Please join us for the upcoming Fall Preview Parade of Homes event.  The parade will be held September 17th, 18th, 21st, 24th & 25th from 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Wednesday –Friday. As always, the parade of homes is free to the public.

Many of the top builders in the Quad Cities participate in this event as it showcases new building trends in new construction homes. There are twenty four homes to tour with half of them being held open by Ruhl&Ruhl agents.  Please see the homes Ruhl&Ruhl agents are showing below:

• #23 Country Club Ct., LeClaire, built by Tim Dolan Development and being held open by Kim Solveson.
• 3317 Westminster, Bettendorf, built by Kerkhoff Homes and being held open by the ValleyWynds Team – Stephanie Graham, Nancy McElhiney and Kurt Johnson.
• 3390 Crow Lake Drive, Bettendorf, built by Kerkhoff Homes and being held open by the ValleyWynds Team – Stephanie Graham, Nancy McElhiney and Kurt Johnson.
• 3378 Crow Lake Drive, Bettendorf, built by Heartland Builders (Carey Nowack) and being held open by the ValleyWynds Team –Stephanie Graham, Nancy McElhiney and Kurt Johnson.
• 3454 Crowne Point Circle, Bettendorf, built by Heartland Builders (Carey Nowack) and being held open by Marna Nowack.
• 2130 E. 60^th Street, Davenport, built by Applestone Homes and being held open by JJ Condon.
• 6664 Eagle Ridge Rd., Bettendorf, built by Terry Knutsen, Builder and being held open by the Highland Green Team – Marna Nowack, Matt Schwind, Sharon Tahere and Kim Solveson.
• 6136 Cardinal Road, Bettendorf, built by Bob Walter Homes and being held open by the ValleyWynds Team – Stephanie Graham, Nancy McElhiney and Kurt Johnson.
• 1731 Stone Gate, Davenport, built by Dan Dolan Homes and being held open by Don Gibeault.
• 6533 Blackberry Lane, Bettendorf, built by Windmiller Design & Development and being held open by Melissa Wegener and Pete Stopulos.
• 6612 Dorothys Drive, Bettendorf, built by Beaver Builders and being held open by Connie Coster and Peg Hopkins.
• 790 Muirfield Circle, Eldridge, built by Meadow Builders and being held open by Regen Johnson.

This is a great event and Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS looks forward to participating it in every year.  This year there is over $1,000 in prizes that the public is able to enter to win at each home on the tour.  For a full list and map of the homes being held open please check out www.qchba.com.

A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS annually sells nearly 3,800 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin and is the largest privately-owned real estate company in Iowa. Caroline Ruhl is the President and owner of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, and is the fourth generation of the Ruhl family to lead the residential brokerage and home services company.  Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, the company has 280 sales associates and 50 employees based in sales offices located in Bettendorf, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, and Muscatine, in Iowa, and in Moline, Illinois. In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl offers services in relocation, new home sales, farm and land sales, senior services, real estate investment, mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage and insurance services through the Nelson Ruhl Agency.  For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.

The value of farmland is on the rise because of an increasing demand.

Although prices vary based on location and size of parcel, high-quality crop land in the Quad-Cities region and western Illinois is selling for about $8,000 to $9,000 an acre, according toDennis Stolk, of Ruhl & Ruhl’s Davenport Farm & Land division.

Mr. Stolk said prices can be found on either side of that spectrum, but spring and summer sales have been in excess of $8,000 and acre, with “several now $9,000 and over.”

That’s up from about $5,000 to $6,000 an acre a couple years ago, he said.

Iowa farmland increased from about $5,100 an acre to about $5,500 from 2006 to 2010, Shane Johnson, Quad City Area Realtor Association CEO, said.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture Land Values Summary released Aug. 4, says the median price of Illinois farmland was $5,700 an acre in 2011, up $1,680 from 2007. The median price for Iowa farmland was $5,600 an acre in 2011, up $2,230 from 2007.

There’s a “much greater demand than there is supply” of available farmland, said Tom Marcus, a Ruhl & Ruhl Realtor in the Maquoketa area who has been selling farmland for more than 35 years.

“We have very few sellers and people waiting in line to buy.”

“Wehave definitely seen a rise in price per acre of farm ground, particularly in our region,” said Craig Wainwright, owner of Wainwright Realty in Port Byron.

Farmers also are “blessed” right now with high commodity prices, so are “willing to pay more for the ground,” hesaid.

“The 2011 increase continues a string of large increases that began in 2004,” University of Illinois agriculture economist and farm management specialist Gary Schnitkey said in a press release.

The last seven-year period in which Illinois land prices increased an equivalent amount was from 1975 to 1981 when farmland jumped from$846 an acre to $2,188 an acre, he said.

Mr. Stolk said the strong market has been fueled by “good, strong farm profits, high commodity prices and low interest rates.”

“To have corn and bean prices pushing $7 and $14 (per bushel) respectively, that’s pretty positive for land values,” saidKevin Urick, president of the Henry County farm bureau and a RE/MAX real estate agent.

Mr. Urick said a speaker at a commodity conference he attended this summer said that if corn prices rise, so will the cost and value of farmland.”I think people are looking at land like gold right now.”

However, you don’t have to remind “farmers too hard that values can drop,” he said, adding that for now, “I would say they’re pretty steady.”

As the price of land rises, so does the cost for farmers who rent fields. According to the University of Illinois release, the average cash rent in Illinois was $183 an acre this year. A USDA Agricultural Land Values and Cash Rents Final Estimates report said it was $132 an acre in 2006.

According to reports on the Iowa State University Extension’s website at www.extension.iastate.edu, the average cash rent in Iowa was $214 an acre this year, up from $137 an acre in 2006.

It’s currently cheaper for farmers to own land than to rent it, Mr. Marcus, the Maquoketa area Realtor said.

For the most part, land buyers right now are other farmers. Mr. Urick said he heard at the commodities conference that roughly 70 percent of farmland buyers are farmers, and the rest are investors contemplating commercial developments.

Mr. Johnson said it’s good to see that the local real estate industry — commercial and residential –”continues to be in very good shape when compared to other economies around the nation.”

The Quad-Cities area continues “to be a good place to invest in,” he said.

“We have good stability even in the midst of a very difficult economy.”

Article Originally Published by Argus-Dispatch

Last week, RealtyTrac released its Q2 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report. The report confirmed what we are hearing in the marketplace – banks are beginning to look more favorably on short sales as option to foreclosure.

The report dissected the sales of distressed properties in the second quarter of 2011. Here are several of their findings:

• Sales of homes that were in some stage of foreclosure or bank owned accounted for 31 percent of all U.S. residential sales in the second quarter of 2011, down from nearly 36 percent of all sales in the first quarter.
• A total of 102,407 pre-foreclosure homes (short sales) sold in the second quarter, an increase of 19 percent from the previous quarter.
• A total of 162,680 REO homes (foreclosures) sold in the second quarter, virtually unchanged from the first quarter.
• Short sales on average sold for a discount of 21 percentbelow the average sales price of non-foreclosure homes.
• REOs on average sold at a discount of nearly 40 percent below the average sales price of non-foreclosure homes.

This could be a great sign that banks are finally realizing the advantages of short sales over foreclosures.

Bloomberg.com quoted Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac, in an article covering the report:

“This is a glimmer of hope that lenders are getting more realistic. It’s a win for borrowers who avoid foreclosure, buyers who get a house in better condition and banks that lose less money, which is also a win for taxpayers.”

Bottom Line

Banks are beginning to do more short sales. It is time for everyone involved to help in this endeavor. Tomorrow, we will have a short sale expert, Christopher Reale, blog on gaining the right mindset to do just that.

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS Relocation Department is proud to announce that Ruhl&Ruhl has been selected by Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services as a member of their Preferred Broker Network for 2011-2012. Prudential’s commitment to their corporate clients is to utilize brokers and sales professionals who have been certified through Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services Broker Certification program, which ensures quality service delivery to their corporate clients and transferees. Ruhl&Ruhl has many sales professionals who meet the most current Eligibility Criteria and are certified in Destination Services (working with buyers), Marketing Assistance (working with sellers) and Relocation Inventory (corporate owned homes). 

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with approximately $641 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2009, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s businesses offer a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.

A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS annually sells nearly 3,800 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin and is the largest privately-owned real estate company in Iowa. Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, the company has 280 sales associates based in sales offices located in Bettendorf, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, and Muscatine, in Iowa, and in Moline, Illinois. In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl offers services in relocation, new home sales, farm and land sales, senior services, real estate investment, mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage and insurance services through Nelson Ruhl Agency.  For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.

Our markets continue to be shielded from the rest of the country’s harsh decline in home prices, with our markets seeing a distinct increase, especially in the Quad Cities and Dubuque.       

Nationally home prices have fallen 17.50% in the last five years, but all of our markets’ home prices are up: 8.51% in Dubuque; 6.35% in the Quad Cities; 3.68% in Iowa City; and 2.73% in Cedar Rapids.

According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, of the 309 MSA’s (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) ranked by home price appreciation, all of our markets in eastern Iowa ranked in the top 30% in the nation – Dubuque at 11th; Quad Cities at 30th; Cedar Rapids at 79th; and Iowa City at 92nd.

Analysts attribute national declines to the many foreclosures and short sales, as our markets have not been badly impacted as compared to the rest of the country. Local markets continue to provide a much more stable environment for purchasing homes and investing in real estate.

A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS annually sells nearly 3,800 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. Caroline Ruhl is the President and owner of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, and is the fourth generation of the Ruhl family to lead the residential brokerage and home services company.  Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, the company has 285 sales associates and 50 employees based in sales offices located in Bellevue, Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, and Muscatine, in Iowa, and in Moline, Illinois.  In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl offers services in relocation, new home sales, farm and land sales, senior services, real estate investment, property management and mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage and insurance services through the Nelson Ruhl Agency.  For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS is once again expanding their services to better assist their clients with the establishment of Ruhl Property Solutions, a division dedicated to consulting, property and asset management and multi-family brokerage.

Ruhl Property Solutions was formed due to the need for superior property and asset management services in our markets, said Julie Lonergan, Director of Operations for Ruhl Property Solutions, who has over ten years of strategic planning and business development in the real estate sector and owns over 3,000 residential units.

 “With the recent economic downturn, many real estate investors are looking for an asset manager who can be a source of relevant information regarding property and the potential for that property to earn higher returns in the future,” said Lonergan. “We are equipped to handle that due to our reporting capabilities, which pinpoint where our client’s investments are currently positioned and the course of action to reach their real estate investment potential.  “And we can help with every step in the process – from purchasing and selling your investment properties to management and tenant placement, as well as asset preservation and loan refinancing. It really can be done all in one place with Ruhl Property Solutions.”

Ruhl Property Solutions offers services in asset management, including managing debt structure and renegotiating loan terms, buying and selling multi-family and commercial real estate, property management and oversight, as well as acquisitions. The division’s team has experience in office, industrial, residential, senior housing, and retail transactions and ownership and is prepared to serve different ownership groups, from small entrepreneurial owners to larger institutional investors. The division will initially service the immediate Quad Cities area, with future plans for expansion into Ruhl&Ruhl’s additional markets, including Clinton, Dubuque, Iowa City and Muscatine, Iowa.

Ruhl Property Solutions expands on Ruhl&Ruhl’s existing services to provide property management and tenant placement for single family rentals and smaller multi-family units. As a division of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, Ruhl Property Solutions carries on the commitment to provide service with quality, value and integrity to all of our clients, said Caroline Ruhl, President of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS.

Please contact Ruhl Property Solutions to discuss your investment strategies at 563.441.5230 or visit us online at RuhlPropertySolutions.com. 

A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS annually sells nearly 3,800 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. Caroline Ruhl is the President and owner of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, and is the fourth generation of the Ruhl family to lead the residential brokerage and home services company.  Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, the company has 285 sales associates and 50 employees based in sales offices located in Bellevue, Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, and Muscatine, in Iowa, and in Moline, Illinois.  In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl offers services in relocation, new home sales, farm and land sales, senior services, real estate investment, property management and mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage and insurance services through the Nelson Ruhl Agency.  For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.

Caroline Ruhl, President of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, is pleased to announce the addition of a Burlington Office.

Ruhl&Ruhl, the largest privately-owned real estate company in Iowa, has other residential sales offices located in Bettendorf, Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, DeWitt, Maquoketa, Muscatine and Dubuque, Iowa; and in Moline, Illinois. The Burlington Office, located at 1013 S. Central Avenue, will be the company’s 11^th office.

Doris Mosley-Johnson is Ruhl&Ruhl’s Managing Broker and Eric Schlutz is Ruhl&Ruhl’s Regional Manager.

“We are excited to open an office in Burlington so we can better serve our current and future clients in the area,” said Ruhl, adding that some Realtors from the company’s Muscatine Office had already been working in the Burlington market.

The company belongs to 12 different Multiple Listing Services and properties for sale in all these markets are available to the public on their website at RuhlHomes.com. The 280 agent company has been serving families in the region since 1862 and Caroline Ruhl is the 4^th generation of Ruhl’s to lead the organization. Her son, Chris Beason, the manager of the company’s Maquoketa and DeWitt offices, is the 5^th generation.

The people at Ruhl&Ruhl are committed to making the home buying and home selling experience easy, fun and hassle free. “Our clients need sales associates they can trust who will be their knowledgeable advocates, guiding them through the home sale or home purchase process. Our people really care about our clients and strive to exceed expectations. At Ruhl&Ruhl, our people are the difference,” said Ruhl.

The public in Burlington is already somewhat familiar with Ruhl&Ruhl because the company’s Real Estate Today TV Show airs daily on KWQC at 6:55 am, just before The Today Show on NBC.

In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl specializes in relocation services, working with top companies such as Cartus, Primacy, Prudential and SIRVA. The company manages many foreclosure properties for HUD and FNMA – and their foreclosure inventory can be accessed online at RuhlHomes.com/Foreclosures. Ruhl&Ruhl also offers services in real estate investments, new home sales, land development, builder services, farm sales, senior services, property management, home vendor services, mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage and insurance services through the Nelson Ruhl Agency.

 Ruhl&Ruhl is a family-owned company that annually sells nearly 3,800 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. The company started in a little German grocery store in west Davenport, Iowa, from which insurance and real estate also were sold. Now, Ruhl&Ruhl has grown to more than 280 sales associates, 52 employees and 11 offices, yet their commitment to providing service with quality, value and integrity remains firmly rooted.

 For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit our new office at 1013 S. Central Avenue, Burlington, Iowa, call 319.752.9933 or visit us online at RuhlHomes.com.

 “Housing is more affordable than it’s been in a generation. I think it is a good time to become a home owner because it’s so affordable today compared to where it’s been for generations,” stated HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.  This is a great time to buy in our region – and here is why:

1. Our Region’s Real Estate Market is healthier than the rest of the country.  Take a look at how our 4 MSA’s (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) compare to the 309 MSA’s that HUD tracks on page 7. Based on appreciation over the past 5 years – we rock!

Percent Change in House Prices in 5 Years:

Cedar Rapids              + 2.73 %

Quad Cities                 + 6.35 %
(Davenport, Moline, Rock Island)

Dubuque                     + 8.51 %

Iowa City                     + 3.68 %

USA                                17.5 %

2. Inventory is up, including many foreclosure properties (REOs).  As shown in our Real Estate Activity Chart on page 2, the number of properties available for sale is up in most of our markets. Foreclosure properties have been especially attractive to investors, as they sell on average at a 35.1% discount from market value according to Realty Trac who tracks foreclosure sales. This is problematic to property values in the neighborhoods of foreclosure sales, as it pulls down their values. Hence we urge sellers to attempt to work out a short sale with their lenders instead, as these typically sell for 9.5% below market value, and do less damage to the seller’s credit and less damage to the neighboring property values. Typically, homes sell for 94% – 97% of their list price. This varies by market, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS currently has 62 foreclosure properties listed for sale. They can be seen on our website at RuhlHomes.com/Foreclosures.

 Additionally, we are managing 59 more properties in the process of foreclosure, and have 41 foreclosure properties under contract but not yet closed. Interestingly, about 22% of Ruhl’s buyers this year have paid cash, many of whom are investors. Out of town investors have identified our markets as a great investment opportunity – due to strong rental demand, stable and increasing property values and low prices of properties.

3. Interest Rates are So Low! As of this writing, July 20, here are available rates and programs:
          
• 30-year fixed            4.5%    no points rate mortgage

• 15-year fixed            3.75%  no points rate mortgage

We advise anyone contemplating refinancing to look at this product. Borrowers can save 60% of their interest payments on a 30-year mortgage over the life of the loan.

• 5/1 ARM       3.25%  no points conventional                                               

• 10/1 ARM     3.5%    no points conventional                                               

• VA Loan        4.5%    no points

• 100% financing available

• $5,000 grant available for eligible veterans from the state of Iowa

Rates vary daily and are impacted by credit scores.  Buyers and refinancers are encouraged to seize this opportunity before rates and closing costs go up!

 4. Regional Real Estate Market is Active – Don’t Miss Out! At Ruhl&Ruhl sales pending in June 2011 were up 54% in sales volume and up 48% in units over June 2010.  As we anticipated, sales closed in the first 6 months of 2011 were down from 2010 because most buyers wanted to close before the tax credits ended June 30, 2010.  But this year is back to normal and the summer and fall sales will be much stronger than last year.

 5. What is Holding Back Buyers?  The big sticking point inhibiting a rebound in home prices and home sales is the availability of mortgages. Lenders currently are offering attractive terms only to extremely qualified buyers with credit scores of 640 and higher. The reason isn’t the lenders – it’s the government! They have swung the pendulum too far to the point of discouraging lenders to lend to qualified buyers.    

Hopefully, the government will revise their policies to encourage rather than discourage, offering mortgage loans. Since next year is an election year, we think there is a good chance. The president is no doubt aware that his odds of re-election improve dramatically if unemployment falls significantly. One way to reduce unemployment is to increase home sales and home construction, which in normal times provides huge numbers of jobs… and the most effective way to boost home sales and home construction is to make it easier for would be buyers to obtain mortgages.

 Keep checking RuhlHomes.com for more information on the housing market.

In their never ending quest to “simplify” the confusion surrounding the borrowing of money, the Fed has released their Final Rule for Risk Based Pricing Notices, as well as Adverse Action Notices. More paper work filled with CYA, legal terminology that winds up baffling people more than giving them any clarity. Let’s take a peek….

Risk Based Pricing Notices are required under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and now, because of provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act, they must include language that relates to credit scores IF those scores were used to determine the interest rate (and resultant APR) given the customer. Also, the language can’t simply be “the lower your credit score, the higher rate you will pay”. That would be too easy. You see…lower credit scores have statistically proven to have higher defaults (more risk), so charging those clients more makes sense. But in the world we live in, the government wants to inundate the customer with mumbo jumbo, and insists on a form that gives the following information:

1. The credit score used in making the credit decision;
2. The range of possible credit scores under the model used to generate the credit score;
3. All of the key factors that adversely affected the credit score. Note that the risk-based pricing notice generally may not list more than four key factors. However, if one of the key factors is the number of inquiries made with respect to the consumer report, up to five key factors may be used.
4. The date on which the credit score was created; and
5. The name of the consumer reporting agency or other person that provided the credit score.

Further, if there is more than one borrower, each receives their own, personalized disclosure.

Adverse Action Notices are basically Rejection Letters. They used to say things like “your file was turned down because your credit/income/assets/appraisal does not fit the guidelines under which we approve borrowers”. Now, when credit scores are a reason for denial the language is slightly more confusing but essentially the same 5 things stated above for Risk Based Pricing. But, the really good news is that they added up to 5 different, new forms to tell the consumer where they can inquire about the score in their “consumer report” (the new term that replaces the old “credit report”).

Who gets paid for this stuff?  More paper work, more muddied explanations, all to protect the consumer? Or to protect the jobs of the bureaucrats and law makers? Am I alone in thinking that often the efforts to protect wind up frustrating instead? Simply stated, if your credit is bad because you made late payments, you can be turned down or your may be approved and be forced to pay a higher rate. Now, if your credit score is bad because of errors in the credit report, you should be directed on how to fix it. But that’s a topic for a different day.

Sometimes through all the confusion things can seem blurry and out of site but the end result is always worth the while, and Ruhl&Ruhl wants to help get you there!  Keep checking RuhlHomes.com for the most up to date information on the housing market and to start your home search.

Provided by: KCM Blog

A photo of the Rock Island Arsenal.

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS is proud to congratulate the Rock Island Arsenal for being awarded the Best Overall Chapter Award in their category from AUSA National.

This award demonstrates their commitment to assist Soldiers and families throughout eastern Iowa and western Illinois – from Active Army, Reserve, and National Guard personnel to ROTC, Veteran Support, CBWU, and other military personnel. The Rock Island Arsenal has provided volunteers and financial support to help meet the needs of those who serve.

Ruhl&Ruhl is a proud supporter of AUSA and we are honored to support the Voice For the Army!

A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS annually sells nearly 3,800 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin and is the largest privately-owned real estate company in Iowa. Caroline Ruhl is the President and owner of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, and is the fourth generation of the Ruhl family to lead the residential brokerage and home services company.  Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, the company has 280 sales associates and 50 employees based in sales offices located in Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, and Muscatine, in Iowa, and in Moline, Illinois. In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl offers services in relocation, new home sales, farm and land sales, senior services, real estate investment and mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage and insurance services through Nelson Ruhl Agency.  For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.