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Water Kills

TJ Bell — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:25:51 +0000

I saw the movie “Rango” with Johnny Depp this past weekend. One of the themes of the movie revolved around water being the source of life.

Water however, can kill homes.

It can also effect your ability to get the best price for your home when you sell it. Many buyers will see any evidence of water damage, no matter how small and immediately start deducting from their offer price. Even if the problem has been corrected.

Simple maintenance can prevent many water related problems saving you cash and headaches. It’s all about making sure water flows away from your home.

You can start with simple dirt.

The soil against your foundation settles over time, reducing the grade, so you may need to add extra dirt. Many experts recommend that new soil slope a minimum of 1 inch for every foot of grade and extend at least 6 feet away from the house

Make sure your gutters are clear and extend your downspouts at least 6 feet from the foundation. I’m amazed at how many homes I see in Omaha when there are no downspout extensions or they have fallen off. Rain water goes straight down the foundation wall. That hydrostatic pressures which pushes again foundation walls and over time can cause major problems.

Spring in Omaha means rain and wet basements. Check these simple things to make sure you are diverting water away from your foundation so you won’t be diverting money from your checking account.

Michael Moloney Radio Interview

TJ Bell — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:05:44 +0000

Thanks to Michael Moloney From Extreme Makeover Home Edition for stopping by the radio show this weekend. Lots of people were taking pictures of Michael so I did my best to ask questions and get out of the way at the same time. If I’m in your picture, just Photoshop me out!

Listen to the interview below.

NE Ranked 44th in Foreclosures

TJ Bell — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:33:52 +0000

Nebraska recently ranked 44th out of 50 states for the amount of homes in foreclosure. This helps Omaha sellers who do not have to compete against as many homes that are “bargain priced. The low foreclosure rate is one of the reasons that the Omaha market was named by Trulia as “One of the top 10 markets to rebound in 2011″ and by PMI Group as “The real estate market with the least risk.”

Nebraska is consistently in the bottom 10 of states when looking at foreclosure rates. 1 in every 2880 homes is in foreclosure in Nebraska. Compare that to Nevada where one in every 93 homes is in foreclosure. NOD, LIS, NTS, NFS, REO refer to the type of foreclosure taking place. The rate refers to the number of homes in foreclosure compared to the total number of homes in a state.

Statistics from Realtytrac

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                           Properties with Foreclosure Filings

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                                                                 %      %

                                                       1/ever Change Change

Rate  State                                            y X HU  from    from

Rank   Name   NOD    LIS    NTS    NFS    REO   Total  (rate) Dec 10  Jan 10

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  -- U.S.   36,964 38,234 88,050 19,952 78,133 261,333    497   1.39  -17.23

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  34 Alabama     0      0  1,038      0    604   1,642  1,329 -15.92   -8.83

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  31 Alaska      0      0    165      0    100     265  1,071  38.74  -15.61

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   2 Arizona     7      0  8,997      0  6,753  15,757    175  16.19  -25.14

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  19 Arkansas  128      0  1,294      0    486   1,908    687  -3.34   -5.12

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     Cali-

   3 fornia 24,162      0 27,017      0 15,893  67,072    200   1.76   -6.61

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  10 Colorado    7      0  3,190      0  1,749   4,946    438  -3.46   -1.65

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     Connect-

  39 icut        0    548      0     60    229     837  1,727 -25.27  -62.26

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  20 Delaware    0      0      0    192    376     568    698  28.80   23.48

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     District of

     Columbia    0      0      6      0     16      22 12,961 -57.69  -88.54

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   9 Florida     0  8,882      0  5,231  7,558  21,671    409 -15.48  -53.96

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   7 Georgia     1      0  8,015      0  4,756  12,772    318  15.67   13.29

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  11 Hawaii     36      0    555      0    394     985    523  -1.50  -24.35

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   4 Idaho     776      0  1,215      0    695   2,686    241  29.38    3.19

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   8 Illinois    0  8,345      1  1,908  2,910  13,164    402  -6.25  -27.35

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  29 Indiana     0    913      0  1,001  1,075   2,989    940 -16.67  -35.33

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  28 Iowa        0    927      5    225    278   1,435    937  -9.12 131.08*

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  25 Kansas      0    330      0    432    720   1,482    833 38.63* 109.32*

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  38 Kentucky    0    684      0    248    278   1,210  1,599 21.85*    5.13

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  27 Louisiana   0    267      0  1,387    469   2,123    925 19.40*  76.62*

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  42 Maine       0     78      0    132    136     346  2,036  16.11   -3.08

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  37 Maryland    0    279      0    373    906   1,558  1,503  -4.71  -70.20

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     Massa-

  40 chusetts    0    602      6    496    460   1,564  1,757  -4.58  -65.52

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     Michi-

   6 gan     5,274      0  6,724      0  4,718  16,716    272   4.08   -4.88

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  26 Minnesota  80      1  1,126      0  1,367   2,574    906  -9.78   -8.50

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  46 Mississippi 0      0    123      0    169     292  4,391 -71.48  -29.81

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  24 Missouri    2      0  2,153      0  1,107   3,262    822   2.80   10.76

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  41 Montana     0      0    135      0    106     241  1,831  -6.95  -39.14

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  44 Nebraska  131      0     84      0     60     275  2,880  -0.72  -27.44

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   1 Nevada  4,535      0  4,212      0  3,516  12,263     93  -8.97    3.45

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New

  18 Hampshire   0      0    648      0    253     901    666 99.78*  -20.55

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New

  16 Jersey      0  4,011      0    863    652   5,526    638  12.84  -10.09

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New

  21 Mexico      0    664      0    235    334   1,233    712   8.16   -3.75

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New

  43 York        0  2,339      1    302    243   2,885  2,779  10.03  -36.86

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     North

  35 Carolina  367      0  1,582      0  1,091   3,040  1,401   1.16   -3.92

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     North

  49 Dakota      0      1      0      8     16      25 12,657 -13.79  -34.21

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  13 Ohio        0  3,889      0  2,701  2,334   8,924    571 -15.20  -19.64

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  30 Oklahoma    0    739      0    549    397   1,685    979  11.74   -4.96

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  15 Oregon     52      0  1,782      0    964   2,798    586   0.14  -41.85

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     Pennsyl-

  36 vania       0    986      0  1,782    924   3,692  1,495 -22.52  -27.37

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     Rhode

  33 Island      0      0    248      0    131     379  1,193 -26.97  -41.60

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     South

  22 Carolina    0  1,592      0    407    906   2,905    717  -3.62   -6.32

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     South

  47 Dakota      0     12      0     25     39      76  4,810 -59.14 442.86*

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  23 Tennessee   0      0  2,076      0  1,374   3,450    806  32.59  -11.79

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  17 Texas      16      0  9,898      0  4,983  14,897    653  33.46   21.86

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   5 Utah    1,372      0  1,303      0    926   3,601    265   8.11  -11.89

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  50 Vermont     0      0     11      0     10      21 14,964  40.00   40.00

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  32 Virginia   17      0  1,925      0  1,091   3,033  1,098 -11.21  -42.07

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  12 Washington  0      0  2,458      0  2,523   4,981    565  23.63   42.52

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     West

  48 Virginia    0      0     30      0     63      93  9,610 -19.83   25.68

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  14 Wisconsin   0  2,145      6  1,395    936   4,482    577  20.65   20.81

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  45 Wyoming     1      0     21      0     59      81  3,079   1.25 145.45*

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Flip This House Radio Interview

TJ Bell — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:03:37 +0000

Peter Pasternack, host of A&E’s Flip this House Atlanta joined us on the radio show. Peter is a certified public accountant and founder of the Foundations Investment Group. He talked about flipping homes and the importance of keeping an eye on the bottom line to maximize your investment. Listen to the interview below.

Feb Omaha Foreclosure Stats

TJ Bell — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:29:26 +0000

February Omaha Foreclosure Statistics

We’re averaging about 400 Omaha REO properties on the market each week. That’s down from a peak of around 500 properties at the end of 2010.

Homes sold: 135
Average days on the market: 40
Highest sold price: $269,800
Lowest sold price: $ 4,100
Average list price: $63,797
Average sold price: $ 59,730
Average list price per above grade sq. ft. $49
Average sold price per above grade sq. ft. $46

No way San Jose

TJ Bell — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:24:02 +0000

No Way San Jose/Why I like living in Omaha

Sometimes perspective is a good thing in real estate and life.

I was reading an article about how the Chief of Police in San Jose, California makes over $500,000 a year and many lower level city employees make well over $100,000 a year.

Great pay in sunny California sounded interesting so I thought I’d check out the San Jose real estate market.

The above picture is what $200,000 buys you in San Jose.

Great curb appeal aside, a possible drawback if that there is only one half bath in this 2 bedroom, 960sq. ft house.

That’s right. No shower or bathtub in the house.

$200,000 and you are washing off with the garden hose in the backyard. Might make you feel just a little better about our property taxes and our Nebraska winters.

One last thing. $200,000 is actually a steal. It was listed for $308,000 before they dropped the price.

Melissa Zavala Radio Interview

TJ Bell — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:36:47 +0000

Melissa Zavala, national short sale expert, joined us on TJ’s House Party. She talked about selling your home for less than you owe on the mortgage and why as a buyer, some Omaha short sales may be a better deal than foreclosures. Listen to the interview.

Gregg Mitchell Radio Interview

TJ Bell — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:42:28 +0000

Greg Mitchel founder of Mitchel and Associates joined us on TJ’s House Party to talk about the Omaha Real Estate Market. Gregg talked about the market being up potentially 10% in 2011 and discussed the higher end market as well. Listen to the whole interview.

David Paladino Radio Interview

TJ Bell — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:35:12 +0000

David Paladino is the founder of Landmark Group and is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Real Estate, earning a master’s degree in real estate development. Dave joined us on the show recently to talk about the Omaha real estate market and the rental market which he thinks will be strong in 2011. Listen to the interview.

Omaha = Dollar Tree Store

TJ Bell — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:13:44 +0000

Here’s some news you can put next to your Douglas County property tax statement, vehicle registration statement, state income tax statement etc. Might make you feel a bit better.

Might.

Omaha grabbed the top spot on Forbes “Best Bargain Cities” list.

The magazine surveyed the largest 50 metropolitan areas in the U.S to find which cities offered the greatest value. Factors in determining the list included a combination of affordable real estate and a healthy ratio of income to living costs.

Basically they looked at ratios of how much we make and how much we spend on housing and other living expenses in Omaha. They also factored in the strength of the local economy. Omaha’s job market will actually grow by 1.6% in 2011, according to Moody’s Economy.

No surprise the Midwest dominated the bargain city list. Other heartland metropolises offering good deals include Indianapolis, Ind. (No.4); Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. (No. 7); Oklahoma’s namesake city (No. 9) and Tulsa (No. 15); and Ohio’s three largest metros, Cincinnati (No. 5), Cleveland (No.8) and Columbus (No. 13).