Dennis Swartz

If you want to buy in Columbus, Ohio, they have some great programs! Did you know that you can purchase a home with free money from the City of Columbus for as low as $500? Let me say that again since it may have been a typo. Yes, $500.00 down payment! You can't even rent an apartment with that low money down!

Of course you will have to put up with those annoying Ohio State fans, unless you are a Buckeye fan yourself! The we do have Blue Jackets, but not the kind that sting. Yes, it does snow here from time to time but not too bad.

Can everyone get a home with $500 down payment. Well, no not everyone. You have to qualify with income standards. You have to make below the median income based on family size, so the program is not for people with lots of money but you will be surprised how lenient the program is. And you have to live in the house for the next 5 years or you may have to pay the money back. And the house needs to be in Columbus, and in certain locations so many of the upscale neighborhoods may not qualify but there are still many great homes in many great neighborhoods that qualify.

So how does it work? Well, you get a grant from the City of Columbus for up to $5000 or 6% of the homes purchase price to use for the down payment or closing costs and you only need $500 of your own money. You have to go to a homeownership class to learn about owning a home, and you have to live in the house for 5 years, so the program is not open for investors. You do not need to be a first time homebuyer, either, but if you are you can combine some of the first time homebuyer programs as well.

Interested? Give me a call and I can start you on your way towards homeownership for only $500 down! You don't even need perfect credit! So before you send in one more rent check, shouldn't you check into being a homeowner?

We have an online class at Columbus State Community College in "Real Estate Investing", which is 100% online and availabale for college credit. It is 11 weeks of hands-on learning for agents or investors who may want to learn about buying, sellling, and analyzing investment properties. It is very inexpensive and counts towards your real estate degree, or maybe you can transfer them to your regular college as an elective.

We have students from all over the United States enrolled, and we have space for you or your clients! It is a 3 credit hour class and cost $79 an hour, so it is a bargain. We still have spots available, so join us! Log on to www.cscc.edu.

In my last blog I explored the who part of this equation by answering the question "Who buys a condo", and now I would like to address the why part.

So whyy buy a condo anyway? Why not just rent? Good questions and tough to answer but let me explain it to you.

I own a refrigerator, and in that refrigerator is some food and some beer. I can stay home and cook some food, have a beer, and watch TV and all is good. But what I really like to do is go down to my local restaurant for happy hour, sit at a bar, have some appetizers, drink an ice cold beer, and watch the news or sports on their TV. There is just something about them cooking and serving and cleaning and all that stuff. I like to order my food, they bring it and when I am done they take it away. No dishes, no wiping the counter, no slaving over the hot skillet.

Condos are kind of like that. You own everything on the inside and can do with it whatever you please, including moving walls and decorating and building stuff. But on the outside, they take care of the roof, the lawn, the parking lots, everything. Sure, you have to pay for it just like I pay for the food at the local diner. Just imagine that someone else has to go outside on those brutal July days and mow the grass, let alone those frigid January days shoveling the sidewalk.

Just imagine if you owned a condo how much more free time you would have. Maybe you could hit a bucket of balls, then go to happy hour. Sounds like a plan to me!

Seems like a waste of money, a glorified way to rent, a way for a developer to make a bunch of money. But is there really a reason to buy a condo? Well, let's take a look.

One key point is ownership. Ownership gives you the right to change as you wish, to renovate and decorate. Landlords get a little upset if you take out a wall, or paint some custom colors, or put holes in the walls for your pictures. A condo allows you to do anything you want (as long as you don't make it unsafe) without fear of the landlord inspecting and evicting you with a huge damage bill.

So to answer my questin of who buys a condo? Its independant people. People that want the benefits of low exterior maintenance with the independance of not being told what to do with the interior. It doesn't matter if you are young, old, or in-between, its a matter of not being told what you can do once you close the front door behind you after a stressful day.

Additionally, its about roots. You are establishing roots in a community of people like you, free-thinkers, who don't want to move every time the property complex is sold and the rent adjusted. Its annoying to see moving vans in the parking lots every Saturday morning and the constant turnover of meeting your neighbors on a continuing basis.

So who buys a condo? Independant, free thinking individual who want roots and stability with the joy of limited or no outside maintenance. What about you? Come visit us in our model at 6350 Edgecreek lane (off Cooper Rd) just minutes from Schrock Rd and St Ann's hospital. Prices start at $113,900. Free thinkers encouraged to come by. Find out more at www.edgeonalumcreek.com

I can see you up there, sitting and watching. Just waiting for the day that the perfect house comes along, waiting for that price to go just a little lower so you can pounce like a tiger stalking their prey. I understand, because I do the same thing. Always knowing that if you don't catch one today there will be another tommorrow. Always stalking, lurking just out of sight.

But what if another doesn't come tommorrow? Or if it does maybe the price is higher and the seller is less likely to deal? Maybe its time to make your move?

The new stimulus package of an $8,000 tax credit is going to move the market some. The new Obama plan to stop foreclosures is going to keep a few people from losing their home and having to short-sell it. The sellers will soon smell you in the wind, just waiting and watching. There is a good chance that a couple of homes will start to sell, then a couple more, and a few after that. The market may start to turn, slowly at first but then begin a little quicker. It only takes a few to start a trend.

My advice to you is to take the bait, jump in and make your kill. There may be another tommorrow for a little less money that you might miss, but today's is still a good deal. Just remember, there may not be a better tommorrow to buy a home and you will have missed it.