What a nice spacious contemporary home located in New Richmond on a 1 acre lot.  This home has more than 2500 square feet according to the Clermont County Auditor. 

It offers a master bedroom and a laundry area on the 1st floor and there are no steps required to enter the home. 

The kitchen and family room is open and offers a walkout to the large backyard with tiered decks and patio area.  The dining room is decorated with crown moldings and chair rail. 

There are three more large bedrooms upstairs along with a full bath.  The second level also offers a open loft area that would make a great study.

There are multiple heat sources in this home.  It has an electric forced air furnace along with electric baseboard heat as a backup.  It also has a wood burning fireplace with an insert. 

This home is one to see.  It is in terrific condition and has many amenities that you will appreciate.

Contact us for more information or a private showing.

Cell #  513-659-9645             e-mail  jeffsmith1@remax.net 

They simply give us the details of the type of home they want.  For example: 3 bedrooms with at least 1 and a half bath, 2 car garage, a full basement, in Anderson Township and priced between $150,000 and $200,000. 

We take those details and creat an automated search that constantly monitors the MLS system and when there is a new listing or a price change on an existing listing that meets their criteria, they get an e-mail of the listing information with pictures and full details on the property.

We also establish a portal for our clients so they can log in at any time and view the listings they have been sent.  Not only can they view them, they can move them to various tabs and save the listings they like and reject the ones they don't like. 

They can add comments to the various listings and track their status.  So, if a home goes under contract, they will see the ACTIVE status change to PENDING.  Once the home closes, the status will change to SOLD and our clients will be able to see the price the home sold for and the number of days it was on the market. 

Not only does this service provide you with a way to see the latest listings but it also helps you get a handle on your local real estate market by helping you monitor the sale prices for homes in your area. 

There is no cost for this service and it doesn't take long to get it started and up and running.  I have set searches up for hundreds of clients and they love it. 

Did I mention it was FREE!!!

Call us or e-mail me your criteria and we'll get your Client Portal set up today! 

Here is some good news for you.  Ohio Housing Finance Agency, (OHFA) still has some great programs available for first time home buyers with down payment assistance.   The program offers competitive interest rates and a great way to help you buy your dream home. 

If you qualify for the program, OHFA will give you a grant for 2.5% of the purchase price to help with the down payment or closing costs. 

There are credit and income requirements to qualify.  If you haven't owned a home for 3 years, you may be eligable for the program. 

The income limits to qualify vary from county to county along with the purchase price limits.  Here is an example take from their website as of July 18th 2010.

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Here is some more information about qualifying properties:

To qualify for an OHFA loan, you must also:

• Be a first-time homebuyer—someone who has not owned or had an ownership interest in his/her principal residence in the last three years—or be a qualified military veteran. Not a first-time homebuyer or a military veteran?
• Be creditworthy. Minimum credit scores may apply.
• Have a signed Purchase and Sales Agreement for a qualifying property.
• Qualify for the loan being requested. Lenders will assess your ability to afford a home by considering income, assets, job stability, liabilities, and other criteria.

Additional property requirements:

• Properties are limited to two acres unless additional acreage is required by local health or safety code.
• Qualifying properties include:
  • Existing homes: single-family dwellings, duplexes, and up to four-unit properties
  • Spec/Nearly completed homes: one-unit single-family dwellings
  • Modular/Manufactured homes: one-unit single-family dwellings, permanently affixed to a foundation

I recently assisted a client who utilized this program.  We asked the seller of the home to pay closing costs, which they did.  They used the OHFA program's down payment assistance to cover almost all of the down payment.  With the tax credits received at closing and the credit for the earnest money they put down with the offer, this buyer received money back at the closing table. 

This can be a great opportunity for the right buyers.  If you are wanting to purchase a home and want to put as little down as possible.  This may be a good program for you.  Call us and we can put you in touch with some great loan officers familiar with the OHFA programs. 

For more information visit the OHFA website: http://www.ohiohome.org/homebuyer/first_time.aspx

or visit our website  www.jeffsmithteam.com

Wonderful 5 acre parcel available in Bethel on Patterson Rd.  The acreage is rolling and is a nice lot.  Owner motivated and wants offers.  Call Jeff at 513-659-9645 for more details.

Attention Investors!  Two homes on a 1 acre lot in Anderson Township. Both houses currently rented. 

1291 Eight Mile Rd - is a 2 bedroom, 1 and 1 half bath, a garage and many updates to the home. 

1303 Eight Mile Rd. is also a 2 bedroom home with 1 bath, a basement and a garage. 

Both homes being sold together but owner will consider selling them seperately. 

The lot is very nice and convenient to Beechmont Ave. and I-275.  Must have 24 hour notice for showings.

This is it!  Many new updates and the home is in terrific condition.  Four bedroom home with two full baths.  The kitchen is breath taking and loaded with granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, and tons of cabinetry. 

Open floor plan is great for entertaining friends and family.  There is a fireplace in the great room and walkouts to a back patio area and a walkout from the dining area to a deck. 

The lower level has recently been redone and offers a brand new full bath and a walkout.  Everyone bedroom has been updated and the home is in great condition. 

Enjoy the large back yard and playset and walk across the street to Wilson elementary school.  The bike trail is only a short ride from this house. 

Take a look at this wonderful home.  Call us for a private showing at 513-659-9645.

This is more than just a house.  This is a home and has been lovingly cared for by the current owners.  It is located in Anderson Township in the Forest Hills school district and only minutes to I-275 and the Towncenter. 

This home is in Markley Farms pool and tennis community.  It offers 4 spacious bedrooms and a wonderful bonus room.  The owner has added some fun features to the bonus room including skylights, a treehouse, a window seat/storage area, and my favorite: a secret passage from the room to one of the kid's bedroom closets.  How fun is that! 

The home has hardwood floors in the entry, kitchen and dining room.  The spacious kitchen offers many cabinets, corian counters and a granite island.  The master suite has a newly updated bathroom and also offers an adjoining office/study.

All of the bathrooms have been updated and the home is in very good condition and nothing to do but move in. 

The family room has a fireplace and a walkout to a large deck.  There is also a full basement that is partially finished with a nice excersize room.

Check out the huge basketball court in the pictures and the large back yard.  Call Jeff for a private showing.  513-659-9645.

Terrific all brick home located in the heart of Anderson Township with quck access to I-275, shopping and dining. 

This four bedroom home is in fantastic condition and offers hardwood flooring in the entry and kitchen areas.  The kitchen is spacious and includes an island plus a nice bay window. 

The family room has a fireplace and a walkout to a large patio area.  There is also a formal dining room and living room.  The master suite is very spacious and offers a wonderful luxury bath.  The home also offers a full basement ready to be finished and a first floor laundry/ mud room.

Check this home out.  It is in wonderful condition and offers immediate occupancy.  Call us for a private showing.  513-659-9645

Great opportunity!  4 bedroom home in Anderson Township.  This is a very solid home that just needs a little TLC to really make it shine. 

The home offers an eat in kitchen with a full compliment of appliances.  There is a nice family room with a fireplace and walkout to a private fenced in patio area. 

The first floor also offers a formal dining room and a living room.  There are four bedrooms on the second floor and a one and a half baths. 

The second floor has 4 bedrooms and one and a half baths.  There is also a finished lower level.  The home has a great deal of potential and is very reasonably priced for Anderson Township. 

Call us today to schedule a showing. 

You will love this ranch and its wonderful spacious floor plan situated in Goshen and in Loveland's school district.  It is a must see and is priced well below the original puchase price! 

When you enter this home, the first thing you will notice is the unique hardwood flooring.  If offers Beech hardwood throughout the first floor.

The family room offers cathedral ceilings, a gas fireplace and is wired for surround sound. 

The is a first floor study and a beautiful dining room with triple moldings, columns and recessed ceiling. 

The kitchen area is open with stainless steel appliances, 42 inch cabinetry and recessed lighting.  This home is great for entertaining friends and family with the open floor plan and the terrific sunroom and it's many windows. 

The master suite is wonderful and has a luxury master bath with a jet tub and seperate shower and spacious closet. 

There is a large recreation room finished in the lower level along with an additional play room or media room.  There is also a large unfinished area in the basement for storage. 

The home is located on a quiet culdesac and is also adjacent to a local golf course!   It is also very convenient to local shopping and Loveland Schools. 

Call 513-659-9645 to schedule a showing! 

Don't miss out on this great mixed use investment opportunity!!

The 3 apartment units & income from parking spaces can make your payments. The retail space is a bonus!

Very solid & clean building in high car and foot traffic area

Ready for your business to move in-Can be a Money Maker. Tenants pay heat/air.

Located in the heart of Bethel, Ohio right on St Rt 125

Call Jeff Smith with RE/MAX Elite at 513-659-9645 for more information or a private showing!

CIncinnati Area Real Estate Market Update

Monthly Statistics

Average days on market still low for the month of August

	2007 Totals	May 08	June 08	July 08	Aug 08
Homes for Sale	16,424	16,039	16,437	16,689	16,387
# of Homes Sold	24,337	1,721	1,771	1,675	1,599
# of Pending Sales	1,978	2,115	1,988	1,951	1,862
Avg. Sale Price	$177,781	$171,868	$192,376	$185,208	$167,657
Avg. Days on Market	79	89	83	76	77

This wonderful mini farm has a charming home with an updated kitchen, a bay window and window seat, wood cabinets, tile backspash and  an island.   There is a first floor master bedroom and hardwood floors. 

There have been many updates to this home including windows, heating and air.  This home also offers a relaxing front porch. 

There is a very large laundry room and mud room combination that you enter from the rear of the home.   The washer and dryer stay along with all the kitchen appliances. 

The home is situated on a beautiful rolling 5 acreas with a small creek. and mature trees.  It has a picturesque gravel lane that leads to the house.  There are several outbuildings on the property including a large cattle barn, corn cribb,  and a small garage / storage area.  This home also has a summer kitchen on the premises. 

It has a fenced in pasture so you can bring your horses. 

If you are looking for more land, there is an additional 5 acres available next door to this property.  

Call us for a private showing.  This could really be a special place! 

Monthly Statistics

Average days on market drops to 76 days for the month of July.

2008 Cincinnati Area Monthly Real Estate Market Update

	2007 Totals	April 08	May 08	June 08	July 08
Homes for Sale Monthly Avg	16,424	15,519	16,039	16,437	16,689
# of Homes Sold	24,337	1481	1,721	1,770	1,672
# of Pending Sales	1,978	2,292	2,115	1,988	1,951
Avg. Sale Price (Single Fam)	$177,781	$154,577	$171,882	$192,419	$185,457
Avg.  Days on Market	79	89	89	83	76
Avg. Interest Rate

These figures are based off of single family home sales data from the Cincinnati MLS.

Our team manager heard a so called industry expert on the news this morning saying you cannot get 100% financing these days but that just isn't the case.  We are closing a deal tomorrow where the buyer is purchasing his first home and did not put any money down.  He is participating in an Ameridream Program.  The seller agreed to pay his closing costs and put down 3%  of the purchase price for the buyer.  The seller also agreed to pay $375 for the Ameridream Program fee.   This is a great situation for a qualified and responsible buyer.  Notice I said qualified and responsible.  This type of loan isn't for everyone.  I have noticed the underwriting for these loans has tightened up recently and I think that is a great thing.  Too many people got this type of loan previously and ended up in foreclosure. 

Also, last week I listed a home for a client and our first offer was a zero down buyer. The home is now under contract and again the buyer is not putting any money down to purchase this home.  In this case the buyer is using the Nehemiah Program that allows the seller to contribute 3% for the buyers down payment.  The seller is assisting with the closing costs and paying a $599 fee that Nehemiah charges for their program.   The buyer will not have to put any money down to buy this house, now will he have to use his money for closing costs.   How cool is that! 

Most investments such as gold or stocks require you to fully fund the transaction with 100% of the purchase price.  With real estate, you can purchase a $100,000 home with none of your money.  You can leverage other peoples money to purchase a home.  Leveraging other  peoples money is probably the strongest reason to buy real estate. 

Don't let the press scare you away from buying a home.  The interest rates are good and there are still many loan options available.Rates this past week averaged 6.62 percent for a 30 year fixed rate loan and with some shopping you can do better than the national average.  Give us a call to see if you qualify for one of these 100% financing programs.

Phone:  513-766-9099

Cincinnati Area Real Estate Market Update

Monthly Statistics

Home sales continue to increase for the  month of June and the average days on market drops to 83 days. 

2008 Cincinnati Area Monthly Real Estate Market Update

	2007 Totals	April 08	May 08	June 08
Homes for sale  (Monthly Avg)	16,424	15,519	16,039	16,437
# of Homes Sold	24,337	1,773	2,027	2,076
# of Pending Sales	1,978	2,292	2,115	1,988
Avg. Sale Price (Single Fam)	$177,781	$154,577	$171,882	$192,419
Avg.  Days on Market	79	89	89	83
Avg. Interest Rate (30 Year Fixed Rate)

I helped a client bid on a home recently and HUD was offering $2500 for closing costs and other expenses as long as the buyer is planning to live in the home.  The incentives don't apply for investors. 

They also have a $100 down payment program available if you use FHA financing.   How great is that.  Rather than the normal 3% required for FHA, you can put $100 down and buy one of their homes. 

Many HUD homes require some TLC and some need a lot of work.  To help with the fix up costs, HUD allows you to finance the repair costs by utilizing an FHA 203K loan.  Again, this financing is not available to investors.   It must be an owner occupied home.   So don't let the fact that you don't have funds available to fix up the home deter you from buying a HUD home.  Finance the fix up costs using a 203K loan.  For more details call Dave Brumley  at McKinley Mortgage  791-2700

There are some great deals out there for the buyer that is willing to do some work and will be patient and look for a good buy.  It is crucial to get pre-approval before you can submit an offer on a HUD home. 

A few more facts about buying a HUD Home,

• Buyers that want to live in the home get 10 days to submit bids before investors are allowed to bid.
• HUD requires a earnest money to submit offers.  If the bid is 0 to $50,000 the earnest money must be $500.  If the bid amount is $50,001 - $100,000 the earnest money must be $1000.  If the bid amount is over $100,000 the earnest money must be $1500.
• Your Realtor/Brokerage has to be signed up to submit bids to HUD.  ReMax Elite is signed up and ready to help you.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the benefits of buying a HUD home give us a call at 513-766-9099.

VIP Buyer's Program

Benefits for our buyer clients

· Great Financing assistance We will arrange for free no obligation pre-qualification meeting with an experienced loan officer to update you on the current interest rates, new loans available and to get your pre-approved for a home loan. 

· Automated home search We will set up our automated home search system and provide you with steady and instant updates on homes as they hit the market.   You give us the criteria for the home you want and we’ll establish your buyer’s profile and start e-mailing updates.  You will have access to hot new listings ahead of  most agents.

· Proven professionals Our team of agents and staff have years of experience to help ensure a smooth transition.  We will provide you with contact information for many proven professionals in the industry such as home inspectors, appraisers, lenders, home warranty providers, etc.

· Free Home Warranty  If we cannot negotiate a home warranty, we will provide one for you as long as your home qualifies for a home warranty.

· Buyers security   If you buy a home with us and decide to move within the first six months of the date of purchase, we will  help you sell the home for FREE excluding any brokerage fees for buyers agents. 

· Any type of home  We will help you with For Sale By Owner homes, builders and new construction, homes listed by other brokerages and investment properties.  Our team has experience in all facets of residential housing

· It should not cost you anything - Because the seller or builder usually pay our fees, you should not have to pay us anything for all the services outlined above and you are under no obligation to buy or build a home.

  In return for these services, you will agree:

1)    To get pre-approval - this will  help you get an offer accepted and make your house hunting much easier.  Sellers often require a pre-approval  with an offer.

2)    Allow us to represent you whenever you see a home, new or resale, that you want to view.  Advise all other agents, builders, and For Sale By Owner’s that you are working with us and we are your agent.  If you decide to make an offer on a home, you agree to do it through us.

3)   To give us 120 days to represent you as your agent.

First, I think its important to mention a big misconceptions I often hear.

• You can buy these homes for next to nothing - I have not found this to be the case.  I have been involved in hundreds of offers on these type of homes and the banks simply do not accept offers significantly below their list price.  For the first month, banks stay pretty close to their asking price.  As time goes on they will begin to drop their price gradually but it is very rare to see a bank accept an offer that is significantly below the list price in our market. 

Banks obviously want to sell these homes but sometimes you would never know it.  They are usually very slow to give you an answer on your offer.  You have to be very patient because it may take a week to get a counter offer or response to your offer.  I have had banks take 2 weeks to give me an answer on an offer. 

Banks don't want to play around, so make your offers as simple as possible and don't put a bunch of contingencies in your offer.  These homes are sold "AS IS" and the banks don't want to make repairs or replace the roof, etc.  They want to sell the home as it is and in their minds have priced the home to reflect the repairs.  Don't expect them to make necessary repairs or put in a new water heater.

Don't put weasel clauses in your offer.  For example:  this offer is contingent upon the approval of my partner within 30 days.  Keep the offer as simple as possible and minimize the contingencies.  You probably will need an inspection contingency and a financing contingency and banks are usually OK with those.

Financing - If the home is in need of repairs, as many bank owned homes are, many banks/lenders will not want to finance these type of homes.  I recommend using one of the local banks that offer rehab loans for investors.  Columbia Savings and Guardian Savings have good programs.  

Cash offers definitely help you offer get accepted.  If a seller has two offers similar accept one is a Cash offer and the other is getting financing at a local bank, which do you think they will accept?  There are too many things that can go wrong with financing and a CASH offer is clean and less likely to fall through.  I have seen banks accept a cash offer eventhough it was much less than another offer that was planning to get traditional financing.  CASH offers are very powerful. 

Get your pre-approval letter from your lender before you start looking at houses.  All banks require this letter or proof of funds with the offer.  If it isn't included with the offer, the banks won't consider it usually. 

Earnest Money - I recommend putting down at least $1000 as earnest money.  You will get this back if the offer isn't accepted and you will get credit for it , if the offer is accepted.  Let the seller know you are serious.

I always included a line in my offers to let the banks know I was buying the home AS IS and was not expecting the bank/seller to make repairs.  I also let them know I was using financing that was designed for investors buying a fixer upper. 

Most of the banks have their own addendum they will require the buyer to sign.  Some of these are 4 to 10 pages long and many times you don't have to sign these until your initial offer gets accepted.   Read these and understand what you are agreeing to.  They often will have a $50 to $100 / day fee if you don't close by the target closing date.  The banks want to make sure these deals close on time and they will expect you to pay these fees if you or your lender doesn't close on time. 

Also, their addendum may have the buyer paying additional fees that are not normal you our area.  Make sure you understand what fees you will be paying so you aren't surprised.

Inspections - When you decide to make an offer on a bank owned home, make sure you do your due diligence concerning your repair costs.  If  you are not experienced with home repairs, make sure you hire a home inspector to help you out.  Put in an inspection contingency in your offer to give you 7 to 10 days to complete a whole house inspection.   Buying distressed properties can be very risky if you are not very skilled at analysing the needed repairs and their costs.  I know you may be very eager to buy a home, but please take your time and understand your fix up costs.  This will make or break your investing experience.

Utilities - make sure you check your local utility companies to make sure there are no fees outstanding for the house you are planning to buy.  These fees may not be found by the title company so you should check yourself.  I have had properties in small villages that had tousands of dollars in outstanding charges that the local municpality tagged to the home for items such as removing and cutting up fallen trees and mowing the lawn.

Be ready to act quickly because these homes go fast if they are priced right.