Posts Tagged ‘Ruhl&Ruhl Market Share’

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS Celebrates Sales Growth in 2011

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Caroline Ruhl, President of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, congratulated her sales associates and staff on an amazing 2011. “While business was down in most of our markets and at most competing real estate companies, business was up at Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS!”

 

Ruhl credited her company’s success to her extraordinary people:  “The Ruhl&Ruhl difference is truly found in the compassion, expertise and commitment of our people, from agents to staff to management to loan officers.  You out-worked and out-smarted and out-serviced the competition.  At the end of the day, it always comes down to having the best people.  Thank you for your wonderful service, your hard work and your loyalty.”

The company also celebrated their 150th birthday.  The Ruhl family has been helping other families in the region since 1862.  “With our 4th and 5th generations of family ownership and leadership, we look forward to serving the people and communities we love for many generations to come,” commented Caroline Ruhl.

The company celebrated at an awards brunch at the Waterfront Convention Center in Bettendorf. They honored and recognized 173 award winners for their 2011 achievements.

 1.            Growth in Number of Properties Sold

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS sold 4,360 properties in 2011, as either listing agent or selling agent. 

This was 6.8% more transactions than in 2010. 

 In the Quad Cities MLS (Multiple Listing Service), 2% fewer properties were sold in 2011 than in 2010.

2.            Sales Volume Up 7.3%

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS’ sales volume in 2011 was $593,082,327, 7.3% higher than sales volume in 2010.

Residential sales volume was down 4% in the Quad Cities MLS.

 3.            Properties Listed Up 4.3%

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS sales associates listed 3,317 properties for sale in 2011, 4.3% more than they listed in 2010.

4.            More Great Sales Associates and Staff

While the number of agents went down in the 12 Boards of Realtors/MLS’s that the company belongs to, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS added a net of 24 sales associates, growing our agent base from 251 as of December 31, 2010 to 275 agents as of December 31, 2011.  In addition, 58 dedicated employees work for the company.

5.            Revenue Up 9.5%

 Revenue in a real estate company is primarily gross commission income, or GCI. Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS’ 2011 GCI was up 9.5% over 2010.

 6.            29.4% of Ruhl Buyers Used 1862 Mortgage

 1862 Mortgage is Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS’ in-house mortgage company. 29.4% of Ruhl’s buyers with financing used 1862 Mortgage during 2011.

 7.            Gains in Market Share

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS had 36.74% of the Quad Cities residential market in 2011, up from 33.85% in 2010. Their largest competitor, Mel Foster Co., saw market share fall from 37.44% to 34.46%, making Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS the largest residential broker in the Quad Cities.  Market share in the Iowa Quad Cities grew from 37.5% to 41.05% for Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS.  In the Illinois Quad Cities, market share grew from 26.4% to 27.6%.

In the Muscatine MLS, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS’ market share grew from 36% in 2010 to 39% in 2011. 

8.            Per Agent Productivity Among Best in the Nation

On average, Ruhl agents sold 15.1 properties per agent, as either listing or selling agents. This places Ruhl agents among the most productive in the country. The National Association of Realtors reports an average of 7 sales per agent nationally.

 9.            New Construction Sales Up 6.1%

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS sold 243 new construction homes or condos in 2011, up from 229 in 2010. New construction sales volume was $71,271,090 with an average price of $293,297.  New construction sales were down 20% in the Quad Cities.

 10.          Outlook for 2012

Caroline Ruhl expects 2012 to be an even better year, both for the regional real estate market, and for Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS.

“If January, 2012 is any indication, it’s going to be a great year!  New business pended in January was up 47% in sales volume and 34% in number of properties sold at Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS.  And revenue (closed gross commission income) was up 81% based on 69% more properties sold,” said Ruhl.

“Why is this the busiest winter market in years?  For starters, spring like weather in January works wonders for people’s attitudes and interest in looking at real estate.  Then factor in the lowest interest rates in history – 3.875% for 30 years, no points and 3.375% for 15 years, no points.  And finally some good news on the unemployment front, so buyer confidence is improving.  We’re actually seeing multiple offers again and a shortage of listings in some price ranges and locations.  My advice is refinance if you haven’t already done so and invest in residential real estate.  We see strong growth potential in our property values and tremendous demand for rentals.”


Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS Congratulates 2011 Award Winners

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS honored and recognized 173 award winners for their 2011 achievements at the Waterfront Convention Center on Friday morning, February 3, 2012.  The top honors were awarded to:

Top Residential Associate of the Year: Quadruple Diamond Club – Jon Loquist, Moline Office

Top Excellence in Service Award: Melissa Wegener, Davenport Office

Extraordinary Production Award: Janet Munck, Clinton Office

New Associate of the Year: Craig Newcomb, Bettendorf Office

Top Associate of the Year – Farm Division: Ken Paper, Davenport Office

Employee of the Year: Sally Atwell, Executive Assistant, Corporate Office

Top 1862 Mortgage Associate of the Year: Ray McDevitt, Bettendorf Office

Top Insurance Referral Agent: Rick Weipert, Bettendorf Office

There is a complete list of all award winners on Ruhl&Ruhl’s website at
www.RuhlHomes.com/Agent-Achievements.

A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS has grown to more than 275 sales associates, 58 employees and eleven offices, selling more than 4,300 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. The company has residential sales offices in  Bettendorf, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Iowa City, Maquoketa and Muscatine, Iowa; and in Moline, Illinois. In addition to residential sales, the company offers services in relocation, property management, real estate investments, new home sales, land development, farm sales, senior services, home vendor services, insurance services through the Nelson Brothers Agency and mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage.

For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.

Iowa housing market stable

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

The Iowa Association of Realtors is reporting a glimmer of positive news in its annual 2011 Housing Trends Report, out this month.

It says home sales were up statewide in December, for the fifth consecutive month, and steady throughout 2011.

Rob Cook is a realtor for Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS in Dubuque, a real estate blogger and self-proclaimed “numbers guy.”

He pulled statistics from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), showing Dubuque is number two in the nation when it comes to high rates of house appreciation.

Those numbers show the average home in Dubuque appreciated 2.46 percent in one year, through Sept. 2011, and 8.06 percent over the course of five years. Bismark, N.D., by the way, took top marks, with a 15.99 percent five-year average appreciation.

In Dubuque, Cook said, “our average sale price right now is about $155,000, give or take, and we’ve sold just shy of 800 homes in each of the last three years in the Dubuque city: zip codes 52001, 52002, 52003.”

A map of the US from the FHFA shows each state’s average home value appreciation over the course of 12 months, from the third quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2011.

“The whole state’s doing relatively well compared to the rest of the country,” Cook said.

Iowa is only one of four states that didn’t experience depreciating home values. The average Iowa home over the course of that period went up 1.3 percent in value, according to the FHFA. The average Nebraska house appreciated 0.5 percent, Wyoming saw a 2.9 percent increase and North Dakota came in first place, with a 5.4 percent increase.

“When you buy a house, buy a car, buy a boat, there’s always a risk that it’s going to depreciate or not appreciate like you had planned,” Cook said.

Iowa, he said, on average, has a stable housing market.

Mel Graves is a realtor with Brissey in Dubuque and secretary and treasurer of the Dubuque Board of Realtors.

He pointed out 2011 was the first year without any tax credit incentives for home buyers, “so this is a pure year, this is just market-driven,” he said.

Graves said he has noticed a slight increase in consumer confidence.

“It seems to me that people are now beginning to say, ‘I need to make that decision I’ve been holding off on, I am comfortable that my job’s going to be there, and I’m going to go ahead,’” Graves said. “That’s significant. When they can do that, then they can go ahead and make some plans.”

He said insurance rates continue to be low, which is encouraging for buyers.

The total number of home sales in Iowa for 2011 increased 0.4 percent from 2010.

Regardless of state or national housing market numbers, however, Cook suggests buyers and sellers look at their own particular market.

“They need to be fully aware of what’s going on in their market and not pay attention so much to the national news, you know, as far as, you know, both real estate thing and the economy overall,” Cook said. “It’s a factor, but, you know, it’s kind of like what they say with the realtor ads, you know, ‘All real estate is local.’”

The Iowa Association of Realtors said, as of December, the average days on the market for a house in Iowa was 112. That’s the same as it was in 2010, according to the association.

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS completely supports Rob’s statement and so do the numbers! Check out our latest Facts&Trends edition coming out the first week of February.  If you would like to recieve Facts&Trends please visit RuhlHomes.com.

Article provided by: KWWL.com

Comparing Real Estate To Other Investments

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

Since the subject of comparing real estate to other investments has come up, via Keeping Current Matter’s article in Real Estate Magazine.  Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors would like to take a closer look. There are two major advantages to investing in a home of your own rather than another option:

You Can’t Live in Your IRA

When you buy your own home you are not taking available dollars away from another investment. You are replacing one housing expense (rent) which has no potential for a return on investment with another (mortgage payment) that does give you an opportunity for a return. We realize that there has been research showing that over the last 30 years renting has been less expensive than owning. That research also says that if you invested the entire difference between the rent payment and mortgage payment you may have done better financially.  There are two challenges with this conclusion:

  1. Today, in the vast majority of the country, renting is actually more expensive than owning a home.
  2. History has proven that tenants DO NOT invest the difference in their rent and mortgage payments.

Today, study after study shows that owning a home is no more expensive than renting a home. However, even if this wasn’t the case, history shows that owning a home creates greater wealth.

Paying a mortgage creates what financial experts call ‘forced savings’. The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University released a study earlier this year titled America’s Rental Housing: Meeting Challenges, Building on Opportunities. In the study, they actually quantified the difference in family wealth between renters and homeowners:

“[R]enters have only a fraction of the net wealth of owners. Near the peak of the housing bubble in 2007, the median net wealth of homeowners was $234,600—about 46 times the $5,100 median for renters. Even if homeowner wealth fell back to 1995 levels, it would still be 27.5 times the median for renters.”

There Are Tremendous Tax Advantages to Investing in a Home

There is no doubt that selling an investment such as gold is easier than selling your home. However, this liquidity comes at a price. The price is called capital gains. That is the tax you pay on any financial gain you receive from the investment. This tax doesn’t apply the same way when you sell your primary residence:

Theresa Palagonia, a CPA and the Accounting Manager for the firm G.S. Garritano & Associates, was good enough to explain the Home Sale Exclusion Rules:

“You may qualify to exclude from your income all or part of any gain from the sale of your main home. 

Maximum Exclusion

You can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain on the sale of your main home if all of the following are true:

  • You meet the ownership test.
  • You meet the use test.
  • During the 2 year period ending on the date of the sale, you did not exclude gain from the sale of another home.

If you and another person owned the home jointly but file separate returns, each of you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain from the sale of your interest in the home if each of you meets the three conditions listed above.

You may be able to exclude up to $500,000 of the gain on the sale of your main home if you are married and file a joint return and meet the requirements. (Special rules apply for joint returns.)

Ownership and Use Tests

During the 5 year period ending on the date of the sale, you must have:

  • Owned the home for at least 2 years, and
  • Lived in the home as your main home for at least 2 years

Certain exceptions exist in which you may qualify for the exclusion without satisfying the tests listed.”

Bottom Line

Every investment has pros and cons. That is why there is such an assortment of great opportunities. Real Estate has been, is and always will be one of those opportunities.

Keep checking RuhlHomes.com for the most up to date information on the housing market.

Information and Stats provided by: KCM Magazine

Is the Real Estate Market a Good Return on Investment?

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Words can not the answer to the question above.  Only a very strong photo that was provided to us by MSN money. . .

America’s Top 10 States For Business in 2011

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Let’s face it, in these economically trying times going to a state that is conducive for conducting business is vitally important. If you are looking for work it does not make a great deal of sense going to a state that hinders a businesses ability to succeed.

Likewise, buying a house in a good business environment makes a lot more sense than doing so where businesses will be struggling. So if you are thinking of moving to a state that is favorable for business this list by CNBC is a very smart tool to use.

Virginia came in as the top state. With it’s pro-business state house and proximity to Washington DC, where growth in government spending has created it’s own jobs engine, Virginia is for business lovers. Texas is in second place, with southern states Georgia, North Carolina, and Colorado rounding out the top 5. The only northeast member of the list Massachusetts comes in 6th owing mainly to it’s educated workforce.

The remaining states on our top 10 list are heartland states; Minnesota, Utah, Iowa, and Nebraska. The worst state in the country is Rhode Island with Alaska not far behind.

So if you are starting a business, looking for a job, or interested in investing in real estate, check out this list of the …
Top 10 States for Business in America for 2011

 

  1. Virginia
  2. Texas
  3. North Carolina
  4. Georgia
  5. Colorado
  6. Massachusetts 
  7. Minnesota
  8. Utah
  9. Iowa
  10. Nebraska

For More Information keep checking RuhlHomes.com

Originally Published by: The Real Estate Bloggers

 

Increasing Demand Increases Value of Farmland

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

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

Home Prices Stable in Our Markets

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

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.

Why Do People Actually Buy a Home?

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

It seems that every time we talk about real estate today the conversation immediately goes to the financial aspects of buying a home. Where are prices headed? Where are interest rates headed? Should I wait to try and get a ‘better buy’? Should I wait until I can get a ‘steal’?

The odd thing about all these questions is that survey after survey keeps telling us that price is not the reason families actually buy a home. When money is considered at all, it is in light of not paying rent to a landlord. Let’s look at two recent surveys as examples:

National Housing Survey

The top five reasons given in the survey for buying a home, in order, are:

  • It means having a good place to raise children and provide them with a good education
  • You have a physical structure where you and your family feel safe
  • It allows you to have more space for your family
  • It gives you control of what you do with your living space (renovations and updates)
  • Paying rent is not a good investment

The Myers Research and Strategic Services Survey

The top five reasons given in the survey for buying a home, in order, are:

  • Home ownership provides a stable and safe environment for children and other family members
  • Home ownership means the money you spend on housing goes towards building equity, rather than to a landlord
  • Home ownership creates the opportunity to pay off a mortgage and own your home by the time you retire
  • Home ownership creates the opportunity to live in a neighborhood that you enjoy
  • Home ownership allows you the right to decorate, modify and renovate your home as you see fit

Bottom Line

Price dominates conversation when we talk about buying a home. However, when it comes down to it, we actually buy for the same reasons our parents and grandparents did – we want a better lifestyle for ourselves and our families.

For more information on the housing market please visit RuhlHomes.com.

Provided by: KCM Blog

Will Falling Values Lead to More Strategic Defaults?

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

As prices continue to soften, more and more homeowners will fall into a position of negative equity on their homes. This means that the balance on their mortgage is greater than the value of their home. The reason this is important is that people are more prone to strategically default on their mortgage when ‘underwater’.

What is a strategic default?

Let’s first define strategic default in simple terms. According to Wikipedia:

A strategic default is the decision by a borrower to stop making payments (i.e. default) on a debt despite having the financial ability to make the payments.

This is particularly associated with residential and commercial mortgages, in which case it usually occurs after a substantial drop in the house’s price such that the debt owed is (considerably) greater than the value of the property – the property negative equity or “underwater” – and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future, such as following the bursting of a real estate bubble. Such borrowers are called “walkaways.” 

This definition itself serves as the explanation as to why people will default.

How do Americans view strategic default?

In Fannie Mae‘s recent National Housing Survey, they shed some light on American’s thoughts on strategic default.

  • The number of underwater homeowners who believe it is okay to default on your mortgage if you are under financial distress has almost doubled in the last twelve months (14% to 27%).
  • 47% of people that are underwater and behind on their mortgage have considered strategic default.
  • Those who know a strategic defaulter are more likely to have considered defaulting.
  • 1 in 5 Americans knows a strategic defaulter

Bottom Line

As more people enter into negative equity, more will be tempted to ‘walk away’ from their mortgage obligations. If they do walk, that will increase the number of homes entering foreclosure.

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

Provided By: KCM Blog

Appraisals: Why You Must Now Sell Your House Twice

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

Banks have become very conservative when lending mortgage money today. With the current foreclosure challenges in the country, we can’t really blame them. The requirements now necessary to qualify for mortgages have gotten much more stringent and it seems will get even more stringent as we move forward. The banks want to make sure the prospective buyer has the ability to repay the loan. However, this does not just involve the borrower buying the property.

The second way a bank can protect their investment in the mortgage is to make sure that the collateral backing that mortgage is secure. That is where the appraisal comes in. The bank wants to make sure that, should the buyer not be able to make their payments, the house they will be forced to take back will sell for an amount at least equal to the balance left on the mortgage. For that reason, the banks seem to be getting more conservative with appraisals also.

This past week, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Homes Sales Report. In that report, they said:

“11 percent of Realtors® report a contract was cancelled in April from an appraisal coming in below the price negotiated between a buyer and seller, 10 percent had a contract delayed, and 14 percent said a contract was renegotiated to a lower sales price as a result of a low appraisal.”

One out of four real estate transactions was either cancelled (11%) or renegotiated to a lower sales price (14%) because of a low appraisal!!

Bottom Line

Every house now has to be sold twice: first, to a potential purchaser and then to the bank appraiser. And, it seems that the second sale may be the more difficult of the two. Sit with a local real estate professional and make sure you put together a plan for both sales.

Keep checking Ruhlhomes.com for the most up to date information on the housing market.

Provided By: KCMBlog


Copyright © 2012 Ruhl & Ruhl REALTORS. All rights reserved. Disclaimer: All content on this blog is my own opinion and should not be treated as fact or relied upon when purchasing or selling real estate.