HAPPY NEW YEAR



Merry Christmas

Open House HUD Home

Come and see us at our open house 11:00 - 1:00this weekend 3687 Hawkins, Meridian Idaho

HUD Home. Beautiful home in Champion Park with many quality features. Constructed in 2005 with extensive hardwood floors, tile kitchen countertops and backsplash, and an open floor plan. Property is NOT located in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area but is listed as a low to moderate flood risk. Please refer to www.FloodSmart.gov for additional information regarding flood zones & insurance. HOA Association fee of $250 Annually-Champion Park.

Sandy Hurricane relief

The Best way that you can help is to donate to your local Red Cross.  Don’t fall for the email and website fishing scams.  I am providing the link for the American Red Cross of Idaho.  You can give money or blood.  These are all needed on the East Coast!

First Time Dream Owner!

Many of my past clients are probably considered to be first time home buyers, this because they have either rented, bought manufactured housing or just plain moved all over the country.

When searching for homes, many of the folks have a certain mindset that makes them believe that they can’t have the home that they have been dreaming of for years.  It is the belief that this type of home is to retire into or pay exorbitant amounts of money.  Every one of the buyers has a base plan of what they want.  My job as an agent for first time buyers is to show homes that most represent their current dream. Now will this be the home that they spend the rest of their time? Probably not, but that is only because tastes change and visions change.

A dream home is most likely the culmination of several factors;
 

§  Price

§  Area

§  Schools

§  Churches

§  Crime rate

§  Type of home (single level, neighborhood attributes etc.)

There are those buyers that have the forethought to realize they are buying the first of maybe several homes in their lifetime.  But others prefer to live for the moment and the times.  There is give and take with any home, unless you are building a house from ground up, established homes are your choice.

Dream homes are a matter of opinion.  Realtors do their homework to search out the best suited properties to fill the wants of the buyers.  Remember those give and takes are good rules to live with.  The buyer needs to know if they are going to be happy in the choice of houses that you offer for several years.  Remember the “dream Home” is in the eye of the buyer!

Pumping up the pain!

Listening to the local news you would believe that the upcoming election has something to do with the gas prices being the highest in four years! Well, prices have always been political games that play into the miserable economy.

Every president since and including Ronald Regan have tried to appease the motoring public by assigning the Attorney General to investigate the high prices of gasoline.  Fact of the matter is that no leader of the free world, Republican or Democrat has the power to change gas prices. 

Our prices in Boise Idaho seem to be some of the lowest in the country right now, however, it is reported that they will take a fall even further in the next month. You ask how they know.  The oil companies have now got a small glut of oil and they need to get it off the books.  They use the motoring public as the pawns.  This is always the time of year prices come down and as soon as the extra oil is used up the prices will go back up oh say about Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

The fact of the matter is that the oil companies have complete control over the prices and they are waiting for the next reason to stick it to the little guy.  Enjoy low prices when you can for they will soon eat more of your wallet space!

Blah blah, Home Sales, Blah Blah

It seems that there are so many opinions on the housing market that you can’t figure out what is real and what is pumping up the numbers. Who do you believe when it comes to stats?  One day the article says resale’s are on the rise, later that day you read that the market is still crawling out of a hole.

I don’t know of many in the real estate business that are jumping up and down and singing songs of joy.  I look at what I have available to my disposal to review.  Here are real time examples of why things look different.

Ø  I have personally been involved with several transactions that have contracts within the first week of the listing.

Ø  The MLS show an increase of closed listings on a weekly basis.

Ø  The number of showings where Realtors place their cards is growing.

Ø  Realtors are advertising regularly. (this goes down when activity is low).

The market is far from hot and in fact will take a long time to get to that point again, but its like an earthquake, you can feel the pre-shocks!

Appraisals Yuk

New reports out today show that appraisals are still dragging on the recovering Housing market.  As I have said before we need to revamp the appraisal system and have all involved with the appraisal system working on the same page.

Here are the main points that the Association of Realtors makes as to why the appraisals still don’t work properly:

• Appraisers using foreclosures, short sales, and run-down properties as comparable homes, and not making adjustments for market conditions or the condition of the property.
• Appraised values that do not reflect market conditions such as rising prices, multiple bids, and low inventory.
• Inconsistent and fluctuating valuations.
• Out-of-town appraisers who are not familiar with the area or local market conditions.
• Slow turnaround time by both appraisers and banks.

If you would like to read the entire National Association of Realtor’s article go to this link.

I would like to point out that many of the homes that are appraised probably sit on the bottom of piles and piles of paperwork at the bank level.  In the business of appraisals it is very time sensitive, something the banks really don’t care about. 

How can the process work in unison with the other players? Get the organizations together and develop guidelines and timelines.  If this is worked out it will create a system of organization and progress that everyone needs to get our clients the best service and products.

Fall In Boise Idaho

Fall Colors for your enjoyment!

 

Taxes, Death and your Mortgage!

Ok, so you have been working with your real estate team to locate and purchase your home of your dreams.  This is a time consuming and educational experience.  Before you determine the property that suits your needs, you consider the price you feel comfortable making an offer.  You have thought out the process with your Realtor and Mortgage specialist.  Estimates and good faith documents tell you that you can afford the house, but CAN YOU?

In the beginning your payment is determined by your principle and interest from the sale price of the home and your taxes.  Then you add to that your insurance and any incidentals and the mortgage payment fluctuates to show the difference.

We listen to the tax conversations with the national presidential speeches and we must realize that if someone says no taxes that mean a tax burden shift.  The schools are a good example, if the State doesn’t fund schools they increase your house payment with levies.

To wrap it up, your payment could change by a couple of dollars per month or more with changes in the local tax system.  On the other hand if you purchased a home that was previously used as income property, your payment will probably go down within the next year because of the home owner exemption. In either case keep your eye on the changing climate.

Fall colors mean fall spruce up!

It’s that time of the year again; yes the leaves are changing color and providing some of the best photography subjects of the year.

Preparing for winter to bring its cold and wind swept air. There are several projects you can do now to make the transition that much easier.  As the color leaves begin to fall from the trees and bushes, keep up with the rake or mower.  This prevents the leaves from sticking to the grass and molding.  Use the leaves as a cover for your garden plants if you have a few days left until the hard freeze.  Get the gutters cleaned out and make sure you do any gutter repair for the winter.  Now is a good time to disconnect the hose from the faucet and re attached if you need to prevent any freezing of the lines. Cut back your bushes as the leaves leave the vines.

General cleanup will cause you not to stress when the first snows or rain come to make your fall into winter.

NEVER FORGET 9/11

Fire Incident Information

http://www.inciweb.org/InciWeb is an interagency all-risk incident information management system. The system was developed with two primary missions:

1. Provide the public a single source of incident related information
2. Provide a standardized reporting tool for the Public Affairs community

A number of supporting systems automate the delivery of incident information to remote sources. This ensures that the information regarding active incidents is consistent, and the delivery is timely.

How does your home survive the summer heat!

Keeping cool and surviving the record heat is an enduring task this year; imagine what it takes for your home to keep you comfortable.

Here are some simple things you can do to make it to the end of the heat days.

·         Always keep your air-conditioner clean. This means changing the filters on a regular basis monthly or semimonthly depending on the usage.

·         Check your attic fans to make sure they are operating properly and make sure there are no obstructions. 

·         Open your foundation vents to allow for the proper air flow.  It may not be a bad idea to keep the vents open all year round.

·         If you have a garage, leave the door open a couple of inches during the real hot times to allow for ventilation.  Try not to store flammable materials in the hot garage especially when there is no ventilation.

·         It may not look as nice but, keep your lawn longer the green will appreciate the extra length.  Water during the night or around those times; you may need to hand water around the concrete to help with the burn areas.

These are just a few common sense ideas that will help your home survive the hot days of summer.  It may not be a manicured lawn but the lawn will thank you.

Is Housing Slowly Turning to a Seller's Market?

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, June 05, 2012

It’s been mostly a “buyer’s market” in the majority of housing markets for the past few years, but more Americans are seeing home buyers’ power in home sales and negotiations soon slipping away.
More Americans are reporting increased optimism when it comes to selling a home as prices take a gradual turn upward, according to a recent survey.
About 28 percent of Americans say it’s a good time to sell now, inching up from 13 percent last quarter, according to a survey by Redfin of more than 1,200 potential buyers in 18 metro areas.
Nearly 60 percent of the survey’s respondents say they think prices will rise this year, up from 34 percent last year.
Seventy-one percent of the respondents surveyed also said they are seeing more bidding wars and multiple bids on homes today, too. Read More

Ask to See Homeowners Association Books!

Here is a new one for me; a while back I had a client that bought a lot to build his home.  The subdivision was a nice upscale area that was only partially completed with most lots not sold.  My client built the home and has been there for two years now. 

Not many of the lots have sold as they are one acre and economy probably had much to do with that.  My client asked to see the books for the subdivision (which has CCNR’s) and he was told no!  So he is doing a hold back on monthly dues until they show the books.

The person in charge and owner has stated the doesn’t have any books to show! (Red flag).  I have never been across this before as a realtor.  The law requires that everything is separate from personal accounts just like realty brokerages.  I guess my warning would be before closings ask to see the books of the Association to see if they are solvent or just collecting money for the cruise they are going to take.

Apathetic Sellers will waste your time!

I had a gentleman call me the other day; the first thing he said was that he was looking for a realtor to sell his crappy house! (His words not mine).  My response was to ask why his house is crappy.  His answer was: well I really don’t care if it sells or not, I am going to be foreclosed on in the next couple of months and I just want to know if this selling short thing really works!

Now as a Buyer agent I have written a couple of contracts with other agents that have had sellers that really don’t know what it takes on both sides to get a deal on a short sale.  I would not waste the time of my buyer customers to even show such a home.  Most are not this blatant when they tell you that I am going to waste your time as this gentleman was, but you can also get a hint by asking a couple of questions from the start:

1.       Are you willing to gather all of the documentation such as tax returns bank accounts etc.?

2.       Will you allow agents to show the house under normal circumstances?

If they balk at either of these two questions then I can’t help them.  This of course was one of those times when I told him no, and that I don’t have a referral to anyone else.

Business Opportunity!

Lindy's Steak House and Saloon. Lindy's is a popular destination bar and restaurant with a robust lunch trade in the bar along with a quiet white napkin dinner menu in the Steak House.

The bar has a warm friendly atmosphere with full Boise City Liquor License, pool tables, seven television sets and several different game tables plus dart competitions. The bar restaurant is open 7 days a week and the Steak House is opened 6 days. The clientele is mostly local and has been very stable.
(View Listing)

Safe and Pet Friendly Properties

The working life of a Realtor and Property manager is rewarding and builds lasting relationships with your clients.  Finding homes in about half of the clients in today’s world involves pets and the right environment.  They should be safe and accessible to your pets. I too manage properties.

That is why I am disturbed, (being a pet lover), when my friend in the River Pointe apartments cat was removed from the premises after being baited and trapped.  The complex boasts pets are accepted. 

It not only is sad her Family was stolen and removed to another area other than turning it over to the humane society, but what happens next? Carefully investigate the property management about pets when you are choosing your living space for you and your pets.

Top 10 turnaround towns

Boise's economy is an offbeat combination of old and new. The logging industry still pays a lot of the bills in town, but tech jobs have also become increasingly prevalent.

In fact, chip maker Micron Technology is Boise's biggest employer, according to the Boise Valley Economic Partnership. And lately, the food industry has heated up, enabling many of the area's agricultural-based companies to pump out increased profits, according to Clark Krause, the organization's executive director.

"We're hopeful that things are turning around," he said. "Even during the bad times, we had a net immigration of people and now there's a lot of new investment in construction and other industries."

That diversity of employers -- and the growing number of jobs they're offering -- is a prime reason this town is starting to stage a comeback.

According to Realtor.com, the number of homes for sale during the fourth quarter fell by 40% compared with a year earlier. That shrinking inventory should help drive home prices higher. Fiserv is forecasting annual home-price appreciation averaging 6.3% over the next five years.

2012 Home buying is back!

If you made it through the last couple of years without complete loss of your fortune, you will probably make it through the rest of the storm.  What does this mean if you want to be a home owner?  It means that the current data shows the economy are picking up slightly and the inventory of listed home are selling at a faster pace.

Now I am one of the biggest skeptics when it comes to following the experts that are trying to make lemons look like lemonade.  There is no doubt however those things are better than the last two years.  I can now see some real time data that provides a much better than normal increase in home sales.  Are we out of the mess?  Probably not, But I see light ahead. 

Buyers now have still low interest rates and all time low home prices.  2012 is probably a flux year for the economy, but home sellers aren’t going to keep prices down forever!