ThePollyBlog has moved

The Polly Blog has moved to a new platform. If you have saved this site through blogger or just ventured here that way and like what you see, please visit ThePollyBlog at our new hosting location.

I have enjoyed Blogger for years, but now I need a more expressive platform.

See you there.

Polly Briley

Interest Free Home Loans From City

The city of Oshkosh is once again offering interest free loans for qualifed residents in Oshkosh. The loans are available to homeowners whose annual imcome is below $36,050 for individuals. The loans increase with family size, but are capped at $41,200 for couples.

These funds are used to help homeowners who are in need of serious repairs and not for renovation. Covered are repairs for heating, plumbing, electrical or significant structural issues.

Pick up your application at the city's planning department on the second floor of city hall.

Longer than we thought

The new website and blog roll out has been delayed for another day. Putting all the pieces together, design, framing, links, is slow but will be well worth it.

Word is tonight will be the big reveal. The urls will not change, so just hit your normal bookmark and rss feed and you will visit these dynamic and information rich sites.

My first listing

I have my first listing, okay it is my house, but I think it counts (my broker said yes). As it is my first listing, I have been experimenting with many ways to market it. I have no preconceptions of what is good or bad when it comes to home marketing so I will try pretty much anything.

Of course I went with the few musts: Realtor.com, Balloonhomes.com, my site and the MLS. To not do these would be malpractice. But what after that?

The first Sunday after I listed it, we held an open house. To drive folks to the listing I mailed out 160 invitations to the neighbors, friends and folks I thought would be great advocates. I also put an open house ad in The Oshkosh Northwestern's Sunday homes addition. During the two hour open house 33 separate "buyers" attended. This does not include identifiable neighbors and friends. I think this was a pretty good attendance.

The next week I expanded my reach and added a Facebook page for the house. I also scheduled another open house for that Sunday, but no invitations. On the Facebook page I sent out invitations to all my Oshkosh friends alerting to the open house event. Another ad ran in the Northwestern. A dear friend and colleague of mine, Kris Villars, hosted the open house this time. She reported 15 additional buyers came through, including one who saw the house on Facebook.

I also purchased a domain for the house and gave it its own website: http://www.1249MerrittAve.com. I added more pictures to Realtor.com and twittered about the house. I sent out fliers to other real estate agents who had buyers looking for houses like mine. I got slapped for doing that. Apparently an agent in Oshkosh took offense and requested the MLS board make me stop mailing new listing fliers. Don't understand that one.

So, how is it going? There is a lot of interest, phone calls, emails, showings, but no offers, yet. I am open to all ideas for further marketing options. I am going to post to Craigslist and will continue to mail out fliers to targeted parties.

When your first listing is your own house, you can learn a lot and try anything, your client won't mind.

September Oshkosh Housing Report - A Little Late

The average sold price for a home in the city of Oshkosh in September was $140,613. It sold for 94.8% of its listed price and spent 179 days on the market. This was an increase of 47 days on the market from 132 days in August. In 2007 a house sold in Oshkosh for an average price of $144,551, sold for 93.9 of its list price and spent 165 days on the market.

The total number of residential sales in the city for September was 88, a drop of 12 houses sold from September of 2007. A monthly change from 117 homes sold in August.

Homes selling under $100,000 made up 34% of the homes sold in September, with homes selling between $100,000 and $200,000 making up 50%. Homes selling over $200,000 made up 16% of all residential sold.

Of the 114 homes sold in September 42% had 3 bedrooms and 48% had 2 bathrooms.

Into October, the city of Oshkosh had 1125 homes currently for sale. That number is down from the 1197 homes in inventory at the beginning of September and an inventory of 1227 homes listed at the beginning of October 2007.

Analysis:

Year over end Oshkosh is holding its own. Our home prices are only down .9% on average from September 2007, $140,613 vs. $144,551. Days on market increased by 14 but the home sold for a higher percentage listing price.

Our inventory of homes for sale continues to drop significantly. The 102 fewer homes on the market from last year is making the options for home buyers smaller. A home seller might see this drop as a great opportunity to take advantage of less competition.

Still, the tight credit market is a primary concern for both sellers and buyers. There are great mortgage programs available for all price ranges. Down payments still run the gamut as well. First time buyers can qualify for a 3.5% down programs, but you need pretty good credit to get a low interest rate.

F.I.C.O. scores of 750 are now the norm for the best rates. This DOES NOT mean you can't get a loan, it just may cost a little more. When things get better, and frankly they have to sometime, you can refinance into a lower rate.

Life goes on and changes continue. If you need to buy a house because you need more space or less space is now better, don't try to game the housing market. If now is your time, go for it.

What every one is talking about

Mark your calendars for the third week in April. Just today as I was driving through downtown the facade was going up and crowds of gawkers were snapping shots of plywood mimicking a Wisconsin town of the 1930s. Store fronts are transforming into unknown ghosts of small town past.
This is an exciting time. Many are plotting how to get a glimpse of the stars, or more specifically Johnny Depp. I have my place all scoped out with the help of friends in the Main Street retail business. As much as I adore Johnny Depp, I am more excited about watching the stunt people do their work staging the crash scene at the corner of Main and Washington.
How does any of this relate to real estate? It doesn't really, anymore than the Georgia Bulldogs being National champs and watching student applications increase. It simply might cause our community to get more favorable attention and enlighten folks about all Oshkosh has to offer.
There are real tangible benefits as well. Columbus officials say they have seen an increase of $250,000 in movie related revenue. I would have thought the tab much higher. The production crew alone working right now in downtown have to be earning a good salary, add in the equipment, the building of sets, food, hotel, etc. of those already on site and the total has to be sizable. That doesn't include all the people snapping shots while sipping on their coffees from Blue Moon.
If you have any tips, rumors, speculation email me and I will post them.
Johnny Depp in Oshkosh ... does it get any better?