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.