Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine.
Have your host, James J. Mailoff here.
We're joined right now by our great friend,
Lindsay Scheider, director of business development
and real estate professional with Cole Banker,
C.O. realtors.
It's time to let's talk real estate.
We appreciate our friends at Cole Banker, C.O. realtors,
Belva Power Reality and Advantage.
And we always appreciate Lindsay being able to join us.
Thanks so much, Lindsay.
Thank you for having me, James.
We have quite a snowy day for our radio show today.
Yeah, yeah, we've got quite the backdrop for this.
Lindsay had a great idea about getting into some definitions
in the real estate game and helping you kind of understand
that a little bit more.
And we're looking forward to diving into that.
If you don't mind, Lindsay, I'd like to start
with the marketing conditions and Wisconsin Rapids.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, at Cole Banker, where we really
are the trusted real estate professionals,
we're a source of knowledge.
And we hope to be for information for not only our clients
and our colleagues, but also our community members.
So we are excited to talk about what's going on in the market.
And we'll start with Wisconsin Rapids.
We currently have 24 active listings
in the greater Wisconsin Rapids area, one of which
has had a recent price reduction.
So we are now seeing a little bit of that seasonal dip
in inventory.
So we've had quite a roller coaster of inventory.
We've been in the low inventory bucket
for quite a while of time.
But we had a little bit of an uptick actually
a late fall this year.
And now we are seeing some of that winter normal seasonal dip
in that inventory.
But we have a really good number of properties that
are under contract.
So maybe that's part of it, too, that our number
of available things are just a little down
because our number of properties that are under contract
is up.
So we have 30 properties that are under contract.
The average days on market of those properties is 53 days.
So some homes are sitting just a little bit longer
on the market.
Some of that excessive bidding that we
were seeing really has subsided.
Depending on the property, we do have some
that are still receiving multiple offers,
but much less than what we were seeing previously.
And this is an exciting time.
Since now we're here in January,
we're able to look at the entire year of 2023.
So the average sold price for the year of 2023
is just over $195,000 in Wisconsin Rapids.
So that's a fantastic average sales price.
It was steadily increasing over the entire year and up
where we ended up as an average over that entire year.
We're still seeing 101 lists to sales price ratio.
So we're seeing that properties are selling at or slightly
above the asking price on average.
And lastly, what we have done again the last couple times
we've talked about is a newer bucket for us to discuss
is expired listings.
In the month of December, there was only one listing
that did not find a buyer and ended up expiring.
But this just shows that the new sellers
are getting a little bit more savvy with their pricing,
the homes that are listed are getting accepted offers.
So sellers are still in a favorable position,
which is really great.
Yeah, Lindsay, when you get data like this,
how does this benefit you going into 2024?
Well, that's a good question.
I think just knowing what is happening in the market
allows us to be better advisors for the people
that we are working with, whether it is a buyer or a seller.
We're able to share with them.
There's a lot of data, of course, across the internet,
but be able to look at it at a local level.
And some of the other things we'll dive into today
is just, it's so surprising, even for me,
as a real estate professional, how different the snapshot is
when we're looking literally a 20-minute drive
between the communities that we'll discuss today
with Wisconsin Rapids, Town of Rome, and Adam Friendship,
and how different those pictures look
and the difference of what's going on in those markets.
There is some similarities, but even that,
of what area are you looking at and what's happening there?
It's one of my favorite half an hours every month.
When we do this show with JR, I would learn so much from it.
And speaking with you, Lindsay, I've learned even more.
One of the things that stands out to me
with this kind of stuff, the more data the better,
and especially the more specific the data the better.
Because real estate is such a, as you touched on,
such a different thing from zip code to zip code,
it can only benefit you the more data you have.
And if I'm that really interesting,
just as an outside observer of the industry,
it's pretty cool to see.
Absolutely.
And with the constant increase that we had in places
and the competitiveness that we had in the market
with low inventory and fantastic interest rates
that we're coming off of, we just, the values were
on such an uptick and kind of going up that mountain.
And what we're seeing now is we're stabilizing.
It is really just essential for anybody
who is looking to sell just to remain realistic
and really work closely with your real estate professional
to kind of set the appropriate listing prices.
Because that's really going to maximize interest
in your property and maximize exposure and secure a buyer
for you as quickly and at the best price that you can.
How about our friends at Rome, how's it looking there?
Yeah, so in Rome, we have 17 active listings.
We have three that had a recent price reduction.
There are nine properties that are under contract
with the average days on market being 52.
So the average days on market pretty similar
to Wisconsin Rapids, the inventory as a whole
as far as active and under contract
is a little bit less than Wisconsin Rapids.
But what I guess that kind of says to me is Rome
is just a very seasonal community.
We have a ton of second homes.
There's much more traffic in the warmer months.
So we do see a strong seasonality
when it comes to real estate in this market.
So that is some of what you're seeing.
But with that being said, the average sales price
in town or Rome for the year of over the course
of the average, the whole year of 2023 is just under 388,000.
That's a big number.
So that's fantastic to see for our homeowners in the area
that we have gotten to a really good, hopefully,
building people's equity in their homes.
Yeah, especially that area with the rise of San Valley
and so many other businesses and things growing up.
It's not surprising to hear a number like that
and I find it very encouraging.
That's very cool to hear.
How about Adam's friendship?
What about over there?
So Adam's friendship, but we have 30 active listings
to with a recent price reduction.
And we have 10 that are under contract
with the average days on market being 92.
So we have increased market time.
It continues to increase slightly in the Adam's friendship
area quite a bit longer, actually,
than Rome and Rapids at the 92 days.
And then the average sold price that we have over the course
of the year 2023 is 216,000.
So we're ending the year on a high in this market as well
as the other two that we talked about.
The market really is like we talked about in stabilizing.
So these properties are selling at 98% of list price.
So just slightly below the asking price on average
and we had three expired listings in this market in December.
So I think sellers are understanding
that shift in the market.
They're listening to their trusted real estate professionals
while pricing, which has added some trickiness
as this market has been shifting and changing recently.
Yeah, Lindsay, I think some time
it'd be wonderful to get into expired listings
and talk about what that entails
and what you can do when that happens.
I think sometimes there'd be a fun conversation to have.
But when it comes to Rome and his friendship,
even the Rapids area, the differences in these,
are we looking, is there hope for 2024
when it comes to this, if you're a seller, if you're a buyer?
Oh yes, I mean, I think real estate is always changing,
which makes it exciting.
And sometimes a struggle for real estate professionals,
buyers and sellers, right,
to put our finger on the pulse of what is really happening.
But absolutely there is hope.
So what we're hearing for 2024 is that we do hear
that the interest rates are possibly going to drop
a little bit more, like I don't have a crystal ball.
I can only communicate what I've heard from others.
So I never want to direct anyone wrong,
but they are saying that with these interest rates
kind of coming down to more of just a five to 6% range
and even some of that already starting,
so that buying power for our buyers has increased.
They say that for every 1% decrease in an interest rate,
that actually increases your buying power by about 10%.
So the trick with that is that it supplies to every buyer,
so that increases demand as well.
So we're in a unique moment right now
where those lowering of rates with the median lift price,
where we're kind of stabilizing what those prices
could make a really strong spring market.
As we, I know it's crazy to talk about spring,
we're hearing January, but in real estate,
that can happen as early as March,
people start thinking towards the spring market.
So that's, I guess, some future thoughts for buyers.
And then as far as on the seller side of savings,
we do anticipate possibly an early seller's market.
So listings with price reductions
has dropped a little bit from the week's prior.
So a seller can, of course, wait to list
or whatever they choose that is back for them,
but we do anticipate that the competition
for these homes will increase in the spring.
So some of that, there's more homes
for a potential buyer to look at
and could end up giving up some of their gains
on their next purchase if there's competition
for what they're looking to purchase next as well
in spring time.
Well, we can't predict the market perfectly.
We can predict and rely on and trust our friends
over at CoalBanker.
We can guarantee that you can trust them
and reach out to them with any questions you have,
especially if you are a buyer or a seller.
When you're doing that, Lindsay,
there's a lot of terminology that's going to be given
whether you're hearing or not.
And I don't know about you, but I hear a word I don't know
and I get excited and a little embarrassed.
I get excited because I'm going to learn something
I love learning and I'm also a little embarrassed
as an adult and I may not know what a word means.
You had a great idea about going over
some of these real estate terms.
I appreciate that and we're going to get into that now
with our friend, Lindsay Shider,
as let's talk real estate with our friends
at CoalBanker, see your realtors,
Belva, Power, Reality and Advantage.
Lindsay, where do you want to start with these definitions?
I'm just excited to talk about some of these.
I think that it is people that don't work
in the real estate industry day in and day out
that there's nothing to be embarrassed about
because it's normal for some of these to be confusing
and so I'm excited to share with our audience today
about talking through what these things mean for sure.
All right.
So what about appraisal?
How about that?
We hear that one quite a bit.
Yeah, so an appraisal is really an assessment
of a property's value.
So this is conducted by a license appraisal.
So this is a separate professional,
but it's aiming to determine the value of a property.
So they're going to be looking at location, size, condition.
They're also going to be looking at comparative sales
in the area and they then create a detailed report
and this report is mostly most often used by a lender
to make sure that the property is suitable collateral
for getting a mortgage.
And it really is the whole process of getting an appraisal
is crucial in real estate transactions
to make sure that there's fair pricing.
We're mitigating the risk for the buyer and the lender
that is involved in a purchase.
All right, okay, I feel better about that.
One, how about closing costs?
What about that?
What about closing costs?
So yeah, closing costs are really the fees
and the expenses associated with finalizing
a real estate transaction.
So some are paid by the buyer, some are paid by the seller,
and sometimes that also can be a confusion,
but there's various fees that can be incurred
and they can be charges for services,
like title searches, appraisals,
like we just spoke about legal fees,
even processing of a loan,
and of course the purchase price of the property itself.
So like I mentioned, both buyers and sellers
share these expenses,
and it's really important for both parties
to kind of understand what those could be
so they can plan and budget accordingly
when preparing to buy or sell a property.
Hmm, all right, that sounds good.
We appreciate that, Lindsay.
You're doing really bad in a thousand so far.
What about trust account?
How about that one?
Can I three on that one?
So trust account is an account where funds are held
during a real estate transaction
so until all the conditions are met.
So, and I guess let me clarify on all conditions are met.
I guess when two parties, a buyer and seller
decide to enter into a contract
and have a what's called an offer to purchase
that is a document, a contract between both parties
that are saying party buyer is going to do this,
seller is going to do this.
This is what we have agreed upon
and we have signed the contract to acknowledge
that we've agreed on these terms.
There are sometimes conditions that have to be met, right?
The buyer might need to get a loan.
Maybe there's some inspections or testing
that needs to occur before we get to the closing table,
which is another reason why there is time
between an expected offer on a property
and a closing date.
So a typical, you know, expected offer to closing
is about 30 to 45 days,
depending on the terms of the contract.
But back to our trust account,
this account can be held through a real estate brokerage,
a title company or even attorney's office,
but it allows for the financial arrangement
of that contract that we talked about.
Two hold funds, important documents
on behalf of the parties of the contract.
And it acts as a safeguards,
making sure that both parties fulfill the contract
of all those promises that we made to one another
before the transaction is completed.
So once the conditions are met, we have the funds,
the documents, everything's released
and we have a secure and smooth transfer
of ownership of the property.
Fantastic.
Already feel a lot more informed and aware
of not only these terms,
but feel like I understand the industry
even a little bit better through these terms.
And I didn't expect that, that's great.
All right, I'm gonna keep trying
to throw curveballs at you though.
I think I could stump you on one of these.
What about title insurance?
So title insurance is insurance
that protects against any financial loss
from defects in title.
And so what does that mean, right?
Defects in title.
So it's a type of coverage
that is gonna protect a property owner
and still under, if there's one involved, of course,
from any financial loss.
Where the property's title needs to be
what we call free and clear of any leans,
in conferences, any legal issues
or even any outstanding mortgages, right?
So Mr. Seller owns his house.
He still holds a mortgage on it.
Well, that mortgage needs to be paid in full
so that we can then again have that smooth
and comfortable transfer of ownership
over to Mr. Byer.
And so the title insurance does their due diligence
to literally go back in the history of the property
that makes sure that anything that was put against the property.
Like I mentioned, leans, like mortgages,
in conferences, any legal issues are cleared
so that this new buyer doesn't have any issues going forward.
Not bad, all right, all right.
Now, there's some terms too
that I think we have heard quite a bit
but we may not understand the true definition of them.
So what about like down payment?
How about something like that?
Yeah, well, one thing I guess as I was organizing
my thoughts for our conversation today.
So I'd like to talk about down payment for sure
and that kind of goes hand in hand with a mortgage, right?
But also step one in that process for a buyer
and getting an mortgage is actually a pre-approval.
So I'm actually going to take a step back
before I answer your question
and talk a little bit about a pre-approval.
So a pre-approval really in the simplest way
is a process where a lender is going to review a buyer,
excuse me, a buyer's their credit worthiness
and they provide a commitment saying,
yeah, we can lend money to Mr. Vier
for this amount, right?
Based on their income, their debt, their credit,
this is what we're willing to do.
And so that pre-approval really helps a buyer understand
what that looks like,
what's that monthly payment potentially going to be?
Is that comfortable for their family budget?
And sometimes we have buyers that,
oh, I'm a pre-approved to X amount
but that monthly liability of that mortgage payment
that doesn't feel comfortable for me.
I'd rather have it left.
So even though they're pre-approved up to a certain amount,
maybe our home search actually is going to be less than that
so that they feel comfortable
with what they're going to have to pay every month.
Because of course, there's also costs associated
with purchasing outside of just that mortgage payment.
There can be property taxes, sometimes HOA,
homeowners association fees,
other costs that can be associated
in a monthly liability for that buyer as well.
Then jumping back over to kind of the mortgage part of it
because it's kind of all related, right?
So that mortgage is really that loan
that is being used to buy real estate.
And in most cases, the property is also serving
as collateral for low loans,
meaning if a buyer is not able to pay
that monthly promise of the mortgage payment,
the lender would take possession of the property back
through a process known as foreclosure.
Back to your original question of the down payment,
hopefully I'm not doing too many crazy circles right now.
Oh, no, I like the way you're doing this.
So the down payment is an initial upfront payment
that is made by a home buyer as part of that purchase price.
So it is when they're purchasing a property,
typically it's a percentage
of the properties total purchase price paid in cash
by that buyer.
It serves as that buyer's contribution towards that purchase.
Even though of course they're getting that mortgage, right?
Or getting that loan, a buyer is required
typically by a lender to have a down payment,
some skin in the game to put some money forth
towards that purchase to actually secure that loan.
That was very helpful, Lindsay.
I actually, I really think that was helpful
the way you did that too.
You're, as you said, they're all attached
and they really understanding one, it's helpful to one.
To understand one, it's helpful to understand them all
together.
So that was a nice way to do that, I thought.
We got a couple minutes left.
I want to throw a couple more at you.
I think I might still be able to get you
a mortal, a mortalization, a mortization
if I'm saying that right.
It's actually amortization.
Amortization, I knew it, I knew it.
Yeah.
So this is really, it ties really nicely in
with some mortgage conversation that we just had.
So this is the process of paying off a loan
through those regular payments.
You're right, usually monthly.
That is going to include both principal and interest.
And I guess let me just take a step back
to make sure that people understand what those words mean.
So the principal of a mortgage is, you know,
say you borrowed $200,000 for your home purchase.
You borrowed $200,000.
That is the principal that is the actual money
that you borrowed, right, $200,000.
But, you know, these banks, they're awesome.
They help us purchase things when we need
to such as houses, but they also charge us interest
for us to be able to borrow that money.
So whatever that interest rate is,
where we talk about interest rates a lot,
an interest rate that is higher is going to be a percentage
or an interest rate that is lower
is going to again be the first percentage
of that example number, $200,000,
that we pay every month.
And so it is, each mortgage payment
is going to contribute towards reducing that loan balance.
So in our example, $200,000, at the beginning of the loan,
there's a greater portion that's allocated to the interest.
And then as we move through paying those monthly payments,
it moves towards paying off more
of that principal as the loan matures.
So it's really just a systematic repayment structure
that makes sure that the loan is paid off
in the agreed upon term.
So a typical mortgage is a 30-year mortgage.
And so if you have a fixed rate,
it's going to be that same mortgage payment
every single month for 30 years.
And there are all their programs, of course,
that outside of the fixed interest rate
that maybe your mortgage payment would adjust
through the time that you have that mortgage.
Nicely done, Lindsay.
We are much more informed and feel a lot better going into this,
whether you're a buyer or a seller.
We appreciate that so much.
And I love to do this again with you some time.
I know there's plenty more words that we could go over.
Lindsay, if people have follow-up questions
about some of those definitions
or about anything really with a real estate game,
how can they reach you?
How can they get in contact with you?
Absolutely.
We would love to hear from you guys
just a reminder to give Cole Banker family of companies.
We again have three locations.
We're located in Wisconsin Rapids,
the town of Rome and Adam's friendship.
And we would be overjoyed to assist with anyone
who's looking to sell.
We would come and give you a free market analysis
to find out what your home really is worth
in this current market.
And then I'm going to fly to assist with any and all
in and also this market as a buyer.
And do buyer consultations get you guys
into any properties that are available to purchase
if you are looking to purchase.
As far as contacting us,
Cole Banker seawater realtors of the office number is 715-424-4800.
Our location in the town of Rome, which is Cole Banker
Advantage, that phone number is 715-325-7355.
And then last but definitely not least our location
in Adam's friendship is Cole Banker Velvapar.
And that number is 608-339-6757.
Appreciate you Lindsay.
Appreciate our relationship with Cole
and all your team over there.
You guys be safe out there today,
bobbin around and looking forward to talking real estate
with you again next month.
Sounds great.
Thank you so much, James.
Take care.
We'll have more Midday Magazine for you tomorrow right here
at WFHR, locally grown radio.
