Germantown Deals of the Week 12 December 2008

The below properties are this week's top rated properties in Germantown:

Property Number 1

Location: 13117 Wonderland Way, Farmingdale, Germantown
Status: Active (Foreclosure)
Priced: $135,000
Built in 1983
Value: 10 (Two Bedroom, Two Bathroom with a fireplace)
Condition: 8 (Exceeds expectation, new appliances, new carpet and fresh paint)
Location: 6 (Longish walk from the parking lot)
Motivation: 7 (Bank appears to have their act together on this one.....)
Investor Rating: 20.5 (Very high rating, great keeper - will rent for $1300 a month)
Total Rated Score: 31 (Highest rated condo in Germantown)

Property Number 2

Location: 20213 Red Buckeye Court, Blunt Commons, Germantown
Status: Active (Foreclosure)
Priced: $249,900
Built in 1994
Value: 9 (Has a fair number of modern features)
Condition: 6 (needs appliances, carpet and paint)
Location: 8 (Backs to trees)
Motivation: 8 (Banks is motivated.....)
Investor Rating: 20 (Great keeper - loads of potential)
Total Rated Score: 31 (The highest rated townhomes in the Upcounty)

Property Number 3

Location: 20824 Scottsbury Drive, Wexford, Germantown
Status: Active (Foreclosure)
Priced: $325,000
Built in 1990
Value: 9 (One of the largest Split Foyer in Germantown)
Condition: 6 (Needs carpet, but in very decent shape with hardwood flooring)
Location:8 (Backs to the swimming pool and tennis courts)
Motivation: 7 (Very clean)
Investor Rating: 19.5 (The best single family home in Germantown in this price range)
Total Rated Score: 30

The above properties have either lowered their price (increased value) and/or added to their condition - they can now be considered good buys. For your information Team Limejuicer and I have previewed over 2600 homes in the past few months. We rate and rerate if necessary, homes on a daily basis - this system allows us to not only keep our seller clients informed as to their competition, but also allows us to find the best valued property for our buyer clients. Hopefully you found this information useful, if you would like to learn more about the Limejuicer Rating system please feel free to contact me directly. Team Limejuicer is waiting to serve your real estate needs and always welcomes referrals! Thank you for your time.


The Limejuicer Rating System is copyright protected 2008

Who are the Jones' anyway?

Are we living and breathing this economy every day? We turn the telly on and receive the latest (usually pessimistic aka. hara kiri type) news, then first thing in the morning we pick up our newspaper and are faced with headlines like "Economic pain..." or "Delinquencies up..." What are we meant to think?

I think we all know that with every correction there will be a new brand of millioniares - is it going to be the Jones' next door or you?

Let's pretend we are the Jones' - what decisions would we be making today? What are we basing are decisions on? Do we depend on the Telly, the Press, the Internet or past trends (history)?

If we are relying on the Telly, more than likely we will not be making a decision to invest in anything, staying put with our mutual funds, hunkering down for the storm and maybe cashing out of any long term investments.....

If we are relying on the Press (Fourth Estate - truly an escalating form of influence in our society) then there is the likelihood you may need to move to your basement with a Y2K attitude.

If we rely on the the internet we could easily fall prey to all kinds of schemes ranging from send me your SSAN to front row tickets to the Inauguration.

If we rely on past trends:- Housing prices double every 12-14 years; Rental prices only go up; Population is increasing; Interest rates never stay low.......

So what do we do as Mr & Mrs. Jones, December 2008 - we can hope that our retirement investments increase overtime or we can take advantage of 2002 prices in real estate. Do it now, don't wait, don't stop to wait, just do it before it is too late.......

We all understand how tough it is to make a financial decision, but listen to that little voice (it is more than likely saying " there isn't a better time to buy your next home than now").

Home Buyers Warranty anyone?

I have often been asked as to whether a Home Owners Warranty is a worthwhile purchase. To answer this query we have to look at the cost vs. the benefit.

Warranties can range in price from $400 to $600 a year cover the majority of items in a home; with optional items like hot tubs and well pumps at an additional cost. There is a deductible per item ranging from $60 to $150.

Let me give you a couple of examples:

Example #1

We recently had our garage door opener and our stove element break, the cost to me was $60 per item totalling $120. Had I not had a warranty the door opener would have cost $130 plus labour and the stove element would have cost $75 plus labour. So far in this warranty period (June 08 - June 09) I have spent $500 for the warranty and $120 in deductibles totalling $620. Had I not had the warranty I would have spent $205 for parts and an additional $100 or so for labour totalling $305.

So far I am out $315 for the year (I really don't want anything else to break, however, it would be nice to recoup this loss)

Example #2

In 2002 we owned a warranty on our last home the cost in those days was $375 a year - that year the following items failed and needed replacing:

Hot water heater
Heat pump/Air Handler
Dishwasher

Total cost to me to replace all these items was $375 plus $400 in deductibles totalling $775. Had I not had the warranty that year I would have been looking at over $4000 in replacement expenses.

One doesn't know when things are going to breakdown, however, one can have an educated guess as to when items in our homes will be wearing out and need replacement or fixing.

If we purchase a resale home with items that no longer have their original warranties the $500 for the warranty certainly provides us "peace of mind" - in the course of 10 years we would be spending $5000 for warranties, however, we could also be replacing our hot water heater, washer, dryer, stove, fridge, heat pump, air handler and so on......

Personally I like the peace of mind......

From here to Urbana

It was Sunday morning when I ventured up to Urbana (only 11 minutes without traffic from Germantown) - Of the 20 or so homes that I had previously previewed and rated only 6 had any potential.

What I discovered whilst previewing the properties in Urbana (Friday) was that they had an unusual percentage (over 95%) of distressed homes (Short sale/Foreclosure) on the market. The reason for this high percentage must be that the vast majority of these properties were built after 2003 and have little to no equity, in fact, they have substantial depreciation (over 30%).

What can we learn from this:

1. New homes depreciate faster than resales in a buyer's market (Resale value is based on comparable resales that have sold - New homes have the builder profit built into the price)
2. When purchasing a new home always keep in mind the potential resale value (This is relatively easy to calculate - square footage is the key)
3. Location, Location, Location - Urbana is a really nice area to live in, however, it requires additional commute time
4. The combination of a newer area with builders still building and a depreciating market, resale prices are going to drop faster. The builder has to remain competitive and usually have deeper pockets than the regular homeowner. The builder is going to offer incentives that the regular homeowner can't or is just not able to.

So should I buy in Urbana you ask? The answer is Yes. There are some really good valued homes that will by the next market be quite desirable. As always, remember to buy quality, location and stay well within your affordablity zone.

P.S. There are other areas that are being impacted in a similar way i.e. Clarksburg and Kingsview

"Rediscovering the American Dream"

http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/marciegeffner/rediscovering-american-dream By Marcie Geffner, Tuesday, June 24, 2008. Inman News

Even though this was written back in June it doesn't change our need to "Rediscovering the American Dream". It doesn't surprise me that with the continuous negative news we receive on a daily basis that first time homebuyers are sitting on the fence.

Yesterday evening I held a homebuyer seminar at the Pinnacle Room in the Germantown Town Center. The following are some of the questions that I was asked by the audience:

Can we still get a loan to buy a home?
Is this a good time to invest in a home?
Will housing prices still fall further?
Are there good deals in Germantown and elsewhere?

Well the simple answer to all those questions is YES.

Limejuicer Enters the Blogosphere

Blogging has always intrigued me - I have often gone to a blog to seek answers to questions; catch up on a subject that interests me; and add the occasional comment in agreement or disagreement.

Hopefully you will be patient with my blogging inexperience, but as we go forward my goal is to provide you useful insight on various real estate topics from acquisitions (when, how, why and where) to predictions (how much, how many, how soon etc).