Keely's Blog

Just opened a property management division and. . .

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:35:43 -0500

I'm mulling over ideas as to how to best market our services.

I've ordered labels for absentee owners from my favorite title company to send our postcard (and special offer of half off our fee for life for new clients in 2008).

I'm looking for some ideas, NOTHING has been as helpful to me as ActiveRain when I have questions such as this so I thought I'd give it a try.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

All the best in this difficult market,

Keely Jared

Broker/Owner

RE/MAX Metro Associates

AND

K2 Property Management

Which blog service is 'the best'?

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:06:21 -0500

I've been using Blogger but have tried to migrate to TypePad with limited success and even more limited support from their help desk.

I am trying to find out which service you like the best! I want something as robust as possible (cost isn't a factor). Let me know and thank you in advance!

PS: My biggest problem is trying to move my posts over to a new service.

Washington’s Unemployment Rate Hits 4.9%

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:42:11 -0500

Restaurants and bars account for much of the unemployment increase, so get to dining out and hitting Happy Hour when you can! The housing and mortgage industries have also obviously seen a drop in employment; lenders cut approximately 2,000 jobs since March 2007. However, analysts claim March's figures are more a ‘correction' than anything else and that while the market may be stagnant it shouldn't get worse; in fact, the non-residential sector has added 500 jobs since March 2007 which helps offset the real estate job market.

Short Sales Part ?

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:50:50 -0500

Commonly used in the real estate downturn of the early 1990s, is the "short sale," which works like this: A homeowner falls behind on his or her mortgage payments, usually due to a job loss, rising debt payments, divorce, or what have you. Facing a situation in which the home value has fallen and cannot be sold for the amount of the mortgage owed, the homeowner works out a deal with the lender to sell the home for whatever the market will bear. If the amount of the sale is for less than the amount owed on the mortgage, the lender gets the proceeds and discharges the remaining debt. The homeowner will have to leave the house as soon as it is sold.

Alternatively, with a foreclosure, homeowners who can no longer make payments are served with a notice of foreclosure, which essentially informs them to either bring the loan current or face the home being taken over and sold at a public auction, after which the homeowner will face eviction proceedings.

My office has put together a website detailing what our short sale specialists are able to do for people in this situation (including giving the seller a rebate on commission earned assuming the bank ends up paying a commission - sometimes they do not).

Not all lenders will accept short sales or discounted payoffs, but with the housing market in the state it's in, lenders have been forced to be more flexible where it makes sense.

Not all lenders will negotiate a short sale, our office can offer tremendous help in successfully contacting the lender and negotiating on your behalf, with your lender's loss mitigation department.

Please check out the site and let me know if you or someone you know would like more information on short selling.

http://www.washortsaleassistance.com/

Keely Jared (formerly Balfour), ABR

Broker/Owner

RE/MAX Metro Associates

Voted Seattle magazine's "Best in Client Satisfaction" 2005 & 2006

direct: 206-909-3600

fax: 206-368-6872

www.keelyjared.com

More on the (Seattle) mortgage messiness. . .

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:23:00 -0500

WAMU no longer doing wholesale loans, all of their brokers have been laid off.

First Horizon, Countrywide, and many others are no longer doing HELOC's (Home Equity Lines of Credit, also called 2^nd's as in second mortgages, got it? ;-) I recognize that I get verbose in my explanations!

Both of those companies (and others) have frozen their current HELOC's, two of my closest friends and property owners have been ‘locked out' of their HELOC's whereby they can no longer draw money from it, guess it pays to completely pull out all of your equity if you have a current HELOC and still can.

Should you need to originate a new 2^nd/HELOC, the best options are BECU (Boeing Employee's Credit Union) and Key Bank. Get ‘em while you still can!

As I have likely reiterated here before the stats are that buyers who a year ago, could have bought a home no problem, now have no way to obtain a feasible mortgage which is the number one reason I believe there has been any stall in our market. Our homes are still selling, just - not - quickly.

Redfin fined $25,000

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:16:14 -0500

Apparently Redfin was fined $25,000 just recently by the NWMLS for multiple violations like - advertising agent's listings without their permission - etc.

Ouch.

Anyone had to deal with Chase Mortgage on a Short Sale?

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:42:01 -0500

I am dealing with them for the first time, in a short sale situation. I have a client/seller, who has asked for my help in negotiating a short sale with Chase. Fair enough, but I've had 4 offers now for going on two months with NO RESPONSE from Chase.

I call EVERY day, I fax the 40 page short sale package EXACTLY to their standards, once a week. I ask to speak to supervisors. I leave voicemails, all to NO avail.

Sigh.

Anyone else have experience with Chase? I've done short sales but NEVER have I had such a lack of follow up or follow through.

They did extend the foreclosure date for me for 3 months but the sale date is now scheduled for April 18th and still no response from them on our offers.

Short sale listing - preforeclosure

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 10:12:53 -0600

I have a short sale listing - the bank is will to consider all offers. I am eager to get it sold and our market (although soft) is not as bad of as many others.

I am pushing this to investors (and everyone else), just wondering how YOU guys market your short sales?

www.845condos.com

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:53:41 -0600

Check out these fabulous condos my brother (and business partner) has listed! There is a $3,500 buyer bonus and the units come with a 42" flat panel LCD HDTV for offers accepted before 12/31.

This is a GREAT time to buy (either for yourself or as an investment) and 30 year fixed rates just dropped to their lowest point in the last two years!!

www.845condos.com

BIG LOTS?

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:45:32 -0600

MOST of my buyers want a yard, they usually request a yard bigger than they end up being happy with (I'm proof of that myself), but when it comes to real estate investments, more land is never a bad thing, at the least it affords you flexibility to expand the existing structure. However, when it comes to appreciation, there really isn't much difference in a house with a large lot versus a small one (unless there is the ability to sub-divide/short plat, and sell off a piece of the property).

So a home on a 12,000 sq. ft. lot that is comparable to a home on a 6,000 sq. ft. lot will typically sell for and appreciate at the same rate as, the other.

Good stuff!

Hello fellow RE/MAX'ers!

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:50:33 -0600

How do I 'sign up' for this group?

I am a RE/MAX Broker/Owner in Seattle.

Much thanks!

Keely

Show us what you're workin' with!

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 20:52:40 -0600

Hey y'all. Anyone heard of a "Yield Spread Premium"? Probably not but you may be PAYING for one! A Yield Spread Premium (YSP) is the cash rebate paid to a mortgage broker based on selling an interest rate ABOVE the wholesale par rate that the borrower qualifies for. So a YSP compensates a broker for charging you a higher rate than you actually qualify for. Nice huh? Well there is quite some debate going on right now about YSP's because the U.S. House of Representatives are considering a bill that would outlaw YSP's.

While brokers are expected to disclose their YSP, if they have one, it's typically found NOT in the debit or credit column of your property's settlement statement but as a line item of it's own in the ‘title' column, many times its listed as POC (paid at closing) and while it's TRUE you aren't ‘actually' paying it, you are in the way of a higher rate than you were able to actually get.

I review each and every one of my clients settlement statements (HUD's) as soon as they are prepared by escrow BEFORE closing to find this kind of stuff. Take a look back at your HUD(s) and let me know if you find a YSP/POC total!

Thankfully brokers are forced to disclose these things (hence the blog title) but in the future YSP's may become a distant memory.

PS: There are instances where a YSP is really the only way a broker can get compensated from what I understand and I would appreciate any mortgage brokers commenting here on this issue! Thank you in advance!

Suze Orman suggests moving to Seattle for the real estate market, on Oprah

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 22:43:26 -0500

Suze Orman suggests moving to Seattle for the real estate market, on Oprah

This was on Oprah Winfrey this week, here is the link. . .

http://www2.oprah.com/money/credit/slide/200710/credit_20071018_284_106.jhtml

Suze says she cataloged the horrors of Felice and Phil's finances not to make them give up hope, but to make them understand just how important change is. "Nobody has a magic wand," she says. "All we have is the magic within our own souls to do that which we can do and deal with reality. You have now created a reality for yourself and your families that you are not going to be able to buy yourself out of."

First, Suze says Felice has to get a job immediately with an employer that will offer health insurance to her entire family. Suze suggests Starbucks®, because they offer health benefits to part-time workers.

The next step is to get a life insurance policy for Phil. "If anything happens to this man, you are going to be on the street, you're not going to be able to feed your kids," Suze tells Felice. Suze recommends a 10-year level term insurance policy.

Suze's final step is the most drastic. Suze tells Felice and Phil they must sell their California home and move to Seattle, Washington. With a booming housing market and high-tech industry, Suze says Seattle is particularly well suited to both Felice and Phil's strengths-Phil is a computer contractor and Felice was once a mortgage broker.

Thank you Rachel Rosen for bringing this to my attention. Goes to show how robust and healthy our local job market is!

Interesting graphical representation of credit scores. . .

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:44:11 -0500

Get the facts straight. . .

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:12:27 -0500

Okay I copied that from a pamphlet I got from the Board of Realtors so sorry to be obnoxious in my header but it seems to get more attention! In any case, my agents have been asking me at each and every sales meeting why NAR (the National Association of Realtors) hasn't made more of an effort to tell the local populace WHAT our market is doing and reminding them how and WHY it is a GREAT time to buy. So finally, being a Director on the local Board of Realtors, I've become privy to some great info, our local NAR organization IS planning a series of commercials to better inform all of us as to the state of our market. Seattle is a pocket community that's in many ways immune to the rest of the country's markets (most coastal cities reflect this phenomenon). SO, here are some stats for you to chew over. . .

•1. Foreclosure rates today are the same as they were 10 years ago.

•2. Fewer than 1% of mortgages end in default in Washington state.

•3. As of mid-June, sub-prime, adjustable-rate loans represented 20 percent of all loans nationally, but just 6 percent of home loans in Washington.

•4. Home appreciation in Washington continues to out perform the rest of the nation with year to year price increases every quarter since the spring of 1995.

Our state's population is continuing to increase at 1.8% per year and we can thank companies like Boeing and Microsoft for helping us to maintain such a solid local job market which is forecasted to continue to bring in more and more transplants each and every year.

One MAJOR problem facing us at this point is the incredible LACK of affordable housing - which forces many families to take on more debt, or a longer commute, than they would otherwise need to. We need to provide a variety of home choices to meet changing market demands and this is a high priority for the Seattle King County Association of Realtors - we are currently advancing state legislation that will ensure our communities provide a variety of affordable housing options to accommodate growth, and we are promoting better land usage such as cottage home communities and the allowance of increased accessory dwelling units.

We feel the pain of our local market but also celebrate it's diverse opportunities for real estate as an investment vehicle and our solid job market!

It's time to put out!

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:43:06 -0500

The market has slowed CONSIDERABLY. SO, it's more important than ever that agents PUT OUT (pun intended). If that means cleaning, painting, storing your pet rats at my house, so be it. This market ain't for sissies and if your agent isn't stepping up, they should! Sellers need to take great care that their properties are kept immaculately clean. (Q-Tip clean I like to call it.) Not only that, but it's imperative to have all the little peccadillo's about your home fixed (those cabinets that don't align perfectly, that outlet that doesn't work, the damaged closet door, etc).
On top of that, all interior areas should be 'neutralized' which is a stager's way of saying REMOVE YOUR PERSONAL JUNK! Of course your things aren't garbage, but they are a distraction to buyers so store them away if you can. The less cluttered your house appears (even closets) can make all the difference, and allows buyers to picture themselves living in what has up until now been, only space for you and yours.
What things about your home make it stand out from the competition? Play up those features (closet systems, air conditioning etc - pools however are as much a detraction in our area as they are an asset so a pool adds essentially no value to your home). Speaking of competition, ensure that your agent keeps you posted as to new comparable listings coming to market within a mile radius of your home. As soon as I take a listing, I set up a new MLS search so that anytime new homes come to market that could be considered competition to my seller's we are all aware of it right away and can work to ensure our house shows BETTER than the other!
For a list of things 'to do' to ensure your home shows it's best, shoot me an email, I'd be glad to email you back with several suggestions!

NY Times Article

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:33:56 -0500

No Housing Woes In Booming Washington State By REUTERS

Filed at 11:10 a.m. ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - While California suffers in the housing crisis, the economy of nearby Washington state is flourishing with strong job growth and some of the highest appreciation in home prices in the nation.

The outlook for Washington's economy is bright because so many people are moving there in response to help-wanted advertisements. Seattle, the state's biggest city, is an especially hot job market, boosting confidence of sustained growth.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc., for instance, sees few obstacles to turning Seattle's South Lake Union area into a thriving residential neighborhood, given Washington state's economic strength.

Lori Mason Curran, market research manager at Vulcan Real Estate, expects 135,000 people will move into the Seattle market over the next five years, propelling demand for housing that Vulcan's property unit is building in South Lake Union.

Vulcan Real Estate's foray into building office property in the industrial and warehouse area "on spec," or without guarantees of leases, will also pay off because of healthy population and job growth, she predicts.

"Seattle is really, really strong on both fronts," she told Reuters during a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Brisk hiring, especially by manufacturers, builders and software companies, is propelling that growth, said Victor Moore, the state's budget director.

"It's the high-paying industries ... There's been a steady demand from employers," Moore said.

Their growth is helping Washington, unlike California and some other states, put aside concerns about a housing slump, at least for the near term, added state Treasurer Michael Murphy.

"With employment really strong, there is less likelihood of having defaults on mortgages," he said, noting Washington's housing sector is avoiding contagion from mortgage market turmoil arising from "subprime" borrowers unable to make their loan payments.

In contrast, the foreclosure rate in nearby California, whose motto is the Golden State, surged to the second highest in the nation in August, according to a report released on Tuesday by RealtyTrac, a leading real estate data provider.

U.S. residential construction fell to a 12-year low in August, according to a government report showing a 2.6 percent drop in housing starts. The data was released on Wednesday before Wall Street's opening bell. In the Northeast, housing starts slid 37.7 percent in August, while in the West, housing starts fell 18.4 percent, the Commerce Department said.

STRENGTH ACROSS THE STATE

While growing payrolls keep Washington's housing market intact, they are also swelling state coffers.

ChangMook Sohn, chief economist for Washington's Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, projects $281.5 million more than initially expected for the state's 2005-2007 and 2007-2009 budget periods -- raising the state surplus to more than $1.5 billion -- thanks to continued strength in housing from strong payroll growth across the state.

"This is the third year of achieving about 3 percent job increases," Sohn said, adding that Seattle-area payrolls are growing at a torrid annual rate of 3.8 percent.

Major area employers such as Boeing Co. <BA.N> and Microsoft Corp. <MSFT.O> are expanding payrolls, as well as companies involved in international trade, as exports gain momentum on the dollar's weakness.

"Everyone expects more containers to come," said Port of Seattle spokesman David Schaefer, noting port officials are putting together plans to double the number of shipping containers the port handles from about 2 million annually.

With demand and prices for agricultural products up, farm-rich eastern Washington is also fueling the state's good times.

"In the Spokane and Pullman areas, economists are saying they're seeing glory days," Sohn said.

HOT TIMES ON THE HOME FRONT

Washington's varied strengths make the Puget Sound region centered on Seattle a top market for Costco Wholesale Corp. <COST.O> and an obvious region for expansion, said Jim Sinegal, the company's president and chief executive.

The Issaquah, Washington, warehouse club operator plans to open another store in the Puget Sound market this fall and has four more "on the charts" for the region because of its growth prospects and confident consumers, Sinegal said.

"Full employment and good wages make it desirable to have a 50-inch (television) set," Sinegal said.

Washington's broad economic strength is underscored by housing markets across the state, said Keitaro Matsuda, an economist with Union Bank of California. He noted that Wenatchee, Washington, notched the nation's best annual home-price appreciation in the second quarter among local markets -- up 23.5 percent -- and four other Washington markets, including Seattle and Spokane, made the top 20 list.

"When you look at its numbers, there aren't too many things that are going wrong with Washington's economy," Matsuda said.

Fitch Ratings revised the state's rating outlook to "positive" from "stable" on September 4, citing its robust economy and resilient housing market -- a contrast to California, whose economy is slowing amid tumbling home sales.

"They don't have the real estate issues California has," said Richard Raphael, a Fitch executive managing director.

Modern Craftsman near Martha Lake

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:00:05 -0500

Almost 3000 square feet (includes a MIL unit over the detached 2 car garage, perfect for a home office or currently rents out at $700 a month).

$489k OBO!! 4 bedroom, 3.25 baths, effective year built 2004, GREAT VALUE!

915 180th St SW (just off of Larch Way in Lynnwood by Martha Lake)

http://www.seattlehomefinder.com/listings/detail.php?lid=40217135&&&PHPSESSID=2e2466d8993c2d445a097b698ec94964

Listings; so many houses, so little offers! Tips on getting SOLD. . .

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 19:52:43 -0500

Our poor, distraught and disappointed sellers - all having to deal with the agony of having a house for sale with barely any showings and not an offer for weeks on end, what are they to do? Psychologists see a similar phenomena when parents divorce and the children are convinced it's their fault, my sellers are SURE it's their fault when their property doesn't generate an offer in the first week it's for sale. They wrack their brains and wring their hands, they move furniture from here to there and back again, they clean and scrub and scrub and clean, they hire stagers and stare longingly at the new listings popping up each day that THEY would love to be able to move to, if only theirs would sell.

I get asked at least daily (usually by one of my agents) what can be done to get movement on their listing(s). Often time more 'old school' marketing efforts are required (newspaper advertising, open houses and the like) and sometimes there is an opportunity for a specialized marketing effort.

When I say a 'specialized marketing effort' I mean a strategic direct marketing campaign targeted to the buyer(s) most likely to offer on your property. First you must determine who your house is likely to attract; what was YOUR life situation when you bought your home? Were you a single professional, a growing family, downsizing? Did you want to live in your neighborhood for a particular school for the kids, or because it was close to your office?

Once you have determined answers to these types of questions, a buyer 'template' starts to form and from there you can market to your most likely buyer candidates.

So, if you bought your house in order to be within a certain school district or school, consider advertising within the particular school or schools, place property fliers on the hallway bulletin boards, ask for ad space within the school newsletter, send letters to the families in the school directory about your home.

If a single professional is likely to be interested in your type of home, consider placing property fliers in and around the local corporation campuses and common areas in the buildings (with permission of course, and it never hurts to actually work for one of these companies yourself!)

It can always be argued that price is the main factor in whether or not a house sells, and/or how quickly it sells but which agent is willing to ask their seller for a price drop without exhausting every other potential option, right? Once you've run through every possible property promotion known to man, and if your sellers aren't amenable to being on the market for what might be a very long time, then price is truly where the ‘buck stops'. It's the last best way to move a property. Market time and price have a positive relationship, the longer a property is on the market is all the more evidence it being overpriced.

A formula to consider is as follows (and is a direct quote from a publication on pricing homes) "Homes priced correctly have a 95 percent chance of selling; 15 percent over market a 20 percent chance of selling; 10 percent over market a 30 percent chance of selling; 5 percent over market a 50 percent chance of selling; and at market value, a 95 percent chance of selling.

Another thing I'm seeing more of as our market continues to settle is a rise in the co-op commission percentage. Just recently, at the behest of one of my sellers, I increased the sales office commission on their listing from 3%-4% in the hopes that eager buyer's agents will ‘sell' this listing over it's competitors, but will that work? My sellers and I are of the mind set that we should try just about anything and everything we can so that they are able to get into a property better suited to them. While some folks question this method, anything is worth a shot when you are that seller, wracking your brain, and wringing your hands. I'll be sure to report back with the feedback we receive on this matter.

For the meantime, those sellers who plan to sell AND buy, can take comfort that what they may lose by a price drop on their own property for instance, will likely be made up in what they WON'T have to spend on their new house. If you end up dropping the price on your listing 20k, it's likely the sellers of your next home are having to make a similar concession so we can hope it all balances out.

It's actually a GREAT time to buy. . .

RE/MAX Metro Associates & K2 Property Management — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:53:40 -0500

All of the negative publicity on the current state of the mortgage industry has had at least one (potentially) favorable fall-out, the Federal Reserve's decision to lower rates. Another rate cut is set to happen this next week although there is debate about how big of a cut to expect.

30 year fixed rates are below 6% and could be cut even further, so for once in the past 7 years I am actually advising my current buyers to look to 30 year fixed loan products! For many of us (and most of us) on ARM's that are scheduled to tick up and up and UP, it could be a great time to consider refinancing to a 30 year fixed (assuming your savings to do so would more than make up for any costs to refinance), although I would wait until the end of the month in the event of another rate cut. Rates certainly won't rise at this point.

The impact of rate cuts are highly debated since the effect on the economy can be both positive and negative. Should the Fed cut rates ‘too' much, investors/consumers may balk and assume that move indicates our economy is in a precarious state. Without rate cuts, we could see a spike in foreclosures (although the news constantly reports of a surge in foreclosure rates, the W. coast tends to lag behind other markets and we may not experience foreclosures even near to the level that other markets are), and general consumer spending on credit could slow (as it has) causing real concern of a recession.

For the time being, much of anything in the financial sector is up in the air which in itself makes all of us hesitant to do ANYTHING with our money except to stuff it under our mattresses.
However, because rates are low and will probably be cut again, it is DEFINITELY a good time to buy. I believe that what drives our economy is consumer reaction, no matter to what degree or effect. So the Federal Reserve and the President alike are wise to carefully consider how to best react to the ‘mortgage crisis' we can't seem to stop hearing about. But while the government decides what to do, we can all take a cue about how to turn any of this into our favor and as a buyer/investor myself I know to BUY LOW, SELL HIGH, and buying low just got a lot more feasible with the rates where they are.

My sellers are in a better position too because while the market has definitely changed from a seller's market to a buyer's market - until recently - there were much fewer potential buyers for my listed properties. Now with rates being lower, mortgage payments are lower and that increases the potential buyer pool for my sellers.

On another note, my former revered and favorite lender, Countrywide, has fallen out of favor for me. I am currently closing on a new house and, as usual, went straight to my favorite lender, who also happens to be the "Lindsey Lohan" of the mortgage world right now - because they are the #1 home lender in the United States, it stands to reason that they are at the forefront of every mortgage story on the news nowadays.

For me, this time around was a dramatically different experience for a couple of reasons. While I used to do the ‘fast and easy loan' which essentially meant I could buy whatever I wanted without documentation of any kind (short of a credit score over 680 which most consumers have), this time around I found it MUCH more difficult to obtain a mortgage with Countrywide. Countless documents were required of me and I couldn't understand why. Their guidelines would change on a whim even though I had locked in my loan weeks before. One day I would be told my loan would go through no problem, and the next day there would inevitably be a snag of some sort. It was similar to my ex husbands mood transitions! Crazy to keep up with!

I ended up moving my mortgage application to another lender and here's ultimately why I did; Countrywide is the one lender that has all of it's eggs in ONE basket. They are not able to count on deposits like so many other banks are, instead they are completely dependent on being able to sell their loans via mortgage backed securities on Wall Street. SO, no matter how GREAT of a borrower you are, NO ONE wants to invest in mortgage backed securities at this point, and can you blame them? Therefore, Countrywide is loath to take any mortgage that isn't perfect, and by perfect, I mean God would have to co-sign.

I have significant doubts about the future solvency of Countrywide and I'm not alone. While the nation's #1 lender will not ‘go out of business' per se, I think it's telling that B of A recently bought a TON of shares. Hmmmmm.

After much debate, my dear friend and favorite mortgage associate, Monique Garces, cut ties with Countrywide and moved to Homestone Mortgage, and I for one, am ecstatic she did!

Until next time,
Keely