Finally, we are seeing the market shift to reflect an equal number of homes that are going pending or sold to the new listings coming on the market.  This is critical to the Central Oregon market as it shows that the inventory is being absorbed, and we are seeing homes selling in a shorter period of time.  And for closer to list price.

Also, the good news for sellers is that the buyer tax credit is actually inviting multiple offers on homes and creating more of a demand for homes under $200,000 than we have seen for years!  Finally, families are getting help to achieve their dream of owning a home.  The trickle-up effect is starting to be felt as some of those sellers can buy up and help the higher price-range inventory go away.

People still do not understand the difference between a short sale and a bank-owned property. Please review my January blog entry if you are one of those people.  The length of time for short sales to be approved does seem to be shorter, but the unknown of exactly when the home will close, and for what price, makes for a difficult transaction from start to finish.

Thanks for taking the time to review this info, have a great day!

It's official, buy a new home for your personal residence and get an $8000 tax credit if the property is purchased in 2009! This should spur some buyers who are on the fence to get off and get more serious, and especially those first-time buyers who are waiting to make a decision.

There is money out there for FHA loans-buyers with good credit (not perfect), a job and who have access to 3.5% of the purchase price. These buyers are finding it possible to buy homes again where three years ago, these folks were literally priced out of that dream. The 3.5% funds can be gifted to those buyers, and the seller can pay a majority of the closing costs, which allows a buyer to purchase a home without needing 20% down. I am not promoting buying a home beyond a person's means, but to show people it is possible to buy homes again the old fashioned way.

A friendly reminder to the renters, usually you have paid a security deposit and last month's rent-this helps free up cash to use toward your down payment that most people forget they have. Not to mention the tax benefits of the interest paid on a monthly mortgage payment gives you more of a tax return in the following year..

It does seem most first-time buyers still need help with the gifted down payment to qualify for a loan, but this may an important step to helping those would-be homeowners establish some sort of equity. The average buyer's market last's about three years, as does the average seller's market-We are halfway through the current buyer's market right now if this proven trend repeats itself.

My suggestion is to still stay within a person's comfort zone when buying a home-and that has been my theory for twenty years. Be conservative, but do not miss out on buying in todays world. It is your home, not a retirement account. Enjoy the living room, kitchen and yard, better than a piece of paper.
Please call if we can be of help to you or someone you know.

The difference of a short sale transaction and a bank foreclosure is a question I get asked every day by both buyers and sellers.  The difference is dramatic, and very misunderstood by most people.  The term "short sale" was not even on anyone's radar one year ago.  Now, 365 days later, it is part of every Realtor's nightmare.  And sadly, many homeowners as well.

The primary difference in the two is simple. In a short sale, the homeowner is still on title to the property, owes more than the home can sell for in the current market and most often the person on the title is still living in the home. With a bank foreclosed home, the bank is on title and is responsible for the maintenance of the home and ultimately what the property sells for in today's market. 

With a short sale, the property is listed with a Realtor, the value placed on the home is one that is determined by recent sales with a decline of 1-2% factored in when the listing is taken.  Then, the seller must notify the lender they are positioning the home for a short sale and fill out reams of paperwork, stop making payments and put on a lucky hat that a buyer chooses their property out of the hundreds or so available.  If that happens, the pile of paperwork continues with HUD statements, the offer and a letter detailing the situation to the appropriate lender.  And the waiting game begins.  Months can go by before a negotiator is assigned to the case, no one answers the phone or emails when you are hoping for a quick answer and still the seller and buyer wait.  Please know the seller is not receiving any proceeds, so any offer must be signed by the owner of record and they do not really care what it sells for at this point.  Most of the Bend offers end up never closing as the buyers get frustrated and make an offer on a different property and cancelling the original offer.  In short, (hah) most of the short sales in Central Oregon have such a big price spread of what is owed and what the offer is that 90% never close.  And this does not take into account if there are any seconds or line of credits attached to the property.  Those have to be addressed as well, and typically the outcome is not good.

The better of the options for buyer's searching out the best deals-and everyone is-are perhaps the properties that have now gone back to the lender.  The lender is now on title to the property, the seller has vacated the property and the process is now much faster because the lender makes the decision regarding the sales price, and we have a human to work with directly.  My recent successes in closing transactions are the bank-owned properties in almost record time.  Whereas, very few of the short sales ever close.

The downside of some of these properties are many are left in very poor condition, the yards show neglect, often there are no appliances and the homes are sold "AS IS" with no warranties or no help on a home inspection to fix repairs.  If anything seems too good to be true-it usually is.

Now the very best option is to find a seller who is realistic and understands in order to compete in this market, they need to price their home aggressively against the above two options.  These homes are in much better condition, you can negotiate with the seller about price, terms and condition-usually ask for and get a home warranty and typically, have repairs taken care of from a home inspection.  Is any of this worth extra money-I beleive it is.

Especially when no one knows when we have truly hit rock bottem until the prices start going up.  There are those rare mulitiple offers starting to happen on new listings and that is a good sign.  The seventy or so short sales contracts in place will result in many of those buyers moving their deposit money to a different home and hopefully one that can actually close. 

Now is a great time to purchase many of the properties, both bank-owned and seller value-priced as interest rates are at a historic low, and should remain so for quite sometime.  The FHA market for first time buyers with good credit is strong, as is money for the purchase of primary residences.  The scary part is as more people have reduced credit scores or who have no equity to move back into the market will be renters for who knows how many years to come.  Suze Orman's advice is to cut the credit cards up, pay off what you can and watch what you spend.  But don't stop spending all together, or the economy has no hope of improving.

Please call me with any questions, this is a large subject that has no easy answers.  Everyone knows someone going through this process and we all need to give them as much support as possible.

"No journey is too great if you know what you seek"  Unknown

All my best, Shelly      

 

 

 

 

Good afternoon,

As we are experiencing spring-like weather in January, the real estate market is trying to get jumpstarted with good news.  The pleasant weather is encouraging buyers to be out looking at homes, but the reality is they are still looking and trying to gauge if this is a good time to buy or see if there is a further meltdown.  My suggestion is to get loan approval based on locating a property as we are starting to see the bottem of several price ranges as the bank-owned properties are getting absorbed by qualified buyers.  In some cases, the really prime homes are receiving multiple deposits. 

If you are a seller-reality is showing you need to be priced at the same compelling values the bank owned properties reflect.  Until these properties are absorbed by the market, buyers will continue to want those homes first, and now that those listings are closing-we have comps to work from to help the owners who need to sell set an aggressive price.  The days of hoping an overvalued home will sell are over.  I get asked daily when will things improve, and my positive, upbeat answer is "soon".  The truth is my crystal ball is a little cloudy.

There are several very good homes that are not short sales, or bank owned that are available for sale, if you are interested in a current list of properties in any price range, please do not hesitate to email me and we will send you the requested information right away.

Have a spectacular day!

Shelly

 

Wow! Where did this year go? I seem to say this every December, and this year is no exception.

 

The market in Bend is all anyone ever wants to talk about.and why not? When the market was super hot in 2005, it was the key topic as well.

 

There are some incredible buys to be had, and also many over-priced homes with wishful sellers. My new buzzword is ?compelling', which is more appropriate now than ever before. It is not good enough just to be competitive. Sellers have to be compelled to price their property at well below what feels good, and also be patient enough for the buyers to notice.

 

The next six months will continue to be a challenge, but we are selling homes, more so than most agents in Bend. Having a positive attitude, a smile and being brutally honest is the way I know how to run this business. It has seemed to work in this crazy 2008 calendar year, and our team will be here for you in 2009!

 

If you get to the end of your rope, tie another knot and hang on!

Congress has created a new, temporary tax credit to provide an incentive for first-time homebuyers.  The $7,500 credit will be available for the purchase of a principal residence on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009.

Tax credits are special provisions that reduce income tax liability on a dollar-for-dollar basis and claimed on an individual's income tax return.  Thus, if after figuring out all the income items and exemptions and making all the required additions, subtractions, deductions and other items on a tax return a person has a total tax liability of $8,000, a $7,500 credit would wipe out all but $500 of the tax due. 

If your entire tax liability for the year was less than $7,500, say $6,000, the homebuyer would receive a tax credit refund of $1,500. 

A word of caution!  This tax credit essentially serves as an interest-free loan to be repaid over 15 years.  Consult your tax attorney, accountant, or go to http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/ for details.

Note:  A first-time homebuyer is defined as an individual who has not had an ownership interest in a principal residence in the past three years.  The three-year period is measured as the date of the purchase of the eligible principal residence.

It's important that you understand why you're selling.  Your motivation to sell is the determining factor as to how you will approach the process.  It affects everything from what you set your asking price at to how much time, money and effort you're willing to invest in order to prepare your home for sale.

For example, if a quick sale is your goal, this will determine one approach.  If you want to maximize your profit, the sales process might take longer thus determining a different approach.