ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2010
I have waited for more than two month to acknowledge the recognition I received in the January 2010 issue of Seattle Magazine. For the first time, Mortgage Professionals were awarded the Five Star designation for Overall Customer Satisfaction. For years Real Estate Professionals have been designa...
03/23/2010
Today - Existing Home SalesExisting Home sales for February will be released by the Realtors (NAR) at 7:00 am Pacific. Experts are looking for a slight decrease in sales to a 5 million annualized. FHFA House Price Index for January Wednesday - New Home Sales ReportThe Census Bureau will announc...
03/23/2010
Here's another low-down payment loan that Golf Savings on Bainbridge offers. Fannie Mae Foreclosed properties are sold through their HomePath program and special financing is available. It is a program that is available to both first time buyers and even investors. The down payment (minimum 3 pe...
03/23/2010
Reminder: FHA with 3.5% Down PaymentParents Can Gift the Down Payment, Co-sign & Son or Daughter Can Take the Tax Credit Now that we have $300,000 single-family detached homes for sale on Bainbridge, FHA looks better than ever, especially if you are trying to help your children with a home purcha...
03/23/2010
According to the IRS website, if a first-time or repeat buyer wants to take advantage of the tax credit (up to $8,000 and $6,500 respectively), they must have a fully executed (signed around) purchase and sale agreement dated Friday, April 30, 2010 or sooner. The buyer also has to close their t...
03/23/2010
Calculated Risk, which I think is the best financial daily email available from any source, reported last week that the Fed has purchased a total of $1.24 trillion of its $1.25 trillion allotment of Mortgage-Backed securities (MBS), or at 99.2% complete. That means the Fed has $10 billion more i...
03/23/2010
The latest GPS-tracking tool, according to Inman News (www.inman.com - and if you are not a member, it is worth every penny for full access, and email updates are free) is called "Go-Fencing" and its application for use in home listings to attract more Generation X and younger buyers should be ve...
03/17/2010
Here's a breakfast with Ed Viesturs that's 100% Tax Deductible to support Bainbridge Island public schools, which is ranked near the bottom of funding for all districts but at or near the top as measured by student test scores. Coldwell Banker-McKenzie Realtor Susan Grosten sent me this item and ...
03/17/2010
Late last week more green shoots were reported: Retail sales increased .3% for February 2010. Excluding the car sector, all other February retail sales rose 0.8%. Economists had forecast a 0.1% increase. Ex-auto sales in January rose 0.5%, revised from a previously estimated 0.6% gain. That's go...
03/17/2010
Now is the time to buy as there are only 9 weeks left of the Homebuyer Tax Credits ($8,000 to first time buyers and $6,500 for current homeowners wanting to move). We might not have another opportunity like this. In January there was an 8.9% increase in home building in the West. It is said thi...
03/08/2010
