Michelle Millikin

Posts Tagged ‘wausau’

People frequently ask me “When do you think the housing market will improve?” Well, my crystal ball has been on the fritz lately but experts indicate that the answer is an unfortunate “Not for some time.” According to Fiserv, a financial analytics company, home values are expected to fall another 3.6 percent by next June, pushing them to a new low of 35 percent below the peak reached in early 2006 and marking a “triple dip” in prices.

The first post-bubble bottom was in 2009 where prices fell 31 percent below peak. The second dip was last winter when prices were down 33 percent. Shortly thereafter there was a surge in the market but it was artificially generated by the robo-signing scandal where loan servicers were rapidly signing foreclosures without proper screening. Banks were brought to a screeching halt upon this discovery.

Now that the scandal has been resolved, lenders are speeding more cases through the foreclosure process, putting more homes on the market, weighing on home prices, yet again.

And we have yet to see the “shadow inventory” of foreclosures that have yet to be released on the market. Some experts estimate the number of homes currently in shadow inventory to be 6 million homes.

Nationwide, Fiserv is projecting home prices will climb a modest 2.4 percent between June 2012 to June 2013.

For our Wausau area local market we may not see the decline predicted for Naples,Las Vegas or Miami nor the increase predicted for Madera, California or Yuma, Arizona but are expected to stagger at our depressed market values for yet another year. Some of the factors working against the market in the near future are the increase in foreclosures and sustained unemployment.

This continues to be an excellent time to purchase for the credit-worthy, residentiaslly and commercially. Please call me to discuss how you can take advantage of the current market conditions.

Wisconsin’s definition of “wetland” includes “areas where water is at, near, or above the land surface long enough to be capable of supporting aquatic or hydrophytic (water-loving) vegetation and which has soils indicative of wet conditions.” In other words, they are not necessarily readily-identifiable pools of standing water – a wetland can be a small depression on land with no standing water, or areas that have certain soil types.

Because wetlands are difficult to identify, many property owners are unaware that there may be wetlands on their property until they prepare to develop or build on the property. Property owners are instructed not to do anything that could harm the wetland and to apply for a permit from the Department of Natural Resources which is very difficult to obtain.

What can they do?

Wisconsin had developed a Wetland Mitigation Program which allows new wetlands to be restored, enhanced or created to compensate for the filling in of other wetlands. In other words, the property owner is allowed to alter their wetlands (property development) is exchange for new wetlands (environmental protection).

The property owner must first demonstrate that the damage to the wetland is unavoidable (no other practicable alternatives) and that every effort has been made to minimize the project’s impact on the wetland. Needless to say, the Mitigation Program is good in theory but next-to-impossible to utilize.

Therefore, it is very important to purchase property/land through an experienced Realtor, who will help you determine the development opportunities or restrictions BEFORE you purchase the property – protecting your best interests and your investment.

Call me today to learn more about the proper steps (and pitfalls) of purchasing

If you haven’t already noticed, almost every cash register checkout experience is obligatorily accompanied by the question “Did you find everything ok today?” I must admit it simply drives me crazy. I actually brought the uncanny occurrence to the attention of a nearby Manager and she cheerfully reported to me that this is simply outstanding customer service. Really?

How is it helpful to ask someone standing in line, with other customers behind them waiting, already frustrated that they couldn’t find something or it took them forever to find it, and be asked this ridiculous question? If you ultimately found the item and agreed to share the bad experience with the cashier, what would they do about it? Nothing except a half-hearted apology for your inconvenience. If you never found the needed item, they would (maybe) help you or find someone to do so, inconveniencing all the customers behind you. Help should be offered during the consumption process, not at the end of the experience.

This got me thinking: How to Buyers feel in the home purchase process? I have sat at a closing table, realizing how very little the Buyer (and not just necessarily the first-time home buyer) understands what is happening. Many times they are blindly signing documents with glazed looks in their eyes. They want the keys and are stressed about the forthcomuing moving process.

That simply is not OK with me. A home purchase is most likely the largest purchase and investment a person does in their lifetime, with huge consequences for lack of contractual fulfillment. The communication and understanding has to be on-going, from beginning to end. No one should be bewildered or confused, especially at closing. I take the responsibility of educating buyers, explaining the process one step at a time and insuring that everyone involved in one of my transactions is in full awareness every step of the way.

Please take some time to read the words of my customers and clients under this site’s Testimonials tab. It is a part of my service which is not only necessary but the way real estate should be done. You’ll never hear me ask if you understand the home purchase process while leaving the closing as a new home owner. “Do you understand what just happened to you?” at that moment in time is as ludicrous as the cashier asking “Did you find everything OK today?”

Our local real estate market has been challenging, to say it nicely, for the past couple of years. It is exciting for me to hear the phones ringing and see the sales come in. Our agency is filled with positive energy, greatly exemplified in this year’s recognition banquet for our Region within Realty Executives International. Several of our local agents were recognized on February 16th in Minnesota including Bill Schumacher, Joan Belke, Jay Schmidt and myself who earned Executive Awards for high production and high commission earnings in 2010.

I was incredibly humbled by my personal recognition as Agent of the Year. It is true that 2010 was very difficult with ownership changes, the announced retirement of agents and most predominantly, the loss of my business partner, Linda Kohn-Koppa. Although it has been overwhelming, I have been fortunate to have been surrounded by the best of people and corporate support to pull us all together and launch us into 2011. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Realty Execuitves of Wausau will soon be announcing the addition of new agents while maintaining our commitment to being the most innovative real estate business model in the industry with cutting edge technology and the only true 100% commission compensation model.

Please keep a close eye out for the release of Micheal Gerber’s E-myth: Real Estate Brokerage book this spring. We all are excited that the guru of Entrepreneurship chose Realty Executives as the subject for his outstanding and world-renowned E-myth series. Check out the link below!

Regulatory pressure is preventing the market from operating as it should.  It is discouraging lenders from foreclosing and reselling reprised assets to exactly the type of entrepreneur investors who, if unleashed, could propel the clearance of these distressed properties. This misguided intervention in the normal workings of the economy is acting as a drag on the recovery. If these practices are allowed to continue it is likely that our current situation will be prolonged for as much as an additional eighteen months. We need to bring our inventory down to a normal level and we need to convey the urgency of this to those politicians who set such regulatory policies.

Consumer confidence continues to fluctuate wildly. This instability is driven by the lack of corporate capital expenditures, despite business profitability reaching record levels. Put simply, business are not investing because of uncertainty regarding issues such as health care, tax policies and the sustainability of the recovery. Until politicians create an environment in which entrepreneurs are allowed to thrive, businesses are going to restrict spending on the type of equipment, facilities and inventory which are the key drivers in job creation.

So, the key is to restructure regulations in such a way so as to encourage prudent business expansion. Investor pressure will drive such an expansion, but only in an atmosphere in which such an expansion produces rewards for those investors. The danger of policies that are designed to protect the weakest elements of the market is that they discourage the strongest elements of the market which, historically, constitute the engine of economic growth.

The current policy of unsustainable public spending must change. It risks fueling runaway inflation which affects first time home buyers disproportionately and, by so doing, jeopardizes the American dream of home ownership. Temporary gimmicks, like the home purchase tax credit, produce only short term effects. Real, meaningful growth in homes sales will only occur when we restore the normal operation of the marketplace.