Cleveland's fantastic West Side Market was recently touted in the Chicago Reader, an alternative newsweekly in the Windy City.
They write: "Those Clevelanders are just too modest. They have a beautiful, year-round, historic indoor market packed with independent butchers, bakers, candy makers, cheese shops, fishmongers, produce vendors, and specialty shops. It's almost too staggering to wrap your head around in one visit, and damn near impossible to leave without bags and bags of good stuff to eat ... Chicago can never seriously consider itself a world-class food city until it builds a market like this."
Click here to read the full article.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Take Advantage of Federal Tax Credits for Making Your Home More Energy Efficient
Homeowners that make their homes more energy-efficient through adding insulation, new appliances and storm windows may qualify for federal tax credits that will save them money.
The federal government offers an array of tax credits for homeowners and builders that improve the energy-efficiency of their homes, and energystar.gov offers a complete summary.
The stimulus plan just signed into law by President Obama includes $300 million to provide consumers with rebates for buying energy efficient, Energy Star products to replace old appliances. This tax credit will help to lower energy bills, improve the environment, and save and create jobs.
If you are buying a new home, or wish to make the home that you own more energy-efficient, here are a few products that you may wish to consider. Installing these products may make you eligible for a tax credit.
In recent years, new insulation products have come onto the market. Some of these products are becoming widely used, replacing older, less efficient materials, and others are growing in popularity.
One such product is Spider insulation. Offering the benefits of blow-in insulation and the value of fiberglass, Spider seals wall cavities and attic spaces in order to stop air leakage and infiltration. It increases the overall energy-efficiency of a house. The product is free of formaldehyde, and high in thermal efficiency.
Another product that has become widely available is energy-efficient faucets. On average, Americans use over 70 gallons of water a day per person. Much of that usage happens in the bathroom. For example, water flows from a standard showerhead at 2.5 gallons per minute, so a ten minute shower nets 25 gallons.
However, many companies now manufacture energy-efficient faucets and showerheads that lower water usage while ensuring comfort. Moen, a company that is based in Northeast Ohio, offers showerheads that reduce water usage to 1.75 gallons per minute, thus saving the consumer money on their water bills, and also lessening the impact on the environment.
Making your home more energy efficient will reduce the costs of homeownership, making it more affordable, and help to protect the environment – something that will make our economy and our country healthier in the long run.
The federal government offers an array of tax credits for homeowners and builders that improve the energy-efficiency of their homes, and energystar.gov offers a complete summary.
The stimulus plan just signed into law by President Obama includes $300 million to provide consumers with rebates for buying energy efficient, Energy Star products to replace old appliances. This tax credit will help to lower energy bills, improve the environment, and save and create jobs.
If you are buying a new home, or wish to make the home that you own more energy-efficient, here are a few products that you may wish to consider. Installing these products may make you eligible for a tax credit.
In recent years, new insulation products have come onto the market. Some of these products are becoming widely used, replacing older, less efficient materials, and others are growing in popularity.
One such product is Spider insulation. Offering the benefits of blow-in insulation and the value of fiberglass, Spider seals wall cavities and attic spaces in order to stop air leakage and infiltration. It increases the overall energy-efficiency of a house. The product is free of formaldehyde, and high in thermal efficiency.
Another product that has become widely available is energy-efficient faucets. On average, Americans use over 70 gallons of water a day per person. Much of that usage happens in the bathroom. For example, water flows from a standard showerhead at 2.5 gallons per minute, so a ten minute shower nets 25 gallons.
However, many companies now manufacture energy-efficient faucets and showerheads that lower water usage while ensuring comfort. Moen, a company that is based in Northeast Ohio, offers showerheads that reduce water usage to 1.75 gallons per minute, thus saving the consumer money on their water bills, and also lessening the impact on the environment.
Making your home more energy efficient will reduce the costs of homeownership, making it more affordable, and help to protect the environment – something that will make our economy and our country healthier in the long run.
First Time Buyer Tax Credit: $8,000 Free
Good things come in stimulus packages: the plan signed into law by President Obama contains an $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers.
The difference between this tax credit and the $7,500 tax credit passed in 2008 is that qualified buyers do not have to pay it back.
If you are a first-time homebuyer, purchase a home before Dec. 1st, and live in the home for three years without selling it, then you can claim the $8,000 credit on your taxes.
The home must be a single-family home, and there are adjusted gross income limitations of $75,000 for an individual and $150,000 for a couple. The amount of the credit is the lesser of 10% of the home purchase price or $8,000. If a home is sold within the first three years, then the full amount of the credit is due upon sale.
The purpose of the new tax credit is obviously to stimulate the housing market. This bold and unusual move reflects a belief by our leaders in Congress and at the White House that a national recovery of the housing market is essential to the overall recovery of our economy.
This tax credit represents a major opportunity for first-time buyers, and as the housing market heads into recovery, one that is unlikely to be repeated.
For more information about the credit and whether or not you are eligible, please contact us.
The difference between this tax credit and the $7,500 tax credit passed in 2008 is that qualified buyers do not have to pay it back.
If you are a first-time homebuyer, purchase a home before Dec. 1st, and live in the home for three years without selling it, then you can claim the $8,000 credit on your taxes.
The home must be a single-family home, and there are adjusted gross income limitations of $75,000 for an individual and $150,000 for a couple. The amount of the credit is the lesser of 10% of the home purchase price or $8,000. If a home is sold within the first three years, then the full amount of the credit is due upon sale.
The purpose of the new tax credit is obviously to stimulate the housing market. This bold and unusual move reflects a belief by our leaders in Congress and at the White House that a national recovery of the housing market is essential to the overall recovery of our economy.
This tax credit represents a major opportunity for first-time buyers, and as the housing market heads into recovery, one that is unlikely to be repeated.
For more information about the credit and whether or not you are eligible, please contact us.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Real Estate Marketing for the Internet Age
As more and more homebuyers search for homes online, the real estate marketing industry has been forced to adapt to a new set of rules. While some firms are dragged, kicking and screaming, into the Internet age, others have sought to embrace it, and to find ways to better serve their customers.
Let’s face it: we all suffer from advertising fatigue. In the past few years, marketers have begun to talk about the “three screens” that exist in our lives – Internet, television and blackberry/cell phone – and how they’ve become interwoven. Yet the proliferation of media outlets, and the fact that advertising has attached itself to everything in our lives, has also made the standard “push” method of marketing less and less effective.
The reason is this: When you’re trying to reach customers who know what they want, and know how to get it, then a barrage of sales pitches doesn’t work. Instead, marketers must subtly convince them that their firm offers the best service and product. They need to provide consumers with the information that will help them to make informed decisions. Advertising experts call this “pull” marketing.
Real estate marketing firms are no exception. The companies that survive these daunting times will be those that adapt to this changing environment. Consumers want information at their fingertips. They also appreciate realistic market information – not the doom-and-gloom prophecies of the cable TV money gurus, but neither the buy-now-or-lose-out mentality of the boom times. Call it a new kind of middle ground – a healthy mix of market skepticism, informed decision making, and a renewed search for opportunities in the marketplace.
That’s the purpose of this blog – to provide our customers with the kind of information and analysis that will help them to make informed decisions in the marketplace. If you have feedback about topics that you’d like to see addressed and covered, please send it to us at pure@progressiveurban.com.
Happy reading.
Let’s face it: we all suffer from advertising fatigue. In the past few years, marketers have begun to talk about the “three screens” that exist in our lives – Internet, television and blackberry/cell phone – and how they’ve become interwoven. Yet the proliferation of media outlets, and the fact that advertising has attached itself to everything in our lives, has also made the standard “push” method of marketing less and less effective.
The reason is this: When you’re trying to reach customers who know what they want, and know how to get it, then a barrage of sales pitches doesn’t work. Instead, marketers must subtly convince them that their firm offers the best service and product. They need to provide consumers with the information that will help them to make informed decisions. Advertising experts call this “pull” marketing.
Real estate marketing firms are no exception. The companies that survive these daunting times will be those that adapt to this changing environment. Consumers want information at their fingertips. They also appreciate realistic market information – not the doom-and-gloom prophecies of the cable TV money gurus, but neither the buy-now-or-lose-out mentality of the boom times. Call it a new kind of middle ground – a healthy mix of market skepticism, informed decision making, and a renewed search for opportunities in the marketplace.
That’s the purpose of this blog – to provide our customers with the kind of information and analysis that will help them to make informed decisions in the marketplace. If you have feedback about topics that you’d like to see addressed and covered, please send it to us at pure@progressiveurban.com.
Happy reading.
Cuyahoga County Creates Land Bank to Address Foreclosures
Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis estimates that there are around 35,000 vacant structures in Cuyahoga County. Of these, there are at least 15,000 properties awaiting demolition, at an estimated cost of $150 million.
As Rokakis told the Plain Dealer, "Vacant and foreclosed properties are destroying confidence in our neighborhoods."
To combat the foreclosure problem, Rokakis helped to establish the Cuyahoga County Land Bank, which he says will be up and running in April.
The land bank is a non-profit entity that will intervene in neighborhoods suffering from flipping, foreclosures, and speculative investors. Rokakis cited the widespread problem of investors purchasing properties in bulk from lenders whose primary objective is to unload their assets efficiently. The land bank would seek to purchase properties that are not being absorbed by the market.
"The belief is that the land is valuable," says Rokakis. "If you hold it and aggregate it, there's hope for the future." The land bank will demolish decrepit properties, and mothball or sell other properties.
The land bank will be a non-profit corporation comprised of seven board members. It will be funded from the late payment penalties assessed to delinquent property owners.
"Every percentage point decrease in value will cost the City of Cleveland's General Fund $1 million," says Rokakis. "The numbers are ugly for every community ... we need to do something now!"
It's important to note that in many cases, the decline in sales prices in our communities is due to the impact of vacant and foreclosed homes selling for cents on the dollar. If we can address foreclosures, this is one key way to improve our neighborhoods - and to rebuild value and equity.
Kudos to County Treasurer Jim Rokakis - and others that have quarterbacked this issue - for establishing the land bank. It can only help to stabilize our neighborhoods as we navigate the future that lies ahead.
As Rokakis told the Plain Dealer, "Vacant and foreclosed properties are destroying confidence in our neighborhoods."
To combat the foreclosure problem, Rokakis helped to establish the Cuyahoga County Land Bank, which he says will be up and running in April.
The land bank is a non-profit entity that will intervene in neighborhoods suffering from flipping, foreclosures, and speculative investors. Rokakis cited the widespread problem of investors purchasing properties in bulk from lenders whose primary objective is to unload their assets efficiently. The land bank would seek to purchase properties that are not being absorbed by the market.
"The belief is that the land is valuable," says Rokakis. "If you hold it and aggregate it, there's hope for the future." The land bank will demolish decrepit properties, and mothball or sell other properties.
The land bank will be a non-profit corporation comprised of seven board members. It will be funded from the late payment penalties assessed to delinquent property owners.
"Every percentage point decrease in value will cost the City of Cleveland's General Fund $1 million," says Rokakis. "The numbers are ugly for every community ... we need to do something now!"
It's important to note that in many cases, the decline in sales prices in our communities is due to the impact of vacant and foreclosed homes selling for cents on the dollar. If we can address foreclosures, this is one key way to improve our neighborhoods - and to rebuild value and equity.
Kudos to County Treasurer Jim Rokakis - and others that have quarterbacked this issue - for establishing the land bank. It can only help to stabilize our neighborhoods as we navigate the future that lies ahead.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Good News for Homeowners: Ohio Restores Residential Solar Grants
The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) has resumed funding for solar residential electrical projects, which, combined with the federal program, is designed to make home solar systems more affordable and to reduce the payback time from 30 to roughly 10 years. The program is administered by the Ohio Department of Energy, which will award grants for residential solar projects at the rate of $3 per watt, up to $25,000. The monies will come from the ODOD advanced energy fund, which receives approximately $5 million annually from a 9% per month fee on the electric bills paid by customers served by an investor-owned utility. Municipal systems customers do not pay this fee and are not eligible for this program.
The restoration of this program shows that, even in tough economic times, investments in alternative / green energy often make sense. Find out more information here.
Key Bank Gets Aggressive With Mortgage Lending
The market is shifting beneath our feet, and this provides opportunity for some. Key Bank is taking advantage of financing gaps in the marketplace by offering aggressive mortgage programs.
We occasionally share good loan programs with our valued clients, and Key Community Mortgage is one of those programs. In qualified areas, Key is now offering 0%, 3% and 5% down payment options, no private mortgage insurance (PMI), flexible credit decisions, and the option of using seller assistance or a down payment assistance program.
To put this in more concrete terms, you can buy a two bedroom, one and a half bath Clinton Court townhome in a great location in Ohio City, and pay only $927/month. (This payment is based on a sales price of $159,900, down payment of 5%, 30 year fixed rate at 5.875%, APR at 6.020%, monthly homeowners insurance, and 100% tax abatement on improved value).
In most cases, such a payment would be less than the cost of renting an equivalent new home - and with this, the benefits of homeownership are within your grasp.
For more information about Key Community Mortgage and other loan products, please contact us.
We occasionally share good loan programs with our valued clients, and Key Community Mortgage is one of those programs. In qualified areas, Key is now offering 0%, 3% and 5% down payment options, no private mortgage insurance (PMI), flexible credit decisions, and the option of using seller assistance or a down payment assistance program.
To put this in more concrete terms, you can buy a two bedroom, one and a half bath Clinton Court townhome in a great location in Ohio City, and pay only $927/month. (This payment is based on a sales price of $159,900, down payment of 5%, 30 year fixed rate at 5.875%, APR at 6.020%, monthly homeowners insurance, and 100% tax abatement on improved value).
In most cases, such a payment would be less than the cost of renting an equivalent new home - and with this, the benefits of homeownership are within your grasp.
For more information about Key Community Mortgage and other loan products, please contact us.
Rehab Loan Rates at 2.6% - and Other Opportunities in a Down Market
The new Fannie Mae HomePath Program offers opportunities in the marketplace for those buyers that are looking to purchase a foreclosed home. Doing so may provide a great deal for buyers or investors that are prepared to rehab a home.
Here are some features of this new program:
• Buyers may qualify even if their credit is less than perfect.
• The program is available to owner-occupiers and investors.
• Down payment (at least 3%) can be funded by your own savings, a gift, a grant, or a loan from a non-profit organization, state or local government, or employer.
• No mortgage insurance.
• No appraisal fees.
• HomePath Renovation mortgage may also be available.
• Fannie Mae may agree to pay up to 6% towards closing costs.
Homebuyers that find the prospect of attaining rehab financing to be daunting should consider Cleveland Action to Support Housing (CASH). This innovative non-profit has a thirty-year track record of helping to provide low-interest rehab loans to both homebuyers and investors in Cleveland.
Currently, CASH is offering a 2.64% rate on rehab loans! Not only is such a rate virtually impossible to beat, it also offers buyers a chance to build up equity more quickly in their home, and to save thousands of dollars in interest payments.
Here are some features of this new program:
• Buyers may qualify even if their credit is less than perfect.
• The program is available to owner-occupiers and investors.
• Down payment (at least 3%) can be funded by your own savings, a gift, a grant, or a loan from a non-profit organization, state or local government, or employer.
• No mortgage insurance.
• No appraisal fees.
• HomePath Renovation mortgage may also be available.
• Fannie Mae may agree to pay up to 6% towards closing costs.
Homebuyers that find the prospect of attaining rehab financing to be daunting should consider Cleveland Action to Support Housing (CASH). This innovative non-profit has a thirty-year track record of helping to provide low-interest rehab loans to both homebuyers and investors in Cleveland.
Currently, CASH is offering a 2.64% rate on rehab loans! Not only is such a rate virtually impossible to beat, it also offers buyers a chance to build up equity more quickly in their home, and to save thousands of dollars in interest payments.
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