What is an abstract of title?

by americaneagle on February 2, 2012

in Random Thoughts

An abstract of title is a compilation of historic information

concerning a tract of land based on its legal description.  An

abstract shows the entire chain of ownership from the time the

title to the property was first recognized by the government

to the present.  This set of documents will also include any items

filed in the court clerk’s office that pertain to the land.  Therefore,

the abstract can be used to establish “marketable title” to a piece

of property. 

Before photocopies, an abstractor read each document pertaining

to a piece of property, made “takeoff” notes, and then summarized

them on a sheet of paper.  This sheet of paper would list all the

pertinent information related to an item, such as a deed, by

including the grantor, grantee, date of the deed, filing date,

legal description, signature block, and notary information.

The abstractor’s page was then added to the book and called an

abstract, because the information from the original deed was

“abstracted.”  The ability to sort through numerous pages of

information and abstract the important details was considered

 an art form.

Today, abstracts include photocopies of pertinent documents. 

When the abstract has been brought to date, an abstractor will

 place a “certificate page” at the end of the abstract.  This page

certifies that the abstract includes all pertinent documents filed

 in land records, ad valorem tax payment status, personal property

 tax payment status, and any other court items that fall within the

 time period covered by the certificate – from the date the abstract

 was last certified to present. 

 

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Edgemere Park Market Update

by Dan Connally on February 2, 2012

in Statistics

Every three months, Linda and I prepare quarterly market updates for some of the older neighborhoods we practice in. Since not everyone in those neighborhoods gets the update, we thought we would make them available to a wider audience. This time we have picked Edgemere Park, a Historic Preservation (HP) neighborhood.

This is a “down and dirty” update, meant to give a general overview of the neighborhood and not specific details.

For those of you who don’t know where Edgemere Park HP is, it lies west of Robinson Boulevard and east of Walker, from NW 30 through 36th Streets in Oklahoma City.

Enjoy.

Quarterly Market Update – Edgemere Park

For Period Beginning October 1 and Ending December 31, 2011

Active – 3 Properties Found

Square Feet

Bedrooms

Full Baths

Half Baths

List Price

Sale Price

Days on Mkt

Min

1190

2

1

$119,900.00

-

12

Max

3306

3

2

$349,500.00

-

72

Avg

2202

3

1

$234,800.00

-

39

Sold – 3 Properties Found

Square Feet

Bedrooms

Full Baths

Half Baths

List Price

Sale Price

Days on Mkt

Min

1553

3

1

$239,900.00

$229,000.00

32

Max

2188

4

2

$275,000.00

$270,000.00

186

Avg

1875

4

2

$258,300.00

$250,333.00

84

Pending – 2 Properties Found

Square Feet

Bedrooms

Full Baths

Half Baths

List Price

Sale Price

Days on Mkt

Min

1818

3

1

1

$238,500.00

-

32

Max

2300

3

2

1

$262,900.00

-

165

Avg

2059

3

2

1

$250,700.00

-

99

(Data courtesy of MLS Gateway. Information is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed. Not intended to solicit currently listed properties).

Again, Edgemere Park continues to be the envy of neighborhoods around it as a result of its solid fourth quarter numbers. The fourth quarter had three sales. That’s down from third quarter’s nine sales; or second quarter’s six. But it’s ahead of the two sales at the end of March. However, since there are only three active listings, the three sales and two pending sales indicate a healthy market where demand exceeds supply. The average price per square foot was $137.43. That’s up from third quarter’s $118.36. The average sale took 84 days, up slightly from 3Q’s 77 days. That’s still pretty good. The average time before a house went pending dropped to 99 days from 237 days at the end of September. The three active listings is down from four on September 30. There was one expired listing. It re-upped and is still on the market. These numbers are good.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have. If we don’t know the answer, I’ll bet we can find it.

 

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90-day stats for Single Family properties in
EDMOND, OK73012 as of January 27, 2012
Median List Price:$224,924Average List Price:$291,411
Total Inventory:315Price per Square Foot:$103
Average Home Size:2,270Median Lot Size:12,783
Average # Beds:3.53Average # Baths:2.65
Homes Absorbed:21Newly Listed:16
Days on Market:149Average Age:7

Taking a look at a summary of the northwest Edmond area (zip code 73012) you can see that media prices are rising, inventory falling and days on market along with prices/sq ft rising. Perhaps most importantly, the market action index has been rising since the first of the year. This proprietary index measures Buyers Market vs. Sellers Market. Balanced is 30, so we’re definitely still in a buyers market but after a nearly year long fall, the index began rising again starting January 1st.

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PROTECT YOURSELVES!

by Tammy Ryan on January 29, 2012

in Random Thoughts

My very close friend recently had her life turned upside by someone who stole her identity. This thief stole her identity from credit card information that she used online. The thief then proceeded to charge $16,000 on her credit card. I saw firsthand how it turned her life upside down. It took her almost a year and $5,000 in attorney fees to rectify the problem.

It hit even closer to home for me when my 25 year old daughter recently had her wallet stolen. The thief charged over $1000 on her credit card and tried to get money from her bank account. The store clerks that allowed the transactions did not even verify the signature on the card…nor did they look at the name on the card to verify that the card was under a women’s name but a man was using it. It was a very frustrating experience.

It seems lately I am hearing more and more stories from people just like these stories that have been affected by some type of identity theft. I recently read that as many as 9 million Americans have had their identities stolen. This means that checking your credit scores once a year is no longer enough protection. I started researching how I could protect myself and my family from this growing crime. Here are a few tips that I found to help safeguard and protect your identity and outsmart identity thieves.

*Know who you are dealing with!
*Don’t use your debit card to pay for anything online.
*Look at your credit card and bank statements online at least once a week to check for unwanted charges. And if a credit card bill does not arrive in the mail on, notify the issuer right away. Someone may have taken the bill from the mailbox or changed or account address.
*Protect your PIN number. Shield it whenever you enter it into a keypad so people surrounding you cannot see it.
*Keep all your sensitive information private– phone numbers addresses, email, off social networking sites. If you conduct business online use your own computer. Public computers are less secured. Never send a user name, password or personal info via email.
*Use strong passwords. Include letters & symbols. Do not use personal info for passwords. Change passwords regularly.
*Have a good bank that monitors for fraud. On your debit and credit card have a prompt that requires your ID be verified on all transactions.
*Keep your voice down. Don’t charge things over the phone in public.
*Shred it. Don’t throw out anything with your address, account numbers or Social Security number on it. Shred it instead. Do not carry your social security card with you.
*Don’t store credit card and bank numbers on your cell phone.

*Hang up! Never give personal information to telephone solicitors, even if they offer you a prize. Also, your credit card company will never call you asking for personal card information. Never give your credit card info over the phone to an unsolicited caller.

*Beware of phishing scams. Don’t respond to any pop-ups. When you see an email that looks like it’s from a bank, PayPal, eBay, or any other site you might be registered to, be on guard. Look for misspelled or strange sender email addresses—they may be phishing. Don’t verify any account information directly through an email. Go to the service provider’s website instead. Log in from there.


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Kevin Durant and OKC

January 28, 2012

Who knew how much we’d love this Longhorn and how much he’d give back to Oklahoma City. This Nike commercial was filmed here in the metro area. I think it makes us (OKC) look good. http://www.sburdine.com/

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Fusion!!

January 24, 2012

This post is mostly for other agents in the OKC area. The latest iteration of the Oklahoma City Metro MLS is out, up, and running, and … if you haven’t already, TRY IT OUT. It’s such an improvement over the previous version, I can’t even tell you. There are tons of little (and not-so-little) things [...]

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MAKE A SHOPPING LIST

January 23, 2012

Simplify your home search by creating a list of what you are looking for.  First consider your needs: location, size, maintenance needs and most importantly, affordability.  Then consider your wants: type of flooring, kitchen appliances, additional space.  Write down the features of each property.  Then sit down in a quiet spot and review your findings.  [...]

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Interest Rate’s!! Wow

January 21, 2012

Interest Rates are at unbeliveable record low.   I am amazed that any one who can qualify would even consider renting.  I have never seen so many reason why someone SHOULD NOT rent!! Home price’s are very good. Lower mortgage payments than rent! Many Seller’s are willing to pay for closing cost. Mortgage payments are lower [...]

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In the News!

January 19, 2012

Just last week one of our Buyer Representatives, Amanda Finch, was featured in the Business section of the Daily Oklahoman for her recent graduation of the Realtor Institute. She spent a year working on this designation, and now our combined Real Estate knowledge is greater than ever! Some FACTS about the GRI Designation: – GRI, [...]

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Quarterly Update: Linwood Place

January 16, 2012

Every three months, Linda and I prepare quarterly market updates for some of the older neighborhoods we practice in. Since not everyone in those neighborhoods gets the update, we thought we would make them available to a wider audience. To start with, we picked one of our favorite neighborhoods: Linwood, an urban conservation district neighborhood. [...]

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