Versailles KY Grocery Store Now Open 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

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

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

In a deed dated April 2, 2008, a nearly 140 acre farm thats in the Lexington KY metropolitan area recently sold for $4 million.

The real estate is located at 2800 Lexington Road in Woodford County Kentucky and was purchased by Golden Age Farm LLC, with James Frazier III acting as the authorized agent for the transcation to purchase the property – and is located close to the Blue Grass Parkway near the Woodford Community Christian Church.  The sellers of the Woodford County farm were as follows:  Hampton Adams III, Mary Adams, Keene Adams, Elizabeth Adams, Eleanor Adams White, Spaulding White, Emily Adams Haly, & Adam Haly.

Its always an emotional rollercoaster wondering whats going to happen to these big Kentucky farms when they sell, and I’m sure many persons are curious, and/or nervous regarding the farms future.  Hopefully the new owners will preserve and improve upon their new purchase for the betterment of the community.

Metropolitan Lexington Ky Farm Sells for $4 million is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

Martin Dearing LLC – to Lantern Square Home Owners Association Inc – common areas of Manor View Town Homes on Berry Avenue – no specific transfer costs was noted

Rebecca & Michael Marshall – to John & Shayla Mettille – 8004 Sea Hero Run – $280000

Timothy Holland – to Gerry Carwood – 212 West Main Street – Midway Kentucky – $142000

Nina Marshall & Nancy Inman – to David Miller & Tilda James – 647 Regent Road – $131000

South West Capital Investments LLC – to Keith Curry – 134 Preston Court – quitclaim deed – $51000

Ronald & Barbara Ward – to Keith Curry – 107 Walnut Street – $47000

Adena Woods Properties LLC – to Seth Dylan Properties LLC – 989 Lane Circle – $57900

Adena Woods Properties LLC – Seth Dylan Properties LLC – 757 Seth Drive – $62900

Michael Withrow & Heather Covington-Withrow – to Glenn Graetz – 4.9 acres located at McCracken Pike which is part of the Old Taylor Distillery property in Millville Kentucky – $75000

Jerry Wachter Construction LLC – to Larry & Ruth Frost – 805 Flint Ridge – $335000

Renee Spence & Samuel Fowler III acting as cotrustees of the Joan Fowler revocable trust & Robert Berryman Junior acting as executor – to Brenda Berryman Barrett – an undivided 1/2 interest in 3590 Lexington Road – no specific consideration was noted in the transfer

Christopher & Mindy Johnson – to Angie Siaens – 237 South Hill Drive – $215000

Judith Smith – to Tammy Neff – 333 Colony Drive – $145000

Bayne Welker – to Elizabeth Welker – 1190 Stourbridge Road – quitclaim deed – no specific consideration was noted in the transfer

Steve & Sonja Lyons – to Ryan Nelson – 513 Tincher Drive – $172000

Lillian Mayo – to Brian & Candy Jackson – 43.945 acres located at McCowans Ferry Road – $225000

Minto Partners – to Brian & Candy Jackson – 75.3 acres at McCowans Ferry Road – no specific consideration was noted in the deed transfer

Kenny Johnson and Linda & John Sams – to Scott McCauley – 332 Dogwood Court – $127500

Mary King – to Christopher & Mindy Johnson – 3009 Oak Hill Lane containing 3.212 acres +/- adjacent to 3009 Oak Hill Lane – $439500

The estate of Martha Foley through cotrustees William Foley & F. R. Foley – to Ronald Werner-Wilson & Tracy Werner-Wilson – 232 Montgomery Avenue – $275000

All in all, it was a good amount of activity in the Versailles KY real estate transfers department.  Values seem to be creeping up somewhat, and is starting to hit the segment of the market that has been a little stale for a while which is the $250-450,000 price range.  Its good to see this part of the market to start coming on just in time for the spring housing market.

Versailles KY Real Estate Transfers week ending 3-6-08 is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

Barbara & Ronald Ward – to Philip Latham – 107 Walnut Street – $47000

Michael & Rebecca Herren – to Kim Harris – 336 Winton Road – $197500

Cordell Ventures LLC – to The Epicure Shop & Catering Co. – 119-121 East main Street aka Bistro La Belle building in Midway KY – $350000

Jack & Susan Reilly – to Dann Reilly – a not divided 1/2 interest in 203 Gayland Drive – $35000

Kimberly Harris – to Richard & Beverly Adkins – 450 Cedar Lake Road – $289900

Ray Watkins, LLC – to William Ray Watkins – 20 acres on Cummins Ferry Road – no consideration was specifically noted

Shelton Housing LLC – to James Lee – 2016 Tuscan Way – $335000

Gary & Linda Black – to Daniel & Joanna Spradlin – 404 Marsailles Road – $192000

There ya go, a run down of the Versailles KY real estate transfers for this week.

Versailles Kentucky Real Estate Transfers – week ending 2-21-08 is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

For your convenience, the homes and properties that sold this week are as follows:

Angela Jeffers – to Ronald Layman, Jr. – 116 Coach Station Road – Midway Kentucky – quitclaim deed – $1

James Brown - to Joseph & Desiree Mitchell – 212 Dalton Circle – $131000

Estate of Alma Bickford – to Joshua Lawrence – 489 Scarborough Drive – $110000

Joseph & Kathleen Filipp acting as trustees for the Filipp familyliving trust – 220 Doncaster Road – quitclaim deed – no value was reflected on the real estate transfer

Dennis & Bonnie Wise – Jeffery & Cheryl Coover – 121 Carriage Lane – Midway KY – $176900

Aaron Jones – to Perry Builders Inc. – 800 Jones Lane & a 19.297 acre farms located on Jones Lane – $173000

Perry & Kathleen Rossi – to Jutta Campbell – 528 Tincher Drive – $194000

Miquel Esparza – to Maria Alba – 905 Delaney Ferry Road – quitclaim deed – no valuation was reflected on the real estate transfer

Coleman Duncan, Jr. & Lela Duncan – to Karen Duncan – an undivided 4/25ths equity in 327 Princess Circle – no valuation was reflected on the real estate transfer

Hopefully things will pick up – in both volume of the number of sales, as well as the amount of valuations for the homes.  There is a lot of inventory in the luxury real estate market at present, and there are some opportunities for persons that are wanting to acquire a new home, to be able to negotiate strongly with some of the properties that been for sale on the market for a long time.

Versailles KY Real Estate Transfers week ending 2-14-2008 is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate

Kenneth Riley – to William & Margaret Shanks – 214 Lexington Street – $130000

Woolridge Development LLC – to Harmony HB LLC – 192-196 & 205-251 Abbey Road, 307-325 Abbey Alley & 404-412 Penny Lane (all of which comprise 41 lots within the Wooldridge Gardens subdivision phase 2, on Falling Springs Blvd) – $1225000

Allen & Traci Atkinson – to Daniel Hacker & Heather Preston – 709 Eureka Drive – $185900

Richard & Lynn Castlelow – to Ruth Taylor – 1296 Delaney Ferry Road – $650000

Kentucky Properties Inc – to Kentucky Enterprises Inc – 460 Pisgah Pike – quitclaim deed for $10 and additional consideration which was not specifically noted in the transfer deed

Kentucky Properties Inc – to Kentucky Enterprises Inc – 330 Pisgah Pike – quitclaim deed for $10 and additional consideration which was not specifically noted in the transfer deed

Marty & Debbie Torson – to Derek Couch – 803 Mildred Street – $118500

Rose Ridge LLC – to Bob Matthews – 2057 Rose Bay Road – $1

Donald & Ruth Leigh individually & as members of Leigh Properties LLC – to Walter Schot III – 100 Gregory Court – $200000

Karen & Michael Koontz – to Pearl Asher – 321 Ridgewood Drive – $110000

All in all a fairly decent week.  A couple big transfers (would have still been nice to see even more & bigger!).  And quite a few modest ones.  Hopefully the next coming week will show some more activity in the moderate price ranges for the $200000 – $400000 homes.

Versailles KY Homes Transfers week ending 2-7-2008 is a post from: Lexington Kentucky Real Estate