Author: Ted Ihde

Years of back taxes owed. Clouded titles. Rehab budgets which oftentimes exceed market values of city-owned homes…even once the homes are fully-rehabbed. Few good “comps” for appraisals. Can owner-occupants get a home loan if they buy one of these homes for themselves? Small loan amounts. And oftentimes mortgage lenders don’t like those small loan amounts. Complexities associated with the FHA 203(k) loan. And so on, and so on, and so on… 

Challenges, and lots of them. Challenges, yet one objective municipalities have is to transition these now non-performing properties into neighborhood assets. Because while non-performing properties do have these very real challenges, with high numbers of “single challenges” – i.e.: distressed, vacant homes – situated within neighborhoods, a municipality will have a larger scale collective challenge on their hands as well. A neighborhood challenge, so to speak. A social challenge. And that’s the real problem…

The probate real estate sale…

The list price of the decedent’s home – which is now being sold probate – is effectively established by the court. In pricing the home to be sold – i.e.: in arriving at the list price of the home, the court will take into account the professional opinion of a licensed appraiser. The appraiser, having been enlisted by the court to complete the appraisal of the intestate’s home, which is now being sold.

The pricing of the decedent’s home – i.e.: the list price – will be arrived at through local market knowledge provided to the court by the designated listing agent. In arriving at the final list price of the intestate’s home, the court will also take into consideration those opinions and perspectives provided to the court by representatives of the intestate’s estate.

Three years ago, in 2021, there were 1.7 million permits issued to build new homes. In 2021 the market absorbed 1.6 million new home builds. The 1.7 million new permits – and the 1.6 million new housing starts – each total representing annual figures which were three-hundred thousand fewer (permits) and four-hundred thousand fewer (housing starts) than the market absorbed 16 years earlier.

Grading is the structuring of the surface of the land area, applicable to your new home-build. To summarize, the property’s grading is it’s slope. As per grading, it is tantamount to ensure there will be proper slope added to the graded property surface. The ideal slope for your home-build project is, for the land on the outer perimeter of your home’s foundation to descend away from your newly-built home. This decline – applicable to grading – is important because grading ultimately determines where rainwater – as well as where runoff water from the roof – will flow to.

It has been argued (by some) that an industrywide over reliance on selling traditional move-in ready home resales, with a lessened focus on creating more housing stock – i.e.: an industry reliance built mostly upon selling move-in ready homes which are already built, which are already owned, and which are already lived in – is part of our housing inflation challenge today (as it is too, to reduced buyer demand).

An industry model, and an over-reliance, on selling predominantly move-in ready home resales, coupled to a potential lack of focus on, a lack or prioritizing for, and a lack of specialization by professionals in, creating more housing stock that can be added to the market (affordably) every year, then made available to a higher number of home buyers. Facilitating an ongoing national affordability-in-housing challenge. Creating inventory is the solution, whereas ignoring the creation of inventory further contributes to the housing inflation problem we face. 

When Americans talk about inflation, most would be referring to the inflation they face at the consumer level. Which would be, prices Americans are paying everyday when they go shopping. While the Producer Price Index does not specifically measure inflation at the retail level – i.e.: at the consumer level – the Producer Price Index serves as a very effective overall inflation indicator. This is so because as the cost of goods and services increase for businesses at the wholesale level – such as, increases in materials costs for home builders – those increases in costs that builders incur at the wholesale level are then often passed on to consumers at the retail level. Leading to the more widely talked about consumer inflation.

In the United States, the Producer Price Index measures the average change over time in the prices domestic producers receive for their output. Whereas “retail” constitutes prices reflected through the sale of goods and services to the public for their own consumption – not for resale – the Producer Price Index measures the cost of goods and services at the wholesale level. Each month, the Producer Price Index is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Typically, the Producer Price Index is released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics the second full week of each month.