Month: April 2008

Did you know that more than 155,000 homeowners have lost thier homes due to foreclosure just this year.   Remember, we are only in April right now.   Even more devastating is that 1 in every 194 families have received a foreclosure filing this year.  

PLEASE…if you know that you are going to be late on a payment or you have already missed a couple of payments, call your bank.   In most cases, they WILL work with you.   In most cases your bank does not want your home.   If you have any question about what your options might be, please give me a call.

The Janel Hanson Team, led the region in re-sales!   We also led the region in NEW HOME sales.  This is a great honor for our team!!!

We want to thank our clients!   We appreciate your business and the friends you refer to us.   It is an incredible honor when you give us your friends and family to work with.   Again, many thanks!

Late last week Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac  agreed to purchase more jumbo loans from major lenders.   They feel like this would make these kinds of mortgages more attainable for buyers.    When you think about this you can see how this might put more money into the “high-cost market” which should lead to lower rates.

If you are buying, do not make the mistake of ignoring traditional sellers.   All we hear in real estate from our buyers now days is…show the foreclosure or short-sale deal.   By doing this, you are selling yourself short.   The majority of the traditional homes that are for sale are beautiful, clean and   attainable without the high risk of a foreclosure and short-sale.   Our sellers are more than willing to negotiate for the most part, and you don’t have to wait weeks to get a response.   There are some great deals on the market right now, that are for sale by traditional sellers.   Don’t hold out for that deal…It might never come, and sooner or later things will turn around and you will find yourself left behind.

I know I have said this before, but if your home is for sale and you are getting little to no traffic….. your home is NOT priced to Sell.  

We are now seeing multiple offers on not only single family detached homes but now w/ townhomes.   Not LOWBALL multiple offers, but LIST PRICE OR BETTER.   (Don’t believe me….give me a call,   I will show you the proof, or let’s schedule an appointment and I will take you out and actually show you what is going on in today’s market.

I went out with 3 different buyers this week.   The majority of homes that my buyer’s wanted to look at had offers or multiple offers on them.   So instead of showing them 10 to 15 homes…They only ended up seeing 3 to 5 on average! Almost all of the homes with offers were for full price or more!

It is a tough market especially for traditional sellers.   If you price it correctly you will get a buyer.   (When I say this my clients always say or think…Candice that means price it low.)  

Now let’s think about this.   If your price is too high and you are getting little or NO traffic and you are LUCKY enough to get an offer, it will probably be LOW and on top of that they are going to ask for 3% closing and then expect YOU to pay for every little thing at home inspection time.   Now if you have it priced WELL…..you will get lots of traffic and probably get multiple offers at the price you have it listed at….Not a low-ball offer.   You the seller are now in the driver’s seat and your buyer feels that he has gotten a deal….That means your buyer is less likely to ask for closing costs or repairs.   Why, because they are getting a “deal”

In the end, you, the seller, are saving the money.

*A short sale occurs when the net proceeds from the sale of a home are insufficient to pay off the 1st lien.

Short-Sales is a term that is being used more and more in real estate these days.   For the seller it is away to avoid foreclosure, if they qualify.   But, for the buyer these can be risky!   Why?   (This is my biggest question!)   In my opinion these are the three biggest risks the buyer takes when becoming involved in a short sale:

*You have to wait for an answer on your offer for 2 months sometimes.   No short-sale is the same, and while you are waiting other buyers can usually put in other offers, that might be more attractive than yours!  

*In a typical transaction there is the Agents, the Seller, the Buyer and the Buyer’s Lender.   IN A SHORT SALE, THERE ARE 11 DIFFERENT PLAYERS INVOLVED.   All eleven have a say in YOUR offer that you presented to the seller’s agent.

 *The buyer is buying the home AS IS.   That means the buyer could be buying the home’s problems too!

 There are some good short sale homes out there.   Just make sure you know the risks.   Always feel free to call me if you have any questions.  

Last Thursday evening, I had the opportunity to meet with the Manager of Loss Mitigation for Freddie Mac.   We discussed foreclosures, short sales, and how to help our clients   find REALISTIC options to avoid foreclosure.   Why is this important?   Look at the statistics below provided  by Freddie Mac:

-Nationwide, 300,000 loans are 30 days delinquent or greater.

-75,000 loans are are delinquent 90 days or greater, nationwide.

-Freddie Mac conducts over 2,000 foreclosure sales a month.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE….If you  know you will not be able to make your payment on your loan call your bank or give me a call.   We can go over all of your options.   There  ARE options.   I have to tell you, I could not believe all of the options individuals  have access  to, when trying avoid foreclosure.   But the KEY is to act quickly.    

According to a recent article in the Prince William Pulse newspaper, after six months of declining home sales, sales increased in February.   The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes rose by 2.9% in February.   This was the first sales increase since last July.   The median price for single family homes was down 8.7% from a year ago.   The chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, Lawrence Yun, stated that he is not expecting a notable gain in existing-home sales until the second half of this year.