Does Moving Up Make Sense?

These questions will help you decide whether you’re ready for a home that’s larger or in a more desirable location. If you answer yes to most of the questions, it’s a sign that you may be ready to move.

1. Have you built substantial equity in your current home? Look at your annual mortgage statement or call your lender to find out. Usually, you don’t build up much equity in the first few years of your mortgage, as monthly payments are mostly interest, but if you’ve owned your home for five or more years, you may have significant, unrealized gains.

2. Has your income or financial situation improved? If you’re making more money, you may be able to afford higher mortgage payments and cover the costs of moving.

3. Have you outgrown your neighborhood? The neighborhood you pick for your first home might not be the same neighborhood you want to settle down in for good. For example, you may have realized that you’d like to be closer to your job or live in a better school district.

4. Are there reasons why you can’t remodel or add on? Sometimes you can create a bigger home by adding a new room or building up. But if your property isn’t large enough, your municipality doesn’t allow it, or you’re simply not interested in remodeling, then moving to a bigger home may be your best option.

5. Are you comfortable moving in the current housing market? If your market is hot, your home may sell quickly and for top dollar, but the home you buy also will be more expensive. If your market is slow, finding a buyer may take longer, but you’ll have more selection and better pricing as you seek your new home.

6. Are interest rates attractive? A low rate not only helps you buy a larger home, but also makes it easier to find a buyer.

If Your Thinking Of A Short Sale

If you're thinking of selling your home, and you expect that the total amount you owe on your mortgage will be greater than the selling price of your home, you may be facing a short sale. A short sale is one where the net proceeds from the sale won't cover your total mortgage obligation and closing costs, and you don't have other sources of money to cover the deficiency. A short sale is different from a foreclosure, which is when your lender takes title of your home through a lengthy legal process and then sells it.

1. Consider loan modification first. If you are thinking of selling your home because of financial difficulties and you anticipate a short sale, first contact your lender to see if it has any programs to help you stay in your home. Your lender may agree to a modification such as: Refinancing your loan at a lower interest rate; providing a different payment plan to help you get caught up; or providing a forbearance period if your situation is temporary. When a loan modification still isn’t enough to relieve your financial problems, a short sale could be your best option if:

Your property is worth less than the total mortgage you owe on it.
You have a financial hardship, such as a job loss or major medical bills.
You have contacted your lender and it is willing to entertain a short sale.

2. Hire a qualified team. The first step to a short sale is to hire a qualified real estate professional and a real estate attorney who specialize in short sales. Interview at least three candidates for each and look for prior short-sale experience. Short sales have proliferated only in the last few years, so it may be hard to find practitioners who have closed a lot of short sales. You want to work with those who demonstrate a thorough working knowledge of the short-sale process and who won't try to take advantage of your situation or pressure you to do something that isn't in your best interest. A qualified real estate professional can:

Provide you with a comparative market analysis (CMA) or broker price opinion (BPO).
Help you set an appropriate listing price for your home, market the home, and get it sold.
Put special language in the MLS that indicates your home is a short sale and that lender approval is needed (all MLSs permit, and some now require, that the short-sale status be disclosed to potential buyers).
Ease the process of working with your lender or lenders.
Negotiate the contract with the buyers.
Help you put together the short-sale package to send to your lender (or lenders, if you have more than one mortgage) for approval. You can’t sell your home without your lender and any other lien holders agreeing to the sale and releasing the lien so that the buyers can get clear title.
3. Begin gathering documentation before any offers come in. Your lender will give you a list of documents it requires to consider a short sale. The short-sale “package” that accompanies any offer typically must include:

A hardship letter detailing your financial situation and why you need the short sale
A copy of the purchase contract and listing agreement
Proof of your income and assets
Copies of your federal income tax returns for the past two years

4. Prepare buyers for a lengthy waiting period. Even if you're well organized and have all the documents in place, be prepared for a long process. Waiting for your lender’s review of the short-sale package can take several weeks to months. Some experts say:

If you have only one mortgage, the review can take about two months.
With a first and second mortgage with the same lender, the review can take about three months.
With two or more mortgages with different lenders, it can take four months or longer.
When the bank does respond, it can approve the short sale, make a counteroffer, or deny the short sale. The last two actions can lengthen the process or put you back at square one. (Your real estate attorney and real estate professional, with your authorization, can work your lender’s loss mitigation department on your behalf to prepare the proper documentation and speed the process along.)

5. Don't expect a short sale to solve your financial problems. Even if your lender does approve the short sale, it may not be the end of all your financial woes. Here are some things to keep in mind:

You may be asked by your lender to sign a promissory note agreeing to pay back the amount of your loan not paid off by the short sale. If your financial hardship is permanent and you can’t pay back the balance, talk with your real estate attorney about your options.
Any amount of your mortgage that is forgiven by your lender is typically considered income, and you may have to pay taxes on that amount. Under a temporary measure passed in 2007, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and Debt Cancellation Act, homeowners can exclude debt forgiveness on their federal tax returns from income for loans discharged in calendar years 2007 through 2012. Be sure to consult your real estate attorney and your accountant to see whether you qualify.
Having a portion of your debt forgiven may have an adverse effect on your credit score. However, a short sale will impact your credit score less than foreclosure and bankruptcy

5 Common 1st Time Home Buyer Mistakes

1. They don’t ask enough questions of their lender and end up missing out on the best deal.

2. They don’t act quickly enough to make a decision and someone else buys the house.

3. They don’t find the right agent who’s willing to help them through the homebuying process.

4. They don’t do enough to make their offer look appealing to a seller.

5. They don’t think about resale before they buy. The average first-time buyer only stays in a home for four years.

When Purchasing A Home Consult A Professional!

10 Ways To Prepare For Homeownership

Green Grass Realty




1. Decide what you can afford. Generally, you can afford a home equal in value to between two and three times your gross income.

2. Develop your home wish list. Then, prioritize the features on your list.

3. Select where you want to live. Compile a list of three or four neighborhoods you’d like to live in, taking into account items such as schools, recreational facilities, area expansion plans, and safety.

4. Start saving.Do you have enough money saved to qualify for a mortgage and cover your down payment? Ideally, you should have 20 percent of the purchase price saved as a down payment. Also, don’t forget to factor in closing costs. Closing costs — including taxes, attorney’s fee, and transfer fees — average between 2 and 7 percent of the home price.

5. Get your credit in order.Obtain a copy of your credit report to make sure it is accurate and to correct any errors immediately. A credit report provides a history of your credit, bad debts, and any late payments.

6. Determine your mortgage qualifications.How large of mortgage do you qualify for? Also, explore different loan options — such as 30-year or 15-year fixed mortgages or ARMs — and decide what’s best for you.

7. Get preapproved. Organize all the documentation a lender will need to preapprove you for a loan. You might need W-2 forms, copies of at least one pay stub, account numbers, and copies of two to four months of bank or credit union statements.

8. Weigh other sources of help with a down payment. Do you qualify for any special mortgage or down payment assistance programs? Check with your state and local government on down payment assistance programs for first-time buyers. Or, if you have an IRA account, you can use the money you’ve saved to buy your fist home without paying a penalty for early withdrawal.

9. Calculate the costs of homeownership. This should include property taxes, insurance, maintenance and utilities, and association fees, if applicable.

10. Contact a REALTOR®. Find an experienced REALTOR® who can help guide you through the process.

Tax Credit Update

Looks like we have a NEW plan to consider on the extension of the home buyers’ tax credit. (We talked about the old one yesterday). Seems Baucus/Reid/Dodd/Isakson team has come to an agreement to merge their proposals into one. Media outlets are all reporting different income limits, but this is what the Congressional Quarterly reported as of late last night:


◦$8K tax credit — amount remains the same for first time home buyers
◦Extension — will be for sales contracts entered into by April 30, 2010, and escrow closed in 60 days
◦Homeowners included — $6.5K tax credit for existing home owners as long as they’ve been in their homes for 5 consecutive years in the past 8 and meet the income limits
◦Income limits increased — Single $75K–> $125K and Married $150K–>$250K$225K (updated by CQ, 10:41 am PT)
◦AND - the White House endorsed the plan a few hours ago this morning.
My questions:
1) Why extend this to “step-up” buyers? Ultimately, I’ve read that something like 97% of all Americans fall into the income limits. Assuming that 60% of them are homeowners, then roughly 58% of all Americans can potentially qualify. How much is this going to cost?

2) Will this bring more instability to home prices as the flood gates are now open on this tax credit — this bill is looking more and more like the “cash for clunkers” program. If inventory moves thanks to this stimulus, will we experience a drop off in demand come April 30, and resulting dip in home prices?

As far as I can tell, it’s unclear how this proposal will move — as an amendment to the unemployment insurance legislation (HR 3548) or as a stand alone bill. No matter how it progresses, in order to be effective, the plan must stabilize home prices, drive increased spending for consumer products and help revive communities faced by foreclosure. Once those three areas are addressed, we’ll have a much healthier market.

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How to Know When to Refinance

Refinancing is most often motivated by lower interest rates, which can bring the dual benefit of lower mortgage payments and lower interest costs over time. But there are many other legitimate motivations. Some are a product of "creative" financing products such as Adjustable Rate Mortgages that were rare a generation ago. Your personal priorities will drive decisions on how to refinance. There is no "one-size-fits-all" solution, but here are a few reasons why you might want to refi.

Lower payments: When rates fall, it's always tempting to refi. A common rule of thumb is that a two-point drop in rates will make it worthwhile. But this is not universal. For a homeowner with a $300,000 balance, a rate reduction of even one percent can lower the monthly payments by a couple hundred bucks and cut long-term interest expenses by hundreds of thousands.

A common mistake with this strategy, however, is to "start over," and refinance, a 17-year-obligation with a new 30-year loan. Sure, stretching out the term will lower the payments, but wasn't the interest rate help enough for you? Don't be greedy. When you choose the term of a new loan, think about some day getting out of debt.

A quicker payoff: This is often a worthy goal, if you can afford somewhat higher payments. Replace a 30-year-term with 15 years, and obviously you'll be out of debt sooner - and won't have to double your payments to do it. They'll rise by about 40 percent (assuming here that both loans are at about 6 percent interest). Conversely, choose the ease of a 30-year term and the payments will go down a lot less than you'd expect.

Lower interest costs: Locking in a better fixed rate is great, but it is not the only way to lower interest bills. ARMs, or Adjustable Rate Mortgages, generally offer lower rates in the early years followed by higher ones later. It can be a fool's game to think you can defer your big bills until later in life, but if you plan to be in the house for just a few years or less, an ARM may make a lot of sense.

Cash out: Liquidating the equity in a home became a national pastime in the last housing boom. Creative loan products and rapidly rising home values often made it easy to refi (at a lower rate if you were lucky) and walk away with a satchel full of cash. Taking cash out of your mortgage can be an entirely legitimate way to consolidate other debts. The downside was that gains in equity were in some cases an illusion, driven by a housing market bubble - and this way, you'll never be able to pay off the property.

Top 10 Tips To Sell Your Home For Top Dollar

1. Price your home aggressively
   Setting the right price for your home is the single most important decision you will make when you decide to sell. Go too high and you risk turning off every buyer in the marketplace, go too low and you leave money on the table. One simple but powerful technique for pricing your home aggressively is to spend the day looking at your competitors' homes. By doing so you will be seeing the world through the buyers' eyes. Be tough and honest with yourself. Compared to the competition what would be a price that would position your home as the best value proposition for buyers in your marketplace?
   
2. Use price points
   Buyers don't walk into an agent's office and announce that they would like to see homes priced at a specific price like $227,900 dollars. Instead they ask to see homes between price ranges that are separated by five to ten thousand dollar increments. Because of this, consider setting your price near one of these natural price points. For instance a price $229,900 would probably net you exactly the same number of buyer inquiries as a price of $227,900, but moving your home down to $224,900 (the next price point down) would widen your potential buyer pool.
   
3. Consider value range marketing
   Another pricing technique that may be the ticket to more showings and more offers is to use value range marketing. Value range marketing is a pricing technique in which you choose a listing price based on what you would sell for today if a buyer wrote you a check. You then choose another lower price - one that you wouldn't reject if offered but would use as a starting point negotiate towards some middle ground. So instead of listing your home at a specific price of $496,000 dollars, you list the home between $459,000 and $496,000.
   
4. Offer a bonus to selling agents
   The agent who brings a buyer to your home is typically referred to as the selling agent or the buyer's agent. In a market crowded with inventory many sellers find it wise to provide an incentive to motivate these agents to show their home more frequently. While you may cringe at paying real estate brokers even more money, the fact is it may provide just the push they need to work a little harder to sell your home for top dollar.
   
5. Hire an aggressive listing agent
   Not all listing agents are created equal. To find an aggressive full time agent, take the time to research the market, talk to friends, neighbors, and colleagues about who they recommend, and interview multiple agents before making a hiring decision. In addition, be sure to come to an agreement about a specific, documented marketing plan before signing a long term listing agreement.
   
6. Encourage two way critiques
   Successful sellers aren't afraid of a little (or a lot) of constructive criticism. In fact, they invite agents to give them helpful suggestions on everything, from pricing to curb appeal, to help them secure the highest possible price for their home. On the flip side, when hiring an agent, be sure to find an agent that is open to suggestions. For instance, as a seller you may find ways to improve advertising copy, flyers, photographs, or even virtual tours.
   
7. Offer incentives & pre-paids
   A buyer who has narrowed their search down to two or three top choices may need a little push to motivate them to take action. To encourage buyers, many sellers offer incentives like buying the interest rate down on the purchaser's loan, paying for closing costs, inspections, or repairs, or providing allowances or credits for home upgrades after closing. In addition, many sellers prepay for services like internet services for a year, taxes or homeowners association dues, or even golf club memberships.
   
8. Stage the home & use curb appeal
   Buyers won't pull the trigger unless they become emotionally invested in your home. To help build a stronger first impression start from the outside first by working hard to improve your home's curb appeal. Next move inside and stage each space by creating a focal point and a story for each room. A set dining table, a book by the bed, or a game in the kids room are all simple examples of staging.
   
9. Use a pre-appraisal and pre-inspections
   A pre-appraisal is an appraisal of the home before a buyer has made an offer. By having this done early you will have an objective voice that has provided a value for the property independent of your own opinion and may be a great tool in talking with buyers. In addition, many sellers do pre-inspections of the home to provide buyers with a clear whole home inspection or pest and dry rot inspection. (A word of caution: anything discovered during a pre-inspection will likely need to be disclosed whether you fix the issue or not).
   
10. Learn to fail fast
    If something isn't working, successful sellers have the strength to fail fast by making adjustments to their strategy quickly. For instance, if after implementing your marketing plan buyers don't begin to view your home on a regular basis, this is a clear indication (a red flag) that the market is rejecting your price. There is only one solution: lower your price. On the other hand, if you have steady stream of buyers touring your listing, yet you aren't receiving any offers, this is often a symptom of buyers rejecting, not the price, but the home itself. Something about the home is turning them off. Savvy sellers attempt to identify the problem and take proactive action to correct it.

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