And so it begins.....a New Year.....New Commitments....New Comings and Goings.....New Housing Market.....and our Presidential Elections. I'm excited to have seen the past 4 years in my rear view mirror although I have met some fabulous people and had a great time.
I'm trying to focus on enjoying the moment, something I have sadly lacked in my life. My actual tendency is to fret over meaningless and meaningful details in every aspect of my life and I am determined to seriously reign that tendency in. That fretting in many ways is beneficial to my clients as I'm proactive, detail oriented and conscientious to the extreme. Those tendencies will certainly continue but I am determined to stop the fretting part. Worrying today over things you have no control of today robs of you the strength you need to actually deal with tomorrow. Commonsense and biblical:)
I intend to continue to get in better shape and better health. My husband and I are blessed with continued basically good health but for a few nagging aches and pains, however I intend to lose more weight and work out more often, longer, and with weights! Maybe Zumba is in my future. We'll have to wait and see:)
I will continue to increase my knowledge. When I was a child, I read biographies frequently. One thing I learned is that Miles Keogh's horse was the sole cavalry survivor in the battle of the Little Big Horn with Custer and Sitting Bull. I've been meaning to google that and check the facts as well as my memory. My current trend is to either read real estate articles or suspense/action books. I think I can do better than that. Striving for a balance between escaping and de-stressing and learning is one of my goals.
I will continue to provide my clients with stellar service. I love working with other agents who go out of their way to assist you in providing information or cooperation through transactions. I always strive to be that agent that every other agent wants to work with to a successful conclusion. And I love getting referrals from very satisfied customers. In advance I say thanks to you satisfied customers for sharing my name and work ethic with your friends and family!
I will further develop relationships with my friends. My tendency when I'm done working (which is often 50 - 70 hours/week) is to go home and isolate myself. Well, I do get to spend time with my husband of 35 years, Stephem, but in general, I make sure I get quiet time. I do love my quiet time but if I intend to work on myself as well as my personal relationships with others, I will need to get up and do it. Back to balance.
I intend to give thoughtful consideration to our coming Presidential Elections. I am not tied to either party and think both parties have it right and wrong. Research is in my future, here. I am hoping that America does the same. I'm compassionate, fiscally conservative, and both socially liberal in some ways and conservative in others, and a capitalist who wants everyone to have fabulous opportunities and for us to take really good care of the world around us. You see my dilemma. A middle of the road party would work really well for me. More balance!
I intend to continue to work for various projects in our community...via Rotary and the YMCA. Those organizations do a lot of worthy things for our community and I am very supportive of those efforts and actually involved in many volunteer hours. While I will continue to do that this year....well, back to balance!
And finally, last but not least, I wish you all a fabulous 2012 and look forward to sharing with you all a wonderful journey full of financial stability, excellent relationships, and fun, fun, fun!
Happy New Year!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Check out this story:Monday, September 26, 2011
Wells!
If you are interested in a well, and I personally have one, keep in mind that you will have to do maintenance on them....
Dug Concrete Cased wells should have the water tested probably once every six months. If there are coliforms in the well, then you will need to clean and treat the water. If that is an ongoing issue, you may have to purchase a treatment system. There are a variety of treatment systems out there that are effective and should be considered.
Dug wells have more issues typically because they're shallower than drilled wells and so often have surface water as part of the water that goes to your house. Sometimes they're deep enough to have access to an aquifer.
Drilled wells usually require less maintenance but you should always be aware that it is important to maintain your wells.
And when you buy property, or if you need more information about your current well, I will refer you to well experts to examine, test, run flow tests, and recommend the best treatment systems for your well water.
Dug Concrete Cased wells should have the water tested probably once every six months. If there are coliforms in the well, then you will need to clean and treat the water. If that is an ongoing issue, you may have to purchase a treatment system. There are a variety of treatment systems out there that are effective and should be considered.
Dug wells have more issues typically because they're shallower than drilled wells and so often have surface water as part of the water that goes to your house. Sometimes they're deep enough to have access to an aquifer.
Drilled wells usually require less maintenance but you should always be aware that it is important to maintain your wells.
And when you buy property, or if you need more information about your current well, I will refer you to well experts to examine, test, run flow tests, and recommend the best treatment systems for your well water.
The neighborhood counts!
When you're looking for a house, always ALWAYS give consideration to the neighborhood for resale value. Houses in great neighborhoods can sell faster, and for a higher price if their LOCATION and AREA are outstanding.
Check this link out:
Article
Check this link out:
Article
Monday, August 1, 2011
Did we avert a real estate disaster?
Debt Deal Reached, Disaster Avoided?
President Barack Obama and congressional leaders late Sunday announced they had reached a compromise in the debt ceiling crisis, just in time to meet an Aug. 2 deadline. However, the deal still awaits full congressional approval, which is expected later today.
The compromise reached Sunday night among Republicans and Democrats would raise the government’s debt ceiling and trim $2.4 trillion in long-term spending. The deal, if approved, would avoid a first-ever government default.
Many real estate professionals have been eyeing the news closely as lawmakers have frantically tried to reach a solution to the debt ceiling crisis over the past few weeks. Real estate pros say that their indecision had already been impacting their business.
Some real estate professionals had reported they were seeing a decrease in buyers in the last few weeks as more homebuyers were opting to wait on the sidelines for the debt crisis fallout and see what happened with mortgage rates. Other real estate pros actually reported a spike as some buyers were rushing to beat the clock and lock-in mortgage rates before they rose.
The federal government needed to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by an Aug. 2 deadline or risk defaulting on its debts, which would send interest rates soaring — and continuing to soar since a higher debt ceiling could devalue the U.S. dollar, analysts have said.
"Most people don't realize that [interest rates are] the big money saver, not the $10,000 you weigh holding out for on the home,” Stewart Karstens with Windermere told KING 5 News in Seattle. “It’s the 30 years at saving $120 a month, is the biggie.”
On Friday, the National Association of REALTORS® urged lawmakers to resolve the debt crisis before the Aug. 2 deadline because the uncertainty was hurting home sales.
By REALTOR® Magazine Online
Friday, May 20, 2011
Great Post from my friend David Miller-Wells Fargo
What better time to purchase a new home than now? That is a question that we are asking our customers as we see the fantastic home values that are available right now along with the historically low interest rates. As people like Brian Buffini (who has the largest real estate training and coaching company in North America) says "this is one of the most affordable times to purchase a home in the last 40 years with the rare combination of low home prices and low interest rates at the same time".
I will never forget when I was doing mortgage loans in the the 1980's when home loan rates hit 17.50%. You can imagine how low today's interest rates look to me today when they are in the mid 4.00% range, Wow!
To give you an example, I have attached a graph that shows how affordable homes are right now when combining price and interest rates together. As you can see, based on an 80% loan of the median sales priced home in King County in 2006 and the average 30 year fixed rate conventional loan, the principal and interest payment was $1,928.63. This compares to a principal and interest payment of $1,456.44 based on the averages in 2010. This is a staggering difference of $472.19 per month.
Here are some other factors to consider:
1. At some point home values are going to go up and we don't usually know when the bottom of the market was until it is several months later.
2. At some point interest rates are going to go up and we don't know when that is going to be? Interest rates go up much faster than they go down. Two years ago I saw rates go up .75% in two days and it took a very long time before they went back down to lower levels. The government has indicated that they can't continue to hold down interest rates forever. Waiting for home prices to possibly decline further could lead to a substantially higher monthly payment as a result of a higher interest rate even if the sales price does go down some. .
3. The temporary high balance loan amounts for FHA and Conventional loans is set to expire on September 30th, 2011. We don't know if this will get extended and if it is extended we have heard rumors that the maximum loan amounts may be reduced? Right now, in King County the maximum loan amount for an FHA loan with only a 3.5% down payment or a Conventional loan with a 10% down payment is $567,500. If this doesn't get extended then the Conventional and FHA loan limit could be as low as $417,000. That means that the only way to borrow more than $417,000 would be with a Non-Conforming "Jumbo" loan that would require a minimum down payment of 20% and probably have a higher interest rate as well. Many of the old first and second mortgage combination loans will only go to 80% to 85% now days.
As you can see, prospective home buyers have a wonderful "window of opportunity" when purchasing a home today. We are helping create wonderful success stories out there in assisting happy customers get into that great new home and "seize the opportunity" of buying that neat new home. Please let me know how I can assist you and your clients to take advantage of this opportunity for them to own that first home or the next home for them or if they should have any questions regarding home mortgages and how easy home buying can be today? Thank You.
"Loans with Honesty, Integrity and Trust"
| David L. Miller Home Mortgage Consultant Leaders Club Member Wells Fargo Home Mortgage 10900 N.E. 8th Street #1430 Bellevue, WA 98004 425.468.8680 Tel 800.643.0528 x 8680 Toll Free 866.746.5887 eFax david.miller@wellsfargo.com http://www.wfhm.com/david-miller2  |  |
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