faces.

Have a blessed Easter with your family and friends!

Karol
karol@realtyfive.com

Feel free to send me your spring pictures I will gladly post them for all to enjoy :)






 

 

 

 

 

Yikes!

Yikes! I guess our poor blog was neglected this week.  Sorry about that. It's just been a little crazy around here with all the people calling us and asking us about the $5,000 grant that is being offered in our community to help people buy homes. 

Yeah, you read that right.  There is a program here that each year offers people $5,000 to help them purchase homes.  It's a grant with a couple of strings attached but not unreasonable ones.  The first one is that the buyer(s) can't make over a certain amount of money.  That amount is based upon how many people live in the house and what county the house is in.  The second string is that the grant has to be paid back, proportionately, if the house is sold within 5 years.

There are a few more, but it's really like getting free money.  Talking about free money, the Tax rebates are going to expire in just a little over a month.  Up to $8,000 for people who haven't owned a home in the past 3 years and up to $6,500 for people who currently own their home and lived in it for 5 of last 8 years who are buying another one.  This program runs out April 30th, 2010!  You must have a contract accepted by then to get it.

Together, a first time home buyer can literally buy a $80,000 house and owe only $67,000 on it!  It's almost like putting close to 20% down!

It's crazy...which again explains why we've neglected our blog this week.

Give us a call.  Let us help you buy a house.

Scott

Curb appeal once again very important! Tips to get you started~

Curb appeal... a simple afternoon project yet very noticeable thru the buyers eyes!!! Tips to get you started~  We tend to put curb appeal to the side during the cold winter months, time is here to once again put curb appeal front and center!!!


1) Hang a friendly spring wreath on the front door and a welcome mat.

2) Sweep and  rake winter leaves and sticks at front and back entrances.

3) Rake the yard to welcome the return of the green grass spring brings.

4) Clean windows and gutters/eave spouts.

5) BE SURE ALL HOLIDAY DECORATIONS ARE DOWN AND PUT AWAY!

Do you have a teacher, freind or a parent who has told you "first impressions count" Well that ole saying also holds true to your home, if your house is listed and on today's competitive market now it the time get your exterior looking spic and span along with "buyer friendly" it is the first impression they will see when viewing your home!!!

Happy spring, happy selling, Karol
karol@realtyfive.com

WARNING: BEAT THE RUSH!

I had a conversation today with another real estate agent today that stemmed a thought in my head.  We were talking about how so many potential buyers seem to be "riding the fence" when it comes to making a decision whether to purchase a home or not.

I was telling him how many people we seem to be driving around looking at houses and they just can't seem to make a commitment to make an offer on the houses then it hit me.

There are so many people who have waited until the last minute to get in on the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit and the $6500 tax credit for people who own homes that, I think there is going to be a huge rush heading into April.  I believe what will happen because of this is that the houses in our area will begin to be snatched up and the houses that buyers were "thinking" about will be gone.  The houses that are left will possibly begin getting multiple offers because of the shrinking inventory of good houses thus resulting in higher final purchasing prices. 

The market could actually switch to a seller's market, at least for a short time. 

It's just a theory, but I think it has legs.

If you are one of these people riding the fence, it's time to jump before everyone else does!

Commission vs. Value

Commission Vs. Value.


One of the biggest obstacles that sellers face when considering listing their home with a real estate professional is the amount of commission that the seller is charged by the brokerage to sell the home.

I’m a firm believer that the reason that it’s such a large obstacle is because the seller cannot see the value they are receiving for such a hefty sum of money.

And, that’s our fault.

Unfortunately, as in any profession, there are those in our industry who believe all they need to do to sell a home is the minimum amount. Place a sign in the yard, take a picture, and put the information on the MLS and wait. It’s that attitude that has tarnished the real value of what true real estate professionals do.

Real professionals do more. They earn their money by being the expert that they are hired to be. They don’t just do the minimums but push the envelope and find ways to find buyers. They offer their clients more when it comes to marketing a property. They treat their clients with respect and communicate with them to keep them informed of all that is going on with the property. They are honest with the clients and tell them what needs to be done with the property to help it sell including pricing it right. Real professionals help the clients get through the negotiation process without just trying to get a sale, but trying to get the best for them. They walk them through all the paperwork and help them make decisions they need to make.

I’m sure we’ve all splurged a little for something even when it wasn’t a good deal but I’ve never seen a seller cheerfully giving away their equity when they didn’t feel like they got a good value from their agent. On the other hand, I’ve seen time and time again seller’s thrilled with the commissions we’ve received and continually said thanks because they received a good value for their money.

Commission vs. Value. You make the call. Have you considered selling your home and had a problem with the commission the agents were quoting you? Maybe it's not their commission.  Mayby they aren’t offering you a real value for your money. Our clients know we don’t simply charge a fee for our work but instead create a valuable service that people want to invest in.
We choose value.
Scott M. Williams
Broker/Owner
Realty Five of Defiance
Defiance, Ohio
888.766.8627
http://www.realtyfive.com/
scott@realtyfive.com

NAR Video on Staging your home, let's make it "Buyer Ready"

Are you ready to list your house and get it on today's Real Estate market? We can offer suggestions, tips of the trade and many options to get your home in  "BUYER READY" condition. Our area market is flooded with "houses for sale" be sure to have yours stand out from the competition, YES...staging can do just that!
ALL ABOUT Staging your home! Enjoy the video from National Association of Realtors, RealtorTV
Click on the link to view video

 http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1785312249?bclid=1747275818&bctid=1725296466

Did you know? Karol  offers "FREE" staging consultations to Realty Five's sellers!
When you live in your house it is "HOME" when you list your home it becomes "A listed house" Two different meanings with two different decorating visions! Home is for you and your family's vision, your listed house needs to be a vision for buyers.

If you have staging concerns please feel free to email Karol a quick note...she will gladly answer questions!
 karol@realtyfive.com
List your home with Realty Five of Defiance to get it “SOLD” and not just listed “For Sale”

Our Marketing Program

I thought it would be good to tell you about our marketing program to help you in your decision process. Below is a list of what we do that differentiates us from our competitors.
1) Karol, one of our team members, is a professional home stager and stages each home. She has many years of experience in getting a home staged properly to help it look it's best and highlight it's best qualities.
2) We place one of our signs in the yard. We designed our signs to stand out our from our competition and to grab potential customer's attention. Our signs are bright and stand approximatley one foot taller than signs our competitors use. This is important because sign calls are second to the internet as to where buyers find their homes to purchase.
3) We use the internet extensively to market each home as research shows that approximately 90% of home buyers first find their home through the internet. We market the home on our website plus an additional 30+ popular real estate websites.
4) Part of our internet exposure is highlighting the homes on social websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Active Rain and our Blog. Each week on our Facebook Fan Page we highlight one of our properties and have a contest with prize drawings to get people to interact with the listing.
5) To enhance each home on these websites, we take many photos of the home and then create a virtual tour of it that people can look at.
6) We run a classified ad in the crescent news every day that leads people to our website. We can track the effectiveness of this ad and can prove that it gets results.
7) For people who do not have access to the internet and may not get the newspaper, we make a "Homes Booklet" that is full color and highlights all of our home listings. We we place them in many strategic areas in our community including hair salons, gas stations and restaurants.
8) Our biggest strength is our use of our contacts from the many years of being in this community. Dawn and Karol have lived in this community their entire lives and all their family and friends live here. I have lived here for the past 10 years. I moved here to be with my wife's family as she is from here and all of her family and friends are here.
Finally, you will not be disappointed with our customer service during this process. We are very conscious of our client's need for infomation and communication and make it a priority to keep them informed of all that's going on with their property. Our 888.766.8627 telephone number is designed that it will ring to each of our agent's cell phones. If one agent cannot answer it, it rings the next one until one of us answers. With each of us working together as a team you can almost always get in contact with us.
I know that is a lot of information, but thought you'd like to know why we feel we are the best choice for people to use when trying to sell their home.
If you have any questions please ask.
Scott
Scott M. Williams
Broker/Owner
Realty Five of Defiance
Fax: 888.766.8628
Office: 888.766.8627
Cell: 419.438.1165
Email: scott@realtyfive.com
Web: www.realtyfive.com
"We choose to give."

Why Realty Five of Defiance?

Below is a portion of a letter I recently wrote to a person inquiring about our company. While writing it, I was reminded why we do what we do. I hope you get a glimpse of my excitement and joy of being involved in real estate in the Defiance Ohio area.


"I'm not sure what all that Karol told you about us and our company, but hopefully you've had a few minutes to see our website www.realtyfive.com to get a little better understanding about who we are and why we do what we do. I personally have been involved in real estate for 10 years. I started out as an investor who would buy homes that needed work, fix them then sell them. During those years I met many agents and found myself disappointed in the service that I was being provided. I knew that with some effort, I could provide a better service for clients than I was experiencing. Thus, I became a real estate agent myself with the intention to open my own company.


In November, I opened up Realty Five of Defiance. I asked two agents to join me and create a team of agents rather than just individuals. So, Karol Yeager and Dawn Carpenter, two very successful agents in our market, joined me. We choose to be a team to better serve our clients. We know we are all skilled in different areas thus are able to capitalize on our strengths to create a better experience for those of whom we work for. All other agents in our area work as individuals thus struggle in areas they are not strong in. We thought why would anyone choose to have one agent working for them when they can have three?

On top of being a team of agents, from the very beginning, we have made it a priority to be a company that gives back to our community. We feel we have a responsibility to make our community better by helping others. So, we give 5% of all gross commissions received to the charity of our client's choice. That means when we earn a commission check from selling your home, we will take 5% of that commission and send it to a charity you choose. We've already sent checks to the Boy Scouts, Christmas for Kids, a cancer fund for a local 9 year old girl who has cancer, a middle school camp fund and several churches to help out their missions, Vacation Bible school and general funds. This is truly the best part of doing what we do.

I've probably written more than you wanted to read, but thought that it was important for you to know a little about me and why I opened the company. I would love to help you sell you family home if you would allow us the chance. This company was created with the purpose to give our clients the respect and service they deserve and expect. If you have any questions for us, I would love to try and answer them for you. You can contct me through my information below."



Scott M. Williams

Broker/Owner

Realty Five of Defiance

Defiance, Ohio 43512

888.766.8627

scott@realtyfive.com

www.realtyfive.com

Spring "TIME CHANGE" N.W. Ohio is ready!

Is it that time of the year to Spring ahead? YES! I do believe all of N.W. Ohio is ready for the annual time change, are you?

In my eyes the time change helps put winter behind me and welcomes Spring with its daylight hours lasting longer than normal. It is so much easier showing homes going into the evening hours with some sunshine & daylight left. I love it when there is still time left in the day to do a quick spruce up of the landscaping and flower beds even if it is 7:30 in the evening!


SPRING FORWARD TO CHANGE YOUR CLOCKS ONE HOUR AHEAD! Sunday March 14th

Are you a changer of clocks on Saturday night? or a changer on Sunday morning? My husband is my "time changer" he heads all over the house making sure all elctronics are updated, he even takes time to change my many watches!!! I'm wondering, are there really people who change there clocks at 2:00 AM like we have been told to do all these years...

Happy Spring, happy house hunting! Your Realty Five of Defiance Team~

"We choose to give"

Real Estate Market Conditons for the Week Ending March 5, 2010

If you are interested in finding out what the market has been doing this past week in the area then you need to visit our Realty Five Facebook page.  I just posted the stats for the areas of Defiance City, Defiance county, Paulding county, Putnam county, Henry county and Williams county Ohio.

If you need help in figuring out what they mean or need to break the numbers down to specific areas within the county, just contact us and we would be happy to help!

Thanks!

Realty Five Homes Magazine

Yes, It's true. Green and black Realty five signs are popping up all over town! Realty five has also created their own homes magazine and they are hot off the press. Realty five homes are featured in our magazine, along with some home buying tips.Watch every month for a new and updated homes magazine. The magazines can be found many places in Defiance. Sherwood Bank, USA Nails, Defiance Beverage center, Defiance Visitor Bureau, Sunshine city, Hair Salon East, Shell South Clinton, D&R Computer, Shear Image and many other local merchants. I'd like to give a special thank you to all the merchants for letting us display our Realtyfive homes magazine in their place of business! If you are unable to locate one of our magazines and would like one,
e-mail us at  http://www.realtyfive.com/  or call our toll free number 888-766-8627 and we'll get one right out to you. Enjoy this small break in the weather and get prepared for the spring time buyers to start early this year due to all the incentives out there! If you have any questions about the great incentives or welcome home funds available now, call Realtyfive  agents.