Top 10 Reasons to List Your Property during the Holidays
1. People who look at property during the holidays are serious buyers and are more ready to make a decision.
2. Serious buyers have fewer houses to choose from during the holidays, so the property has less competition.
3. Houses “show better” when decorated for the holidays with the wonderful lights and festive colors associated with the season.
4. Buyers are more emotional during the holidays and often base their decision on the warmth and good feelings they receive when viewing the home.
5. Buyers have more time to look for a house during the holidays because they have designated time off from work to purchase a home.
6. Many people want to buy before the end of the year for financial and tax reasons.
7. January is traditionally the month for transfers. Transferees can’t wait until the spring to buy. These buyers need a home now and houses must be on the market to capture these buyers.
8. Sellers can restrict showings during personal family events and still take advantage of their homes being spruced up and decorated “show ready” property.
9. Sellers can sell now – but specify a delayed closing or extended occupancy until early next year if it is agreeable within the negotiations of the contract.
10. By selling now sellers have the opportunity to buy during the spring – when more properties are on the market.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
10 Reasons Why to List Your Home in the Winter
1. Fewer Showings - Yes there are less buyers, but those buyers that are left are usually very serious about making a purchase.
2. Less Competition - Most people wait until spring and summer to list their home, which means during the winter you will have far less competition than at any other time of year.
3. Homes Show Better During the Holidays - Buyers love homes that can tell a story. The holidays are a great time to show homes because the home is usually dressed up for the holiday celebrations!
4. January is the Biggest Transfer Month - Did you know that more corporate moves happen during January than at any other time of the year? This may be a great reason to list your home during the winter!
5. Timing - By putting your home on the market during the winter, you may be able to more easily hit your moving goals!
6. More Time To Get Top Dollar - By starting to market your home early, you may be able to secure a higher price.
7. Great Time to Shop - If your home sells quickly, you will be able to shop for your next home during the winter. This is a great time to find a bargain
8. More Advertising - Because most agents and offices have less inventory during the winter, your home may be advertised more often than during the spring and summer months!
9. More Attention - Most agents will be able to devote more specialized attention to your needs during the winter because they have less clients to manage.
10. The Market - Today’s interest rates are at forty year lows. This gives more spending power and will be even more important when you begin shopping for your next home!
2. Less Competition - Most people wait until spring and summer to list their home, which means during the winter you will have far less competition than at any other time of year.
3. Homes Show Better During the Holidays - Buyers love homes that can tell a story. The holidays are a great time to show homes because the home is usually dressed up for the holiday celebrations!
4. January is the Biggest Transfer Month - Did you know that more corporate moves happen during January than at any other time of the year? This may be a great reason to list your home during the winter!
5. Timing - By putting your home on the market during the winter, you may be able to more easily hit your moving goals!
6. More Time To Get Top Dollar - By starting to market your home early, you may be able to secure a higher price.
7. Great Time to Shop - If your home sells quickly, you will be able to shop for your next home during the winter. This is a great time to find a bargain
8. More Advertising - Because most agents and offices have less inventory during the winter, your home may be advertised more often than during the spring and summer months!
9. More Attention - Most agents will be able to devote more specialized attention to your needs during the winter because they have less clients to manage.
10. The Market - Today’s interest rates are at forty year lows. This gives more spending power and will be even more important when you begin shopping for your next home!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Massive Effort to Save Mortgages By ROBIN SIDEL REAL ESTATE - NOVEMBER 1, 2008
Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com See a sample reprint in PDF format. Order a reprint of this article now
Massive Effort to Save Mortgages
By ROBIN SIDEL
REAL ESTATE NOVEMBER 1, 2008
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. launched an ambitious plan Friday to modify the terms of $70 billion in mortgages for borrowers who are behind on their payments or soon could be.
The move by the New York bank will cover as many as 400,000 borrowers. They’ll be moved into loans carrying lower interest rates, smaller principal amounts or other more-affordable terms.
The changes will particularly focus on a type of loan structured in such a way that the borrower’s outstanding balance sometimes grows month after month. J.P. Morgan inherited $54 billion of such loans with its takeover of the beleaguered thrift Washington Mutual Inc. in September.
The plan comes amid intense national focus on a root cause of global financial turmoil: rising home foreclosures, and what the role of banks and government should be in helping struggling homeowners. The banking industry is under much political pressure address the foreclosure problem.
Rival Bank of America Corp. has two loan-modification pools in place, one hashed out with state attorneys general. At the government level, after other programs failed to halt the rise in foreclosures, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. recently floated a plan that could help three million troubled borrowers; it is being considered by the White House. The FDIC also is assisting strapped borrowers who had mortgages with IndyMac Bancorp, which the FDIC seized this summer. (Please see related article.)
Such moves would tackle one of the last elements of the global financial upheaval as yet ntouched by a major federal program. The mortgage crunch that began in the middle of last year spawned the financial crisis. Big financial players had invested trillions of dollars in securities backed by risky mortgages, which starting in mid-2007 became difficult to value. Banks hobbled by these bad investments reined in lending, spawning the wider credit crunch as a result.
The U.S. government has tackled problems in the banking system and credit markets, but thus far hasn’t succeeding in stanching the bleeding of failing homeowners. Economists and government officials agree that the economy and financial markets can’t fully revive until there’s a halt to the decline in housing prices, a phenomenon that is worsened by foreclosures.
"It doesn’t make sense for us to wait" to tackle the problem, said a J.P. Morgan executive, Charles Scharf. "We’ve heard loud and clear and are listening to what some of the thought leaders around the country are saying." Mr. Scharf runs the retail division, which includes mortgages and branch banking, at J.P. Morgan, the largest U.S. bank in stock-market value.
The move also suggests that banks are realizing they can improve the value of their loan portfolios through mass modifications rather than foreclosures, which tend to produce larger losses. Until now, mortgage holders have been reluctant to renegotiate loans or have been doing so one-by-one, a timeconsuming process. The bundling of loans into securities that are then sold to investors further complicates matters.
The announcement by J.P. Morgan steps up pressure on other mortgage companies to respond with relief programs for stressed borrowers, said Stuart Feldstein, president and co-founder of SMR Research Corp., a Hackettstown N.J., firm that specializes in consumer lending. "The precedent has clearly been set and we can expect to see more of these," he said.
Nationwide, 7.3 million American homeowners are expected to default on their mortgages between 2008 and 2010, about triple the usual rate, according to Moody’s Economy.com, a research firm. Some 4.3 million of those are expected to lose their homes.
J.P. Morgan’s exposure to the problems increased sharply when it acquired the assets of the Seattlebased Washington Mutual. WaMu, which was seized by regulators, had a large exposure to the difficult housing market of California. In taking it over, J.P. Morgan acquired $16 billion of subprime mortgages.
The mortgages affected by J.P. Morgan’s program represent 4.7% of the home loans it owns or that are serviced by one of the bank’s units, EMC Mortgage Corp. While the program to give these mortgages easier terms is likely to cost J.P. Morgan billions of dollars in interest payments and loan fees, it is also likely to save the bank from the costly and lengthy process of foreclosing homes and selling them. The plan expands upon programs already in place at the bank to help strapped homeowners.
The bank’s Mr. Scharf declined to estimate the plan’s financial impact on the bank. "Our goal in doing this was to come up with something that we think will lead the industry in helping as much as possible on this issue," he said.
J.P. Morgan’s push is especially aimed at so-called option adjustable-rate mortgages, or options ARMs. These allow borrowers to make a minimum payment that may not even cover the interest due -- resulting in a higher loan balance.
Under the plan, option ARMs that are accumulating interest will be replaced with fixed-rate loans that are more stable for borrowers and seen as far less likely to default. J.P. Morgan said it wouldn’t begin the foreclosure process on borrowers during the next 90 days, as it opens loan-counseling centers and takes other steps to launch the program.
J.P. Morgan unveiled the plan days after receiving $25 billion in federal capital from the Treasury’s program to shore up financial institutions and get credit flowing. Mr. Scharf declined to comment on whether the bank would use any of those funds for the mortgage overhaul. "The stronger you are, the more willing you are to spend money and do a whole series of things," he said, noting that the government cash "certainly makes decisions easier."
Of the two loan-modification pools at rival Bank of America, one targets 265,000 borrowers with all types of mortgages. The other was hashed out with 14 state attorneys generals and involves 400,000 subprime and option-ARM customers serviced by the big lender Countrywide Financial Corp., which Bank of America purchased July 1.
Another big rival bank, Wachovia Corp., acquired roughly $120 billion of option ARMs as part of its 2006 purchase of Golden West Financial Corp. Wachovia initiated a loan-refinancing program before agreeing to its pending takeover by Wells Fargo & Co. That effort targets the option-ARM portfolio.
J.P. Morgan’s plan drew cautious optimism from Iowa Attorney General Thomas Miller, who recently called on mortgage lenders to launch broad loan-modification programs.
John Taylor, chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, called it "a gutsy move on their part," adding : "They are bending over backward to try to reach out to these people." The coalition represents 600 community groups and has urged the government and industry to help homeowners.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has gone further than any program in place, proposing a to have the government buy $300 billion in troubled mortgages outright.
Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com
11/03/2008 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122549543952589677.html
Massive Effort to Save Mortgages
By ROBIN SIDEL
REAL ESTATE NOVEMBER 1, 2008
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. launched an ambitious plan Friday to modify the terms of $70 billion in mortgages for borrowers who are behind on their payments or soon could be.
The move by the New York bank will cover as many as 400,000 borrowers. They’ll be moved into loans carrying lower interest rates, smaller principal amounts or other more-affordable terms.
The changes will particularly focus on a type of loan structured in such a way that the borrower’s outstanding balance sometimes grows month after month. J.P. Morgan inherited $54 billion of such loans with its takeover of the beleaguered thrift Washington Mutual Inc. in September.
The plan comes amid intense national focus on a root cause of global financial turmoil: rising home foreclosures, and what the role of banks and government should be in helping struggling homeowners. The banking industry is under much political pressure address the foreclosure problem.
Rival Bank of America Corp. has two loan-modification pools in place, one hashed out with state attorneys general. At the government level, after other programs failed to halt the rise in foreclosures, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. recently floated a plan that could help three million troubled borrowers; it is being considered by the White House. The FDIC also is assisting strapped borrowers who had mortgages with IndyMac Bancorp, which the FDIC seized this summer. (Please see related article.)
Such moves would tackle one of the last elements of the global financial upheaval as yet ntouched by a major federal program. The mortgage crunch that began in the middle of last year spawned the financial crisis. Big financial players had invested trillions of dollars in securities backed by risky mortgages, which starting in mid-2007 became difficult to value. Banks hobbled by these bad investments reined in lending, spawning the wider credit crunch as a result.
The U.S. government has tackled problems in the banking system and credit markets, but thus far hasn’t succeeding in stanching the bleeding of failing homeowners. Economists and government officials agree that the economy and financial markets can’t fully revive until there’s a halt to the decline in housing prices, a phenomenon that is worsened by foreclosures.
"It doesn’t make sense for us to wait" to tackle the problem, said a J.P. Morgan executive, Charles Scharf. "We’ve heard loud and clear and are listening to what some of the thought leaders around the country are saying." Mr. Scharf runs the retail division, which includes mortgages and branch banking, at J.P. Morgan, the largest U.S. bank in stock-market value.
The move also suggests that banks are realizing they can improve the value of their loan portfolios through mass modifications rather than foreclosures, which tend to produce larger losses. Until now, mortgage holders have been reluctant to renegotiate loans or have been doing so one-by-one, a timeconsuming process. The bundling of loans into securities that are then sold to investors further complicates matters.
The announcement by J.P. Morgan steps up pressure on other mortgage companies to respond with relief programs for stressed borrowers, said Stuart Feldstein, president and co-founder of SMR Research Corp., a Hackettstown N.J., firm that specializes in consumer lending. "The precedent has clearly been set and we can expect to see more of these," he said.
Nationwide, 7.3 million American homeowners are expected to default on their mortgages between 2008 and 2010, about triple the usual rate, according to Moody’s Economy.com, a research firm. Some 4.3 million of those are expected to lose their homes.
J.P. Morgan’s exposure to the problems increased sharply when it acquired the assets of the Seattlebased Washington Mutual. WaMu, which was seized by regulators, had a large exposure to the difficult housing market of California. In taking it over, J.P. Morgan acquired $16 billion of subprime mortgages.
The mortgages affected by J.P. Morgan’s program represent 4.7% of the home loans it owns or that are serviced by one of the bank’s units, EMC Mortgage Corp. While the program to give these mortgages easier terms is likely to cost J.P. Morgan billions of dollars in interest payments and loan fees, it is also likely to save the bank from the costly and lengthy process of foreclosing homes and selling them. The plan expands upon programs already in place at the bank to help strapped homeowners.
The bank’s Mr. Scharf declined to estimate the plan’s financial impact on the bank. "Our goal in doing this was to come up with something that we think will lead the industry in helping as much as possible on this issue," he said.
J.P. Morgan’s push is especially aimed at so-called option adjustable-rate mortgages, or options ARMs. These allow borrowers to make a minimum payment that may not even cover the interest due -- resulting in a higher loan balance.
Under the plan, option ARMs that are accumulating interest will be replaced with fixed-rate loans that are more stable for borrowers and seen as far less likely to default. J.P. Morgan said it wouldn’t begin the foreclosure process on borrowers during the next 90 days, as it opens loan-counseling centers and takes other steps to launch the program.
J.P. Morgan unveiled the plan days after receiving $25 billion in federal capital from the Treasury’s program to shore up financial institutions and get credit flowing. Mr. Scharf declined to comment on whether the bank would use any of those funds for the mortgage overhaul. "The stronger you are, the more willing you are to spend money and do a whole series of things," he said, noting that the government cash "certainly makes decisions easier."
Of the two loan-modification pools at rival Bank of America, one targets 265,000 borrowers with all types of mortgages. The other was hashed out with 14 state attorneys generals and involves 400,000 subprime and option-ARM customers serviced by the big lender Countrywide Financial Corp., which Bank of America purchased July 1.
Another big rival bank, Wachovia Corp., acquired roughly $120 billion of option ARMs as part of its 2006 purchase of Golden West Financial Corp. Wachovia initiated a loan-refinancing program before agreeing to its pending takeover by Wells Fargo & Co. That effort targets the option-ARM portfolio.
J.P. Morgan’s plan drew cautious optimism from Iowa Attorney General Thomas Miller, who recently called on mortgage lenders to launch broad loan-modification programs.
John Taylor, chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, called it "a gutsy move on their part," adding : "They are bending over backward to try to reach out to these people." The coalition represents 600 community groups and has urged the government and industry to help homeowners.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has gone further than any program in place, proposing a to have the government buy $300 billion in troubled mortgages outright.
Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com
11/03/2008 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122549543952589677.html
Client List
2005-2006
Kelly and Ted Swanson - Listing
Jamie Petersen - Listing
Lawrence Praml - Listing
Rita Ward - Listing
Kari Kline - Sale
Rita Ward - Sale
Erin Lusk & Eric Flemmons - Sale
2007
Michael McAllister - Listing
Beverly Rockenback -Listing
Jamie Petersen - Listing
Donna & Dale McJunkin - Listing
John Decker - Listing
Jim & Luann Greathouse - Listing
Joe Stuber – Listing
Tom Lortie - Sale
Jon Schaeppi & Brandy Hafner - Sale
Jon Lee – Sale
Tim Paskett - Buyer
Lisa & Mike Elvidge - Buyer
2008
Kelly Prettner - Listing
Katie & Jeff Mohs - Listing
Kristina & Kyle Weber - Listing
Dominic Talarico - Listing
Michael Ogren - Listing
Paul Miksic - Listing
Mee & Choua Khang - Listing
Jill & Jerry Rude - Listing
Olga Miksic - Listing
Peter & Naomi Patton - Listing
Ray Miller - Listing
Penny & Steve Tupy - Listing
Chris Johnson & Laura Nelson - Sale
Michael Ogren - Sale
Rick & Shirley Petersen – Sale
Kelly Prettner - Buyer
Moses Wazwaz & Jill Anderson - Buyer
Darlene & Randy Harris - Buyer
Gage Sirbasku - Buyer
Jill & Jerry Rude - Buyer
Robert Hanson – Buyer
Willard Hartmann, Jr. - Buyer
Adel Taweeleh - Buyer
Penny & Steve Tupy - Buyer
Lisa & Mike Elvidge - Buyer
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