Opportunities in the Housing Market
2012 is likely to be similar to 2010 and 2011 in many segments of the real estate industry. However, the residential rental market is frequently mentioned as a bright spot. There is more demand than supply to meet the needs of the market place. Apartment communities and apartment buildings will surely meet most of the need with an already existing ready to go inventory.
The over building and easy credit of the pre-recession period put many homeowners into properties which are presently under water. The lenders are faced with the decision to either:
1. Foreclose and sell;
2. Amend and extend the loan; or
3. Allow the homeowners to short sell.
None of which are good options for anyone. Employment opportunities make increasing family incomes difficult to achieve; so even employed homeowners which are not in default can not keep up as their homes lost market value as a result of foreclosures and over supply. The best thing for the home owner is to remain in their home, keep it up and seek to stabilize the neighborhood.
We can wait for the government to legislate a solution, or we can consider what is best for our lending institutions, communities and neighbors. Richard Florida in his book The Great Reset identifies the problem, cause and some solutions such as:
1. Reduce interest rates to reset the home financing to a level in which the homeowner can afford to remain in the home. Surely, this would cost less than foreclosing and selling a home at a loss.
2. Agree with the homeowner to take a deed in lieu of foreclosure, transfer ownership of the home to either the lender or a rental company; rent the home to the former homeowner at a market rental rate; and give the homeowner or renter the option to buy the home back (with appropriate credits for previously paid equity etc.).
Keep the home occupied by the people who will take care of it the best and give them an opportunity to once again become a home owner. Everyone wins when the property values in a neighborhood stabilize.
Lenders and developers can create opportunity where everyone benefits and the capital cost is low.
Ohio and Kentucky statutes require residential builders to provide certain notice to home buyers. While there is no new law on this, the construction attorneys of Ulmer & Berne LLP have seen this issue come to light many times this past year; thus, prompting this refresher alert on Ohio and Kentucky notice statutes..jpg)
New rules promulgated under Ohio’s Public Construction Reform (the “Reform”) have been released by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review. The new rules include: (1) Rules for Prequalification of Prospective Bidders on Subcontracts; (2) Rules for Best Value Selection of Construction Manager and Design-Build firms; and (3) Rules for the Form of Subcontracts. The Rules for Prequalification and Best Value become effective 2/02/12, and the Rules for the Form of Subcontracts became effective 12/26/11. The Joint Committee also released a new form of subcontract for public jobs in Ohio. 
