The KEY Real Estate Blog

Pending-Home Sales Rise Again (as published by NAR)

2011-02-03T07:53:00.000-08:00

National Association of Realtors (NAR) Chief Economist Lawrence Yun reviews the latest data showing the fifth gain in six months

SOLD in Lake Stevens! This bank-owned home proved to be a GREAT investment for my clients with immediately equity! Congratulations Krysta and James!

2011-01-10T08:55:00.001-08:00

117 82nd Avenue - Lake Stevens, WA

Congrats to Krysta and James!!

And Thank You James as You Serve our Country...

2010-10-02T11:43:00.001-07:00

OCTOBER 2-3, 2010

10:00a - 6:00p Daily

www.issaquahsalmondays.org

Just Listed in Downtown Snohomish - $292,500

2010-05-20T08:52:00.001-07:00

Truly Exceptional 3 Bedroom + Den Home in the Heart of Snohomish

Click Here for Full Photo Gallery & Featured Home Page

Search Homes from Your Mobile Phone with Our Newest Phone Application

2010-05-02T07:51:00.001-07:00

TEXT: NWHOMES to 87778

to download Application

or visit our website:

www.tinyurl.com/keyteam-mobile

PENDING in Lake Stevens - Congratulations Tamera & John!!

2010-04-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

Another client's home just went PENDING!

Just hours a couple hours before the $8000 tax credit expires - WOW!
MLS#45774

PENDING in Lynnwood - Congratulations Jaimee!

2010-04-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

My client's listing went PENDING

just in time for the buyer to receive the tax credit!

Now time to find her a new home!!

MLS#47936

RENTED in Snohomish - Congratulations Gerald!

2010-04-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

In the desirable community of Highlands East!!

MLS#32458

For more information about rentals that are available visit our website:

www.key2rent.net

PENDING in Burien - Congratulations Sophorn!

2010-04-30T07:40:00.001-07:00

This Bank Owned Property was a FANTASTIC deal!

www.key2yourhome.net/2297

PENDING in Granite Falls - Congratulations Mario & Josefina!

2010-04-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

Another Home PENDING just in time

for First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit!

www.key2yourhome.net/28491

PENDING in Lake Stevens - Congratulations Josh & Tonia!!

2010-04-30T07:23:00.001-07:00

Great 2 Bedroom Condo located in the heart of Lake Stevens

and just in time for the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit!

http://www.key2yourhome.net/29168408

Summer Concert Series at Chateau St. Michelle

2010-04-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

View Entire Concert Schedule at

http://www.ste-michelle.com/events/concertCalendar

CLOSED in Renton - Congratulations Chance!

2010-04-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

My client got a GREAT price on this Wonderful Starter 4 Bedroom Home!!

Another SHORT SALE Closed!

I do believe the market is picking up...

Seattle Times - Neighborhood of the Week: Tukwila

2010-04-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

Tukwila back on fast track with light-rail link

Tukwila, at the crossroads of rivers, highways and railways, has been a hub of commerce since the 1860s, when boats on the Duwamish River ferried coal from local mines on a two-day journey to Seattle.

That trip now takes 37 minutes from the new Tukwila light-rail station near the airport.

That station (officially known as the Tukwila International Boulevard Station) has increased homebuyer interest in the neighborhood surrounding the towering structure.

"The last two homes I've sold were because of the light-rail station right up the street," says Windermere Real Estate agent Marilyn Ferris.

Housing in the neighborhood around the station is "eclectic and affordable," Ferris says. "There's a lot of diversity and multigenerational households," she says, citing the recent sale of a "really cute" 1,700 square-foot home to an extended family for $245,000.

"They don't drive and can walk to the bus, light-rail station and stores, and they're thrilled to be homeowners," Ferris says.

The neighborhood features some of the most affordable houses in the Seattle area. Recently a three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,768-square-foot house three blocks from the station was listed for $159,999 while a new, custom-looking four-bedroom, 2,590-square-foot house with coffered ceilings sold for $366,000.

Prices across Tukwila are similarly affordable. The median price of 12 single-family houses sold in Tukwila during February was $285,000, according to figures compiled by Seattle-based Zillow.com. The median price of 11 condos sold during February in Tukwila was $132,000, according to Zillow. - Click Here to View Entire Article

Click Here to Search ALL Properties FOR SALE in TUKWILA

New-home sales rise fastest in 47 years

2010-04-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- New home sales improved in March at the fastest single-month rate in 47 years, according to a government report released Friday, as buyers snatched up properties ahead of the tax credit that's set to expire.

New-home sales rose 26.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000 last month, compared to an upwardly revised annual rate of 324,000 in February, the Census Bureau said. The gain snapped a four-month streak of declines.

A consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected March sales to rise to an annual rate of 330,000.

The March sales were the strongest since last July, and the percentage gain was the biggest on a month-over-month basis since a 31% gain in March 1963.

New-home sales spiked in every region of the United States. The South saw the biggest jump in new home sales, up 43.5%, while the Northeast region saw sales climb 35.7%. The West and Midwest regions both saw single-digit percentage growth, with the West up 6% and the Midwest up 4%.

The Census Bureau data followed a report from the National Association of Realtors on Thursday that showed existing home sales soared nearly 7% in March, as new homebuyers raced to buy up properties before a tax credit expires on April 30.

"It's obvious that homebuyers are rushing in to take advantage of the tax credit that's set to expire," said Robert Dye, senior economist for PNC Financial Services.

In November, the government extended and expanded an $8,000 tax credit, which also allows some repeat buyers to qualify for a $6,500 credit. Buyers have until April 30 to qualify.

Fewer homes to buy
Dye expects to see continued strength in April's data before "tailing off" through the summer as the group of buyers who rushed in are "all spent out."

The Census Bureau estimated that 228,000 new homes hit the market in March. At the current sales rate, it would take 6.7 months to sell through that inventory, down sharply from an estimated 9.2 months of inventory in February.

Although new-home sales in March exceeded analyst expectations, sales are still trending near record lows, and prices are still under pressure due to oversupply.

"It's a very good sign to see [the March inventory] number down," said Dye. "But this needs to tighten up more to see upward pressure on prices."

The average price of a new home was $258,600, according to the Census Bureau. That was virtually flat compared to a year earlier, and 12% below average prices in 2008.

A precarious jobs market continues to threaten the housing market. Dye expects the April unemployment rate to dip to a still-high 9.6% from March's 9.7% when data are announced May 7.

"Firming house prices and an improving jobs market will make recovery felt on Main Street as well as Wall Street," said Dye. "We're headed in the right direction."

Click Here - To view article on CNN

Today Marks 40th Anniversary of Earth Day!

2010-04-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Earth Day founder, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, first proposed national
environmental teach-in day to a conservation group in Seattle in September of 1969. Denis Hayes was the principal organizer of the first Earth Day, which took place a few months later in 1970. Over 20 million people participated that first year.

Visit the websites below to find out how to get involved in Earth Day:

www.earthday.net
www.earthday.org
www.earthday.gov

CLOSED TODAY in Lake Stevens! Congratulations Neal & Rozanne!

2010-04-21T22:18:00.001-07:00

Wonderfully Updated Home in Crosswater Community!
MLS#27133137
Click Here for Complete Property Details

Another Short Sale Sold by The KEY Team

CLOSED TODAY in Edmonds! Congrats to The Raymonds

2010-04-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

Best Deal of The Year!

3 Bedrooms in Edmonds for Under $120K

WOW!!!

CLOSED in Bellevue! Congratulations Zarina & Ramsey!!

2010-04-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

MLS#19841

Located Just Minutes from Microsoft in the Ardmore Community

I met these clients while looking for a home to rent, through the process I asked

"Why are you not buying?" -- they were told by another real estate agent that

they made too much money to qualify for an FHA loan and after

quickly setting them straight and promptly putting them in touch with

Rob Wolverton of Cobalt Mortgage we were able to

get them into this beautiful home and they are thrilled since their total

mortgage payment is just about $50 more a month than they have been paying for rent

...and this house had EVERYTHING they wanted!

If you thinking owning a home is out of your reach for whatever reason

poor credit, not enough down payment, etc.

Call me -- maybe we can make home ownership a reality for you too!

I love it when my clients get all they hoped for --

makes my job even more worthwhile!

2010-04-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

Talk about affordable!! It just doesn't get any better than this....

2 Bedroom / 1 Bath Condo in the Heart of Downtown Woodinville for ONLY $99,990.

Call Today to Schedule a Showing or Let me know if you know someone who

would like more information about this great property, listed for a great price! www.key2yourhome.net/58852

Mariners 2010 Game Schedule

2010-04-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Getting a loan will be pricier

2010-04-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

By Jennifer Liberto, senior writerApril 13, 2010: 4:06 AM ET

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- As the economy begins to mend, the cost of borrowing money for a big purchase could start to increase.

Mortgages, in particular, have flirted with record lows during the recession. Credit card rates have been bouncing upward and, while auto loan rates are expected to stay low for a little while longer, they can't stay low forever.

The Federal Reserve has played a key role in keeping the cost of borrowing so low, through the so-called fed funds rate, a benchmark that determines the interest paid by consumers and businesses on a wide variety of loans. That has been near 0% since December 2008, as the central bank worked to spur greater lending and economic activity.

But as the economy heals, that rate is sure to come up, as will the cost of a lot of loans - although economists assure that borrowing costs won't rise until the economy is ready for it.

"The important thing to remember the Federal Reserve has a mandate to maximize employment and keep inflation low, so interest rates may be going up, but it will be in the context of better job growth," said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities.

Mortgages: Apart from what the Fed does on interest rates, economists and Fed officials have been predicting higher mortgage rates for several months, as the Fed winds down credit programs that artificially spurred cheaper loans.

The Fed had been buying up a lot of mortgage-backed securities, but they recently stopped, which has already started to impact mortgage rates.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached an 8-month high last week, averaging 5.21%, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of conforming mortgage rates. Several times in 2009, mortgage rates dipped below 5%, considered to be record lows, thanks to the Federal Reserve's help.

"Throughout most of the last year we were right below or right above 5%, which really is an extremely low rate, historically," said Michael Fratantoni, Mortgage Bankers' Association vice president of research and economics.

MBA has been predicting mortgage rates would rise, maybe even reaching around 5.8% by the end of this year, Fratantoni said. And experts predict the rates will range around 6% in 2011.

Mortgage rates can really impact consumers by limiting what they can pay for a home.

Take the $165,000 median home price of existing homes sold in February. A buyer with a 20% down payment would pay just over $725 a month in mortgage payments for a 30-year fixed loan at today's rate.

Raise that rate by a half point, and the same buyer would only be able to afford a home worth $156,000 to keep payments near the $725 a month level.

Credit cards: Credit card interest rates have been on an upward march for nearly a year because of the overall increased risk that people can't make their payments in a recession.

The average credit card rate rose to 14.7% last week from 12.55% from six months ago, according to a survey of 95 of the most popular cards by Creditcards.com, a comparison site for card offers.

"It's going to keep edging upward a bit, because credit losses aren't going to improve for the banks until unemployment heads down," said Ben Woolsey, an analyst at Creditcards.com.

While new credit card laws passed by Congress in the past year make it more difficult for banks to raise interest rates in several ways, they won't touch hikes in rates based solely on a financial index. One common index used, the prime rate, is at a 3.25% low and is expected to increase.

The flip side is that if the financial index rises and then later falls, the interest rate on the variable credit card rises and falls, said Scott Talbott, senior lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable.

"By tying the interest rate to an index, it largely takes the decision (on changing rates) out of the credit card company's hands," Talbott said.

Auto loans: One borrowing bright spot could be auto loans, which have been at record lows, thanks in large part to a lot of 0% financing deals aimed at wooing customers.

In March, auto loans averaged 4.4%, much lower than the 7.3% average back in March 2007, according to Edmunds.com, an automotive Web site that tracks such information.

In the case of auto loans, experts predict the financing deals will last a while longer. For one thing, there's more money available for auto loans than the demand for the loans, according to Nomura's Pandl.

"It can't go on forever, but incentives have always been a part of the auto industry," said Edmunds.com senior analyst Jessica Caldwell, who predicts the low rates will last for some time to come. "I don't ever see them turning that off."

TODAY: Mariner's First Home Game of the Season vs. Oklahoma

2010-04-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

www.seattle.mariners.mlb.com

A new Obama administration get-tough policy on home-mortgage discrimination is drawing kudos from consumer advocates

2010-04-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

By Kenneth R. Harney

Syndicated columnist

WASHINGTON â€” A new Obama administration get-tough policy on home-mortgage discrimination is drawing kudos from consumer advocates, along with expressions of serious concern from lawyers who represent lenders and brokers.

In a settlement last month with two subsidiaries of ailing insurance giant American International Group, the Justice Department took aim at one of the most controversial practices of the housing-boom years: National subprime mortgage lenders originated billions of dollars in high-interest-rate loans through local brokers who sometimes hit African-American and other minority applicants with excessive loan charges.

Mortgages extended to African Americans often carried higher fees than those paid by white subprime applicants â€” even when the borrowers' credit profiles and other factors were roughly the same. But did these disparities in fees open those lenders who purchased the loans from local brokers to legal attack?

Weren't the higher fees solely the result of predatory pricing by individual brokers operating independently of their wholesale lenders? If a broker charged African Americans higher fees than whites, wasn't this violation of fair lending laws on the broker's shoulders?

The Obama administration gave a resounding answer to that question: No. The consent order requires AIG's subsidiaries to pay $6.1 million to roughly 2,500 African-American borrowers, or an average of $2,300 in cash restitution for overcharges per loan.

The companies are also required to spend at least $1 million on consumer financial education programs. None of the firms admitted wrongdoing as part of the settlement. AIG Federal Savings Bank and Wilmington Finance no longer are involved in the wholesale mortgage market. AIG took a $182 billion bailout from the federal government in 2008, and is in the process of reorganizing its business activities. No individual mortgage brokers were cited in the case.

The core message here, according to Justice Department officials: Lenders who use independent brokers to originate mortgages cannot ignore what those brokers are doing to their minority customers. They will be held responsible for civil-rights violations because they should have been monitoring their broker networks for signs of discriminatory pricing â€” which should be detectable by examining loan packages and performing statistical analyses.

Thomas Perez, an assistant attorney general, said, "Discriminatory practices by lenders, brokers and other players contributed to our nation's housing crisis and economic meltdown. Lenders who looked the other way and ignored the discriminatory practices of brokers must be held accountable."

Perez warned that many other lenders who use broker networks could also be vulnerable to legal actions.

Community groups and civil-rights advocates hailed the settlement as a huge step forward. "It's a new day for borrowers," said David Berenbaum, chief program officer for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. "Borrowers should see fewer backdoor pricing abuses" â€” especially the bloated fees, higher interest rates and unequal underwriting standards that were commonplace in the housing-boom years.

But some mortgage-industry groups and lawyers who specialize in financial issues disagree. They argue that holding giant wholesale lenders responsible for illegal acts they did not themselves directly commit not only is unfair but will do long-term harm to all borrowers.

Roy DeLoach, CEO of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, said, "We absolutely oppose discrimination in any form. But we think the government's target should be the persons who actually do the discriminating" â€” in this case, individual, local brokers â€” not the lenders who acquired the loans with no knowledge of the discriminatory fees.

DeLoach argues that the administration's approach will discourage some lenders from dealing with brokers in general, thereby reducing competition in the marketplace, especially areas with significant minority populations.

"There will be less choice for borrowers" with fewer brokers active in the market competing for business. "That inevitably means higher rates and worse terms," because just a handful of big banks will dominate the mortgage business, he said.

Paul F. Hancock, a partner with the law firm K&L Gates who served for 20 years in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and was a deputy attorney general in Florida, says the AIG settlement "is really stretching the law, maybe even going beyond the law" by holding lenders responsible for the actions of independent brokers.

Hancock, who specializes in advising financial institutions, adds that "there is no case law" supporting the administration's "aggressive" position. But it may prevail because "nobody wants to fight the government."

Bottom line for consumers: Look for more fair-lending settlements, more financial restitution, and much closer supervision of loan officers â€” whether they're on lenders' staffs or independent brokers â€” to ensure that every mortgage applicant gets equal treatment.

Click Here to View Article as Published in Seattle Times on 4/10

King County house prices post year-over-year rise for first time in 2 years

2010-04-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

The bar couldn't have been lower. Still, an increase is an increase.

House prices in King County rose in March for the first time in more than two years, according to one closely watched measure.

The median price of single-family homes that sold last month was $367,250, up 0.9 percent from March 2009, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service said Monday.

While tiny, the year-over-year countywide increase was the first since January 2008.

The median price in March 2009 - $363,850 - was the lowest in years. And last month's number, while slightly higher, was the lowest since then.

Area home prices have shown signs of stabilizing for several months: The median price in Seattle rose year-over-year in January, then on the Eastside in February.

Sales are up, too: Buyers closed on 1,596 houses in King County in March, 65 percent more than in the same month last year.

House sales were up 73 percent in Snohomish County. King County condo sales rose 47 percent.

While it is a less reliable measure, the listing service reported more pending sales of houses in King County last month than in any month since May 2007.

All this has brokers and other observers of the real-estate scene talking about a resurgence in the local market and wondering how long it might last.

"Are we at the end of this [downturn]? I wish I knew," said Doug Davis, broker at Hallmark Realty in Kirkland.

He and others said some March buyers were motivated partly by record-low interest rates â€” and concern those rates could start climbing soon.

Others bought at least in part because of federal tax credits scheduled to expire soon: To qualify, buyers must have homes under contract by the end of this month.

The March statistics are "very encouraging," said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University.

But the market's future beyond the next few months hinges on several factors, he said, including job growth and the Federal Reserve's success in keeping interest rates low, as it has vowed, in the face of increasing pressure from buyers of government debt.

Crellin said the year-over-year increase in the median King County house price in March probably was due in part to a federal tax credit for repeat buyers that Congress approved late last year. It has brought some buyers into the market, he said, and they are "taking advantage of bargains they're finding in higher-priced properties."

But Omeed Salashoor, manager of MetLife Home Loans' Lake Union office, said he has seen little evidence the credit for repeat buyers is motivating many sales. An older tax credit for first-time buyers still seems to be having more impact, he said.

Loan applications at his branch rose 40 percent between February and March, Salashoor said.

The year-over-year jump in closed house sales in King County in March was the 10th consecutive monthly increase, and the 65 percent rise was second only to November's bump.

Sales were particularly strong on the Eastside, where closings were up 108 percent.

Davis, the Kirkland broker, said his office has a lot of walk-in traffic, and that it has increased significantly.

"I think there's been a lot of people waiting," he said. "Now, in 2010, they're actually saying, 'That's a pretty good buy.' "

Tim Ellis, who edits the real-estate blog Seattlebubble.com, said in an e-mail that he expects Seattle-area sales to continue to rise through May, then plateau and maybe drop in the summer and autumn after the tax credits expire.

Nationally, there also were indications the housing market is coming back from the winter doldrums.

The number of buyers who agreed to purchase previously occupied homes rose sharply in February, far exceeding expectations, a report said Monday.

The National Association of Realtors said its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements rose 8.2 percent from January to a February reading of 97.6. January's reading was revised slightly downward to 90.2.

The report "may signal the early stages of a second surge of home sales this spring," said Lawrence Yun, the trade group's chief economist.

Meanwhile, the federal government launched a new effort Monday to speed up the time-consuming, often-frustrating process that homeowners face when they want to sell â€” but owe more on their home than it's worth.

The Obama administration will give $3,000 for moving expenses to homeowners who complete such a sale known as a short sale or agree to turn over the deed to the lender. It's designed for homeowners who are in financial trouble but don't qualify for the administration's $75 billion mortgage-modification program.

Owners still will lose their homes, but a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure doesn't hurt a borrower's credit score for as long a time as a foreclosure does.

For lenders, a home usually fetches more money in a short sale than a foreclosure. And the bank avoids expensive legal bills, cleanup fees and maintenance costs that follow a foreclosure.

By Eric Pryne - Published 4/6/10
Seattle Times business reporter
View Complete Article - Click Here

PENDING - After just 11 days on the market!

2010-04-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

Great Issaquah 1 Bedroom Condo Listed at $124,990 is Now PENDING
NWMLS#47317 (Short Sale)

Tour Sheet - Queen Anne, Laurelhurst, West Seattle, Madison Park and Leschi

2010-04-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

The search is on! New clients from California are seeking that ideal home here that is within close proximity to Downtown Seattle. To always ensure I am showing homes that meet a client's criteria I preview.... I thought you might enjoy checking out what I viewed yesterday:

www.key2yourhome.net/22836

www.key2yourhome.net/50424

www.key2yourhome.net/39417

www.key2yourhome.net/37180

www.key2yourhome.net/29830

www.key2yourhome.net/35047

www.key2yourhome.net/29002972

www.key2yourhome.net/15526

www.key2yourhome.net/32879

www.key2yourhome.net/49005

www.key2yourhome.net/21610

www.key2yourhome.net/43189

With one crucial factor I had to keep in mind for them was a great view...I really had an opportunity to be reminded why the Northwest is such a great place to live as I'd stand in a kitchen and look out to the sun resting on the Olympic Moutains or reflecting off Seattle skyline -- Wow!! Did I say I love my job?

In the end, we've ruled out West Seattle and focused on a few stellar properties in Queen Anne, Leschi and one in Laurelhurst. I think there are some great options and excited to take them out today and tomorrow to determine which one it will be.

NEW LISTING - 2452 SF Bothell Home on 2.52 Acres - Listed at $399,990

2010-04-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

Don't Miss this Great Opportunity!
For More Information - Click Here
MLS#51284

25 Days Remaining to Qualify for Home Buyer Tax Credit!!

2010-04-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

For those of you hoping to qualify for the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit or the Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit -- You Must Be in Contract by April 30, 2010.
To View a FACT SHEET on the Tax Credit - Click Here

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

2010 Tulip Festival - Starts Today!

2010-04-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival - April 1-30
www.tulipfestival.org

Event Happenings:

25th Annual Tulip Run
4/10, 9:30am
www.tuliprun.com

29th Annual Tulip Pedal
4/17, 7am-4pm
www.skagitems.com

Art in the Pickle Barn
www.skagitart.org 360-757-2109

RoozenGaarde
www.tulips.com 360-424-8531

Skagit Valley Gardens
www.skagitvalleygardens.com

Tulip Country Bike Tours
www.countrycycling.com

Tulip Town
www.tuliptown.com 360-424-8152

___________________

TULIP TIPS:

Making tulips last!
Choose tulips that are tightly closed, this means they are fresher.
Re-cut and re-water them daily.
Keep them away from direct sunlight and heat.

At night, store them in the coolest room in house.
Place a penny in the bottom of the vase... it’s been said to work!

____________________

SOLD - After 12 Days on the Market in Highlands East

2010-03-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

Another Home Sold Quickly...
SOLD after Just 12 Days on the Market!!
Highlands East Home in Snohomish
Click Here for More Information
MLS#29167675 - Short Sale
Closed on 3/26/10

PENDING - Our Clients Purchased a 3 Bed Home in Edmonds for Under $120K -- WOW!

2010-03-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

What an amazing deal!!
Our clients scooped up this great little 3 bedroom home
in Edmonds for under $120,000

Lots of other deals like this and if you are first time home buyer
you can STILL qualify for the first time home buyer tax credit!

PENDING - Congratulations Ramsey & Zarina!!

2010-03-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous Remodeled Home in Bellevue

literally mins to Microsoft

List Price $485,000 - MLS#19841

PENDING on 3/24/2010
View Virtual Media

PENDING - Congratulations Carole!

2010-03-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Trail Walk Condo in Kenmore

Wonderful 2 Bed/2 Bath Condo

PENDING on 3/23/2010

Going Green - Tips to Help the Environment

2010-03-22T06:52:00.000-07:00

Going green has never been easier! Here’s how you can help the environment while cutting back your bills!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Buy products with less packaging.
Buy reusable canvas bags for your grocery shopping.
Buy a reusable water bottle and drink filtered tap water rather than buying bottled water.
Recycle your food waste in the yard waste bin.
Start your own compost bin.
Buy locally and support shops and restaurants that do the same.
http://www.heartofwashington.com/
http://www.ecovian.com/
Pay bills online.

Saving Gas
Walk, bike, carpool or take public transportation whenever possible.
Telecommute... even one day a week makes a difference.
Avoid waiting in long drive-thru lines. Park your car and go in.
Buy a SmartWay Certified vehicle.
There are lending institutions that discount loans for buying them.
www.epa.gov/smartway

Saving Water
Turn off the faucet when brushing teeth and shaving.
Take showers instead of baths.
When buying new appliances look for the WaterSense label.

Saving Energy
Turn off appliances when not in use and unplug them from outlets.
Replace light bulbs with CFLs.
Install a programmable thermostat.
When buying new appliances make sure they are Energy Star.
Purchase a portable spin dryer (for use by itself or paired with a conventional dryer).
Conduct a home energy audit.

A Home Energy Audit
This can help you pinpoint where your home is losing energy and will determine the efficiency of your heating and cooling systems.

Find local energy audit companies:
http://www.ecovian.com/

Before contacting a company make sure to check references and find out if they were satisfied with the work. Also, make sure the auditor uses a calibrated blower door.

Find info on doing your own audit:
http://www.energysavers.gov/

Congratulations Tanner and Osveldo!!

2010-03-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

RENTED in Mill Creek

Great River's Crossing Home

MLS#8486

Did You Know...

2010-03-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

March is a great time to do some spring maintenance around your home?
Below are a few tips to get you started!

• Replace your furnace filters. They will be especially filthy after the winter months.
• Clean your kitchen exhaust hood and filter. You probably cooked a lot more hot food on the stop top during the cold winter.
• As the weather warms, spend a day and check your roof for winter damage. You should also check fences and sheds.
• Check all smoke and carbon dioxide detectors.
• Clean out the gutters.
• Aerate, thatch and fertilize your yard.

CLOSED - Congratulations Terry & Kevin!!!

2010-03-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

After many months of negotiating with 2 leinholders we were able

to successfully close this exceptional Storm Lake Heights property.

View complete property details by clicking here

Are you experiencing an economic hardship?

If want to learn more about how a short sale would affect your credit and

find out how I can assist you (or at the very least share with you what your options are)

Click Here to view an informative overview about Short Sales or Contact Me

FHA offers little-known financing for fixer-uppers

2010-03-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

The word "as-is" can indeed be one scary phrase. Especially when buying a home in today's market where foreclosures and short sales that need fix-up work are plentiful.

Last year, Tom Meyer found a classic Oakland, Calif., home built in 1925. As a short sale it was priced right and about half the original asking price. Trouble was, the place needed fix-up work â€” foundation improvements, dry-rot work, a new roof over the garage and other improvements.

With the help of the Federal Housing Administration's 203(k) renovation-financing loan program, Meyer folded about $100,000 worth of repairs and improvements into his $422,000 mortgage. He had bought the home for $320,000.

"I would not be able to pay a contractor $100,000 and buy a house at the same time," said Meyer, who works in corporate media. "It had been essentially allowed to start falling apart over the last 20 years."

He had rented in San Francisco for 25 years before moving into his new digs in September with his girlfriend.

"We like old houses, and a great benefit of this program is that it helped us keep a beautiful but deteriorating house from deteriorating further. With the work we did, we expect it to still be standing and beautiful 80 years from now," he said.

Renovation financing through the 203(k) program allows the costs of needed repairs and improvements to be included in the FHA federally insured loan amount instead of having the buyer come up with cash or a separate loan to do the work.

"This is a perfect loan for an as-is situation," said Kristine Marr, a loan officer with Prospect Mortgage in Lafayette, Calif. "It's not a new loan program, although I think it's going to have a lot more use today because we have so many foreclosures and bank-owned properties. You go into lots of homes and see people have yanked out stoves and ovens and fixtures and sinks."

The work has to be done within six months after escrow closes. Borrowers have the option of putting up to six months of mortgage payments on the end of the loan if they don't want to live in the house while the work is being done.

"Renovation financing is a program that allows you to not only finance the purchase of a home but finance any repairs and/or improvements. It provides (buyers) with a responsible way to purchase a fixer-upper property," said Luis Munoz, who helped Meyer with the loan and is a renovation-loan specialist.

Munoz gives presentations about the program at monthly home-ownership workshops sponsored by the Unity Council, an Oakland-based nonprofit.

At a time when equity loans are hard to get, the program can also be used as a refinancing vehicle for borrowers who want to do repairs and improvements, provided the value of the home is greater than the value of the loan. "At the same time as you refinance, you pop in the extra dollars you need for whatever you want to do," Marr said.

FHA home loans require certain health and safety standards be met and that needed repairs identified during the inspection process be completed before escrow closes. However, minor repairs and improvements costing between $5,000 and $15,000 can be done after escrow closes for borrowers who opt for a streamlined repair program.

A 203(k) loan can help buyers finance both minor and major repairs and improvements. It can also help buyers compete with investors when bidding for short sales and foreclosures, said Sheri Powers, director of the Homeownership Center at Unity Council.

The loans can also be used, for example, to pay for improvements such as new appliances, second-story additions, remodeled kitchens and bathrooms, and skylights.

"Property repairs cost money and they want to make sure people using their loan program are going to be in the home in long run and not just the short run," Powers said.

The loans have become more popular since home prices started falling and FHA lending limits were raised a couple years ago, but are still a tiny sliver of overall FHA loan volume.

Marr said that 203(k) financing is not for everyone. A buyer will have to work with contractors and may have to wait several months before moving in, she said. And there is no guarantee they won't be outbid by an investor for the property.

"A lot of listing agents are preferring the investors, because the investors tend to be all cash or 50 percent cash. That's always hard to compete with," she said.

By Eve Mitchell

Contra Costa Times

-------------------

If you want information on how to obtain this terrific FHA loan -- just let me know!

Mortgage write-downs come with tax issues

2010-03-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON ” With the Obama administration and private lenders now actively considering mortgage principal-reduction programs to help financially distressed homeowners, the Internal Revenue Service has issued a new advisory to taxpayers who receive or seek to receive such assistance if it's offered.

The IRS gets involved in mortgage principal write-downs because the federal tax code generally treats any forgiveness of debt by a creditor in excess of $600 as ordinary taxable income to the recipient.

However, under legislation that took effect in 2007, certain home mortgage debt cancellations â€” such as through loan modifications, short sales or foreclosures â€” may be exempted from tax treatment as income.

Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., recently confirmed that her agency is working on a new program to expand the use of principal mortgage reductions to keep underwater borrowers out of foreclosure.

Major banks and mortgage companies have preferred monthly payment reductions and other loan-modification techniques over cuts of principal balances, but a handful have made limited use of the concept.

One of the largest servicers of subprime home loans, Ocwen Financial of West Palm Beach, Fla., has strongly advocated principal reductions to keep people out of foreclosure, and claimed broad success with them.

Ron Faris, president of Ocwen, testified recently to a congressional subcommittee that borrowers with negative equity are as much as twice as likely to re-default after a standard, payment-reduction loan modification than those who receive partial forgiveness on their principal debt.

But what are the tax implications when your lender essentially says: OK, we recognize you're underwater, maybe you're thinking about walking away, and we're going to write off some of what you owe to keep you in the house?

IRS guidance issued March 4 spelled out, step by step, how financially troubled and underwater borrowers can qualify for tax relief when a lender agrees to lower their debt.

Here are the basics, should you be considering a short sale or loan modification involving principal reduction.

To begin with, be aware that the federal tax exclusion only applies to mortgage balances on your principal residence â€” your main home â€” and not on second homes, rental real estate or business property.

The maximum amount of forgiven debt eligible under the law is $2 million for married taxpayers filing jointly and $1 million for single filers.

But there are some potential snares: Your debt reduction can only be for loan amounts that you've used to "buy, build or substantially improve your principal residence." This includes refinancings that increased your total mortgage debt attributable to renovations and capital improvements of your house.

But if you used the proceeds for other personal purposes, such as to pay off credit-card bills, buy cars or invest in stocks, the mortgage debt attributable to those expenditures is not eligible for tax exclusion.

Say you refinanced and used some of the proceeds to purchase a boat and pay off business debts. Those expenditures would not qualify for the tax-relief provisions because they were not intended to substantially improve your house or build a residence.

In all refinancings, make sure you can document where the money flowed.

When your lender formally forgives all or part of your mortgage balance, the lender is required by law to issue you an IRS Form 1099-C, a "Cancellation of Debt" notice, which is also sent to the IRS.

The form shows not only the amount of debt discharged but the estimated fair-market value of the house securing the debt as well.

A few other noteworthy features of the IRS rules: If you've been foreclosed upon or you do a short sale and you lose money in the process, don't claim a tax loss on your federal filing. The IRS will turn you down.

However, if you go to foreclosure and your lender agrees to cancel all or part of the unpaid mortgage balance as part of the deal, then you can file for an exemption from the IRS.

What if your lender reduces the debt on your house but you continue to own the property and live in it? There's a tax wrinkle in the fine print: The IRS will require you to reduce your "basis" in the house your "cost" for tax purposes by the amount of the forgiven debt.

But that's not likely a big concern for most homeowners digging their way out of the bust.

Finally, if you want to claim the debt forgiveness exemption, download IRS Form 982 (available at www.irs.gov) and attach it to your return for the year in which the debt was forgiven. And don't assume this tax-code benefit to homeowners will be around forever. It expires at the end of 2012.

America's Most Wired Cities - Seattle at #3

2010-03-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth Woyke, 03.02.10, 06:00 PM EST
Forbes Magazine

Raleigh is the kind of tech-forward city that, innovative as it is, often gets overlooked in favor of San Francisco, San Jose or Seattle. But this year the North Carolina capital passed its flashier rivals to grab the No. 1 spot on Forbes' Most Wired Cities list.

Raleigh's win means it ranks higher overall than any other U.S. city in three measures: broadband penetration, broadband access and plentiful wi-fi hot spots. Taken together, the factors point to a populace that readily uses high-speed Internet inside and outside the home.

At stake is more than just bragging rights. As the U.S. formulates a national broadband plan designed to connect the entire country to fast, affordable Internet, Raleigh and other top-ranking Wired Cities could serve as models for change.

Though a surprise winner, Raleigh boasts plenty of technology assets, including a high concentration of info-tech companies, research universities and state government offices.

Several tech powerhouses, such as IBM, Cisco and Lenovo, maintain large offices in North Carolina's nearby Research Triangle Park. Raleigh and its surrounding cities are also home to North Carolina State University, Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

This combination of a highly educated and relatively higher-income population is "fertile ground" for high broadband demand and usage, says Brooks Raiford, head of the North Carolina Technology Association trade group. Regular folks can exploit Raleigh's IT resources too. The city's downtown is covered by a wi-fi network that is free to users. Operator Sprint Nextel recently launched its "4G" next-generation mobile broadband in Raleigh and the rest of the "Triangle"--months before larger cities like Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., will get the service. "We're very lucky to be at the epicenter of a lot of market strengths for these different companies," say Raiford.

Interactive: America's Most Wired Cities

Past winning cities haven't lost their wired factor. Last year's No. 1, Seattle, ranks No. 3 this year, while Atlanta, the most wired city from 2008, is No. 2. Each city has its strengths. Of the three, Seattle claims the most wi-fi hot spots per capita, while Atlanta enjoys the highest broadband usage and Raleigh ranks consistently high across categories.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raleigh's elevation from No. 15 last year to No. 1 represented the greatest year-over-year improvement in the list. Miami, which dropped from No. 6 to No. 17, accounted for the steepest drop, mostly due to a lower rate of broadband usage this year.

The biggest losers, of course, are the cities that didn't make the list at all. Drop-offs include some of the country's largest metropolises, like New York and Los Angeles, as well as Cincinnati, Cleveland, Honolulu, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Sacramento and Tampa. The falloff list is longer than usual this year because we trimmed the number of finalists from 30 cities to 20.

The changes didn't stymie new entrants. Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City joined the list for the first time, propelled by higher broadband usage figures than in previous years.

As in the past, we compiled the list by computing the percentage of Internet users with high-speed connections in a particular city and the number of companies providing high-speed Internet in that area. Since many urban residents access the Internet by wi-fi, we also measure the number of public wireless Internet hot spots. In previous years, we relied on Nielsen for broadband usage data. This year, we used data from market researcher Scarborough Research. Information about broadband providers came from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. JiWire, a San Francisco-based wi-fi advertising network, calculated the hot spot data.

As broadband data improves, the Wired Cities formula will evolve. JiWire, which maintains a sprawling directory of public wi-fi hot spots worldwide, is considering expanding its catalog to include newer wireless technologies, such as WiMax, says David Staas, the company's senior vice president of marketing. The fast, fourth-generation technology--essentially the same thing as Sprint's "4G"--is currently available in 27 markets across the U.S.

Improved data collection from the FCC will also make it possible to add factors like broadband speed and cost to the mix. The FCC doesn't currently collect broadband pricing data, but has already begun tweaking its surveys to measure Internet use by census tract--rather than county--and divide broadband into different "speed tiers." The new research is the "first iteration of the commission's plan to collect more detailed broadband data," says FCC spokesman Mark Wigfield. The FCC is due to present its national broadband plan to Congress on Mar. 17.

By next year, we may be able to gauge broadband availability simply by eying a map. The U.S. Commerce Department is compiling "broadband maps" for each state and says the project will be completed by February 2011. The data should pave the way to get a lot more cities wired and connected.

Are you delaying your decision to buy because you fear prices will drop? Think again...

2010-03-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

Here it is in black and white. If you are one of those individuals who has been sitting on the fence waiting for prices to drop even more, I think you will find this information very informative and enlightening to help justify NOW is the time to buy!

During a meeting with Robert Wolverton at Cobalt Mortgage earlier today, he shared this spread sheet with me. Basically, he shows here is you buy a home today at a point when interests rates are really low versus waiting a year or two or five down the road when rates will most likely increase. Many people fear home values could potentially drop (although all indicators see the market as leveling out) but Rob breaks it down so you can see even if they did when compared to an increase in the rise in interest rate you would have a very minor difference in mortgage payments -- just goes to show it is a wise choice to buy now!

Call Rob for any questions relative to financing, including a great new program to buy Fannie Mae owned properties! His number is 425.418.3233

Congratulations Allison & Andy! - SOLD in Kenmore/Finn Hill

2010-03-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

CLOSED on

March 8, 2010

Great Finn Hill Property

to Learn More about Kenmore

Click Here

MLS#29034517

View Property Details

Congratulations Mark & Alison - RENTED in Lynnwood

2010-03-08T14:42:00.000-08:00

Located in the

Terrific Community of

Logan Park in Lynnwood

MLS#9873

To learn more

about Lynnwood

Click Here

RENTED in March 2010

Reminder to Spring Forward on March 14th

2010-03-08T08:47:00.001-08:00

Daylight Savings Time

begins on

March 14th at 2:00am

Remember to

Set Your Clock

FORWARD 1 hour

Nab a real estate deal - while you still can

2010-03-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

By Beth Braverman, staff reporter
March 2, 2010: 10:30 AM ET

(Money Magazine) -- If you've been holding off on a real estate purchase, glimmers of a turnaround in the housing market may have you wondering if it's finally time to make your move.

While home prices remain low, they're no longer free-falling in most markets. Mortgages are historically cheap. And the sweet tax credit that was offered to new buyers last year has been extended to April 30 and expanded to include current homeowners too.

But for all the motivation to act quickly, buying right now is not a no-brainer. In some areas home prices may fall further. If you own a house now, it may take longer than you expect to sell it, and you may walk away with less cash than you thought.

"It's a good time to buy, but it's still a really difficult market," says Patrick Newport of IHS Global Insight. As the clock ticks toward the tax-credit deadline, answer these questions to decide whether it's time to get off the sidelines.

Can you really nab that tax credit?

Current homeowners who sign a contract to buy a home on or before April 30 get a dollar-for-dollar reduction on their taxes of 10% of the purchase price of the home, up to a maximum of $6,500 (first-time buyers can get up to $8,000).

But according to the National Association of Realtors, buyers spend about 12 weeks home shopping before making an offer, so if you haven't already started looking, you may be pressed to meet the deadline.

Plus, to qualify for the full credit, your household income must be under $225,000 if you're married and less than $125,000 if you're single; repeat buyers must have lived in the home they are selling for five of the past eight years. The good news: Once you've signed the contract, you have until June 30 to close the deal.

How much could you lose by waiting?

Besides the loss of the tax credit, the biggest game-changer facing buyers is a potential jump in mortgage rates. If the Fed moves ahead with its plan to stop buying mortgage-backed securities at the end of March, the rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is expected to increase nearly a percentage point from today's 5.18% to 6.1% by the end of 2010, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. On a $300,000 fixed-rate mortgage, that's an extra $174 per month.

But if home values are falling in your area, you don't have much to lose by waiting. If the house you want costs $375,000 today and you put down 20%, you'd pay $1,644 a month for a fixed-rate mortgage at 5.18%. Buy that same home for 5% less later on with rates at 6% and you'd only pay an extra $65 a month. If prices plunge 10% or more this year (as they are expected to in 12% of markets, according to Fiserv), you'll come out even or ahead.

To get a handle on the direction of your market, check trulia.com to see whether inventory levels are increasing, and visit realtytrac.com to find out whether foreclosure filings are still rising. A glut of properties and bank-owned homes means a recovery may not be in sight.

How quickly can you sell the home you now own?

Even in markets that are recovering, sellers must price aggressively to make a fast deal.

"Everybody thinks their house is worth more than it is," says Dallas realtor Bruce Lynn. Before you sign a contract for a new place, ask a few agents to give you a realistic figure that will generate a quick sale. Can't bear to part with your home at that price? Waiting may be your only option.

Also keep in mind that, with the credit crunch not far in the past, lenders may not approve your purchase until you've sold your home. A delay in sale could also stick you with two mortgages, far outstripping any savings from the tax credit.

See if the sellers will let you put a contingency in the contract that negates the sale if you don't find a buyer -- it's a long shot but worth a try. If they won't, propose adding a kick-out clause that allows the sellers to keep their home on the market, but lets you either pull out or quickly move ahead with the deal if they get another offer.

While extra contract negotiations may be a hassle, the past few years have proved that a purchase decision shouldn't be taken lightly. "This may be the best time in history to buy a home," says Denver realtor Jeff Fogler, "but only if you can really afford it."

Are you underwater on your mortgage? Money Magazine can help. Send your name, age, hometown and photo to donna_rosato@moneymail.com and you could be profiled in an upcoming story.

Home prices inch up on Eastside, in Seattle year-over-year

2010-03-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

February house prices nudged up in February in Seattle and on the Eastside while falling by double digits in South King County.

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

After a two-year slide, home prices may be starting to inch up in big chunks of King County, February home-sale statistics suggest.

The median price of a house that sold on the Eastside last month was $490,000, up 1 percent from February 2009, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Thursday. While minuscule, it was that area's first year-over-year increase since December 2007.

Seattle's median price also rose slightly for the second month in a row after nearly two years of declines.

Countywide, however, the median single-family home price, $373,010, was down 0.5 percent from a year ago. The chief reasons: Southwest and Southeast King County, the county's most affordable areas, where median prices fell by double digits.

Sales volumes were up strongly throughout the county, 51 percent overall from February 2009. It was the ninth straight month of year-over-year gains, fueled by low interest rates, federal tax credits and mild winter weather.

But brokers say prices in South King County are continuing to fall because houses repossessed by banks and short sales — those for less than the seller owes on the home — make up a bigger share of that market.

Those sellers are more likely to settle for less. "It's putting a lot of downward [price] pressure on sellers who are not in trouble," said Tony Hettler, broker-owner of the John L. Scott office in Des Moines.

In Seattle and on the Eastside, in contrast, brokers say move-up buyers are returning to the market.

In Seattle's Capitol Hill and Madison Park areas, 39 houses sold in February with a median price of $596,000, according to the listing service. That's up from just 17 houses that sold in February 2009, with a median price of $409,000.

"We are starting to see high-end sales in bigger numbers," said Dave Hale, broker at Windermere Real Estate's Madison Park office.

Prices have dropped, he said. Jumbo loans — more than $567,500 — are easier to get. And the stock market has come back from the depths of a year ago.

"For a lot of these folks, their portfolios have probably come up 30 or 40 percent," Hale said. "They're feeling more confident."

He said he sees few short sales or sales of bank-owned homes in the central-city neighborhoods he serves.

In Southwest King County, in comparison, foreclosed homes and short sales make up 26 percent of active listings, Hettler said.

He said he recently completed an analysis for an owner who wondered why condos in his building weren't selling. The answer: Prospective buyers were gravitating toward single-family homes in the same relatively low price range.

"Two or three years ago [condos and houses] wouldn't have been competing for the same buyer," Hettler said.

Overall, King County condo sales rose 26 percent last month from February 2009, the listing service said. The median condo price was down 3 percent but, again, it varied significantly by area.

The median price rose 6 percent in Seattle and 19 percent in Southeast King County, but fell 13 percent in Southwest King County and 12 percent on the Eastside.

The median price of single-family homes sold in Snohomish County in February was $280,000, down 10 percent from the same month last year. Sales were up 53 percent.

Jumbo mortgage market is beginning to thaw

2010-02-28T19:05:00.001-08:00

By E. Scott Reckard

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Phil Kelly had 18 more months to go before the fixed rate on his $2.5 million mortgage became adjustable.

But when Kelly, a former computer executive living in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., learned he could knock his interest rate down by a full percentage point by refinancing, he went for it.

"It's always tough to pick the exact bottom or top of anything," Kelly said. "But I think this rate is about as low as you're going to get."

Rates on jumbo mortgages — loans of more than $729,750 in Southern California counties with the highest-cost housing (and $567,500 in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties) — shot up during the financial crisis as lenders and loan investors shunned anything tainted with even a whiff of higher risk. Rates on big mortgages were especially high relative to those on smaller loans.

But in a boon for borrowers in California's expensive housing markets, the jumbo-loan market is starting to return to normal.

Two weeks ago, the average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate jumbos dropped to 5.79 percent, a nearly five-year low, according to rate tracker Informa Research Services of Calabasas. It edged up to 5.88 percent this past week, still very attractive by historical standards. The average is down from well above 7 percent in late 2008.

Rates are even lower on so-called hybrid adjustable mortgages, on which the rate is fixed for, say, five years and then adjusts annually. Kelly's new loan is a five-year hybrid adjustable identical to his old one, except that he's paying about 5 percent, down from 6 percent.

Banks are also relaxing slightly some of their requirements for jumbo loans. That's an encouraging sign because the market for jumbos, in contrast with the rest of the mortgage business, isn't being propped up by Uncle Sam.

The lower rates and somewhat easier terms reflect newfound confidence among banks in the housing market.

That's because, by definition, jumbos are too big to be bought by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae or to be insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

Plus, the private market for mortgage-backed bonds dried up when the meltdown hit. So lenders making jumbo loans these days must be willing to take the risk of keeping them in their portfolios.

The maximum amounts for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae "conforming" mortgages, and for FHA mortgages, are set by Congress.

The cutoff for single-family homes was $417,000 from 2006 until February 2008, when lawmakers increased it temporarily in certain high-cost areas, including the Seattle area and parts of Southern California.

The increased upper limits, which have been extended until the end of this year, have created a three-tier system in expensive areas, mortgage professionals say: loans of up to $417,000, which are the easiest to obtain and carry the lowest rates; "conforming jumbos" from $417,000 to $729,750, which are somewhat harder to get and have slightly higher rates; and true jumbos, with the toughest standards and highest rates.

In the boom years of 2005 and 2006, interest rates were typically no more than a quarter of a percentage point higher on jumbo loans than on conforming loans, according to Informa Research.

That widened as the mortgage meltdown intensified and home prices dropped in late 2007. The spread ballooned to nearly 1.7 percentage points in early 2009 after the entire credit system froze.

But this year the rate spread has narrowed to less than a percentage point. It could shrink more if conforming-loan rates rise as expected after the Federal Reserve wraps up a $1 trillion-plus program to support the market for conforming loans next month.

In addition to lower rates, down-payment requirements are being relaxed in some cases.

For example, to write a jumbo loan in coastal areas of Los Angeles and Orange counties, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage looks for a 20 percent down payment or that percentage of equity, down from 25 percent last year, said Brad Blackwell, a national mortgage sales manager at the lender.

Jumbo loans remain much harder to get than before the credit crunch and recession. Borrowers typically must have a credit score of at least 700, compared with boom-era minimums in the 600s, though Laguna Niguel mortgage broker Jeff Lazerson said at least one lender was again making sub-700 jumbos available.

What's more, unless their down payments are very large, borrowers must provide evidence of high income, have sizable bank accounts as a cushion against the unforeseen and occupy the houses themselves.

But there are clear signs that the jumbo market has loosened.

One is an increasing availability of "stated income" loans — those that don't require proof of income — of as much as $2 million to borrowers with at least a 40 percent down payment, said mortgage broker Gary Bluman, owner of Real Estate Resources in Brentwood.

Also, instead of a true jumbo loan, some "piggyback" second loans are available again to help certain borrowers with 25 percent down payments pay for high-priced homes, Lazerson said.

Of course, adjustable, stated-income and piggyback loans were big contributors to the mortgage meltdown.

But such provisions are less risky if a borrower has 25 to 40 percent equity.

Despite the confidence in the market that such terms imply, lenders and mortgage investors are still dealing with piles of bad jumbos made during the boom.

Delinquencies of 60 days or more on prime jumbo loans that were packaged into securities jumped to 9.6 percent in January, up from 3.7 percent a year earlier, Fitch Ratings reported recently.

For now, the jumbo market remains limited to the volume of loans that banks are willing and able to keep on their books. But there is hope for a return to private outside funding.

Although no jumbos have been turned into securities for at least two years, packages of delinquent jumbos have begun to be sold again to "vulture" investors, a sign that the secondary market for the loans may revive, said Michael Fratantoni, a vice president of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

"The ice sheet," he said, "is starting to crack here and there."

Congratulations Adriane & Kyle - Great House RENTED in Madison Park!

2010-02-28T07:24:00.000-08:00

How can you not simply fall in love with the great community of Madison Park? With quaint shops & restaurants and not too mention, some of the most gorgeous homes in Seattle -- it is simply delightful! Congrats to Adriane and Kyle who just rented this great home in Madison Park and will be moving in at the end of March.

Click Here to Learn More About Madison Park

Housing: Best Recovery Bets - SEATTLE

2010-02-25T07:24:00.000-08:00

As written in CNNMOney.com

Seattle
Median home price: $371,000
Value lost since 2006: 15.2%
Forecast gain by 2011*: 3.8%

Seattle has become a world-class city with a diverse, vibrant economy. As a home to manufacturers such as Boeing and software providers such as Microsoft, the job market has held up better than average, with a current unemployment rate of 8.8%.

Home prices had a softer landing as well, dropping just 15.2% over the past three years, about half the national average. However, prices do tend to be volatile, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic. The lack of available land for development is one reason for that volatility, as are political restrictions on growth.

After another modest price decline of 2.3% in the next eight months, the market should begin to turn up. Between June 2010 and June 2011, the city should see a gain of 6.2%. Averaged out, that means a 3.8% gain over the next two years*.

And while that may not sound all that robust for those jaded by the annual double-digit returns recorded during the boom, that performance will be one of the best of any large city during that period.

For complete article visit: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/real_estate/0910/gallery.housing_price_forecast/index.html

Is the mortgage market starting to heal?

2010-02-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

By Les Christie, staff writerFebruary 19, 2010: 11:51 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The mortgage market may have begun to turn: Fewer borrowers fell behind on their payments during the last three months of 2009.

A seasonally adjusted 9.47% of all mortgage loans were late during the fourth quarter, down from 9.64% at the end of September, according to the National Delinquency Survey, which is produced by the Mortgage Bankers Association and is considered the bible of the industry.

This figure is significant because it shows a reduction -- even if just slight -- in the volume of loans heading toward the foreclosure process. This has not happened since 2006.

"We are likely seeing the beginning of the end of the unprecedented wave of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures that started with the subprime defaults in early 2007, continued with the meltdown of the California and Florida housing markets due to overbuilding and the weak loan underwriting that supported that overbuilding, and culminated with a recession that saw 8.5 million people lose their jobs," said Jay Brinkmann, the MBA's chief economist.

Of course, delinquency rates were still 1.59% higher than they were in the last quarter of 2008.

Foreclosures: Where does your state rank?
Brinkmann's main reason for optimism was a drop in the percentage of borrowers who had missed one mortgage payment. That rate fell quarter-over-quarter to 3.63% from 3.79%.

"The continued and sizable drop in the 30-day delinquency rate is a concrete sign that the end may be in sight," he said. "We normally see a large spike in short-term mortgage delinquencies at the end of the year due to heating bills, Christmas expenditures and other seasonal factors."

Another positive sign is a drop in the percentage of borrowers whose lenders had initiated foreclosures, the first step in the process of taking homes away from borrowers. That may be only temporary, though: Lenders have been holding back and the number of seriously delinquent loans not in foreclosure has ballooned.

As a result, loans 90-days late or more now account for half of all delinquencies calculated by the MBA, a record high and twice the category's share of delinquencies two years ago.

Landlord foreclosed. Do you have to go?
"The build-up in the 90-day bucket of loans that could end up in foreclosure should keep foreclosure rates elevated," said Brinkmann.

But the high number of borrowers in that category is also somewhat of a statistical glitch. Loans are remaining there much longer than they did in past years because of government and lender attempts at mortgage modifications.

Of all the delinquency hot spots, Florida is the worst hit with 26% of all mortgages in some kind of trouble.

The worst performing category of loans was subprime adjustable rate mortgages, with more than 42% being 90 days late or in foreclosure. That is nearly four times the rate of default during early 2007, when the mortgage meltdown was heating up.

The MBA report, according to Mike Larson, a real estate analyst for Weiss Research, is a further sign that the housing market is truly stabilizing.

"We're now seeing the next piece of the puzzle fall into place," he said. "Specifically, early stage delinquencies are stabilizing. This is a key sign that housing market conditions are slowly, grudgingly, getting slightly better."

One key trend is that home price declines, a key influence on delinquency rates and, especially, on foreclosures, halted their free-fall in 2009. The average home price in 20 major markets dropped only about 5% during the 12 months ended Nov. 30, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index.

As prices stabilize, fewer mortgage borrowers will plunge underwater, owing more on their mortgage balances than their homes are worth. Homeowners with positive equity in their homes have an asset they can tap during temporary financial strains and are much less likely to fall behind on their mortgages.

Obama signs jobless benefit extension bill extending unemployment benefits by up to 20 weeks and legislation extends homebuyer tax credit into 2010

2009-11-06T10:16:00.000-08:00

President Obama said he signed a bill to provide up to 20 weeks of jobless benefits to unemployed Americans to "help create and save jobs."

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- President Obama said he signed into law Friday a bill to provide up to 20 additional weeks of jobless benefits to unemployed Americans and extend the $8,000 tax credit for new homebuyers into the middle of next year.

The signing came after the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate spiked to a 26-year high of 10.2% in October, with 190,000 jobs lost in the month.

After calling the jobless rate "sobering," Obama said the bill he signed will "will help grow our economy, help create and save jobs, and help provide necessary relief to small businesses," in a statement following the signing.

The House approved the measures by a 403-12 vote Thursday afternoon, a day after the Senate passed the legislation.

The closely watched legislation will extend jobless benefits in all states by 14 weeks. Those that live in states with unemployment greater than 8.5% will receive an additional six weeks. The proposal will be funded by extending a longstanding federal unemployment tax on employers through June 30, 2011.

The measure will apply to those whose benefits run out by Dec. 31, which is nearly two million people, according to Senate estimates. Those whose checks have already stopped will be able to reapply for another round.

The House, which passed its own benefits extension in September, giving an additional 13 weeks in high-unemployment states, approved the Senate's version.

"The bill will mark another step toward a boost in our economic growth and it will make critical investments for our families and our workers," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The legislation offers a lifeline to out-of-work Americans, to the men and women hardest hit by the recession."

"The bill also a places a down payment on the future of our middle-class because it extends, for the first-time homebuyer, a tax credit helping more Americans purchase homes and making it a little easier for families to move into a new house and keep a roof over their heads," she added.
7,000 a day losing benefits

The Senate had been bickering over the details since September, and that cost more than 200,000 people their benefits. Some 7,000 unemployed Americans run out of benefits each day, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Millions of Americans are now depending on unemployment benefits, as the unemployment rate continues to soar.

More than one in three people who are unemployed have been out of work for at least six months, according to the law project.

Lawmakers twice lengthened the time people can receive checks to as much as 79 weeks, depending on the state.

Tax break for buying a home

The legislation also will extend the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit to contracts signed by April 30 and closed by June 30. The controversial credit, which many say has boosted home sales in recent months, was set to expire after Nov. 30.

The bill also creates a $6,500 credit for those who buy a home after living in their current house at least five years. That measure will apply to contracts signed by April 30 and closed by June 30. The current credit defines a first-time homebuyer as someone who has not owned a residence within the past three years.

The credit will be available only for the purchase of principal residences priced at $800,000 or less.

The bill will raise the adjusted gross income cap to $125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for joint filers. The amount of the credit currently begins to phase out for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is more than $75,000, or $150,000 for joint filers.

"It's gonna put people back to work, the home builders, put people in the real estate business," said Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. "The kind of jobs that can make a difference."

The extension will cost $10.8 billion over 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Through mid-September, 1.4 million tax returns had qualified for the credit, according to the IRS. Some portion of those returns, which the IRS couldn't specify, represents buyers who took advantage of an earlier version of the tax credit, which was only worth $7,500 and has to be repaid over time.
By the end of November, the credit will have been used by 1.8 million homebuyers, at least 355,000 of whom would not have bought a house without the tax break, according to estimates by the National Association of Realtors.

"The data on the present home buyer tax credit show that the credit has had its intended impact -- sales have jumped in recent months to a projected 5.1 million for the year and housing inventory has been trimmed, thus stabilizing home prices noticeably," said Ron Phipps, the association's first vice president, in Senate testimony last month.

The credit, however, has also posed many problems. Critics say it's a waste of money because most of those claiming the credit would have bought homes anyway.
It's also been the target of fraud. Some 74,000 people claimed more than $500 million in credits even though they may not be first-time homeowners, according to Treasury officials. And more than 580 children, including some as young as 4-years-old, have claimed the credit.

"Some key controls were missing to prevent an individual from erroneously or fraudulently claiming the credit and receiving an erroneous refund of up to $8,000," said J. Russell George, Treasury inspector general for tax administration, before a House subcommittee last month.

Last Updated: November 6, 2009: 12:13 PM ET

Senate passes Homebuyer Tax Credit

2009-11-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

November 4, 2009
Today the US Senate voted 98-0 to pass the Homebuyer Tax Credit [within the Unemployment Bill]. It now goes to the House. We expect the House to pass the bill as well and it could go to the President for signature within the week.
Passage of this bill would be wonderful news for the real estate industry in Washington. In essence, the bill extends the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit through April 30, 2010 and provides a $6,500 credit to new purchasers who have lived in their current residence for five or more years.
According to Senator Patty Murray, "Extending and expanding the successful homebuyer's tax credit will help families purchase homes and will provide a much needed boost to the local housing market".

Home sales continue to rise

2009-11-04T13:34:00.001-08:00

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Jeff Clabaugh Washington, D.C., Business Journal

One measure of home sales rose for the eighth consecutive month in September, the longest streak since 2001.
"National Association of Realtors' index of pending sales of existing homes rose 6.1 percent in September. Pending sales are up 21.2 percent from a year ago, the largest annual increase on record, the NAR says.

"What we are witnessing is a rush of first-time buyers trying to beat the expiration of the tax credit at the end of this month," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. "Home values will stabilize sooner rather than over-correcting."
Existing home sales, which make up the vast majority of home sales, are leading the recovery. Reports last week said sales of new homes fell 3.6 percent in September, while sales of existing homes jumped 9.4 percent. Existing home sales were at a two-year high in September. New home sales are down nearly 8 percent from a year ago.
The NAR predicts new home sales will continue to lag as home builders hold back production to drive down inventory. New home construction also continues to be hampered by an ongoing credit crunch for construction loans.

Bridge loans helping homebuyers trying to move up

2009-10-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

By Jane Hodges
Special to The Seattle Times

First-time homebuyers have benefitted this year from falling home prices, historically low mortgage rates and $8,000 tax credits that expire Nov. 30.

But another kind of buyer — "move-up buyers" who must sell an existing home to finance the purchase of another, more expensive place — has suffered from slow-moving transactions among mid-priced homes like theirs, unable to predict when a home will sell or for how much and stalling their plans.

Hoping to spur more transactions among the move-up set, Windermere Real Estate last week began promoting 0 percent bridge loans to help them finance the purchase of a new home before they've sold their existing one.

Bridge loans are loans against the value of a home for sale, and borrowers use them to finance a new home purchase they wish to complete before they've sold their original place. Borrowers repay bridge loans with funds from their original home's sale.

Windermere says it's testing a 0 percent bridge loan to see if the offering motivates more transactions.

"We're back in the bridge-loan business," said Jill Wood, president at Windermere Real Estate in Seattle. "This is for a limited time, and our goal is to stimulate the market for the second-, third- or even fourth-time buyer."

Windermere is working with Vintage Loans to offer the program. Would-be buyers can borrow up to $100,000 at 0 percent interest for six months, or up to $200,000 for 0 percent interest for up to three months. Wood said buyers ineligible for the 0 percent bridge loan can apply for a traditional bridge loan at a 7.75 percent interest rate that the company began offering Sept. 1.

Golf Savings Bank and Washington Federal are also offering bridge loans locally. Golf Savings Bank Executive Vice President Donn Costa says rates at Golf Savings Bank are now about 8 percent and require a good credit rating.

Agents say that the middle and top tiers of the local real-estate market could certainly use a boost. In Seattle and close-in areas, the "move-up" market generally includes homes priced at $500,000 or higher, said Brent Lumley, an agent with Windermere's Oak Tree office. Such homes take three or four times longer to sell than homes below that price, he says.

"It does seem that a lot of buyers are kind of stuck," said Todd Williamson, an agent with John L. Scott Real Estate's Westwood office in West Seattle who currently represents a few listings priced at over $650,000. "Bridge loans are good in theory. But it also seems like you need equity to take advantage of them."

Williamson says that, rather than use bridge borrowing and wait on a sale, some sellers have become much more flexible about lowering prices. Indeed, he has one listing that's come down from $775,000 to $699,000 over the past six weeks.

Nationally, bridge loans play a role in less than 5 percent of all real-estate transactions, according to Keith Gumbinger, a vice president with HSH Associates, a mortgage research firm in Pompano Plains, N.J.

Craig Goebbel, a partner at Cascade Pacific Mortgage, says local bridge-loan usage is similar to national rates cited by HSH. Goebbel says he hasn't helped clients pursue bridge loans in recent months. And, when he has helped clients seek approval for such loans they've only needed to tap the financing in 15 percent of the time due to successful home sales.

A 0 percent bridge loan, however, might actually do some good, says Gumbinger.
"If this caters to the section of the market that's holding up the overall market, then it could help," he said. "Having access to more liberal financing terms always helps."

Home prices gain for 3rd straight month

2009-10-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Case-Shiller index shows 1.6% gain in July, a sign that recovery may be in motion.

By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: September 29, 2009: 10:37 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- There was another tick-up in home prices in July, a further indication that housing markets may be stabilizing, according to a report issued Tuesday

Prices for the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price index of 20 cities rose 1.6% from a month earlier, the third consecutive month of gains. They went up 1.4% in June.

Prices were still down 13.3% compared with July 2008, but even that performance was better than expected. A panel of industry experts surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 14.2% loss.

"The rate of annual decline in home price values continues to decelerate and we now seem to be witnessing some sustained monthly increases across many of the markets" said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's.

Craig Thomas, a senior economist with PNC Financial Services Group, called the report very encouraging.

"The rule of thumb is that three observations is a trend," he said. "There have been three straight good reports, so, this is a trend."

The home-price gains also confirmed other positive recent housing reports such as lower inventories and more traffic being reported by home builders, according to Thomas. Trends in other economic indicators, such as job losses and retail sales have also improved lately.

A pattern is developing, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), one in which stabilizing prices could contribute to a self-sustaining recovery.

"When prices are falling, consumers ask themselves, 'Why buy now when I can buy later for less,'" he said, adding that rising prices are a strong incentive to act more quickly.

Minneapolis' gain: Among the 20 cities, Minneapolis recorded the biggest gain during July; with prices up 4.6%. San Francisco, up 3.3%, and Chicago, 2.7% higher, also recorded sizable gains.

The only price declines occurred in Las Vegas, where they fell 1.1%, and Seattle, down 0.1%.

Las Vegas has become the city hardest hit by foreclosures, which remain one of the big issues facing housing markets.

Yun points out that there will be another foreclosure spike over the next six to 12 months as the terms of option ARMs and interest-only mortgages reset, raising monthly payments for many borrowers and pushing some into delinquency. Foreclosed homes will continue to come back onto the market, padding supplies and dampening prices.

The other major uncertainty is over the first time homebuyers' tax credit that currently gives back up to $8,000 to taxpayers who buy before Dec. 1 and who have not owned a home within the past three years.

Yun credits the tax credit with being a major market stimulus. NAR estimated that an extra 350,000 homes will be sold because of it. There are bills in Congress that would extend the program and even expand it to every home buyer. If none of these are enacted, the market could suffer a reversal.

There will be a clear-cut market recovery because of buyer interest tied to that stimulus, according to Yun, and if the tax credit is allowed to lapse, we could be looking at another bottom coming our way.

The Case-Shiller index compares the sale price of a home to its price the last time it was sold, then factors in changes in prices over time.

That, ideally, yields a more accurate picture of home price fluctuations than simply calculating the median or average prices of all homes sold during the month. Those averages can be skewed by changes in the mix of homes sold during any one period

Unemployed Home Owners May Get Assistance

2009-09-24T07:54:00.001-07:00

The Obama administration has opened a dialogue with major lenders, economists, and government officials over the possibility of extending a financial lifeline to home owners who no longer can afford their mortgages because of job losses.

Possible strategies range from encouraging loan servicers to allow unemployed borrowers to skip some payments to providing grants or loans to temporarily cover mortgage obligations for home owners who become unemployed.

The talks have drawn praise from some real estate groups and other interests, who say that without aid to this subset of homeowners, the housing recovery could lose momentum.

Source: USA Today, Stephanie Armour (09/18/09)

How Does Inflation Impact Interest Rates?

2009-09-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

If you have seen the news lately, you know that inflation is a very serious issue that will likely be on the rise as the year proceeds.

But What Does This Really Mean to You?

The bottom line is that as inflation increases, home loan rates will rise too. That is because lenders know that a rise in inflation actually diminishes the value of the money they receive over the life of a loan, as the money they receive for payment simply will not go as far. So when lenders see changes in inflation or even anticipate a rise, they increase their interest rates to make up for the loss in future buying power that will happen as a result of inflation.

What Should You Do?

Work with a home loan professional who pays close attention to what is going on with inflation–not only with the reports that come out, but also with the concerns that legislators and lenders express. After all, lenders may raise rates to protect their money as soon as they feel the tide turning.

More importantly, if you or any of your family, friends, neighbors or co-workers have been considering a purchase or refinance, this is a great time to act because home loan rates could be on the rise.

Information Provided by Toby Wonder
Mortgage Consultant
Office: 425-274-9524
Cell: 206-910-4766
License #: 510-LO-32290

70 DAYS and counting!!! -- The Countdown is On....

2009-09-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorizes a tax credit of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.

The law defines "first-time home buyer" as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. For married taxpayers, the law tests the homeownership history of both the home buyer and his/her spouse.

The income limit: for single taxpayers is $75,000; the limit is $150,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return. The tax credit amount is reduced for buyers with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of more than $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return. The phase-out range for the tax credit program is equal to $20,000. That is, the tax credit amount is reduced to zero for taxpayers with MAGI of more than $95,000 (single) or $170,000 (married) and is reduced proportionally for taxpayers with MAGIs between these amounts.
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This information provided by Robert Wolverton with Mortgage Advisory Group

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If you are a buyer and would like to get pre-qualified contact Robert Wolverton - 425.418.3233 www.robertwolverton.com

"I can close most transactions in 10 business days when needed" - Robert

Pricey areas see big growth in home sales

2009-09-10T22:49:00.000-07:00

August home-sales figures show two higher-priced King County neighborhoods saw the biggest increases in sales.
By Eric Pryne, Seattle Times business reporter

King County home sales continued their summer surge in August. And the latest numbers suggest the buyers aren't all cash-starved first-timers.

Buyers closed on 5 percent more houses last month than in August 2008, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Friday. It was the third consecutive monthly year-over-year increase, a bump many attribute to the new $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time buyers.
But the neighborhood that saw the biggest jump in sales in August was West Bellevue/Medina, far beyond the means of most folks making their first forays into homeownership.

The runner-up for the month, Queen Anne/Magnolia, also is no mecca for real-estate rookies.
Brokers who work in those two neighborhoods say people with money, who held back when the economy was on the brink, are starting to buy houses again.

"Americans forget very quickly," said Sam Konswa, owner of Queen Anne Real Estate. "The confidence level has just gone crazy on the up side."

Single-family home closings in Queen Anne and Magnolia were up 74 percent in August from the same month in 2008, from 31 to 54, the listing service said. In West Bellevue/Medina — the priciest of the 30 areas into which the service divides the county — the increase was a whopping 169 percent, from 13 to 35.

Together, the two high-end areas accounted for more than half the countywide increase.

Pending sales — offers sellers have accepted that haven't yet closed — also were up both in those neighborhoods and countywide for the fifth consecutive month.

But the median price of a King County house that closed in August was $375,000, down 11.6 percent year over year.

Median fluctuated

The median has fluctuated between $364,000 and $395,000 since January. Some real-estate professionals say it could drop further as banks put more foreclosed homes on the market.

In Queen Anne and Magnolia, the median price of a house that sold in August was $573,000 — the highest in Seattle — but down from $599,000 a year earlier. In West Bellevue and Medina the drop was more dramatic, from $1.6 million to $915,000, the listing service said.

Lower prices are one reason buyers are returning to the luxury-home market, said Ron Sparks, managing vice president of Coldwell Banker Bain, whose firm lists many high-priced homes.

"The million-and-up market has really dramatically improved in the last 60 to 90 days," he said.

Fewer sellers

Prospective buyers in that price range aren't as concerned about job security as they were earlier this year, Sparks said. Their stock portfolios have bounced back from the depths of March. And it's easier for them to get financing at a low interest rate now.

Inventory in West Bellevue/Medina has dropped from a five-year supply early this year to a 10-month supply now, Sparks said.

On Queen Anne, Konswa said the market has an overabundance of buyers and not enough sellers. His small firm had 26 listings in January, he said; now it has just three.

"I am now soliciting sellers for the first time," Konswa said. "Every time I get a call, it's 'I want to buy a house.' "

Some buyers are finally taking the plunge after looking for more than a year, he said. Others are investing some of their recent stock-market gains in real estate.

Countywide, single-family home inventory — the number of active listings — was down more than 20 percent in August from the same month last year.

King County condos didn't fare as well as single-family homes in August. Buyers closed on 11.4 percent fewer units last month than in August 2008, the broker-owned listing service said. The median price, $252,250, was down 5.9 percent.

In Snohomish County, the median price of a house that sold in August was $299,950, down 11.8 percent year over year.

Closed sales were up 8.1 percent countywide — but in Southeast Snohomish County, the priciest area, the increase topped 30 percent.

July home sales surge more than 7 percent

2009-08-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

The U.S. housing market is rebounding faster than expected. The question is, can it last? Home resales in July posted the largest monthly increase in at least 10 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires Nov. 30. Sales jumped 7.2 percent and beat expectations, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

By ALAN ZIBEL

AP Real Estate Writer

WASHINGTON —
The U.S. housing market is rebounding faster than expected. The question is, can it last? Home resales in July posted the largest monthly increase in at least 10 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires Nov. 30. Sales jumped 7.2 percent and beat expectations, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

"We've got tens of thousands of homes perfect for the first-time homebuyer and we've taken advantage of that," said George Hackett, president of Coldwell Banker Real Estate in Pittsburgh.

Sales hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million in July, from a pace of 4.89 million in June. It was the fourth-straight monthly increase and the strongest month since August 2007. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 5 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

The risks to that healthy pace, however, are job cuts, mortgage rates and the looming end to the homebuyer tax credit. And the last one could be a doozy because first-time buyers are snapping up one out of every three homes.

First-time buyers get a credit of 10 percent of the purchase price of a home, up to $8,000. The credit phases out for singles earning more than $75,000 and couples earning more than $150,000. The real estate industry is lobbying to have the credit extended but its unclear if Congress will be swayed.

"I would not be at all surprised to see a dip at the end of the year once the tax credit expires," said Robert Dye, senior economist with PNC Financial Services Group.

The home sales report was another sign that the U.S. economy is on the verge of a long-awaited recovery after enduring a brutal recession and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Economic activity in both the U.S. and around the world appears to be leveling out and "the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday.

But fallout from the recession will linger for some time. Unemployment rose in July in 26 states and fell in 17, the Labor Department said Friday. That is driving up foreclosures, which are not expected to level off until sometime next year.

Sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties made up about a third of all transactions last month, down from nearly half earlier this year. In places like San Diego and Orlando, buyers are snapping up foreclosed properties at deep discounts, and inventories are low.

Those sales helped drag down the national median sales price by 15 percent to $178,400.

Stephen Stoyko hunted off-and-on for two years before he bought a four-bedroom, two-story foreclosure this week for $320,000. The home in Roswell, Ga., north of Atlanta, was initially priced at $335,000.

Stoyko expects to spend about $7,000 to replace missing kitchen appliances and light fixtures - a cost will be at least partially offset by the first-time homebuyer tax credit. "It's bigger than I needed, but the price was right," he said.

The inventory of unsold homes on the market rose to 4.1 million, from 3.8 million a month earlier as buyers who had held their homes off the market in the past decided to list them for sale. That's a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from June.

PENDING in Mount Vernon - Congratulations Tomas & Carolina!

2009-08-18T20:55:00.001-07:00

Rates are so Low!!! Chart of 30 Year Fixed-Rate Mortgages from 1998 thru 2009

2009-08-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

RENTED in Downtown Bellevue - Congratulations Lukas!

2009-08-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

Median U.S. home price rise from 1st quarter to 2nd

2009-08-13T22:30:00.001-07:00

A real estate group says U.S. home prices posted a gain in the second quarter, another sign that the ailing housing market is finally coming to life.

The National Association of Realtors says the median sales price in the quarter was $174,100, up 4 percent from the first quarter, but still almost 16 percent below a year ago. Prices, however, were still down from a year ago in 129 out of 155 metropolitan areas the group tracks.

Total sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million, from 4.58 million in the first quarter, but were still about 3 percent below a year ago.

By ALAN ZIBELAP Real Estate Writer

RENTED in Kirkland - Congratulations Barry & Alice

2009-08-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

Pending Home Sales Surge; Fifth Straight Monthly Rise

2009-08-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

By: CNBC.com with wires

Pending home sales rose for the fifth consecutive month in June, easily topping expectations, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The Pending Home Sales Index rose 3.6 percent to 94.6 from an upwardly revised reading of 91.3 in May, and is 6.7 percent higher than in June 2008. Reuters had expected an 0.6 percent increase.

The last time there were five consecutive monthly gains was July 2003.

The housing market's collapse is at the heart of the longest U.S. recession since the Great Depression and reviving the sector is critical to healing the economy. The data served as further evidence that the housing market was starting to claw out of a three-year slump.

"Historically low mortgage interest rates, affordable home prices and large selection are encouraging buyers who've been on the sidelines. Activity has been consistently much stronger for lower priced homes," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

Pending home sales were higher in all four regions than last month, and only the west experienced a decrease from a year ago. The index in the Northeast rose 0.4 percent to 81.2 in June and was 5.8 percent above the same period last year. In the Midwest, the index climbed 0.8 percent to 89.9. It was 11.6 percent higher than June 2008.

The index in the South jumped 7.1 percent to 100.7 in June and was 8.9 percent higher versus a year ago. In the West, the index rose 2.9 percent to 100.4, but was 0.2 percent below June 2008.

"Hopefully, in the months ahead, we'll see an even closer relationship between contract activity and closed transactions," said NAR president Charles McMillan.

The organization's Housing Affordability Index fell from record peaks reached in recent months but remains 36.6 percentage points above one year ago.

The Clock is Ticking! Decision Time Draws Near for First Time Buyer's Credit

2009-08-04T07:36:00.000-07:00

While the economy continues to show signs of improvement and many housing markets are beginning to heat up, scores of would-be buyers are still waiting on the sidelines for further positive housing trends. But for first-time buyers, time is running short on the federal government's $8,000 tax credit.

Though the official expiration date of the credit is December 1, in reality on-the-fence buyers will need to make a decision one way or the other fairly soon. The reason: in order to qualify for the credit, the home purchase must close by December 1st. Merely having loan approval, an accepted offer or a signed contract won't be enough to qualify for the Housing and Economic Recovery Act.

Decision-Making Timeline - While each transaction is unique, closing a real estate deal is no speedy matter. On average, closing takes place 45 to 60 days after the date that the contract is signed. In order to meet the December 1st deadline, this would mean having a signing date in late September or early October. Those who consider the tax credit an important incentive but are still unsure about entering the market will need to make a decision one way or another before many more summer days pass.

To have any chance at finding a home and having an offer accepted by early October, buyers will want to wade into the home buying process right away. The immediate steps include making a final list of desired home attributes, scouting favorite neighborhoods and areas, starting the mortgage pre-approval process and beginning the home search process online.

Potential for Delays - Buying a home is a complicated process, and it is not unusual for purchases involving first-time buyers to take slightly longer than those involving experienced buyers. Some of the delays that first-time buyers may face over the coming months:

Competition with Other Buyers
While home may be selling at a lower rate than in years past, in many areas changes in inventory have created extremely competitive buying environments. Foreclosures or other homes with greatly lowered asking prices are particularly sought after, and in many cases investors are very active in the marketplace.

Disclosures & Contingencies
The seller is obligated to disclose any material facts about the property, including any property defects or any lawsuits regarding claim to ownership on the property. Disclosures can stall negotiations and delay the contract signing depending on their nature and severity. Contingencies (written clauses in the sales contract that give protection to both the buyer and the seller of a home) can also result in some delay in negotiation, particularly if the contingency requires the seller to make specific repairs.

Appraisal
The lender will arrange for appraisal of the property, which will include a thorough inspection of the home's interior and exterior. The appraiser's report will describe the physical characteristics of the property and comparable property values will be used to determine the value of the property. If the appraisal of the home's value is lower than the agreed upon sales price, the buyer's chance of loan approval can be in jeopardy. In addition, recently added rules for appraisers have been causing some delays based upon anecdotal evidence.

Loan Approval
While interest rates remain advantageous for buyers, lenders are being much more fastidious during the approval process. Obtaining pre-approval can help prevent many delays.

The Holiday Season
Buyers who submit an offer in mid-fall may likely run into another roadblock to a pre-December 1st closing date: the approaching holiday season. Closing a real estate sale requires the work and attention of a number of professionals; from real estate agents to attorneys to bankers. Like many Americans, it is not uncommon for individuals in these fields to use up vacation time in the last few weeks of November. Securing a closing date during Thanksgiving week may be something approaching miraculous.

Additional Delays for Short Sales and Foreclosures
Buyers who make an offer on a short sale property or bank-owned foreclosure may find that it takes a significantly longer time to receive a reply than expected. Overall, buying these types of properties is a longer process than buying homes listed on the market by individual owners.

KEY Elements for First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

1.) The tax credit only applies to first-time home buyers. The law defines a "first-time" buyer as any buyer who has not owned a home within the previous three tax years. For married couples, the homeownership history of both individuals must meet this qualification.

2.) The tax credit is only available for homes purchased between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 1, 2009. For the purposes of this credit, the purchase date is the date when closing occurs and the title to the property transfers to the new home owner.

3.) As long as the property is purchased by a qualified buyer for use as a principal residence, any type of home, including single-family detached homes, townhouses, condominiums and manufactured homes can qualify for the credit.

4.) The tax credit does not have to be repaid provided that the buyers use the home as their principal residence for at least three years.

5.) The full tax credit is only available for individuals with an adjusted gross income of up to $75,000 and for married couples with a combined adjusted gross income of up to $150,000. The tax credit phases out for anyone above those income thresholds.

6.) The tax credit applies for up to 10 percent of the home's purchase price, with a maximum of $8,000. For example, a first-time buyer of a $50,000 home would be eligible for a tax credit of $5,000 while a buyer of a $150,000 home could receive a tax credit of a maximum of $8,000.

Click Here for a More Information About $8000 Tax Credit

New-home sales up 11% in June

2009-07-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)

New-home sales in the United States increased dramatically in June from May, offering some evidence that the housing market is recovering.

Sales of single-family homes increased 11 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, compared to a revised May rate of 346,000, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The jump marks the third consecutive increase in as many months and eclipses predictions by economists recently surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, who expected June sales to climb 2.3 percent to 350,000.

The last time sales rose so dramatically was in December 2000.

Last week, the National Association of Realtors reported that home resales posted a monthly increase of 3.6 percent in June.

Tips for a Sustainable Lifestyle - Windermere Green Living

2009-07-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

Host a Green Barbeque Summer is here and that means the start of what-should-we-barbeque-tonight season. Whether you cook with gas, wood, charcoal or an outdoor solar cooker, you can host a green barbeque this summer with these quick ideas.

Try a natural charcoal

If you are using a charcoal grill, there are natural charcoal options available to lessen your carbon footprint while keeping the flavor. All-natural charcoal burns cleaner than traditional briquettes and doesn’t contain any chemicals. Try Cowboy Charcoal or Wicked Good Charcoal the latter made of carbonized lump wood made from timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Use reusable plates, cups and utensils

If you’re worried about breaking your last complete set of dishes, more stores are selling inexpensive, sturdy outdoor serveware with bright summer patterns to match the season. Here are a few ideas to check out from Crate and Barrel and Target or buy used dishes from your neighbor’s garage sale or the local Goodwill. If you have just too many guests, try using compostable items that biodegrade much faster and are made from renewable resources such as corn or potato starch.

Become a locavore

Looking for the freshest fruits, veggies, cheese and meat for your next barbeque? Buy local, sustainably grown foods. Eating locally reduces the harmful impact of transporting foods across oceans and continents while supporting local economies. The food itself is fresher, tastier and has better nutritional value. Local Harvest is a great resource to find local sustainable farms and farmers’ markets in your area.

Have a Green story to share?We’d love to hear about your ideas for green living. Share a note or picture with one of your green endeavors and you could be featured in the next Green Living newsletter. Email greenliving@windermere.com.

Home sales climb in June in King County; median price drops from year ago to $395,000

2009-07-07T20:56:00.000-07:00

By Eric Pryne, Seattle Times business reporter

Single-family home sales in King County in June surged to their highest level in nearly two years, according to statistics released today by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

A total of 1,655 houses closed last month, up 4 percent from the same month in 2008. It was the first year-over-year increase in closed sales since the local housing market peaked in July 2007, and the largest number of closings in the county since October 2007.

"The positive movement in our real estate market year-over-year is really very encouraging," Ron Sparks, managing vice president of brokerage Coldwell Banker Bain, said in a prepared statement.

He and other real-estate agents attributed the increase in part to the new $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers. One broker said they account for about 40 percent of the market now.
Condo sales in King County continued to lag, with closings last month 18 percent below the June 2008 number.

The median price of a single-family house sold in the county in June was $395,000, down 12 percent year-over-year. Real-estate professionals noted the median price is up slightly since January — but it increased between January and June of last year as well.

The median condo price was $249,000, down 16 percent from last June.

Pending sales of King County single-family homes — offers that have been accepted by sellers, but haven't yet closed — were up nearly 25 percent year-over-year, the third consecutive monthly increase.

But, until June, closed sales had continued to trail last year's numbers, prompting some to wonder if the pending-sales increase was illusory. Agents attributed much of the disparity between and closed sales to "short sales" — offers sellers accept for less than they owe on the property — that are notoriously slow to close, and often don't close at all.

In Snohomish County, pending sales of single-family homes in June were up 37 percent year-over-year, and closed sales were nearly even. The median selling price was $307,000, down nearly 12 percent from June 2008.

Home sales stabilizing; weak recovery seen

2009-06-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

By ALAN ZIBEL
AP Real Estate Writer

Nationwide home sales may have finally hit bottom, new data shows, but a host of thorny problems are hindering any recovery.

Sales of previously occupied homes rose by 2.4 percent from April to May - the third monthly increase this year - but the results missed analysts' expectations.

Home sellers are still competing against a growing number of bargain-priced foreclosures, buyers are paying higher mortgage rates and new rules for property appraisers are delaying or scuttling many deals.

"We have just been flooded with e-mails, telephone calls on the appraisal problems," said Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist.

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 4.77 million, up from a downwardly revised rate of 4.66 million in April.

About one in three homes sold last month was a foreclosure or distressed sale, dragging down the median price to $173,000 - 16.8 percent below a year ago.

The size of the price drop, however, reflects a crush of first-time buyers and investors snapping up bargain-priced homes. A government home price index also released Tuesday showed home prices were flat between March and April. That index, however, only measures the values of homes with government-backed loans, so it underestimates the weakness at the top end of the market and doesn't include many foreclosures.

Marlene Rossi had to shaved 26 percent off her original listing price of $719,000 to sell her four-bedroom colonial in Congers, N.Y., on the west side of the Hudson River. She first listed the house in September 2007, thinking it would take only six months to sell. She finally accepted an offer this month for $530,000.

Rossi, 59, and her husband now have to rethink their retirement plans. Rossi is a nanny and her husband works in a golf pro shop and also as an umpire for baseball games.

Instead of being able to buy a condominium without a mortgage, she said, "we will only be able to put a down payment on it and we will still have to work."

The bursting of the housing bubble helped push the U.S. economy into the worst financial crisis in seven decades. Now the economy is hobbling the recovery of the real estate market.

Corporate layoffs are forcing more cash-strapped homeowners to miss their monthly mortgage payments. Unemployment, currently at 9.4 percent, isn't expected to peak until mid-2010 and foreclosures should crest about six months after.

"We're in the bottom of the seventh-inning" of the housing crisis, said Mark Zandi, chief
economist at Moody's Economy.com.

But there's still a risk the housing bust could go into extra innings.

Interest rates, for example, have climbed back from their all-time lows this spring. The average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 5.38 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.
Mindful of the negative trends, Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global insight, says home sales could fall another 9 percent from last month's levels. "Things are going to get a little bit worse," he said.

Nevertheless, there are other signs the market is turning around. The number of unsold homes fell 3.5 percent in May. That means there's a 9.6 month supply at the current sales pace, compared with 6 months or fewer in a normal market.

The inventory figures, however, don't reflect the large number of houses being held off the market by owners who are reluctant to sell while prices are falling.

Meanwhile, another complication has emerged in recent months: New rules designed to tackle conflicts of interests in the property appraisal process have caused many transactions to fall apart or be delayed.

Responding to widespread complaints about inflated appraisals during the real estate boom, New York Attorney General Cuomo reached a pact last year with mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on a new code of conduct for the industry.

Since the rules took effect May 1, real estate agents and mortgage brokers say a number of appraisals are coming in surprisingly low. And now the National Association of Realtors is pressing regulators to put an 18-month hold on the code, arguing in a letter Monday to regulators that it the code is "hampering the housing market's recovery."

Chris Heller, agent-owner of Keller Williams Realty in northern San Diego, estimated that in recent weeks problems with the appraisal process have caused about a third of his transactions to fall apart.

While the new rules are not ideal, appraisers are not to blame for a market where prices are falling rapidly, said Bill Garber, director of governmental relations at the Appraisal Institute. He defended the industry, saying, "The appraisers only report what's going on in the market."

SOLD - Redmond Ridge - Congratulations Marcela & Alejandro!!

2009-06-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

Are Zillow Estimates Accurate?

2009-06-21T21:05:00.001-07:00

Earlier today a dear friend on Facebook sent me the following message:

---------------

Hi Stacey,
I became your fan this morning! That's just a formality--I was already your fan of course.
Not sure where your discussion board is to ask this question, so I hope you don't mind an email question instead:
Do zillow.com house valuations tend to be accurate?
Thanks in advance,
Roberta

---------------

I just thought I'd post it here on my blog in case anyone else is curious about Zillow.

Zillow has been a great resource over the last few years for both buyers and sellers allowing them to search for homes, post questions, and utilize what is probably the most commonly used tool on their website a "Zestimate". This tool allows people to input a property address and have a number come up that provides them with estimated value.

So often in my industry I have clients tell me -- "I found my home on Zillow and they are telling me my home is worth XYZ", and although Zillow can get close, it is pulling data from nearby/recent sales and tax records. It bases the numbers on comparable square foot, lot size, location and bedrooms. However, be aware that if you are trying to determine the real value of your home have a licensed Real Agent put together a CMA (Comparable Market Analysis) for you. There analysis will take into consideration the overall state of a property (great condition or completely torn up inside), often times tax records may not appropriately reflect square footage or bedrooms if improvements were made or lot line adjustments were done, if nereby sales included short sales or foreclosures which do affect a property's value, and also it does not calculate any improvements you've done to your home, unless you've gone in to manually enter them into Zillow.

Overall, it might get you in a range, but in the end if you really want to know -- give me a call and I will meet you to prepare a CMA for your home with no obligation!

Roberta, I hope this answers your question :-)
---------
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Woodinville&state=WA

Consumer confidence: biggest jump in 6 years

2009-05-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

Despite Americans saying 'jobs are hard to get,' the index hits its highest level in 8 months.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- U.S. consumer confidence soared in May to its highest level in eight months as severe strains in the labor market showed some signs of easing, though Americans' moods remained depressed by historical standards.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said on Tuesday its index of consumer attitudes jumped to 54.9 in May from a revised 40.8 in April, the biggest one-month jump since April 2003. Economists had been looking for a much smaller rise to 42.0.

Fewer Americans said jobs were "hard to get," the survey found, with that measure slipping to 44.7% from 46.6%. Those saying jobs were plentiful climbed to a still meager 5.7%, but that was still higher than April's 4.9%.

"Consumers are considerably less pessimistic than they were earlier this year," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.

The data was in line with other evidence suggesting that, while the economy continues to contract in the current quarter, the pace of deterioration has abated somewhat.
U.S. stocks extended their rally after the data, with the Dow Jones industrial average up 120 points or 1.5%.

The survey offered mixed messages regarding Americans' propensity to spend money. The proportion of those who said they planned on buying a car over the next six months rose to 5.5%, its highest in at least a year.

But fewer intended to buy homes -- only 2.3%, a tough break for one of the hardest hit sectors in the country's economic crisis. A separate report on Tuesday revealed U.S. home prices dropped 18.7% in March compared to a year earlier.

Article from cnnmoney.com - http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/26/news/economy/consumer_confidence.reut/index.htm?postversion=2009052610

SOLD - Redmond Ridge

2009-04-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Dave!

Click Here to view all the information for this property

Fast Facts: First Time Homebuyer's Tax Credit

2009-03-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

2009 Stimulus Plan (Summarized)

2009-02-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

President Obama unveiled his plan to help stabilize the housing market and keep millions of borrowers in their homes. The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan includes two initiatives to help struggling homeowners. One is a refinancing program for homeowners with less than 20% equity in their homes, or who owe more than their home is worth. The second program attempts to lower monthly payments for homeowners at risk of losing their home. In addition, the plan includes a third initiative to support low mortgage rates by strengthening confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Many of the plan’s details are still being worked out and will not be announced until March 4, here is an overview of the plan’s main components.

Refinancing Initiative

Under current rules, those families who own less than 20% equity in their homes have a difficult time refinancing and taking advantage of the historically low interest rates. Therefore, the refinancing initiative in the new plan provides refinancing help for homeowners with less than 20% equity in their homes or who owe more than their home is worth. This initiative is open to homeowners who have conforming loans which are guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who owe up to 5% more than their home is worth.

According to the plan, “credit-worthy” or “responsible” homeowners can refinance their mortgage into a 30- or 15-year, fixed-rate loan based on current market rates. The refinanced loan, however, cannot include prepayment penalties or balloon payments. For many families, this low-cost refinancing may help reduce their mortgage payments by up to thousands of dollars per year. As with the rest of the plan, details about this initiative will be released at a future date—including what, if any, credit score requirements will be included.

Stability Initiative

This initiative aims at providing help to individual families as well as entire neighborhoods by helping reduce foreclosures and stabilize home prices. It is intended to help homeowners who are struggling to afford their mortgage payments, but cannot sell their homes because prices have fallen significantly.

The goal of this initiative is simple: “reduce the amount homeowners owe per month to sustainable levels.” To accomplish this, lenders are encouraged to lower homeowners' payments to 31 percent of their income by lowering their interest rate to as low as 2% or by extending the terms of the loan. In addition, lenders can also lower the principal owed by the borrower, with Treasury sharing in the costs.

Homeowners who are current on their mortgages but are struggling can still apply for this program. As such, this is one of the few programs designed to help homeowners who may face delinquency soon, but are current at the moment. Since the focus of this initiative is on helping families and neighborhoods, investment properties do not qualify. This initiative also includes a number of additional elements and incentives that benefit homeowners and lenders alike, including:

• Incentives to Help Borrowers Stay Current: To provide an extra incentive for borrowers to keep paying on time, the initiative will provide a monthly balance reduction payment that goes straight towards reducing the principal balance of the mortgage loan. As long as a
borrower stays current on his or her loan, he or she can get up to $1,000 each year for five years.

• Reaching Borrowers Early: To keep lenders focused on reaching borrowers who are trying their best to stay current on their mortgages, an incentive payment of $500 will be paid to servicers, and an incentive payment of $1,500 will be paid to mortgage holders, if they
modify at-risk loans before the borrower falls behind.

Supporting Low Mortgage Rates

As part of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, the Treasury Department is increasing its funding commitment to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure the strength and security of the mortgage market and to help maintain mortgage affordability. This portion of the plan will use using funds already authorized in 2008 by Congress for this purpose.

The increased funding will enable Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to carry out ambitious efforts to ensure mortgage affordability for responsible homeowners, and provide forward-looking confidence in the mortgage market.

Again, the government plans to unveil the final details of the plan on March 4, 2009. For now, you can download a sheet of common

Questions and Answers produced by the government at: www.treas.gov/initiatives/eesa/homeowner-affordability-plan/ConsumerQA.pdf

by Larry Steele, Sr. Mortgage Consultant, Countrywide Home Loans(425) 974-6111 Direct, (425) 457-2194 Mobile, Larry_Steele@Countrywide.com

Senate OKs $15,000 tax break for homebuyers

2009-02-09T12:54:00.001-08:00

By DAVID ESPO – 17 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Wednesday night to give a tax break of up to $15,000 to homebuyers in hopes of revitalizing the housing industry, a victory for Republicans eager to leave their mark on a mammoth economic stimulus bill at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan.
The tax break was adopted without dissent, and came on a day in which Obama pushed back pointedly against Republican critics of the legislation even as he reached across party lines to consider scaling back spending.
"Let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential," Obama said as Senate Republicans stepped up their criticism of the bill's spending and pressed for additional tax cuts and relief for homeowners. He warned that failure to act quickly "will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession."
Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama's signature by the end of next week, and they concede privately they will have to accept some spending reductions along the way.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who advanced the homebuyers tax break, said it was intended to help revive the housing industry, which has virtually collapsed in the wake of a credit crisis that began last fall.
The proposal would allow a tax credit of 10 percent of the value of new or existing residences, up to a $15,000 limit. Current law provides for a $7,500 tax break for the purchase of new homes only.
Isakson's office said the proposal would cost the government an estimated $19 billion.
Democrats readily agreed to the proposal, although it may be changed or even deleted as the stimulus measure makes its way through Congress over the next 10 days or so.
"This bill needs to be cut down," Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on the Senate floor. He cited $524 million for a State Department program that he said envisions creating 388 jobs. "That comes to $1.35 million per job," he added.
Republicans readied numerous attempts to reduce the cost of the $900 billion measure, which includes tax cuts and new spending designed to ignite recovery from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
But after days of absorbing rhetorical attacks, Obama and Senate Democrats mounted a counteroffensive against Republicans who say tax cuts alone can cure the economy.
Obama said the criticisms he has heard "echo the very same failed economic theories that led us into this crisis in the first place, the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems."
"I reject those theories and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change," said the president, who was elected with an Electoral College landslide last fall and enjoys high public approval ratings at the outset of his term.
Obama did not mention any Republicans by name, and most have signaled their support for varying amounts of new spending.
Even so, the president repeated his retort word for word in late afternoon, yet softened the partisan impact of his comments by meeting at the White House with senators often willing to cross party lines.
His first visitor was Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, a moderate GOP lawmaker. Later he met with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb.
"I gave him a list of provisions" for possible deletion from the bill, Collins told reporters outside the White House. Among them were $8 billion to upgrade facilities and information technology at the State Department and funds for combatting a possible outbreak of pandemic flu and promoting cyber-security. The latter two items, she said, are "near and dear to her," but belong in routine legislation and not an economic stimulus measure.
Collins and Nelson have been working on a list of possible spending cuts totaling roughly $50 billion, although they have yet to make details public.
The House approved its own version of the stimulus bill last week on a party line vote, but the political environment in the Senate is far different.
Democrats hold a comfortable 58-41 majority. But because the legislation would increase the federal deficit, any lawmaker can insist that 60 votes be required to add to its cost.
While the 60-vote threshold can impose a check on Democrats, it can also illuminate the cross-pressures at work on Republicans.
A Democratic attempt on Tuesday to add $25 billion for public works projects failed when it gained only 58 votes, two short of the total needed. But a few hours later, a proposed $11 billion tax break for new car buyers attracted 72 votes, including several from Republicans.
___
Associated Press writers Jennifer Loven and Andrew Taylor contributed to this story.
(This version CORRECTS the estimated cost of the homebuyer tax break to $19 billion, not $19 million.)

Enjoy the Finer Things in Life... Luxury NEW Home $2,595,000

2009-02-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

Devon Hughes Homes presents this NEW Exquisite Hollywood Hill 7650 SF Home with Elegant Living Spaces Throughout. Perfectly placed on a private 2.13 acre corner lot with plenty of room for pool and/or sports court. 5 spacious bedrooms, 4.25 bathrooms, State-of-the-art Kitchen with top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances including 2 dishwashers, sub zero refrigerator and freezer and much more! Sensational entertaining areas and a sumptuous oversized spa-like master retreat. Enjoy the dramatic entrance, high-tech amenities and beautiful detailed finishes. The expansive office area features a private entrance and access through master suite or main house. And don't forget the huge 1500 SF unfinished space or shop on lower level that could become outstanding wine cellar. There is still time to choose some finishes, don't miss out on this amazing home! Call today for a private showing!

Terrific New Listing in Lynnwood - 3 Bed / 2 Bath Condo - $199,000

2009-01-21T23:48:00.001-08:00

Martha Landing Condominium (3 Bed/2 Ba) - $199,000 from KEY Virtual Tours on Vimeo.

Find us on Twitter

2009-01-16T10:08:00.001-08:00

If you active on twitter....send us your user name and we will follow you!

Find us at http://twitter.com/key2yourhome

Search Foreclosures in King & Snohomish Counties - www.key2foreclosures.net

2009-01-12T17:04:00.001-08:00

Search Thousands of NW Rentals - www.key2rent.net

2009-01-11T15:06:00.000-08:00

Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency Extended in 2009

2009-01-11T12:23:00.000-08:00

On October 3, 2008, President Bush signed into law the "Emergency Economic Stabiliation Act of 2008" which included an extension of the residential tax credits for energy efficient improvements. The previous tax credit expired at the end of 2007. The extension is for improvements made from January 1 - December 31, 2009. Improvements made in 2008 are not eligible for a tax credit.

SELECTED TAX CREDITS:

- $300* Central Air Conditioner or Heat Pump
- $150 Furnace or boiler
- Up to $200* in Windows
- Up to $500* Insulation and Sealing
- Up to $2000 Ground-source heat pump

* Maximum of $500 total for home improvements

What is the difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction?
A tax credit reduces the tax you pay, dollar-for-dollar. Tax deductions - such as those for mortgages and sharitable giving - lower your taxable income. If you are in the highest 35% tax bracket, the income tax you pay is reduced by 35% of the value of your tax deduction. But a tax credit reduces your federal income tax by 100% of the amount of the credit.

What do you need to do to get the tax credit?
File IRS Form 5695 with your taxes. In addition, you will need to keep receipts proving that you purchased the improvements and a copy of the manufacturer's certification (or the ENERGY STAR label for windows).

Visiti the IRS (www.irs.gov.com) or speak with a certified account for more information.

OPEN HOUSE - SAT 1/3 FROM 12P - 4:30P - Gorgeous NEW Construction Home with Luxury Finishes in Canyon Park

2009-01-03T09:46:00.000-08:00

OPEN HOUSE - SATURDAY, JAN 3 FROM 1P-4P - Redmond Ridge 5 Bed Home on Greenbelt

2009-01-03T09:36:00.000-08:00

Cleaning up your Credit

2008-12-15T20:18:00.000-08:00

Your credit score can either save you money or cost you money. It can stop you from getting a job and keep you from getting insurance. It pays to understand what you can do to make it the best it can be.

Get Your Credit Report and Scores
By understanding your credit report, it will tell what actions you need to take to ensure your credit score is as high as possible. Equifax Gold Credit Monitoring allows you to run your credit report free every month.

Step 1
30% of your credit report score is attributed to credit balances. Keep your existing balance at or below 45% of your available limit. It is therefore important that all creditors report the available credit - or high limit on your credit report - or it harms your score. So get the credit company to add the limit to your report, or don’t do business with them.

Step 2
35% of your score is made up from your actual payment history. Whatever you do, make your payment within 30 days of the due date. Only 30+ days late will appear on your credit report. One way to build up your credit is to use your credit cards for everyday purchases; then pay your credit cards in full monthly.

Step 3
15% of your score is based on credit history. So it is important not to close your credit accounts that have been opened for a long time with a good rating. Longer credit history equals a higher score.

Step 4
Keep a good mix of your accounts. A good mix would consist of 3-5 credit cards, an installment loan (auto), a mortgage rating. Also inquiries impact your score by 10%. Each inquiry can impact your score by 5 points.

Step 5
Do you have high debt levels (over 5K in debt)? www.CareOneCredit.com will negotiate your debt with your creditors and help you lower your payments. The short form is free; you have nothing to lose if they can’t save you money.

Stacey becomes an Educator for WA State Housing Financing Commission

2008-12-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

A while back, Matt Berg, with Colbalt Mortgage shared with me information about an amazing program through the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSFHC). The non-profit organization was established through the WA State legislature over 25 years ago and provides money to first-time home buyers. This money often time is loaned to buyers who must meet certain qualifications (best for low-to-moderate incomes) and is loaned more often than not at a rate less than the going rates. Additionally, the WSFHC offers AMAZING down-payment assistant programs that loan down-payment money for which payments are sometimes deferred for the life of the loan or until the home is sold and is at exceptionally low interest rates (1% - 3%).

These programs are offered to first-time buyers who would have never imagined they could own a home and one aspect of qualification requires that they become well educated with regard to the home buying process and the programs that are available through the WSFHC.

That is where I step in, individuals interested in qualifying for monies available through the WSFHC must attend a 5-hour class taught by a Real Estate Professional and Mortgage Lender both of whom have been educated by the WSFHC to teach these classes and offer the first-time home buyers their certificates that lay their first step towards their dream of home ownership.

To learn more about how you can realize your dream of owning a home by taking advantage of this fantastic program available through Washington State -- Contact Us!

The KEY Team - Marketing Portfolio

2008-12-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

To better allow potential clients an opportunity to view samples of marketing pieces that can be created to assist with the sale of their home when we work with them. I have created a marketing portfolio that will continue to be improved, but this is certainly a great start -- Check it out!

Click Here to View Our Marketing Portfolio

OPEN HOUSE - Sun, Nov 30 from 1:00p - 3:30p

2008-11-29T12:24:00.000-08:00

Terrific NEW Price -- Canyon Park Home

2008-11-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

May All Good Things Be Yours In Abundance -- Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

OPEN HOUSE - Mon, Nov 24 from 12p - Dusk

2008-11-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

An Evening of Holiday Cheer & Photos with Santa with Windermere Woodinville Office

2008-11-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

YOU ARE INVITED TO...
An Evening of Holiday Cheer & Photos with Santa with
our office, Windermere Woodinville

Friday, December 5th, 5:30 to 9:30 PM
13901 NE 175th St, Ste 100, Woodinville

Bring the whole family! Take a FREE photo with Santa,

and join your neighbors for cookies and cider.

This holiday season, Windermere asks...

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?

Come to our event and share your thoughts by filling out an

event card, or send us an e-mail: woodinville@windermere.com

We are also accepting donations for the

FORGOTTEN CHILDREN'S FUND

Please help out if you can.

Donations accepted anytime at our office,

or simply call me and I can stop by to pick it up.

A friend asked "Is Inventory in Snohomish/Everett (Cathcart Area) down compared to this summer?"

2008-11-23T09:11:00.000-08:00

For those of you who haven't discovered the time-consuming, all-addictive social network called Facebook (www.facebook.com) I can tell you that I have. But through it I have gained connections to old friends and made great connections with new ones. And although I do enjoy the social aspect to this forum, I also enjoy my ability to share my successes in Real Estate with those to whom am connected - I believe my positive attitude and consistent contact with my clients and friends has helped me thrive through what has been a slower than past market.

Recently, an friend posed a question to me on facebook, outside of the typical "Hey there - How are you?"

Tanya G. asked me -
"Hey Stacey, I was curious to know why on Windermere there is suddenly so much less inventory of houses in our area? It seemed like this summer there was so much. Are people just not putting stuff on the market or is it selling quickly in our neck of the woods? Hope you are well and getting a ton of business :-)"

The first point I can make is when she refers to "Windermere", she is commenting on the Windermere's website (http://www.windermere.com/), where an individual can search through all homes listed on the NWMLS whether they be listed with a Windermere Agent or another real estate agency. Additionally, the area she references by "Our Area" is the Everett/Snohomish Area located just off Cathcart Way near Hwy 9 and Seattle Hill Road -- and what a Real Estate Agent would classify as area 740.

So with all of that said I prepared a graph to show the trends of inventory of homes, pending sales and sold homes for that specific area, narrowed down by the price range and square footage size found in that area $300,000 - $699,999.

So as you can see Tanya, inventory is down from the summer, but pending sales comparatively are much higher. Typically, you do see homeowners who have been trying to sell their homes take them off the market during what they believe is a "bad time" to sell (from November through December) -- however, I disagree with this thought process since homes do sell during these times and the buyers that are looking to buy are SERIOUS buyers, not just "lookey-loos" -- they usually need a home and have less inventory to view during these months, so why not let yours be one that they look at? Additionally, when those buyers who have taken their homes off the market put them back on in January, you suddenly see a HUGE rise in inventory.

Buying vs. Renting - The Benefits of Home Ownership

2008-11-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

Trends in home prices, personal income and mortgage rates,combined with the tax advantages of home ownership, make this an excellent time to turn the home of your dreams into a reality. If you’re thinking of buying a home, you’ve probably already asked yourself, “Can I afford to buy?” Another good question to ask is, “Can I afford to continue renting?” No matter what you’re currently paying for rent, your total cash outlay over a period of several years will probably add up to a much bigger total than you may have realized. The chart below shows how quickly the rent payments you’re making add up figuring in what this money would earn invested at 5
percent interest.

OPEN HOUSE & NEW PRICE with $60K Price Reduction - Friday, Nov 21 from 12p - 5p

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PENDING - Offer in First Day on the Market!

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