Catch It While You Can. If you bought a home after April 9, 2008 or purchase one before July 1st, 2009.
There could be a tax credit of $7,500 waiting for you.
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Not long ago first time home buyers had the opportunity to purchase a home with zero down (no down payment). Setting aside whether this has contributed to our current mortgage melt-down, there were many buyers who benefited from such loans and would never have been able to purchase a home without them.
Now that such loans no longer exist (due to the inability to obtain mortgage insurance on such loans) the only options today are the “Seller Down Payment Assistance Programs”. The two prominent ones being the Nehemiah and the Ameridream.
Gas prices are continuing to go up, and we are starting to see some real changes in consumer behaviors here in Portland. People are buying smaller cars, over large SUVs and trucks. But the rising energy prices also affect where and how people choose to live and buy Real Estate. Here are a few things that we like to look out for our energy-conscious real estate clients.
1. How far is your desired home away from all the places that you need to go frequently. Your work, your kids’ school, the airport or even your relatives’ homes. Also, is there public transportation nearby that can get you around?
2. How big is your desired home, and do you really need all that space? Begin planning how you’re going to use the space even while you’re in the home buying process.
3. Is your new home well insulated. A well-insulated home can shave hundreds off your heating and air conditioning bill.
If gas prices continue to rise, this list will probably continue to grow.
We initially posted a summary style comment/blog entry on the article “Portland Home Values Take First Dip” that was on the front page of the Oregonian on March 26th 2008. I want to further comment on this. Specifically I want to address, or rather point out, the media’s effect on the market and how this article is a great example of the problems we’re seeing.
As Realtors in Portland, we work with other Realtors, lenders and other real estate industry professionals every day. Whenever a conversation turns to the current market conditions we find most of us hold the same opinion about the media’s role in this market; they are a big part of the problem.
Is inventory high? Sure it is. Are prices falling? Sure they are. Nationally it really is a tough market, locally in Portland the real estate market is down, but not out. And thus what we hear from the media both locally and nationally is “the sky is falling!!!”…it’s not.
We are in a market that’s not good for sellers, prices are down, inventory is high, homes aren’t selling like they use to - all bad right? Wrong…bad for sellers, great for buyers!
The media is just hammering the presses with bad news piled on bad news with regards to the real estate market and the “mortgage meltdown” when in reality that is only half the truth and only covers half the activity in the market. What we aren’t hearing from the media is that rates are low, the selection of homes is excellent, first time home buyers that have saved up a little cash still have a good selection of loan programs to choose from, prices are low…All of these conditions make for an ideal buyers market. Unfortunately we are not hearing that from the media.
The doom and gloom reporting the media is currently engaged in is scaring buyers away, it’s translating to “stay away from real estate or else…” at a time when we need to be encouraging buyer activity to reduce the inventory. To balance a high inventory market we need to increase demand and the media is working against that goal.
If the media wants to see this real estate market slump continue then they are doing a great job to that end. If, however, those in the media would like to see the market, and our economy, recover faster they should consider becomming part of the solution. There is good news out there to be shared, report it.
More and more we are hearing from our lenders that loan programs, especially for first time home buyers, are disappearing. 100% financing, 95% financing, even stated income programs are becoming endangered if not extinct. Don’t let this prevent you from taking advantage of the current buyer’s market; there are still great programs available. Although the 100% financing options have disappeared, in it’s place we have the revived FHA program without the strict qualifications and requirements it demanded years prior, when combined with the down payment assistance program you essentially have the same 100% financing. Even an FHA loan without the down payment assistance program is still a great option, with only 3% down compared to the 15%-20% down payments we saw required years prior. Although lending options are changing almost daily, there are numerous programs available that include both low rates and fixed interest.
If you are a first time home buyer, now is your time. No one can predict when the loan programs we’ve been seeing over the last few years will be available again, it’s been decades since we’ve had programs even remotely close to these, so an educated guess is it could be a VERY long time before we see these programs again.
Now is the time to make your move~
TECHNOLOGY IS KEY:
We have brought over a decades worth of experience utilizing the latest technology into our methodology of selling real estate, some examples below:
• Our Office is
• Our Website is Useful: Our website is light-weight; that is we don’t use all the flashy stuff that other sites use that cause the website to seemingly take forever to load; thus the site is fast. It’s useful because it allows anyone to search everything listed in
• Internet & Software Resource Utilization: we utilize technology in every way possible from the home locating process, throughout the transaction and escrow process and in the advertisement of our listings including print, television and a massive internet advertising campaign. This helps me to be efficient, thorough, organized, and productive and also facilitates a smooth transaction process for our clients to produce great results!
IT’S BOTH WHO YOU KNOW and WHAT YOU KNOW:
We have many affiliations in the Portland Oregon Real Estate Community. We come from a real estate family. Having relatives that are successful real estate brokers has introduced me to a lot of professionals and their tips for success. Knowing the right people makes all the difference to a seller or a buyer…
• We Have Several Lenders that WE Work With: Each lender has his or her own strengths. Example:
• Tere Mauer can pre-approve in just 15 minutes, she’s efficient, fast, and dependable and if she says she can do it, she does it.
• Seth Warren, specializes in investment financing
• We Have a Team of Contractors WE Work With: They are inexpensive, diversified, and work under much expedited situations
• We Have a Natural Sense For The Industry: Coming from a family of real estate brokers, WE not only have a natural sense for the real estate industry but we have channels in which to share and learn more about real estate on a daily basis. we learn from experiences as well as the experiences of other agents working in the Industry.
• We Work With a Network of Real Estate Agents in Other Areas. If you aren’t sure
WHAT We THINK A BUYER or SELLER VALUES THE MOST:
• We Answer the Phone: This is something that has proven to be incredibly important as a Realtor; just plain answering the phone every time. On the rare occasion that you get one of our voicemails, you can expect a call back almost immediately.
• You Have Our Full Attention: Whether you’re buying a home for $100,000 or $1,000,000 our attention to detail during your transaction is equally important to me as is your repeat and referral business.
• We’re Flexible: Thanks to our mobile office and that we’re available 24×7, we tend to be very flexible
• We’re Honest, Ethical & a Professional: We want to build our success with great referrals and the only way We can do that is by getting you to recommend us to others and keep me as your Realtor for life!
• As Little Stress as Possible: We know buying or selling a home is stressful for most people, but it doesn’t have to be. We believe in ensuring our clients know the process by educating them through the process of buying or selling a home to reduce the stress that can be generated by unwelcome surprises, others dropping the ball etc. We do this by simply staying on top of things, making sure lenders, other Realtors involved etc are doing what needs to be done to ensure a smooth transaction all behind the scenes so our client never has to worry; we do the worrying for you. We solve problems or come up with solutions to problems BEFORE making the problem known to our client if and when possible; this helps to reduce stress if you know there is an answer that will work right off the bat.
IN SUMMARY:
If you’re looking for quality Portland homes, then you’ve come to the right place. West Linn homes , Fairview homes , Gresham Real Estate , whatever you’re looking for you can search conveniently any of the
We’re a reputable Coldwell Banker Realtor in
As is the case with Realtors it is also true with lenders, pick the person not the company. A good lender will always be affiliated with a good company, but they may not always be affiliated with the same company.
The lender I rely on the most just switched companies and it doesn’t bother me a bit…Why? Because I know HER, I know her and trust that the company she is now affiliated with is a good company with outstanding resources. Regardless of what company she’s working for I know I can rely on her to get things done, be ethical, honest, professional and really do what’s in my clients best interest at all times. We welcome you to view our preferred lenders.
When I first got into real estate I cannot tell you how many buyers I would work with that once they identified the home they wanted, they then said “Now we need to find out if we can buy it” only to find out they couldn’t. This taught me a valuable lesson in real estate, to always talk to a buyer about financing before I start showing them homes.
I do not do this to keep from wasting my time, I do this to keep these buyers from being let down; I want them to know for sure what they can afford so when they find something in that range, they KNOW they can buy it. There’s nothing worse than getting all excited about a home you just love only to have a lender tell you that you do not qualify for financing to buy it.
If you are in the situation where you do not qualify for financing, do NOT give up.
Just because you do not qualify now doesn’t mean you never will, in most cases if you work with a GOOD lender (I know a few that I use regularly), they will help you and guide you through the process of getting things in order be it your credit, debt etc and usually can get you into a pre-approved status in 6 months to a year.
Pick the PERSON not the company. It really doesn’t matter what company you pick when buying a home, all of the brokerage firms and Realtors out there generally have access to the same resources, it’s the person you pick that matters.
What Makes a Good Realtor?
Pick someone that always answers their phone and when they cannot answer it for whatever reason, calls you back quickly (not hours or days, minutes!). You also want to make sure this person stays on top of things. For instance, you identify a home you are interested in but have a few more to see on another day…
You shouldn’t even have to ask, your Realtor should know to get in touch with the listing agent on that home immediately to request that they be kept in the loop so to speak as to any activity on that property. The reason for this is simple, once an offer comes in and is accepted, that’s it, the home is off the market and you just lost it. Be sure to pick a Realtor that won’t let this happen to you.
Excessive knowledge
If you sense that your Realtor doesn’t know the answer to a question your asking and is just guessing they should either flat tell you “my guess would be [this or that], but I will find out for sure and get back to you” or they should say “I do not know, I will find out and get back to you on that”. If you have a Realtor that seems to have all the answers off the bat, use caution there because unless they are the listing agent on that particular home chances are you are going to ask some questions they do not know the answer to and a good Realtor will always be honest and say “I don’t know, but I will find out”.
Legal (or potentially legal) Q & A
A Realtor should never be giving legal advice, the only conversation that could be remotely thought of as legal advice that are ok for a Realtor to talk about would be on the subjects pertinent to sales agreements, disclosures and other forms, documents and processes involved in the home purchase process. An example of about as far as a Realtor can go with speaking about legal issues is a conversation where you and a seller have a disagreement on x, y or z a Realtor can inform/remind you that the sales agreement specifies arbitration and mediation for conflict resolution and that in that event you should contact a lawyer; anything more specific than that is in most cases considered an ethical violation because you are looking to them for professional advice (real estate) and being a Realtor that person is not a Lawyer yet is attempting to provide legal advice as if they were a lawyer. That is a a big ethical violation in the world of being a Real Estate Broker.
That’s right, when buying a home using a Realtor is free, so I am not just saying that because I am a Realtor, I am saying that because having a professional find the right home for you, negotiate the purchase and manage the transaction process for you is FREE to you.
Why is it free?
It’s the commission structure Realtors work on, specifically here in Portland and surrounding areas; some states areas differ, but most are similar in commission structure. Even though a Realtor does not cost the buyer a dime, that Realtor still has a fiduciary duty to you their client which requires extreme loyalty to the person to whom the duty is owed (a Realtors client whether it be buyer or seller). For more on this, give me a call and I’ll tell you about it.