BY PERRY BROTHERS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The LaBarges: (L-R) Tovah, 18, Fletcher, 13, Linda LaBarge, D. LaBarge, Charlie, 15, (and Hanna)
(Tony Jones photo)
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D. Carter and Linda LaBarge had to move. Mr. LaBarge had started a new job in Cincinnati that led the LaBarges and their three school-aged children to make the 350-mile move from St. Louis.
The family hadn't even switched neighborhoods in 13 years, much less states, and to increase the anxiety of buying a new home, a business trip forced Mr. LaBarge to be in Vietnam during the house hunt.
On a weekend trip to the Tristate in April, Mrs. LaBarge found "the" home in West Chester. Trouble was, they had to move fast because their home in St. Louis was already sold. Mrs. LaBarge had only four days to navigate the Tristate's competitive market before she had to return to Missouri.
The LaBarges we're lucky; they now live in that four-bedroom, two-story.
"When you don't do this very often, it's quite a stressful ordeal," Mr. LaBarge said. Particularly when most metropolitan areas nationwide -- including the Tristate -- are setting records for home sales.
In less than 24 hours this Anderson Twp. home had a buyer at the full $149,000 asking price.
(Tony Jones photo)
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Many homes in the region are selling within hours or days of hitting the market, Realtors say. Inventory has dropped, demand has skyrocketed and homes are selling -- through agents' contacts or word-of-mouth -- before the "For Sale" signs go up in the yard.
Even in the midst of five years of record-breaking home sales throughout Southwestern Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana, there are some homes that aren't selling. Often those homes are overpriced, located in rural areas or in need of extensive repairs.
But for people trying to buy a home, typically, the stories -- and the stress -- are the same. The market is hot and agents are priming buyers to be prepared to act fast or lose out.
April, historically one of the hottest months for home sales, amazed some agents this year, when the number of homes sold topped last year by 18.6 percent. The number of available greater Cincinnati homes dropped 3.62 percent to 7,794 from 8,087 from the end of the same month a year ago, according to the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors. Yet the number of homes sold in April increased to 1,893 from 1,596 during the same month in 1997.
Those numbers mean more buyers vying for fewer houses.
TIPS FOR BUYING A HOME
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 Set priorities. Have an idea of what you want, what you can afford and in which areas you'd like to live.
Get "preapproval" from a mortgage lender. This is different from "prequalification," which is a loose preliminary step toward preapproval. Having your lending in place allows you to act fast in this competitive market.
Check out the Internet and attend open houses to get a feel for what's out there and the selling prices in different locations. When selecting a real estate agent, interview two or three. Make sure you feel comfortable with the person you select. Make sure the agent is familiar with the areas of town in which you're interested.
Be prepared to lose out on a house or two. If you aren't comfortable with the pace of a deal, don't do it. Usually, the "cleanest" buyer prevails in multiple offer situations. The cleanest buyers have good credit, mortgage preapproval and no previous home to sell.
Because many homes are being snapped up in the first few days on the market, make sure everyone involved in the decision-making process attends showings.
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"When you tell someone it's an active market, they really have no idea what you mean. You show them a house and they say, "Well, let me think about it for a week,' and you have to tell them -- trying not to sound too much like a salesman -- that in a week, it's going to be gone," said Joe Godar, a sales associate for Remax Acclaimed Realty in Westwood.
From West Chester to Anderson Township -- where 327 homes sold during the first six month of this year -- to Miami Township to Mason, the number of homes sold are breaking records.
Most Anderson Township agents have stories of homes being sold before they hit the computer listings. To gauge the activity, consider that 341 homes sold in Anderson during the first half of the year, compared to 326 during the same period last year, according to the Cincinnati Area Board.
Medium-priced homes -- ranging from around $80,000 to $120,000 -- are going the fastest, agents say. And four-bedroom homes are in the highest demand.
The LaBarges were able to buy their four-bedroom because they did their homework. Mr. LaBarge interviewed three agents in March and chose Remax P&O's Fran Brock. The couple had preapproved mortgage lending, knew exactly what they wanted and where. They had researched the school districts -- a main priority -- and zeroed in on West Chester or Hamilton.
"Fran set up the financing. I signed a lot of paperwork in advance, so that when Linda made the choice, she could move ahead very quickly," Mr. LaBarge said. "I think the agent can either make or break your whole experience."
Dave Bates, a 13-year veteran agent with Remax Acclaimed, confirmed Mr. LaBarge's observation. And Mr. Bates cautioned that finding a hard-working agent is crucial.
"If you told the agent what you're looking for, the agent should be looking," he said. "The first thing he'll do in the morning and the last thing before he goes to bed is check the computer listings. "If something does come up and the Realtor is on their toes, you're going to be one of the first ones through that house."
Rita Moody had a signed deal to sell her Anderson Township home less than 24hours after she listed it with Lydia Nattin, an agent with Coldwell Banker West Shell.
The four-bedroom, two-story home sold for the asking price. "I had asked $149,000 and they came back with $146,000. I said no and they accepted the asking price," she said. "Anderson sells fairly easily. I thought it probably would go, but certainly not that quickly, maybe a couple of months."
Fortunately, Ms. Moody -- who wanted to trade down for a smaller home -- has a contract to buy a condominium in Eastgate.
Clean buyers
A hard-working agent might be able to help find a home before other buyers snatch it up, but even the most dogged agent can't clean up a credit report or help secure mortgage lending on a house beyond the buyer's means. In multiple-offer showdowns, those factors determine who's left standing with the front door keys.
"It usually comes down to which buyer is the cleanest," Mr. Bates said.
A "clean" buyer is already approved for a mortgage, has the down payment in the bank and doesn't make an offer contingent on the sale of another home.
But a smart buyer, agents say, doesn't get caught up in the frenzy, foregoing good judgment.
"Out of all the listings I sold this spring more than half sold in multiple offer situations, and I believe in that situation the only winner is the seller," said Dean Congbalay, Sibcy Cline sales vice president in Montgomery.
That worries Carol Meadows, an agent for Comey & Shepherd who works primarily in the high-demand Hyde Park area.
"To pay too much for a house and know it is one thing. But to pay too much for a house and find out two years later or have your neighbors tell you, that's not something I want to be a part of," she said. And with good reason. Realtors want happy clients. A happy client typically translates into referrals -- the foundation of most agents' customer base.
First-time buyers are vulnerable in this kind of market, she said.
"They tend to fall in love with a house. They get caught up in the auction act and then they tell everybody afterward and they say, "Oh, you shouldn't have done it,' " she said. "I worry about these kids."
Ms. Meadows said as much as an agent loves to make money, hot markets aren't all that fun.
"It's like a whirlpool that keeps getting wider and wider and faster and faster and it's like, when is it going to stop?" Ms. Meadows asked. "For Realtors it (a hot market) isn't any better. I know everyone thinks it is, but we spend a lot of time writing contracts that never go through. In a slower market, we write less contracts, but more of them go through."
There's no end in sight for the fast-paced market, considering the strong economy, low interest rates and declining inventory. Each category of the market is hopping.
"No weak areas'
"There are no weak areas right now," said Tom Hamilton, general manager of Ohio operations at Cincinnati's Huff Realty. "The person in the apartment is buying the first home, the person in the first home is buying a larger home, the person in the larger home (the empty nester) is starting to shift down to a smaller home." Sandy Blair, a Huff agent who sold Ina and Kevin Gibbons' home in Evendale, is setting her own records. This month, she has six scheduled home sales closings -- her best month in five years in the business.
"Five years in the business and this is my best year ever," she said. "I've averaged very good at selling within the first 30 days, usually in the first two to three weeks."
But Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons' experience contradicts the norm. The Gibbons wanted to play golf, not clean house, so they put their 3,600-square-foot home in up for sale in November to seek a smaller home.
Cincinnati is a seller's market right now, news reports kept saying, but seven months and three real estate agents later, the 50-something couple's home wasn't sold. Why?
"I don't know," Mrs. Gibbons said, exasperated. "It just seems that in the area that I live in, it just takes a long time to sell." Part of the problem was the competition: the subdivision's builder. With empty lots just around the corner, new neighbors were opting for newly built homes, rather than the Gibbons' 8-year-old house that listed for $349,000.
A new home filled the last empty lot six months ago and interest in the the couple's house grew, then crescendoed in June. Ms. Blair sold the home -- two weeks after the Gibbons hired her -- for near asking price. The Gibbons now own a two-bedroom ranch on a golf course in Indian Springs.
Slow location
Jim and Gerry Falls hope they get so lucky with their rural home in Bethel.
About 37 miles from downtown, the Clermont County home has been on the market for nearly a year. The couple wants to move to Anderson Township, closer to their sons' schools and Mr. Falls' downtown job.
"We were both born and raised in the city and we wanted out," said Mrs. Falls, explaining why the couple moved to the Bethel home in 1981. "It's very quiet, peaceful and restful. There are about 40 acres (another owner's property) across from me that has four horses on it.
But people have to have a reason to move to rural areas like Bethel, said the Falls' listing agent, Sarah Noggle, a Coldwell Banker West Shell agent who recently has sold Anderson Township homes after less than three days on the market.
SHOPPING THE INTERNET
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Manu and Dawn Rattan toured only 15 homes before buying, but they were able to see hundreds on the Internet.
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"There just hasn't been much activity in that area," Ms. Noggle said. The couple has completed some minor home improvements and reduced the price of the three-bedroom home to $99,900, and Ms. Noggle is going to try marketing to programs that assist rural homebuyers and area companies anticipating new hires.
"You have to make the changes within reason," she said. "We can't change location. We can change condition and we can change pricing. If you can't change condition, then you change the pricing."
Pricing is key, and buyers and sellers, regardless of market conditions, must be emotionally detached when determining a home's price.
"Look at it as a business transaction," she said, "because that's exactly what it is."
