Did you know ... there are currently 5,932 ACTIVE residential listings currently on the Omaha market. that represents a 7.68 month supply of homes currently on the Omaha market.   Did you know ... 1)  that 6,885 residential listings have SOLD so far this year.   2)  the average market time for SOLD listings is 72 days.  3)  that only 42.35% of the homes listed actually SOLD. 4)  that 21.19% of the homes listed EXPIRED. 5)  the average sale PRICE for residential listings ... $174,392 *** Last year... 1/1/07 to 9/30/07 1)  8,553 residential listings SOLD last year in the same time period. 2)  the average market time for SOLD residential listings was 68 days. 3)  47.09% of the homes listed actually SOLD. 4)  17.39% of the homes listed EXPIRED. 5)  the average sale PRICE for residential l... 09/27/2008

Absorption Rate for the Omaha Market   Number of homes SOLD from 9/27/07 to 9/27/08:  9275 9,275 divided by 12: 772      On average 772 homes are absorbed (SOLD) by the market each month. Current number of ACTIVE listings:  5,932      5,932 divided by 772 = 7.68 *** There is 7.68 month supply of homes on the market Thanks, David Matney, CRS,GRI Alliance Real Estate 09/27/2008

Ethan represented the buyer on the sale of my listing at 612 Nob Hill Terrace in the Nob Hill subdivision of Bellevue. Selling a home takes not just comprehensive marketing and outstanding service but also a capable agent on the other side of the transaction. Ethan did an excellent job. He was a pleaseure to work with and I look forward to doing business with him again. Trumm Team - Alliance Real Estate, Omaha, NE Your Home Sold within 120 Days or I will Buy It! 09/27/2008

Become a Preferred Buyer and Get Omaha Nebraska Area Listings Daily.  You will receive a current updated list of ALL NEW Omaha homes for sale with pictures, prices, addresses, and descriptions that match your home buying criteria.  The list is e-mailed to you FREE of charge and without obligation. Here's how it works... We e-mail you NEW Omaha Homes For Sale (complete with pictures) of ALL listed properties that match your home buying criteria.  So instead of having a real estate agent take you from house to house showing you homes that don't interest you... our Preferred Buyer Profile System allows you to pick which Omaha houses for sale you want to view before other buyers even know about them. As a Preferred Buyer...   You get current updates of all NEW Omaha Homes For Sale that matc... 09/24/2008

Are you looking to relocate and need someone to help you navigate through the process?  With CBSHOME, we have the largest network of premier brokers across the country.  Ask me how I can help you today!   Jonie Sturek Director of Relocation CBSHOME Real Estate and Relocation Services 402.964.4621 jonie.sturek@cbshome.com 09/23/2008

Many homeowners get tunnel vision when hiring a contractor.  Price, price, and price.  However, one of the most important items to consider is the contractor's insurance.  Do they have even have insurance?  Do they have just liability or do they have workman's compensation insurance.  When you obtain a bid make sure that proof of insurance is made available before works begins or any payments are made.  If someone gets hurt - if the contractor has no insurance the injured person is coming after the homeowner next.  By asking for a copy of their insurance up front is a great way of protecting yourself. Thanks, David Matney, CRS,GRI Alliance Real Estate   09/20/2008

ServiceOne has been one of our valued business partners for several years.  ServiceOne now offers a $99 home warranty program for homes less than 5 years old.  This a FANTASTIC program for anyone who is selling or buying a newer home and covers repair and/or replacement of major mechanical systems.  For more information visit the ServiceOne website or call (402) 597-2169.    Thanks, David Matney,CRS,GRI Alliance Real Estate   09/12/2008

One of the common misconceptions about Realtors is that we are all the same.  Nothing can be further from the truth!  Even Realtors from within the same company can have varying degrees of experience and education.  Remember, when you hire an agent you are hiring ONE agent to represent YOU!  Proper representation can save you THOUSANDS of dollars and help you avoid several costly pitfalls.  Here are 10 costly mistakes buyers make when buying a home. Get pre-qualified before looking at a homes.  You want to know your buying power up front before you find the perfect home.  You should get pre-qualified and look for homes when you are ready to BUY. Always, yes ALWAYS get a home inspection.  What if is new construction? YES.  What if the seller is my cousin? YES.  ALWAYS get a home inspecti... 09/12/2008

One of the biggest mistakes a buyer makes when buying a home is not getting pre-qualified.  It is imperative to line up your financing BEFORE making an offer.  The right home with the wrong financing can be a disaster, just ask the folks who are now in foreclosure who obtained adjustable rate mortgages a few years ago.  It is also important to interview several loan officers, look for loan officers with experience and ones who work for firms that can offer multiple loan programs especially FHA and VA.  This is just a brief list of items you may need to provide the loan officer in order to get pre-approved.  Keep in mind that he/she may need additional documentation for your particular loan.  This is to give you an idea of what is needed. Two years residency Two years employment Age, Soc... 09/12/2008

For those of you paying attention to the Omaha real estate market, the following information should be no surprise. Things have slowed down quite a bit over just the last month. In the month of July (Omaha Real Estate Market - July, 2008) there was a 7.49 month supply of homes for sale. Check out the dismal numbers for August: Total Number For Sale 6289 Total Number of Accepted Offers 691 Total Number of Closed Sales 869     % of sellers that accepted an offer 10.99% Absorption rate in months 9.10     We now have a 9.10 month supply of homes for sale and this number will only increase in the coming months. All hope is not lost. Homes are still selling but they have to be priced right. Of course that is the problem, too many sellers have not accepted what their home is worth in this mark... 09/10/2008

      So you want to sell your house? The housing market is slow and there’s no guarantee you’ll get close to your asking price.  What’s a home seller to do?  The answer lies in the home you’re trying to sell.  It’s called “staging” and more homeowners are finding it’s the secret weapon to selling their house. “Home staging is the art of decorating a home to sell quickly and for top-dollar,” says Dolly DeWald, president of D3, a home-staging firm based in Omaha.  "It runs the gamut of rearranging some furniture to furnishing an entire home, including accessories and artwork."    “Today’s home buyer is savvy,” says DeWald.  “They want to buy a house that’s ready to move into.  Not one that needs work.  And thanks to all the decorating shows on television, there are new expectations that ... 09/09/2008

I like to work expired listings.  When a home expires it means the MARKET has rejected the PRICE.  Changing agents or companies WILL NOT change the market.  It simply amazes me when a home expires then the next agent RAISES the price?  Some of the more inexperienced agents that work expireds will try to justify raising the price because they are or have a better (fill in the blank) then the previous agent.  Maybe they are better than the previous agent? However, an experienced buyer's agent will simply do an address history to see 1) how long it has been on the market in the past and 2) what was the previous listing price was.  By raising the price, you have simply prolonged your seller's market time.  Is that really in the best interest of the seller?  When a listing expires, a seller ... 09/05/2008

The Women's Council of Realtors is hosting motivational and leadership speaker Walter Bond. Walter presentation "Sell It Like You Mean It!" will be September 8th.   Women's Council of Realtors goal is promote women as entrepreneurs, specfically in the real estate industry. Trumm Team - Alliance Real Estate, Omaha, NE Your Home Sold within 120 Days or I will Buy It!   09/01/2008

  Where's all those Husker Fans?   I can't believe you missed this! I'm not a sports fan but I chuckled and had to stop when I drove past this status at the entrance of the Huntington Park subdivision, on 156th Street between Maple and Blondo.  I did forward it to the Omaha World-Herald and did get an email back but no such luck getting it published in the newspaper.  Bummer!  I think I'll have to drive by before each game to see if this is ongoing and if they change up the shirts and accessories.      Connie WattsThe Burkle TeamPrudential AmbassadorReal Estate402-880-9027cjwatts@cox.netwww.Omaha-NE-Property.com Featured Listings     Search the Omaha MLS     What's Your Home Worth?     Listing AlertsChecklist for Buying Foreclosures   Tax Consequences of Flipping Real EstateOnline Selle... 08/30/2008

Many buyers overlook the value of a survey when buying a home.  In fact, buyers will often leave the decision up to the lender.  Some lenders require a survey while others do not.  A survey is done in order to determine the true boundary lines of the property.  Do not assume that since a home has a fence that a survey is not necessary. Serveral homeowners are learning the hard way with not having a survey done in Omaha.  They purchased homes in the El Dorado subdivision that had fences and decks that were not built on someone else's property.  In fact, it was built on public land and now the government is requiring the homeowners to remove the fences and decks at the cost of the homeowner. Several homeowners stated that the agents they used to purchase the homes did not recommend gettin... 08/30/2008

The best time to solve problems is before closing.  When you are buying a home one of the most important tasks you will do is a final walk-through.  The final walk-through is to make sure that all the terms of the purchase contract are resolved.  If something is not right on the walk-through ... do not close.  Do not feel pressured by anyone to close because after closing getting issue resolved becomes 10 times harder.  When you are buying a home it is best to conduct your walk-through at least 48 hours before closing so the seller will have time to fix or address any items that might need to be addressed.  If repairs were part of the contract, it is best to make sure that the reciepts are available at the time of the walk-through.  Again, if something is not right - get what needs to b... 08/29/2008

On August 25th and 26th the Nebraska CRS Chapter sponsored a Council of Residential Specialists class - CRS 206: Using Today's Technology to Capture Your Market. The instructor was Pat Zaby. A few of the topics covered included websites, email merges, contact management, communication tools, multimedia, and wireless technology. The class provided great information which I plan on implementing to better serve my clients and improve my marketing. Not all of the information was real estate specific. Here's some interesting information that anyone can use: If you have a GPS device that records way points (co-ordinates of particular places) you can use it and Google Maps to map the places on your website. Teleflip is an email-to-text message service. Send an email to [phonenumber]@teleflip.c... 08/27/2008

MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service. The Omaha Area Board of REALTORS (OABR) is the organization that operates and maintains the Omaha MLS.  In order to be a member of the OABR, both real estate companies and REALTORS need to pay a yearly due along with a monthly fee.  Not everyone can join the Omaha Area Board of Realtors.  First you must be a licensed broker or salesperson by the State of Nebraska to sell real estate.  In order to join Omaha Area Board of REALTORS you must also join the National Association of REALTORS and the Nebraska REALTORS Association. The Omaha Area Board of REALTORS maintains Omaha MLS, which is a big database of information that gives brokers/agents both current data (active/pending sales) and historical data (sold homes).  Current data is a list of homes ... 08/27/2008

If you read my blog Real Estate Reality Hour that I posted on Wednesday, then you know I was on the Real Estate Reality Hour this morning on 1290 KKAR and hopefully you tuned in. If you didn't get a chance to listen to the program, it should come as no big surprise that we discussed real estate. We covered a number of different topics. From the overall real estate market, selecting an agent, marketing, appraisals, refinancing, why I chose Alliance Real Estate to how a new agent should select a brokerage and I answered a few questions from callers. After the show I received an email from Gregg Mitchell of Mitchell & Associates, Inc. one of the largest, if not the largest, appraisal firm in Omaha. In it he said that he heard the show and agreed with my opinion regarding the flaws in the c... 08/23/2008

According to the National Association of Realtors only 1 in 400 homes sell due to an open house. Why are open houses so ineffective? Because serious buyers don't go to open houses; they schedule showings through an agent. Think about it, if someone is not serious enough about buying a home to call the agent to schedule a showing, then how serious are they? NOT VERY. These are the people that come to open houses. If open houses are such a poor way to sell homes, then why do real estate agents do them? Is it because agents still somehow believe that open houses work? New agents might, but the top agents in Omaha know that open houses don't work. Now we are back to the same question, "Then why do them?" Here's a countdown of the top three reasons agents do open houses: 3. Open houses are c... 08/22/2008