Sandy Bliven, e-PRO Certified Agent

First time home buyers need to begin looking for a home to purchase as soon as possible if they are looking to take advantage of the $8000.00 Tax Credit. Since most buyers need a couple of months to find a home that meets their goals and objectives,and the closing process can take between 30 to 60 days, you need to allow about 120 days for the whole process from beginning to moving into you home. This means that you should have began looking no later than September 1, 2009 in order for you to occupy your home before December 1, 2009. If you are looking to have a new home constructed you need to begin the process even sooner. (in fact with out an extension, this dream cannot happen)

If you decide to not take advantage of the $8000 tax credit, you'll need to wait until the home you are looking drops another $8000 to be at par if you buy later.

What will we do????? Let's hope for that tax credit extension!!

Rhode Island foreclosure activity rose in August, up to 889 properties with foreclosure filings for the month, a 76 percent increase from the previous month and 62 percent above the level reported in August 2008, according to the latest RealtyTrac^® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

"Rhode Island foreclosures are up both in August and from this time last year," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "This is not surprising as the state currently holds the third highest unemployment rate in the nation. Home prices also fell further than most states during the past year, giving distressed homeowners fewer options."

Rhode Island ranked 36^th in the country in total foreclosures for the month. With one in every 507 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, its foreclosure rate ranked 17^th among the 50 states.

Kent County posts state's top foreclosure rate in August

Kent County posted the highest county foreclosure rate in Rhode Island for August, with one in every 397 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing. Providence County had the second highest rate, with one in every 446 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. Newport County posted the third highest foreclosure rate, where one in every 650 housing units received a foreclosure filing.

Providence County reports highest foreclosure activity for August

Providence County led the way, tallying 575 properties with foreclosure filings for the month. Kent County reported the second highest foreclosure total, documenting 182 properties with foreclosure filings. Reporting 63 properties with foreclosure filings for the month, Newport County posted the third highest total in the state. Washington County was fourth highest, reporting 56 properties with foreclosure filings, while the fifth highest total was in Bristol County, where 13 properties with foreclosure filings were reported for the month.

State a minor contributor to nation's foreclosure activity in August

Rhode Island accounted for less than one percent of the 358,471 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide in August. Total U.S. activity declined fractionally from the previous month but was still 18 percent ahead of August 2008. One in every 357 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month.

Report methodology

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing reported during the month - broken out by type of filing at the county, state and national level. RealtyTrac's report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default - Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction - Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). If more than one foreclosure document is filed against a property during the month - which is extremely rare - only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The report also checks if the same type of document was filed against a property in a previous month. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state the property is in, the report does not count the property in the current month.

Want a "realty check?" call me for information

Sandra L. Bliven, RI & CT & e-PRO Certified
Cell: 401-286-2571, eFax:401-679-0422
Residential & Commercial Property
CT License #RES 0782228, RI License #S 31703
Mass. License 593444
Licensed Mobile Notary 24/7
Coldwell Banker Cahoone
29 Post Road, Westerly, RI 02891


Dreams do come true!! Let me show you how, the Sky is the Limit!
I am available to my clients 7 days a week. My clients have access to me, as their agent around the clock. Once you work with me, you will never use another real estate agent. Please call if I can be of service in the future, I am available, 24/7, holidays, weekends and nights. The real estate help you need before, during and after you buy or sell a home, is the reason that, my Networking Conciege® Service Program was developed, to put you in touch with local service providers to help you obtain the variety of services associated with buying, selling or owning a home. From home repair and home maintenance to complete home renovation, let me help you with all of your real estate needs. Call Seacoast Mortgage for the best rates available, 508-243-1190.

PROVIDENCE - "Appalled and outraged" by a $45,000 price for a foreclosed house listed for sale in their neighborhood, South Elmwood residents launched a protest that prompted a real-estate broker to relist 153 Ontario St. just days later at a much higher price - $169,900.

As part of the second listing, Stacey Eliades, a broker at Storm Realty, LLC, of Warwick, representing Deutsche Bank, requested cash-only bids by July 2.

The bidding went above $169,900, according to Clark Schoettle, executive director of the Providence Revolving Fund. Schoettle said his nonprofit agency had the highest bid and plans to close on the sale sometime in August.

On Friday, June 26, the same day it was listed for $45,000, the house went into "pending" status, according to a petition drafted by a group of residents including Ronald Hirschauer, a sales associate with Armory Properties, LLC. "Pending" means there is a signed purchase and sales agreement and the property is "under contract" to be sold.

Hirschauer, a 19-year Elmwood resident, said he lives four blocks from 153 Ontario St., and he knows the house and the neighborhood sales history. He said the $45,000 price was clearly far below market value.

Assessed at a value of $507,400 by the City of Providence, 153 Ontario St. is also a historically significant property. The c. 1890 "Olde English" style house is listed in the PPS/AlAri Guide to Providence Architecture.

The Guide said the house, designed by Edward I. Nickerson, was built for George Wilkinson, a superintendent of the Gorham Manufacturing Co. It called the house "a superb composition of brick, shingle, stucco and half timbering, one of the neighborhood's best houses."

Helene Gerstle, a real estate lawyer and Elmwood resident, wrote to Eliades on June 29 to protest the $45,000 listing.

Gerstle wrote that $45,000 "is, at a minimum, $200,000 below its value, according to the sale of comparable properties in the neighborhood."

Jane Driver, another neighbor who also works for Armory Properties, said she and Hirschauer both called Storm Realty to express their concerns about the circumstances of the sale.

The petition reads in part: "A disservice has been done to nearby taxpaying property owners by potentially reducing their property values if the sale is completed at the current price or below...."

"We challenge the claim made by Ms. Eliades on 6/28/09 that the list price is consistent with the properties' appraised value, nor do we believe that the institution that holds title to the property would agree to sell it at a price so far below its true market value."

Ken Schadegg, housing director for the City of Providence's Department of Planning and Development, is a former executive director of the Elmwood Foundation. He said the sale of such a "critical" house in the neighborhood at a price so far below market value would have been "devastating" to property values in Elmwood.

Foreclosures have driven down prices in Elmwood, but not to the degree where such a large, landmark house would be sold so cheaply, he said.

Schadegg said people who have invested in Elmwood by moving in and fixing up houses there in the past 15 years were right to speak out swiftly and strongly against the $45,000 price.

"It has kind of galvanized the neighborhood," he said. "...There may be some places where you can get away with that kind of hanky panky, but this neighborhood is not one of them."

Hirschauer said 17 people signed the petition, but he stopped gathering signatures when the property was relisted at the higher price, and he never gave the petition to Eliades. Eliades could not be reached for comment.

Driver said that Joy Riley, owner of Westcott Properties, was "instrumental in changing the outcome." Riley's Providence agency handles a large volume of foreclosure sales. Riley also declined comment.

"All of us were watching this house," as it went through the foreclosure process, Driver said. Deutsche Bank foreclosed on former owner Billieskye Crystal in December 2008. Schoettle said the Revolving Fund has been monitoring 153 Ontario St. for "the past 3½ to 4 months."

153 Ontario St. is a corner lot and one of the largest in the Southern Elmwood Local Historic District, but the overgrown, trash-stewn yard is an anomaly in the well-tended neighborhood. The house was also left filled with "about eight Dumpsters worth of trash," Schoettle said.

Schoettle said the Revolving Fund plans to renovate the property and then resell it to someone, preferably an owner occupant. If the property is restored, it could command rents that would enable a new owner to maintain it, he said.

Gerstle's letter to Eliades warned that she intended to report the matter to a Realtors' board, but she said last week that she is happy with the way the situation turned out, and that Storm Realty responded to the neighbors' concerns.

"I don't know what really happened there," she said. But she added that people who are concerned about their property values should take an interest in what happens with foreclosed properties in their neighborhood.

"We really have to be on the alert about these things," Gerstle said.

Michelle Caprio, CEO of the Greater Providence Board of Realtors, said her group has received four or five complaints this year about alleged unethical conduct by Realtors. A group of peers reviews complaints, and hearings are held if the complaints are found to have merit. Caprio said the board also offers mediation services.

Caprio said consumers who complain to professional associations also often simultaneously report problems to the state licensing authority, the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation. The DBR has issued 18 enforcement actions against licensed real estate sales people or brokers so far this year.

Although complaints are made in all kinds of markets, Caprio said, there are new issues and problems associated with the many distressed properties for sale at this time. In the case of distressed properties, sellers are often large financial institutions far from Rhode Island, and getting responses to questions and offers can be difficult, she said.

"There are realities of working with short sales and foreclosures that take us well out of the scope of the typical transaction," she said.

Hirschauer said he has seen a number of other foreclosed properties in Providence sold within one or two days after being offered at prices that seemed too low even in this troubled market, but no situation "as blatant" as the initial price of 153 Ontario St.

"It's so irresponsible. It's just not right," he said. "There's nothing ethical about it."

cdunn@projo.com

I had a similar experience with Storm Realty and Stacy just recently....... I would love to share with you. This real estate practice is ruining the market and lowering property values. I am a realtor with Coldwell Banker Cahoone, Westerly. A property was listed a few weeks ago, MF/commercial with a cottage, great location, assessed around $330K. Storm listed it for $85K, I called to make an offer and was told highest and best, with a "proof of funds" - never was it mentioned, "bank statement, they said "PROOF OF FUNDS" - my cash buyer offered, $125K, with a bank letter of approval for funds. It is my understanding, that a bidder won at an offer of $90K, and included a "bank statement." It is again my understanding, As told to him by Stacey, by the way Stacy double ended it. Westerly, is a very small town, everyone knows each other, coincidently, it so happens, the bidder's mom was at my house at the time, she mentioned her son bought the building. I said, wow, how much did he bid and she said, $90K. I flipped, I called Stacy and talked to the office manager, while talking to them, she texted messages the buyer, he calls my house and reams his mother out for telling me. If that is not unetical then nothing is!! My buyer was so upset with me for losing the bid........ any advice?? This happens all the time, it goes to an insider. IN our office we put offer's in sealed envelopes as not to have this unetical practice happen....... I guess we are just country folks, in the city things are done differently.

Has anyone been outbid by an insider? Share your story, call Helene Gerstle!!

From the attorney in the above Providence Journal's Story written by C Dunn.........Dear Sandy: I am going to forward your message to some friends of mine at Armory Properties, who originally discovered this deception. Have you thought of started an ethics complaint at the Rhode Island Board of Realtors? I am crazy busy today, but tomorrow you can reach me in the morning at 401 383 8318 or later in the day and Wednesday at 617 909 3787. Thanks so much for contacting me. This is devastating to neighborhoods and should not continue. Strangely, they were able to call off the offer for $45,000.00 after it was accepted. Bizarre. Helene

Let's stand united to stop this!! If you have had a similar experience, Contact Helene and tell her Sandy Sent you!

Everything works and nothing doesn't!
Sandy Bliven

Does anyone know where I could rescue a Sheltie, at least a year old, looking for a loving home? no kids, just me and my partner.........

I have gone one Sheltie Websites, but not luck, I don't want to replace EMMEE, just fill the void in my home, its so quiet and lonely without her........

Please let me know if anyone knows where I could locate a Sheltie, and give it a loving home

Thanks,

Sandy

Spacious 3-4 bedroom colonial, 2 full baths, large master bedroom, beautiful refinished hardwood floors, fresh paint, eat in kitchen, dining room, full basement, and nicely landscaped yard.

Click the Hyperlink below to link to and view property listing(s) of interest. If after clicking the link, your Internet browser does not launch, right click on the link and Copy the Shortcut. Then paste the Shortcut into your browser's Address Field.

SFM Customer Flyer w/Banner

Call for cap rate, and rate of return on equity, 25++%%%

Sandra L. Bliven, R.I. & C.T. & e-PRO Certified
Cell: 401-286-2571, eFax:401-679-0422

http://www.sandybliven.com/
CT License #RES0782228
RI License #S31703
Mass. License 593444
Licensed Mobile Notary 24/7
Coldwell Banker Cahoone
29 Post Road, Westerly, RI 02891
www.shopunderoneroof.com
www.annsabbagh.com of Seacoast Mortgage

Dreams do come true!! Let me show you how, the Sky is the Limit!
I am available to my clients 7 days a week. My clients have access to me, as their agent around the clock. Once you work with me, you will never use another real estate agent. Please call if I can be of service in the future, I am available, 24/7, holidays, weekends and nights. The real estate help you need before, during and after you buy or sell a home, is the reason that, my Networking Concierge® Service Program was developed, to put you in touch with local service providers to help you obtain the variety of services associated with buying, selling or owning a home. From home repair and home maintenance to complete home renovation, let me help you with all of your real estate needs. Call Seacoast Mortgage for the best rates available, 508-243-1190.