Preservation Pays

In Sunday's Northwestern I was quoted as saying:

"I'd like to see some citywide preservation efforts," she said. "You can change a lot of things to make homes more comfortable, more modern, more efficient without changing the nature or soul of the house. You want to make sure what you put into it you will get out of it. And if your neighbor's not doing to the same thing, it's going to reflect on you, your property value and your resale value."
 
To expand on that quote, preserving our history, our neighborhoods and our older homes isn't just about real estate. 

Yes, a historically intact home does have a higher resale value than one that has become a hodgepodge of renovation projects, but a historically intact home is a story of us as a community. Many people love going to the genealogy sites to learn about their families. An older/historic home is a physical manifestation of our family history. A church, a school, a downtown building tells us about our past as a community.

When we lose these our history goes with it. Think of all the wonderful buildings we have lost. How many of us look at the pictures of the Athearn Hotel and imagine it still standing in our grand downtown.  How about that incredible William Waters designed building that occupied the 100 Block of N. Main and Otter? If the preservation efforts of our community hadn't been successful and The Grand had been lost, would we today feel a deep sadness and remorse?

We are in serious danger of losing our communities collective conscious.
The warehouse district on the south-side is disappearing. There was a request about 12 years ago by an investor to create residential space in one of the buildings on South Main. It was denied. Now gravel blights are littered throughout with more to come.
The light house is going, going, gone. A beacon for travelers and boaters to guide them safely to Oshkosh is turned off. The metaphor as reality.

Raze it and they will ignore it. An empty lot, so the myth goes, will attract a buyer. How many times does this painful line have to be proved wrong before we stop destroying what we have in hand? Retrofit and reuse are green and cost effective. If they don't build it who will come?

There are people in this community who are advocates and investors in our past as future.

The Waters lays out the planning guidelines for what we as the Oshkosh community must do to thrive. A grand example of how new meets history. This showcase will bring local and tourism monies to Oshkosh.

River Mill condominiums are a reuse project that proves a good investment in keeping our history. As manufacturing changes many older builds will be left vacant and some abandoned. As we consider plans for the space, our commissions must look to what has worked - River Mill and what hasn't.

There are small and grand examples of preservation throughout Oshkosh. Brooklyn Fire House, The Bent Building, Wagner Opera House and so many others show what can be done and will with a serious mindset change from our elected officials, city staff and most important, our business "leaders" in the Chamber, OCDC and BID.

As important as our historical commercial arena, our homes are the fibers that intertwine to keep Oshkosh history seamless. Each neighborhood - south, east, university, north - is important in telling the Oshkosh story. Who we are, where we came from, what we did is written in the wear of our of our homes.

Preserving our history isn't a death lock of regulation for homeowners. We are not and cannot be a covenant dictatorship. Our preservation must come from a collective will, a joint belief that this is important and good. The payoffs for our decisions can be enormous.

When we mention the Washington or Algoma neighborhoods, there is general agreement that these are desirable streets with beautiful homes. A place we would love to live. Why can't the same desire come from Parkway, Waugoo, Grand, South Park, Winchester, 18th, Idaho, etc.? Each of these streets have wonderful older homes that have been protected by generations of families. Each also have houses where the owners, usually landlords, have allowed the properties to lose their luster.

Why has Washington and Algoma maintained their grandeur while the others have not? There is a pressure, unspoken, when you live in a historic district. No one demands these homes are kept up, yet driving down the blocks shows the neighbors support each other and provide a communal spirit. The near east project is an attempt, with governmental prodding, to create that same sense. To get started is hard and sometimes irritating but for the homeowners and the neighborhood the results are tangible.

As a real estate agent specializing in older homes, I know a home in a preserved neighborhood brings in new owners excited to live here at a price to make all the neighbors very happy.

Preservation pays. 

Agent as Client

Today I am a client. I put in an offer on a 7800 SQ FT church in our town. After six months of waiting to hear from the diocese that the church would be sold, two months of investigation with contractors on the feasibility, and a month of wrestling with my husband on the price, I just faxed the offer. Now we wait ...

Tonight is the parish council finance committee meeting. Next week is the community meeting with the parish as a whole. Then we have all the city council meetings for use permits and plat changes.

Has any one out here ever worked on a project like this, taking a church or even a school and turning it into a single family residence?

Any advice?

Polly

Oshkosh Housing market for July 2008

The average sold price for a home in the city of Oshkosh in August was $128,234. It sold for 95.5% of its listed price and spent 160 days on the market. This was a reduction of three days on the market from 163 days in June. The total number of residential sales in the city for July was 102 a drop of 17 houses sold from July of 2007.

Homes selling under $100,000 made up 35.28% of the homes sold in July, with homes selling between $100,000 and $200,000 making up 47.13%. Homes selling about $200,000 made up 14.7% of all residential sold.

Of the 102 homes sold in July 60% had 3 bedrooms and 59% had 1 bathroom.

Looking ahead into August, the city of Oshkosh had 1,186 homes currently for sale. that number is down from the 1,215 homes in inventory at the beginning of July. That is an inventory decrease of 61 homes in August of 2007.

Chuck Chvala Sells Real Estate?

Did anyone know the Former Leader of the Wisconsin State Senate was a Real Estate Agent? Did you know he lost his license because he "forgot" to tell the licensing board he had been convicted in 2005 for FELONY misconduct in office? Ooops.

Well it seems all is well and good again because Mr. Chvala has gotten his license back after a six month suspension.

Do you think he has gotten his law license back?

Not a good day for the new ethics movement in real estate.

Newspaper article reports local real estate sales up in 2nd Quarter

In the three county area (Winnebago, Outagamie and Calumet) real estate sales are up 14.1 percent in the second quarter of 2008 over 2007, according to a report on the WISINFO site.

Winnebago county sales are up 19.9 percent comparing 2008 with 2007. Outagamie sales were up 18.3 percent.

The report does not separate out commercial versus residential which can be wildly different. The report states the statistics are provided by the Realtor Association of Northeast Wisconsin. My attempts to find the report on our local board websites were unsuccessful. When the report is made available to the membership as opposed to the media, I will post the numbers.

New Housing Bill has something for everyone in Oshkosh

Congress passed a new housing bill last week. This is a quick breakdown of how you might just get something out of it.

FIRST TIME HOMEBUYERS - You will be eligible for an interest-free loan from the government in the way of a new $7,500 or 10 percent of the purchase price, which ever is smaller. This is a tax credit, which you will subtract from the money you would pay to the IRS. There are income qualifications, at $75,000 or $150,000 for married filing jointly it begins to phase out.

The tax credit must be paid back over the next 15 years in equal amounts on your federal taxes. That is what makes this more like a loan. The credit is also retroactive to homes purchased since April 9th and will continue through June 30, 2009.

MORTGAGE RENEGOTIATIONS - Loans that were originated on or before Jan. 1, 2008 are eligible for renegotiation to a new fixed-rate loan that will last for at least 30 years. The loan can not be for more than 90 percent of what the property is worth today. Your monthly housing payment, including mortgage, interest, taxes and insurance, must be at least 31 percent of your monthly household income.

The catch on this is, lender are not required to give you this new deal, even if you qualify. It is expected to only effect 400,000 households in the country out of the estimated more than 2 million currently facing foreclosure.

There are a couple other doozy of catches on this one.
1. For the next five years you can not take out take out a home equity loan
2. You have to pay a fee of 1.5 percent each year on the remaining balance of your mortgage
3. You must give to the government no less than 50 percent of any appreciation your home has when you sell.
4. If you sell in under five years you will have to give over all of the appreciation gained.

This program begins October 1 and ends September 30, 2111.

ADDITIONAL TAX DEDUCTION - If you own a home and don't currently itemize your deductions, you can now take an additional federal tax deduction of $500 or $1,000 if you are married and filing jointly. This is in addition to the standard deduction.

This will be great for those folks who pay little or no interest on their current mortgage. However, you must report how much property taxes you paid and if it is less than $500, the deduction will be limited only to the actual property taxes paid.

CHANGES IN REVERSE MORTGAGES - Origination fees for new reverse mortgages would be limited to 2 percent of any loan up to $200,000 and 1% for loans more than that. The entire fee is capped on $6,000.

Lenders are forbidden from requiring additional financing or insurance products as a condition of making the loan. Also the maximum amount people can borrow has been raised to $625,600.

WHAT IS A JUMBO LOAN - The definition of a jumbo loan has changed in the higher cost areas of the country. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can now purchase loans up to 115 percent of the local median home price.

VETERANS BREATHING ROOM - Foreclosure proceedings will now be held off for nine months instead of 90 days for veterans returning from the military. Also, lenders must wait for one year to raise interest rates on a mortgage held by someone returning from military service.

These are some of the good provisions of the bill which will have an effect on many of us in Oshkosh. There were some not so good provisions as well. Those will wait for another update.

Wall Street Journal Advice on Selling Now

An article in last weeks Journal offered seven steps to selling your home in today's market. Most of it was sound if not a little alarmist. Here are their 7 steps:

1. Don't wait around
The advise here was basically it is going to be years for the home market to turn around. Sell now if you have to sell and on the bright side be glad your not a Hummer salesperson.

2. Fix it up and clean it up
The essential make a good impression.

3. Price it cheaply
Price the house BELOW current comparable nearby properties. Also price the house at the current home sales level, not what it was worth three years ago.

4. Hire a top real-estate agent
Interview agents about their marketing plans for your property. Make sure your home will be on all the leading real-estate web sites. "This is no time to quibble over a couple of percentage points of commission."

5. Promote, promote, promote
Don't rely on your agent to do all of the work. Pay for extras if you want more expensive or untraditional promotions. Get creative, advertise your property in unique places such as your companies newsletter and church bulletin. Make sure every one you know receives an e-flyer promoting your property.

6. Play the banker
If you have no mortgage to pay off consider financing some or all of the buyer's purchase. You might be able to charge a higher interest rate and command a higher sale price. Hire a real-estate lawyer to make sure everything is done to protect you. As the WSJ says, "Worst case? Your borrower defaults and you take the property back. And sell it again." Of course that year in foreclosure might be a little tougher on you and your house than the Journal lets on.

7. Take the offer
A buyer has a reasonable offer, take it. Find out the percentage difference between the asking and selling price today. It is a good way to determine an appropriate monetary offer. Your house is only worth what some one will pay for it and the Journal says, "that unfortunately will probably be a lot less than you think."