I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to all, I've had a revelation about all this Real Estate. It's a seasonal thing, sometimes it's so busy that I think it will never end and sometimes I think I'll never see the sales but I really like working with people and helping them find their Unique Impression of Alaska. So I keep going, then I find someone from a past sale writes something nice about me and I think, that person was why I kept going to work that winter or that year or that week.  And bless them all they write me a note through Active Rain or another site and I'm so pleased to hear from them that they give me the motivation to continue in this business and I hope it's the same for others.

All I really wanted to say was if this season is getting you down blog a little about it, your bound to hear from someone who you helped and who will make your day, week, or even year.

 

Have you ever felt lost!! have you been loaded down with problems then others pileed on and you just had to keep taking care of things one at a time? Well, that's what kept happening to me this last year.

I've been meaning to blog about my new improved home after the foundation got put in but, new grandsons, and weddings and broken ankles and computer viruses just kept getting me down. So here's the house I showed last year when the foundation was being put in, it's ready now and we had a wedding here this summer. Then, I went to Seward to check on some listings and look what I found in Coopers landing, a nice brown bear who didn't look very worried about all the attention.

 

and the Brown Bear who didn't care.

Well the stimulus plan is in and it's better than the one before. here are some tips to the First Time home buyers out there.

1. A first time home buyer is someone who has not bought or sold a home in at least three years but, that includes your spouse if your married.

2. If you qualify you get an $8,000 tax credit, or 10% of the purchase price which ever is lower. That's money in your pocket, you don't have to repay this if you follow the rules below.

3. You have to buy that home between January1, 2009 and November 30, 2009. ot all taxpayers are elligible and you have to live in the house and not sell for at least 3 years.

4. The tax credit phases out after an individual makes $75,000 or more or $150,000 for a couple for the year.

So What does that mean for Alaskan Residents? more ways to buy a home. We already have some of the finest loan programs in the US and we are not having as much of a problem with our housing market as some other states. Now we have even more reasons to buy a home in Alaska.

This year, While most have finalized and are successfully implementing their resolutions and goals for 2009, I am committing to a "to don't" list - old habits I am quitting or replacing with better ones in the New Year. To that end, in 2009:

      1. I will try to focus on family and friends and Not lose sight of the fact that I can replace my business but not my family and friends. To this end I started on December 16, with a new grandson to ring in the new goals of focus on family more.

      2. I will NOT set unrealistic goals or expectations for myself or others, this is a good one for many of us who have such high expectations of ourselves and others.

      3. I will NOT count on anything before it's closed.

      4. I will NOT fail to give credit where credit is due.

      5. I will NOT take my clients for granted, I will try harder to stay in contact.

      6. I will NOT forget that this real estate market  some say recession,  will pass - and so will the next good one.

      7. I will not stress and neglect my body and health because of important matters regardless of how pressing.

     8. I will remember my ethics regardless of the market conditions.

     9. I will remember to laugh more, do more, live life more than last year.

    10. I will remember that I have a life rich and full with many friends and family members, love and excitment.

And, there is no time more appropriate for me to THANK ALL OF YOU for your business and referrals, your friendships and your blogs that help to ease troubled times and to express to you and yours best wishes for a health, happiness and abundance throughout the New Year.

All my best,

Brandy Washburn

Well folks this summer my husband and I moved out of our house and moved into our 21 ft. motor home next door to ourYhome while the contractors lifted our house and put a new foundation in. You can see by the picture below, it was quite an undertaking. Much better to have it done the right foundation in the beginning and never re model. But, we like our land and the area we live in so there it was. Any way, although the contractors did a wonderful job and we are very pleased with the new foundation and all their work, What got to me was a thing called sticker shock! thats the difference between the Estimate and the end cost! read the fine print, because of te costs of gas and deisel this last summer everything went up and contractors were having a hard time keeping up with the price increases so, some contractors got smart and wrote on their contracts, this is just an estimate the actual job will be cost plus 10% or 15% or what ever to cover the contractors through this high price problem so they wouldn't under estimate a job and have a loss. So, I did have a little sticker shock but look at the difference. During construction and I will send the pictures for after construction later. It's a big job and it's not over.

 

 

The housing market has gone up and down like a roller coaster ride, I get dizzy just watching the news but, somehow that may not be as bad as we think. What if we take the housing market in another state and compare it to our own state? the market may not look so bad now!

All though I've lost a few sales from this housing crises and the stock market problems, there are local banks out there giving loans and helping the economy so, maybe it's not as fast or as open an area for those that probably should look towards a bit more economy in their purchases, it's out there for the buyers, at a good interest rate and this is the time to buy. Buying increases the economy both locally and nationally and re-distributes the wealth! isn't that what one of our Presidential candidates is advocating? So look locally for bank loans and start there, that really does increase the stability of the economy locally as well as globally.

I was feeling pretty rightous and feeling strongly put upon that my loan took so long to close, almost two months. I have no reason to complain!!

     a client has broke the record with a whopping three months and not closed yet because of distances, and the banks demands for more and more information, before they  get a loan, some clients would rather go to the dentist and I can't blame them.

I'm a little city person and the big city people are asking some very unframiliar things for land in this small city, now I'm learning the ropes all over again.

  In some ways this is good in others, it causes a long term hold up in the selling process which if you don't know what the banks are asking for ahead of time becomes very confusing when your client is already confused and trying to tell you what they need done but, the banks and mortgage companies can't talk to you about any of this so it becomes a mess that goes back and forthuntill you think the loan won't go through then it does or they ask for more information!! Is that fair??

no!!! Pulling my hair out here, it's a good thing I have so much or I might go bald.

 

Well! My husband and I started in kenai, from Fairbanks, We built out of pocket and never got a loan. 11 years later we want to do some changes so we are getting a loan, and I now have intimate knowledge of the loan process and the complicated system of the banks & the construction field! ouch!! paper,paper,and more paper, we killed a couple of trees with this transaction and a few brain cells at least for me. Needless to say it's going through but, I was so busy running around getting things done for this personal loan I didn't have much time for anything else. Now it's catch up time until construction, then I'll be living in our 21" motor home for two months and watching out the window and trying not to wince. So when a client tells me they are having a problem getting the loan,  I will be more than sympathetic, I will be empathetic!

This year for Christmas I gave a face lift to my Grandchildren's rooms. I have four and they had moved into the house in August yet, for some reason the twin 4 year old's were still sleeping with mom and dad, and the 9 year old and the 11 year old would play in other rooms of the house?? when  I went there this Christmas I discovered why, the rooms were scary! the walls were off, the drywall and texture was uneven giving the effect of vertigo for the older boys and scary shadows for the younger boys. I guess it's hard to find big houses in Fairbanks!! So here I thought I was only going to paint and decorate then I found I had to add drywalling, mudding, and texturing to my long list. Took me 5 days longer then planed, 1 sick 4 year old in the hospital and out, and lots of hard work, but, twins are sleeping in their own Lightning McQueen theme bedroom, mom & dad are so happy and the big boys have the solar system glow in the dark with flying cars and motorcycles! everyones happy, I even bring home the flue my youngest grandchild had!!

 

Christmas is nearly here and everyone is full of cheer and good wishes, one and all say Happy Holliday's, Season's Greetings on the lips of checkers in grocery stores and even people passing you on the sidewalk.

Where has the tradition of Merry Christmas gone? Yes everyone has to be more politically correct than ever before, new laws and regulations provide for the non-discrimination of all. What worries me is we are regulating everything in our lives to such an extent that no one feels comfortable saying those last two words, Merry Christmas! Heureu Noel!  Feliz Navida, Conten Natale, Froehl Weihna! It's not an insult! I'm not trying to be politically in-correct, you can say Happy Hanuka to me too!  Just a statement of fact, I wish you all joy this Christmas.

 Brandy Washburn