Sand in the City

Sand in the City 2012

Combining 375 tons of sand, 20 corporate and community teams, professional sand sculptors, interactive Kid Zone, live entertainment and much more, Sand in the City is a perfect way to spend part of your weekend.

Why All the Excitement About Sand?

Sand in the City is a fundraiser for Nebraska Children’s Home Society, which provides safe and loving care to children of all ages through statewide pregnancy, parenting, adoption, foster care, community and neighborhood based services and early childhood programs.

Schedule

Sand in the City takes place Friday, June 1st through Sunday, June 3rd. Although it starts on Friday, the exhibit doesn’t open late Friday. The sculptors will be building Friday and judging takes place late Friday afternoon. Winners will be announced at 4:30 Friday and then the public is welcome to tour.

Where To Find It

Sand in the City will be held in the CenturyLink Center’s Lot G, 455 North 10th Street, Omaha. You can see a map here. Although the event is free but you may have to pay for parking in a nearby lot if you can’t find some street parking. Donations are welcome.

Last Year’s Winners

1st Place - Millard Drywall Service
2nd Place - Kiewit Engineering Co.
3rd Place - Kiewit Underground District
Rookie Team of the Year - Baird Holm LLP
Team Designer of the Year - Jon Kathol from the Westside High School Theater team
People's Choice Award - Lund Company

Learn More

They’re also providing some live entertainment and other activities. You can learn more and even vote online for your favorite sand sculpting team. Just go to Sand in the City’s page!

Tasting Omaha

Taste of Omaha 2012

Omaha has tons of restaurants and if you’ve ever wanted to get a good idea of what’s available, you should check out Taste of Omaha. You not only see the vendors, you get to taste the food. And you get to listen to some awesome music while you do it, too.

How Does It Work?

The festival itself is free. If you want to taste the food, though, you will need to buy tickets. You take the tickets to the vendors and redeem them for food. They will encourage you to eat as much or as little as you like – but save room because there’s always the next booth down. It isn’t just main courses; it’s desserts, wines, ice cream and even a beer tent.

It Isn’t Just Food

While food is the focus, it goes great with music. And they have it on multiple stages. The music is just as diverse as the food with acts doing classic rock, country, Polish, Crotaian, Irish, salsa and more. The music is free, too. There is plenty for the kids to do with face painting, balloons, rides, magic acts and more.

Where To Find It

Taste of Omaha is held at the Lewis and Clark Landing in Heartland of America Park, downtown. It’s an easily accessible and very pretty area.

Bank of America Is Offering Relocation Assistance

Bank of America Wants to Help You Move

Well, not everyone. Just those people who are underwater on their mortgages and who are candidates for a short sale. The bank has to approve the short sale, the sale must begin by the end of 2012 and it has to close by September 26, 2013.

How Much?

Bank of America will pay between $2,500 and $30,000 to help home owners move. Just how much will depend on the loan balance, the value of the home and other considerations known only to the bank.

Why Would They Do This?

Banks have typically favored foreclosures over short sales but have come to realize they lose less money through short sales. Foreclosures are in rougher shape, are empty by the time the bank gets them and sell for less than short sales. The short sale houses usually still have the homewoners in them to keep up the exterior, make repairs and care for the house until it is sold.

Bank of America Short Sales

If you have a Bank of America loan and are considering a short sale, you can consult their short sale page. You can also contact us and we will help guide you with the short sale process and answer any questions you have.

Bank of America's announcement can be found here. The original article can be found here and CBS News covered it here.

Conservation Easements

Easements usually allow one party access to another party's land. For example, a homeowner has a house that cannot be reached from the street except by going through another person's property. An easement is created so that the landlocked owner can access his property.

Conservation Easements

In the case of a conservation easement, a landowner grants the land to a federal entity or non-profit. The easement is recorded in public records and "runs with the land". That means it transfers with the property whenever it is sold or leased

Why Grant a Conservation Easement?

A land donor could grant the easement for habitat conservation or preservation of a forest or farm land.

What Are the Benefits?

Land donors continue to own the land and receive federal tax credits if the easement is perpetual -- i.e., forever. State tax credits can apply as well. You will need to look it up for your specific state. It also does not grant access to the land to anyone, including the agency holding the easement. The benefits to the government are that it keeps the property in private hands and usually raises the value of properties around it.

What's the Catch?

An easement generally reduces the value of the land. That's why the tax credits were put in place. The easement also runs with the land so it's always there. It limits the use of the land and the government must use eminent domain to take the land and do away with the easement.

Final Thoughts

If you would like to learn more about conservation easements, you can look at the Wikipedia article. Here is another article about conservation easements.

Downtown Living Omaha

Downtown Living Tour

The Downtown Living Tour showcases homes available for sale in downtown Omaha. It focuses on developments in River Front, the Old Market and Midtown.

Riverfront's Tower II Is On the Tour This Weekend

Riverfront's Tower II is now open for tours. You can tour today from 11 to 4 and tomorrow from 12 to 4. And especially for tomorrow, a 2,000 square foot home available on the 9th floor of Tower I will be on display.

Getting Around

You can pick up a trolley at any one of the stops and ride for just $1. Click here for a map and details on all of the locations available.

You can see the release about this weekend's tour here. Downtown Omaha Living's page is here.

Contact us if you'd like to see any of the places. We'd love to help you find your next home!

Camping Around Omaha

It’s time to get out and enjoy nature now that the weather is getting nicer. Grab a tent or hook up the RV and head out for the weekend. Get away from the bustle and noise of town and do a little fishing, take a nap and decompress for a weekend. Here are some places to consider when getting away around here.

Mahoney State Park

This is the largest park around Omaha and it has plenty to do: a water park, a ball field, driving range, fishing and so much more. There is plenty to do but it keeps busy so call ahead to make sure there’s room. They offer 30- and 50-Amp service and are pet friendly. You don’t even need a tent or RV. They have cabins and lodges available for rent. See the website for details. And if you want to get away from the park a while, go next door to the Strategic Air and Space Museum or to the Henry Doorly Zoo’s Safari.

West Omaha KOA

This campground is outside Gretna, between Omaha and Lincoln on the interstate. They have 50-Amp service, cable TV, propane and wi-fi. Activities include swimming, miniature golf, a jumping pillow and bicycle rentals.

Glenn Cunningham Lake

This 390-acre lake is surrounded by more than 1,000 acres of land. Activities include windsurfing, boating, hiking and biking. It has electric and non-electric sites and supports RVs and tent camping. See the city’s website for details.

Memphis State Recreational Area

This requires traveling some state highways but it’s quiet and out of the way. It has non-pad campsites and does not offer electricity. But it does offer fishing, hiking, wildlife viewing and stargazing. You can see the website for details.

There are plenty of other activities to get out and enjoy the weather. We also have some parks that don’t support camping but do offer some great views. Where do you like to go out here?

Market Report for April 2012

Market Report for Omaha for April 2012

The numbers are in for April and things are looking up over the three months previous. The total number of homes listed for sale in April was 4,509. 1,198 of those were placed under contract. 896 of the homes that had been under contract before closed.

As you can see, the number of houses on the market are up over last month, the number of houses placed under contract are down slightly over last month and the number of houses closed are slightly down. The absorption rate for last month was 5, which means it would take 5 months to sell all the houses available at the current rate. That's slightly tighter than in March, where it was 5.1 months.

Overall, the market is neutral right now. It's not an advantage to either the buyer or the seller.

Credit Reports

Keeping Up with Your Credit Scores

If you are serious about buying a home, having a good credit score is vital. Not only will it determine if you get a loan in the first place, it will determine what kind of interest rate you get. Better scores indicate better credit risks, so they get lower rates. That could save you THOUSANDS over the life of the loan.

The Devil Is In the Details

Each service figures the score differently. Looking at your credit report can find false information, like where someone reported a payment as late when it wasn't. Look over the reports you find and dispute anything that isn't accurate.

Find That Score

Everyone knows about FreeCreditScore.com. It requires you to sign up for a service. Outside of the cute commercials, I don't think that's worth paying for. There are other places out there but they have the same game: get you to sign up for a monthly service.

You're Entitled to a Free Credit Report Each Year

The government says you're entitled to a free credit report each year from each of the three major reporting bureaus. So don't pay a service for your report when you can get it for free just for asking. Go to annualcreditreport.com and get a copy of your report. There's just one small hitch to this, though: it gives you the report but you still have to pay for the score. But the fee is small and you don't have to sign up for a service.

Keep On Top of Things

Now that you know about it, set a reminder in your calendar to repeat each year. Tell yourself to get a report from one of the three bureaus. Set another reminder in 4 months to get a report from another bureau. Then set another reminder to get a report from the third bureau. By keeping on top of things, and doing it now, you can walk into a lender's office with confidence that you won't have much problem getting a loan and a good rate.

The Changing Game of Home Buying

The Times, They Are A'Changing

The market mess we have been through for the last few years has been hard on sellers and pretty easy on buyers. Foreclosures brought market prices way down and there was so much inventory that buyers could beat up on sellers for lower prices, concessions on closing costs and more. But now that we are seeing the bottom of the market, things are leveling out. Buyers no longer have the power they used to have.

Don't Lowball It

With a buyer's market, buyers could send in whatever offer they wanted and sellers would be at their mercy. A lot of times the sellers would take whatever came along and take a loss so they wouldn't be stuck with a house. But now that foreclosure prices are going up due to investors bidding and inventory shrinking, the advantage the buyers have is fading fast.

Get Preapproved

This has always been a smart move and any Realtor worth his salt will insist on a client being preapproved before submitting an offer. No one wants to go through the purchase contract back and forth, just to find out that the buyer can't buy the house. Being preapproved shows the seller you are qualified and serious.

Tune Into the Market

Get to know the market prices. These vary from town to town and even from neighborhood to neighborhood. Make sure to look at items specifically in your price range and only from houses that have sold in the last six months. Realtors can get you a list of houses that have sold and break it down by price range, house style and neighborhood.

Expect Competition

We have seen an increase in market activity. Though it still isn't a seller's market, it's not the buyer's market it used to be. It's closer to neutral and will eventually slip back into a seller's market. We are seeing multiple offers put in on some competitively priced houses.

Do Your Homework

This is really just a summary of the previous points: get preapproved, get to know the market for the neighborhoods and houses you're interested in and stay on top of things. You can't tune out for a month and come back in. In addition, make sure you have the money needed to close.

Bottom of the Market?

Could We Be at the Bottom of the Market?

Home prices have been down quite a bit for the last few years, foreclosures have been up and everyone has been wondering if the end is in sight.

Foreclosure Crisis Is Coming to an End

That's not to say there won't be any more foreclosures. There will be another spike in foreclosures as houses come through from the robosigning scandal. Banks have settled with the state governments so houses should start moving through the foreclosure pipeline now. Investors are snapping up foreclosures as rental properties so prices on the foreclosures are coming up and not dragging down the market price of other homes.

Rental Rates are High

With so many people renting, prices have gotten higher. It's once again cheaper to own than rent.

Interest Rates Are Expected to Rise

Doug Ledba, CEO of Lending Tree, says rates will move higher. The Mortgage Bankers Association is predicting that rates will move to 4.5% by the end of the year.

While it won't happen overnight, we could be coming out of the housing mess. People can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and for once it doesn't feel like it's an oncoming train. The original article can be found here.

Quarterly Maintenance

Take care of your home and it will be a lot easier to live in. You won't have too many of those nasty surprises. Below are some tips for the interior of your house. Do these on a regular basis to keep the gremlins away.

• Wood cabinets and trim. Apply a wood protectant if necessary.
• Interior doors. Lubricate hinges.
• Garage door. Lubricate hardware and inspect the mechanism for free travel.
• Window and door tracks. Check to see if the weep holes are open. Clean out dirt and dust. Lubricate the rollers and latches.
• Basement or crawl space. Check for cracks or any sign of dampness or leaks. Check for any evidence of termites or wood-eating insects.
• Ceramic tile. Check and clean grout.

Do these few steps once every 3 months and hopefully you won't have any big problems. You will see them coming.

5 Ways to Sell Quickly

5 Ways to Sell Quickly and For More Money

Some homeowners are usually motivated to sell a house so they can move on to the next big adventure. They will fix up a house for a year before putting it on the market and make sure every last detail is taken care of. Others will do some light touch-up and call it good. Realtors, of course, want to sell it quickly.

Let Me Count the Ways

1. Give the home "web appeal". Most home buyers these days are starting their searches online. Pictures are key. Take professional pictures. Make sure the toilet seats are down. Make sure the house isn't cluttered and there is plenty of light. Look at the listing online like a buyer would and see if you can change the presentation of the house.
2. Talk about energy efficiency. This is a big one with younger buyers. Note if the appliances and HVAC have been replaced with energy efficient ones. Make note if you've changed out the windows.
3. Pay attention to curb appeal. You don't want to do all that work on presentation if they are too scared to stop in front. Take care of the landscaping. Paint if necessary. Curb appeal is huge in selling a house.
4. Make it move-in ready. Buyers these days don't want to do a lot to a house. If you repaint, do it with neutral colors. Take care of the little things like broken outlet covers. The less they have to do when moving in, the better.
5. Set the right price. This all ties in to the price. Houses that look nice and show well will sell for more than junkers. Take care of the investment you have and others will see value in it. A comparative market analysis (CMA) will tell you the market price.

Final Thoughts

If your house has been on the market a while, see our tips about that. Sit down and have a frank discussion with your Realtor about the price, location and condition of the house. A house will sell quicker and for more money if it is priced according to its location and condition.