For those that may have the flexbility to consider a location closer to Louisville than to Lexington, wanted to let you know about a real opportunity:

7.4 acre horse farm with a house, barn, RAMM Fencing, etc - all for $200,000! What a deal!

This horse farm for sale is located in Oldham County (which is the county NE of Louisville) in LaGrange KY.  [LaGrange is a thriving and growing community and most of your everday needs are located.  The farm is located a few short minutes from grocery shopping (Wal-Mart, Kroger, etc) – so you can enjoy all the comforts of living in town, while having the benefits of being out in the country.

The property address is:

1425 Dawkins Road

LaGrange Kentucky 40031

This is a slam dunk if you are able to consider alternative areas besides just the Lexington real estate market.  If you have the ability to live closer to Louisville than to Lexington, want some land of your own, this LaGrange horse farm is a must see!

To schedule a showing of this property, click the following:  $200,000 Horse Farm.

Marketed by REMAX Properties East.

7.4 Acre Horse Farm with House & Barn – $200,000 is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

But, if you look at the numbers a little more closely – its not showing the entire picture, as the permit figures do not include those being acquired for townhomes and condos.  Just looking at the September numbers, of the 39 permits issued – 37 of them were for townhomes and condos.  Only 2 were for construction of new Versailles Kentucky homes.  So, there is some activity taking place for the construction of new real estate properties in Woodford County.

Real estate development in Woodford County has slowed some overall.  There are nearly 2000 vacant lots currently zoned – but only 463 of those currently are able to acquire building permits.  The remaining 1500+ are waiting for infrastructure to be put in and constructed which includes roads, sewers, utilities, etc.

On the commercial real estate side of things, the new Lowe’s that is going in can not start until the infrastructure gets finished by Rubloff Versailles LLC.  And from a Versailles homeowner perspective, many people are still putting their money into their home.  They are doing renovations, building on to their property, adding outbuildings, swimming pools, etc.   So, unlike some parts of the country, there is still activity going on in Woodford County.

Hopefully after the first of the year, the Versailles real estate market will start seeing some stronger numbers get posted.  It will be after the elections, and some effects from the $700 billion package approved by the government should be in the initial stages of “hitting the streets” so to speak.  This should help ease the credit crunch that some persons are feeling and get them interested in possibly taking advantage of some of the buying opportunities available in the metropolitan Lexington real estate market that is currently available.

New Versailles KY Homes Decline is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

And now the primary lender for the project, Central Bank & Trust Company has asked the courts to force the sale of the development.  The luxury Lexington condos are now approximately 75% to 80% complete and no work is currently happening on the job site.  Tribecca Development Company had hoped that the project would be salvaged, and completed as originally proposed – but with all of the creditors lining up, and now the primary lender who has millions of dollars of outstanding debt, its finish is now in question.

The original expected sales price for these luxury condos in Lexington was going to range from $227,000 to $540,000 each.  This is the first Lexington condo development in the downtown area that is facing foreclosure in a long while.

Given the proximity to everything in the downtown Lexington area, its likely that some real estate developer may be able to step in, save the project, and finish The Mark – and make a decent profit to boot.

Luxury Lexington Condos May Not Be Completed is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

Here’s a few snapshots of the metropolitan area:

In Scott County (for reference: Georgetown KY being one of the major cities), new home permits issued were 768 in 2005.  Only 446 were issued in 2007.  And for 2008 only 184 have been issued for the first 6 months of this year.

In Woodford County (for reference: Versailles KY being one of the major cities), new home permits issued were 154 in 2005.  Only 165 were issued in 2007.  And for 2008 only 52 have been issued for the first 6 months of this year.

In Jessamine County (for reference: Nicholasville KY being on of the major cities), new home permits issued were 643 in 2005.  Only 307 were issued in 2007.  And for 2008 only 90 have been issued for the first 6 months of this year.

In Bourbon County (for reference: Paris KY being one of the major cities), new home permits issued were 54 in 2005.  Only 46 were issued in 2007.  And for 2008 only 19 have been issued for the first 6 months of the year.

Which brings us to Fayette County and Lexington.  New home permits for 2005 were 2469.  Only 1235 were issued in 2007.  And from January 1 through August 30 2008, 534 new home permits were issued.

So, what does this mean for the Lexington real estate market?  It means that the pain isn’t over.  The inventory currently on the market has been moving slowly.  There are just simply not enough buyers to go around, so if you need to get your home sold ASAP, you are going to have offer the property for lower than you’d probably like to get it sold.

But what about the $700 billion bailout rescue plan?  Won’t that help ease the credit crunch by providing banks and lenders some more liquidity?  Well, sort of.  Lets put you into the banker’s position.  The stock market is reeling (it dropped to below 8000 today, and has lost almost 40% of its value in the past year).  Banks are failing.  People are losing their jobs.  Homes are going into foreclosure.   Inventory is WAY up on homes for sale….. Now, do you want to lend some money to someone in that market unless you are WAY over collateralized?  Probably not.  And there you see the dilemna.  Even with this “rescue” plan, it will take a long time before things get back to normal in the real estate market.  So, if you are wanting to get your home sold – you better plan on doing what it takes.  Or you could be waiting for a very long time.

New Lexington Homes For Sale Decline is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

So, what does this really mean for Midway Kentucky?  It means that if this plan proceeds as currently proposed, that Midway will see a BIG change.  According to the information filed with the planning commission, Midway currently has a TOTAL of 623 homes that are occupied.  This project basically DOUBLES the number of Midway KY homes – which is a tremendous undertaking.

The real estate developer intends to purchase the property for a little over $6 million from the Woodford County Economic Development Authority – provided no legal entanglements show themselves.  The Woodford Coalition had opposed the rezoning, and has not stated their intent to file a legal recourse against the decision.

While several persons have voiced their support for the development in that they want some new activity to take place in their community, critics are saying that perhaps there is change needed, but this is not necessarily the correct choice to get it.  With the proposed new homes in Midway Kentucky, comes along with it a potential increase in services costs for the county.  [Commercial ventures generally bring in money to a county, residential ventures generally cost more due to service requirements with sewers, police, water, fire departments, etc.]  Additionally, basically doubling the number of Midway homes will double the number of people in the community.  A hard adjustment to make with just 1 project leading the way.  Its sort of like putting all of your eggs into 1 basket.

It will be interesting to see how this real estate development works out for the Midway community.  Hopefully the gamble will pay off – and along with this residential home development, will come with it some commercial and retail ventures that will provide an influx of capitol and jobs into the community.

New Midway KY Homes are on the way is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

The total estimated cost to address the flood prone areas in these communities is estimated at $1.3 million.  The additional $300,000 is to be contributed by the city of Lexington.  The 9 homes located within this area haven’t actually been purchased yet – but all home owners have been told that the cities intentions to acquire their homes as part of the grant received from FEMA.  There are no plans proposed for the 9 properties to be razed.  They may used as green space – but no new construction projects will be allowed on the properties.  [The green space concept is a cost saving measure as its much cheaper to purchase the Lexington homes adn raze them than it is to put in infrastructure with storm drainage projects.]

Lexington KY gets $1 million to purchase Homes is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

Louisville was the reigning champ for highest priced home in Kentucky in 2007.  For 2008, the Lexington homes with those features were priced at $291,000.  For Louisville, it was only $241,060.  A substantial turn around from the previous year.  For comparison, the average price across all 315 cities surveyed was $403,738.  So, relative to that both Louisville and Lexington Kentucky homes represent a tremendous value relative to many other parts of the country.  And just for kicks:  the highest priced area nationally & internationally was Dubai – where that home that met those specifications was valued at $2.5 million.

So, Lexington gets to be the champ for 2008.  Hopefully the trend will continue.  The local real estate market has languished somewhat with inventory increasing generally.  The uppermost high end market has continued to pick up steam, and the $7500 first time home buyers tax credit that was recently passed has helped, at least somewhat, the entry level homes market to improve.  But a lot of the property in between has increased market times due to the excessive amount of inventory, and people’s concerns with how the economy is fairing.  All of that has left many persons wanting to wait and see what will happen before diving in to make a new home purchase.

Lexington Homes are more expensive than Louisville KY is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

The original concept was proposed to be completed in time for the 2010 World Equestrian Games, but it doesn’t appear that the property can be ready for business by that time.  Many potential occupants for the development are cautious of the relatively soft real estate market nationally, and even though Kentucky has a fairly strong overall real estate market, those retailers are slowing their expansion plans which is causing delays for this Equestrian Crossing development.

Equestrian Crossing may not be ready for 2010 WEG is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

If you compare these numbers to the national average, nationally the median price was down 7.7% for March 2008 vs. 2007.

The amount of inventory currently on the market and the marketing time needed to sell a home continues to lag the market.  Marketing times for the 1st quarter 2008 vs. 2007, is up 9%.  This indicates that sellers need to be realistic when pricing their homes, as getting the price correct is paramount to getting an offer in a reasonable time frame.  Still, its not all sour grapes for the Lexington real estate market.  Fortunately though, homes are selling (unlike some other parts of the country that are virtual ghost towns with persons waiting for things to hit bottom).  But in order to get a home sold, you need to ensure that you price the value of your home lower than your relative competition, ensure that your home is the nicest relative to your competition, and ensure that your home is getting the greatest amount of exposure to candidates that are most likely to purchase your home.  If you do those things, you can get your home sold.  Falter on any of the bunch, and you are likely to be sitting waiting…and waiting to get your home sold.

Lexington Homes Sales Decline is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

That being said – what about Lexington homes values? While not as rosy as we may not like them to be, we are in a far better position than many other parts of the country. Yes, inventory is up. But at least some Lexington homes are selling. Pricing, staging, and knowing your competition are critical in today’s market. Whatever price range you are in, you want to be at the lower end of that price range, be staged the nicest – and represent a good value for a potential buyer that may be considering making the move to purchase a home. Those will be critical factors that are musts to get a property moved in the current climate.

So, while its definitely not a sellers market at present – you can get a home sold. Again, touching on the national real estaet market perspective: We didn’t see, in general, the huge gains of appreciation that a lot of other parts of the country enjoyed – and which are now being corrected by the softening real estate market overall. I mean, if you saw 300% appreciation in 3 years – who really cares if you lost 20% in this correction. So, lets get real. The only persons that are really stuck are the persons that put little to no money down, but if they can hang on and continue to make their payments, they should be able to hang on.

A significant portion of persons in the Lexington housing market aren’t in that position. Quite a few made at least some contribution toward a down payment when purchasing their home. And we aren’t seeing a “huge” decline as some other parts of the country are currently dealing with.

To get the most value out of your home – you need to ensure that you are getting the most exposure that you can. Anyone can take out an ad in the local newspaper, and throw it on the Lexington MLS. But to attract buyers from other areas, you need to be seen where they are looking. This is currently primarily through the internet. If you aren’t able to be found quickly on a site thats in the first 5 or 10 positions for a particular search engine keyword – then you are missing out on a lot of eyeballs that may be interested in purchasing your home – but just can’t find it. Get found!

Lexington Homes Values: Increasing or Decreasing? is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate