Then and Now - 509 North Spring Street, Beaver Dam

                                           Who were these finely dressed folks, what was their relationship to each other (why is the lady standing almost out of the staged pose)?   Let's see what we can determine from this photo. 

The style of dress, and even the way that the ladies styled their hair may give us some clues as to the year.  The man sitting on the ground has on a 3-piece suit and a bowler hat, while the ladies are wearing high-wasted, narrow (not hoop) skirts that give an apron appearance.  This might mean that this picture was taken around 1870-1880 (Victorian).  Can we assume that these are working-class folks since the fabric is of a sturdier sort?   It must be around October since many of the leaves have fallen off of the tree.  It is around 1:00 in the afternoon as you can tell by the shadows.  So, now a trip to the register of deeds office in Juneau to further the investigation.

A fire in 1877 destroyed most of the register's records, so a trip over to Guaranty Title Company did the trick.  Thomas Makie acquired most of this area from the United States in 1840, and by 1853 Daniel Bicknell bought it to create a subdivision.  In 1854 Bicknell sold lots 1,2,3, and 4 (which constitutes most of the land under the 4 houses surrounding this home now) to George and Eunice Darrah (he operated a limekiln) who then sold it to Horace and Cynthia Patch (might have been a Captain in the Army of the Republic and maybe an attorney).  They lived here until 1883 when they sold it to Carl Helbing (who ran a drug store).  So, which family is this then: Darreh (the limekiln owner), Patch (the Capt), or Helbing (the drug store owner)?  Could it be that on Oct 18, 1883 (the day that Patch sold the home to Helbing) they wanted to capture this auspicious moment in a photo?

As for the house - Then and Now - although there have been many changes, we can still see clearly that the two houses are indeed one and the same.    The home is now a 2-family home - as has been the fate of many of the larger homes.  I was unable to take the photo in exactly the same spot as the original photographer since there is now a row of trees in the way.  One thing that has become apparent to me is that the street elevations have changed the character of the land - notice that I am standing substantially lower than the Then photographer since in the Now photo we are unable to see the roof as we do in the Then photo.  Notice in the rear of the home that there is a thicket where now stand only homes.  The roof Then is made of cedar shakes, and the dormer, porch and bump-out (on the south) are adorned with scalloped cedar shingles.  There is a barn to the north that is now history - as is the large chimney, and the pretty front porch.  The shutters were purely functional Then, while Now the original shutters have been replaced with those that are purely decorative. 

The Then home has such "clean" lines - no wires (electricity did not arrive until around 1910), no satellite dish, no downspout to distract us.  Maybe it is the color photo that complicates things - I'll try a black and white next time to try and even things up.

What do you know of this home, the families who lived here?  Feel free to add your thoughts.

Then and Now - 608 Beaver Street, Beaver Dam, WI

Hard to believe that these are the same house.  Since 1856, when this home was built, much has changed - not just to the home, but to the entire area.  In 1856, Beaver Street was on the western edge of the city - no real streets were in existence west of Center Street nor north of Mackie Street.  This home was built, along with a few others, on unplatted land (land not laid out for city blocks).  There was probably a dirt road off of Center Street that was used to access this home and others in the area.  Notice in the "Then" picture that the people are standing where Beaver Street is now; also notice that it is at the same grade as with the house.  Now, the street is much lower than the house - you have to drive up an incline.

The most dramatic change to this home is to the roof-line.  The box front or commercial appearance was removed as were the two chimneys.  You can see - right above the stone lentils (above each window) on the left side is the old roof-line.  Obviously, the original brick has been painted over (maybe many times).  The shutters are original but no-longer functional (shutters back then were there to actually close, protecting the windows and damping light).  It is quite subtle, but notice that in the Now, we have electrical and phone  service on the left front corner where there was none.  The wood, double-hung windows have been replaced as you see - the mullions (the grids in the windows) are gone in the Now.

What other changes do you notice?    The front porch has been dramatically changed.  It was originally made of wrought iron; notice on the roof of the porch - there is a small wrought iron fence.  The entrance is also in the middle - not on the side as it is Now.  One other change is to the small screened area - Then (on left side of home).  The pitch of the roof is Now different, the room is Now enclosed.

The sheds to the rear and side of the home have been removed.  The hitching post for the horse and wagon are long gone as are the Thorp family members in the photo

Feel free to add your observations and historical notes.

I will add another Then and Now story in a few weeks

Melissa and Austin Kauth

I get a lot of satisfaction with helping people find the home of their dreams, but sure I like to know that they appreciated my efforts, SO when Melissa said "I Love You" in a misdirected email to me meant for her husband, I really felt great.  Even if you didn't mean it for me, I really appreciate the Freudian slip.

Kris over at Inlanta did a great job with the financing too.  Who else should get a shout out....how about uncle John (it was John right?) who travel in the snow to give his approval. 

It was great working with you both.  I truly enjoyed myself....let's do it again soon - just kidding

The Perfect Flip

The rules of buying a home do not change when doing a flip.  The important issues still remain; what is the marketability of the subject property (location, market appeal).  The mistake that I see most often made by the non-savvy buyer is that they try to buy the cheapest house they can find - forgetting that they will have to find interested buyers for it. 

The flipper should always work backwards into the flip - how much can you REASONABLY expect to sell your flip for on the open market, minus the expenses of marketing and renovations.  So, for example; if you determine (after consulting with your trusted real estate advisor)  that you can sell the subject home for $100,000, and that you expect to have 7%  in marketing and closing cost, and have budgeted $30,000 in renovation cost, then paying $60,000 for this property would give you a profit of only $3,000.  Don't forget your purchase expenses, holding cost, and your tax consequence for next year. 

Due diligence is a term that applies to all of the background investigations you do with the property prior to becoming obligated to buy it.  We'll leave the title investigation up to the title company, and we'll pass on the liability to them as well.  Performing a thorough inspection of the property is just good business.  Walk the property with your contractors.  Most importantly, consult with your Realtor to determine where you should place your renovation dollars.  He will help you with making the property more marketable to the largest number of buyers.  He'll also help you save money.  Some renovations will not increase the value of the property, but will make the difference between a marketable and unmarketable home.

Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to pay any capital gains tax on your profits.  Well, you don't.  The best flip of all is the one that you hold onto for 2 years.  Move into it and make it your primary residence.  At the end of the 2 years, sell it and pay no capital gain tax.

Craigslist Scam

This is an alert:  Some real estate listings are also listed on Craigslist as rental property. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THESE LISTINGS ARE NOT VALID LISTINGS AND HAVE BECOME PART OF AN INTERNET SCAM. It appears that individuals are presenting themselves as REALTORS® on Craigslist and have cut and pasted listing information together with photos onto the site.

Because rental property owners usually do a background check on the prospect, unsuspecting consumers will divulge personal information as required on leasing applications."   Be warned - the people behind this are very good and come across as professional agents!

Jim and Kathy Campbell Say Good Bye to Beaver Dam

SOLD in only 37 days!  How? 

The right price, a great home - perfectly staged and lovingly maintained, motivated buyers and sellers.

This was a win-win.

Kathy and Jim - IF you ever read this; it was great to get to know you.  It was such a short time that we had together, but I really felt connected (my shoulder is somewhat disconnected after playing racquetball with you). 

The Foreclosure Freeze

You most certainly have been hearing about the massive "robo-signing" foreclosure scandal that is rapidly encompassing the biggest banks in the country.  Here are 4 things home buyers need to know about this breaking real estate news, and how it impacts them.  Here locally, we are seeing some of these large national banks pulling or suspending their foreclosure sale (literally pulling these homes off the market).  We (in our local area) have not been as hard hit as other areas of the state, but THIS WILL AFFECT US TOO.

1.  What is robo-signing is, and what all the fuss is about?  The phrase robo-signing refers to what we’re now realizing has been a very common practice in the banks’ foreclosure document processing divisions, where one person was essentially given the job of signing as many 10,000 foreclosure documents per month, by hand.  These individuals were supposed to be reviewing the files, making sure grounds for foreclosure actually existed, signing the docs in front of notaries. But because of the volume of documents, what they actually did was just sign thousands of documents at a time, without even reading them, and ship them off somewhere else to be notarized.

If you do the math on an 8 hour workday, you'll see that that only gives the staffer 1.5 minute to review each file and documents to make sure the foreclosure is warranted.  That's not humanly possible, which is how these staffers got the nickname “robo-signers”
   
Government regulators are very concerned that the banks may have been taking people's homes without following the proper legal procedures.  As a result, 40 states' attorneys general (including Wisconsin) are teaming up to launch a multi-state investigation, and the federal Comptroller of the Currency and federal attorney general may also get involved in investigating this issue.
2.  Will the freeze will make the banks cancel buyer contracts on REO properties? Currently, the freeze impacts bank-owned properties that are owned and/or serviced by Ally Financial/GMAC Mortgage, JP Morgan Chase, and some properties that were owned by Bank of America. Generally, contracts to buy these homes are being put on hold and extended for 30 days.  As well, the banks are often reaching out directly to buyers and offering them the option to cancel their contracts and recoup their deposit money.

3.  Is it safe to buy a foreclosed home? There's lots of talk right now about the "clouds" that this scandal will create on the titles to homes that were foreclosed by the banks' foreclosure mills. And that makes sense: if the home wasn't properly foreclosed on in the first place, then the legitimacy of the bank's resale can be called into question.  Normally, I'd say: Don't worry about it - that's why we have title insurance!  But last week, 3 of America's largest title company insurers declared that they will not offer title insurance on a number of the homes that may have been involved in this scandal.

In the vast majority of cases – when the foreclosure was justified and a bona fide purchaser, someone who was not involved in the bank’s wrongdoing, has purchased the home, courts will not reverse these foreclosures or their sale to buyers.  But if you’re in the market for a foreclosure, get clear on which bank owns the place as soon as you can, and run the property past your title insurer before you get too far into the transaction to make sure they can write a policy of title insurance on the property before you spend too much money on inspections and appraisals.

4.  How the foreclosure freeze will impact American home values.  In the short term, these freezes might cause prices to stabilize, as we expect to see the supply of foreclosures for sale start to shrink.  However, if these freezes stretch out for a long period of time, they could simply be delaying many inevitable foreclosures, which could delay the recovery of the housing market and home prices, over time.  I wouldn't expect to see the freezes cause prices to drop much beyond where they are now, but if they stretch out, they could keep appreciation flat for a longer period of time.