Knox County Ohio Blog

The Sam Miller Team recognizes that bank owned homes can offer an opportunity and a real value in the current Knox County Ohio housing market.  Knox County Bank Owned is a new service we are offering our clients because we recognize that bank owned homes can be an exceptional value for owner occupied homebuyers, contractors, landlords and real estate investors.  If you would would like to purchase a foreclosure home be sure to visit www.KnoxCountyBankOwned.com 

Knox County Ohio Bank Owned Homes

We have had a goal to update the design of our knoxcountyohio.com real estate website for the past couple of years and last week we made that goal a reality.  We wanted a faster functioning website that would enable visitors the freedom to view homes in more ways than ever before.  Visitors can now search for listings based on new listings, communities, price ranges, school districts, bank owned, vacant land, commercial listings and they can still view all of our active real estate listings in a single grouping.  We hope you enjoy the new knoxcountyohio.com

Forbes Magazine recently featured Kenyon College in their latest issue as one of "The World's Most Beautiful College Campuses".   The Village of Gambier is truly a gorgeous community with tree lined streets, spectacular Gothic architecture, walking paths and river scenery.  The Gambier community is adjoined by a picturesque landscape of country property and farmland.  Kenyon is one of the nation's finest liberal arts colleges. 

As a Knox County resident and real estate professional, it makes me very proud that Kenyon College received this well deserved recognition from Forbes Magazine.  Because of the Forbes article, I am sure others will discover the beauty of the Kenyon College Campus.

Community Profile of Gambier, Ohio

We received an e-mail today from one of our lenders confirming that the USDA Rural Development loan program is out of funds and many of the lenders have stopped taking mortgage applications for this loan program.  I cut and pasted two important paragraphs from the e-mail notification I received this morning so that you would better understand the severity and timing of this challenge:

"Current appropriated funds have been exhausted.   If we were unable to fund your loan, you will be notified in the next few days, please do not call or email us.  As many of you have been advised, the previous notice of the ability to issue conditional commitments subject to Congressional authority has been recalled.  We are waiting for further guidance on this from our National Office.  You will be notified when more information is available (we hope within the next 24 hours).  Please do not call our office or other RD offices as everyone will be notified when we have more information.

We do not know when additional funding may be available.  The House of Representatives have passed HR 5017 that would increase the guarantee fee and provide funding for the remainder of this Fiscal Year which runs until September 30, 2010.  The Senate has introduced a similar bill S 3266.  Both bills must be passed, reconciled if necessary, signed by the President and funds appropriated by our Office of Budget prior to funds being available."

From the sound of this e-mail the USDA / Rural Development loan program is no longer an option for future buyers until funds become available later in the year.  The fact that the USDA / Rural Development program has run out of funds is not new to the real estate industry but the fact that they are out of funds in the first 4 1/2 month of 2010 is a bit shocking.  I believe they are out of funds primarily because so many other loan programs have been eliminated and the USDA / RD loan program is one of the few remaining affordable loan programs.  The challenge for USDA is that they only have so much money available per their budget and the demand for low and zero down payment home loans has been extremely high especially during the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit incentives.

If you are interested in buying a home in Knox County, Ohio but are concerned because you do not have much cash saved for your purchase be sure to contact us because we have some additional options and creative ideas that could help you.  (740) 397-7800 or samsells@sammiller.com

Sam Miller  

Serious 1st time homebuyers need to be aware that the deadline for you to have your future home under contract is less than 30 days away and the official deadline is April 30th, 2010.  The good news is that there is an outstanding selection of available homes in Knox County, Ohio so be sure to visit and view Knox County Homes. 

Another important date to keep in mind is June 30th, 2010.  This is the date your future home transaction must be closed in order to take advantage of the tax credit.  Many people do not realize that this is not a tax deduction but an actual tax credit.  If you qualify for the tax credit and you bought an $80,000 or higher home you would qualify for an $8,000 check from the IRS.  If you normally get about $2,000 from the IRS as a tax refund, you should get $10,000 back when you either file your taxes.  Something often overlooked is the ability to amend your prior year tax return and get the $8,000 check back typically within 6 to 8 weeks.

If you are serious about taking advantage of this huge home buyer incentive please contact us as soon as possible because you will need adequate time to select a suitable home and you will need a few days cushion to negotiate your contract to purchase.  Remember, the contract must be fully negotiated and accepted no later than April 30th, 2010.  Give us a call at (740) 397-7800 or email us for all of your Knox County Ohio real estate needs.  

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Gambier Ohio / Kenyon College Homes For Sale

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Utica Ohio / Licking County Homes For Sale

FHA is in the process of making some pretty big changes to their lending guidelines.  FHA mortgage specialist Bill Skerbetz of Equity Resources (740) 349-7082 shared a useful worksheet with me that highlights 5 of the more key changes that are in the works for an FHA loan.  This information is going to be very helpful for consumers thinking of buying or selling a home in the near future.

1. FHA Financing Allowed for Properties Being Resold within 90-Days.  FHA is allowing the use of FHA financing for properties being resold within the 90-day period after the previous acquisition. This is not limited to foreclosed properties. The purpose is to encourage investors that specialize in property renovation to acquire foreclosed and abandoned homes in an effort to increase the availability of affordable homes for homebuyers. In effect for all sales contracts executed on or after February 1, 2010 and will remain in effect for one year unless extended or withdrawn by the commissioner.
2. Maximum Seller Contributions Reduced to 3%.  Seller contributions to pay borrower closing costs is currently 6%, but will drop to 3%. Using $100,000 purchase price, that is $3,000 less the seller could contribute. This will go into effect this summer.
3. Up-front Mortgage Insurance Increased to 2.25%.  The Up-front Mortgage Insurance that FHA requires on most of their loans will be increased from 1.75% to 2.25%. This amount is added to the final loan amount, so there will not be additional funds needed at closing from the borrower. Good news is they will continue to allow this to be financed! Effective for FHA case numbers assigned on or after April 5, 2010.
4. Monthly Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP).  They are pursuing legislative authority to allow flexibility to bring the annual MIP higher (currently capped at .55) so they can shift some of the premium increase from the up-front MIP to the annual MIP. The annual MIP is paid over the life of the loan instead of at the time of closing so this will reduce the impact to the borrower. This is still pending.
5. Low Credit Scores.  Borrowers with credit scores below 580 will now be required to put a least 10% down. This is kind of a non-issue because few lenders that offer FHA loans will accept credit scores below 620 in today's market. This will go into effect this summer.

Serious homebuyers may have more than the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit motivating them to buy a home before April 2010!  I just read an e-mail announcement from the United States Department of Agricultural announcing that it is very likely that the USDA will have exhausted all funds available for single family home loans by the end of April, 2010.  This creates additional urgency for homebuyers to get a home under contract and closed before these funds for these loans run out.

According to USDA they have stated that "Once funding is exhausted, the Agency will not issue Conditional Commitments subject to receipt of appropriate funds. This is because it is not certain when additional funding will be available."  What this means to many homeowners is that if they wait until the last minute to take advantage of the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit and they intend to use the USDA loan program there is a VERY good chance there will not be money available to fund the loans.  The bottom line is that you could likely lose out on this super affordable loan program AND you will lose out on the opportunity to take advantage of the tax credit and the potential of getting your $8,000.

The solution is to act fast and get your new home under firm contract as quick as possible and get your loan application started.  If you wait to get a home under contract towards the end of the first time homebuyer tax credit you will likely miss out entirely.  If you would like us to get your home purchase on the fast track send us an e-mail right away or give us a call at (740) 397-7800.

Sam Miller

UPDATE on May 13th, 2010:  

We just received an e-mail from one of our lenders confirming that Rural Development / USDA has ran out of available funding.  I will update you once I hear anything new.

The February 2010 home sales totals are in for the Knox County, Ohio real estate market.  There were a total of 28 homes that sold during February for a combined total of $2,722,334 in dollar volume.  The average sales price according to the Knox County MLS for February 2010 was $97,226.

Knox County, Ohio February Home Sales By Price Range

As of February 28, 2010 there are 292 homes listed in the Knox County MLS for sale . The average list price of these homes is $155,501 with a combined total dollar value of $45,406,353.

Watch for our regularly posted monthly statistics and if you would like to be kept up with the latest news on real estate listings in Knox County, Ohio, be sure to register for our automated Knox County, Ohio Listing Notification System at old-emailknoxcountyhomes.com.
 
View our Knox County Ohio Homes For Sale.

 

*All sales statistics are as reported to the Knox County MLS on March 1^st, 2010.

Happy New Year!!  The statistics from 2009 are in and we would like to share them!  In Knox County, Ohio, 417 homes were sold during 2009.  $48,364,855 in total dollar volume of closed real estate was reported to the Knox County MLS.  The average sales price of this real estate was $115,982.

The table below shows the number of Knox County, Ohio homes sold and the price ranges they were sold.

As of January 3, 2010, there are 263 homes listed in the Knox County MLS for sale.  The average list price of these homes is $157,775, with a combined total dollar value of $41,495,059.

Watch for our monthly statistics and if you would like the latest news on our real estate listings in Knox County, Ohio, be sure to register for our automated Knox County, Ohio listing notification by clicking here.

View our Knox County, Ohio listings here.

* All sales statistics are as reported by the Knox County MLS.

The 2009 December numbers are in for real estate in Knox County, Ohio!!!  21 Homes were sold giving a total of  $3,410,189 in dollar volume closed, as reported to the Knox County MLS.  The average sales price in Knox County was $162,389.

Knox County, Ohio December Home Sales By Price Range

 
As of January 3rd, 2010 there are 263 homes listed in the Knox County MLS for sale . The average list price of these homes is $157,775 with a combined total dollar value of $41,495,059.

Watch for our monthly statistics and if you would like to be kept up with the latest news on real estate listings in Knox County, Ohio, be sure to register for our automated Knox County, Ohio Listing Notification at old-emailknoxcountyhomes.com.
 
View our Knox County Ohio Homes For Sale

*All sales statistics are as reported to the Knox County MLS