Oregon Real Estate Properties

I have been to tons of Real Estate seminars, training courses, and workshops geared towards increasing business and earning more money. They set a standard practice in place for the way Realtors should market. To reach as many people as possible, it’s a numbers game, the more you contact the better your chances are in capturing a lead. What I have learned in the trainings is: Consumers are leads, and we do not want to help we want to capture and we want to run the same standard of practice with all our clients. 

Well what I have come to realize in working with people, not one real estate transaction is the same! No two people are the same! Everyone I have worked with have different needs, and goals. So really how can we realtors use the same standard way of practice with all consumers? WE CAN’T!! 

It is more challenging now to STAND OUT and get consumers to understand you’re not “JUST ANOTHER AGENT”. You can show consumers there is something unique about what you offer.

“PEOPLE DO BUSINESS WITH PEOPLE THEY KNOW…. AND LIKE”

There are many agents; however there are more houses than ever currently for sale in all markets. To take your real estate business to a new level, it is important to create an emotional bond with people you want to do business with. One thing no other agent has is… YOU!!

Effective marketing is not just about fancy marketing pieces. It’s about connecting with your consumers on a personal yet professional level. Listen to them. What are their needs? Explain what you can do for them, after it is you find out what they need from you. That is what will set you apart from the others. Especially in today’s market, the values of people’s homes are going down. People are losing their jobs and therefore their homes. People will want to work with a professional that can listen to them and get involved on a more personal level. Consumers are smart and they can tell when you are working for yourself and not for them.

The pay check is the top of the pyramid. You must build the bottom to stand on the top. So build personal relationships, focus on your client’s personal needs, and work for THEM and you will earn your compensation. STAND OUT!! 

By Dawn Aquino

 I found this artricle this morning and boy was I surprised.

HUD: Tax Credit Can Be Used on Closing Costs
FHA-approved lenders received the go-ahead to develop bridge-loan products that enable first-time buyers to use the benefits of the federal tax credit upfront, according to eagerly awaited guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on so-called home buyer tax credit loans that was released today.

Under the guidance, FHA-approved lenders can develop bridge loans that home buyers can use to help cover their closing costs, buy down their interest rate, or put down more than the minimum 3.5 percent.

The loans can’t be used to cover the minimum 3.5 percent, senior HUD officials told reporters on a conference call Friday morning.

Thus, buyers applying for FHA-backed financing with an FHA-approved lender that offers a bridge-loan program can get a bridge loan to bring down the upfront costs of buying a home significantly but would still have to come up with the minimum 3.5 percent downpayment.

There remain many sources of assistance for buyers needing help with the 3.5 percent downpayment, including many state and local government instrumentalities and nonprofit lenders.

In addition, some state housing finance agencies have developed their own tax credit bridge loan programs, so buyers in states whose HFAs offer such programs can monetize the tax credit upfront to cover all or part of their downpayment. These programs are separate from what HUD announced today.

The first-time homebuyer tax credit was enacted last year–and improved upon earlier this year–to help encourage households to enter the housing market while interest rates are low and affordability is high. The credit is worth up to $8,000 and is available to households that haven’t owned a home in at least three years. The credit does not have to be repaid, and is fully reimbursable, so households can get their credit returned to them in the form of a payment.

Learn more about the credit, including how to apply for it this year even if you’ve already filed your taxes, at REALTOR.org.

Source: Robert Freedman, REALTOR® Magazine Online

Just who or what is a buyer’s agent?  Well, I am a buyer’s agent.  As a buyers agent I have taken extra classes with REBAC to earn the designation of ABR (Accredited Buyer’s Agent) which is specialized education for buyer representation only. 

 Since I am acting in the best interest of the buyer, I don’t have to take instruction from the seller and anything the seller tells me including motivation for selling whether it be for a quick sale or moving the buyer will know about it.  The seller must reveal to us any material defects they know about and we would hope that the seller will also reveal to us the least amount of money that they are willing to take for their property. 

So look at it this way, a seller’s agent will do everything possible to gain advantage for the seller and a buyer’s agent will do everything possible to gain advantage for the buyer so it makes sense that you would want an agent working strickly for you with no ties to any one house or person.

This home has been used as a rental for the last year with an income of $1500 per month.  It is now vacant.  Nice large lot, easy upkeep and fully fenced.  Home has 2 bedrooms on main floor with a full bath and a half bath, large living room/dinning room combo with fireplace and built in bookshelves.  Kitchen has granite counters and slate floors, the rest of the  house has hardwood floors.  Downstairs are 2 more bedrooms with a large sitting room, another room that is not completed could be used as a wine cellar?  Inside laundry room with slate floor and walls, large counter top for folding all that laundry.  Double car garage.  Great buy and priced for a quick short sale at $219,900.

A Loan Modification is a permanent change in one or more of the terms of a mortgagor’s loan, it allows the loan to be reinstated, and results in a payment the mortgagor can afford.

As long as you are living in the home you have plenty of ways to save your house for the simple fact that the lender does not want to take the house back and then have to go through the process of  having to put it on the market themselves and probably take a lower price than what they could have given you originally.  The Banks and mortgages companies will make their money instead of loosing it since the cost of the foreclosure will add more fees to the balance of the note.

It is my understanding that you don’t have to be late on your payments but it helps if you are as the bank will then be more willing to work with you as you would get more attention.

But, are we getting anywhere with the loan modifications?  Seems to me that half of the homes that have gone into foreclosure could have used a loan modification, instead they are foreclosed on or the owners are doing short sales. either way, it appears that the bank is loosing money so how is this going to help get the economy back on track?

A short sale is when a seller owes more on their house than they can sell it for.  The seller will try to make arrangements with the mortgage company to sell the house for less than what is owed.  The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 will generally allow taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence.  Some banks will do a promissory note for deficiency amount.

All in All, is this fair to to others that do manage to sell their homes for the total amount owed?  What tax break will they get for paying their mortgage on time and selling for full amount?  What about the buyer that is getting “that special deal”?  The only way to know for sure if you are going to have a short sale is by doing an appraisal, as you are only able to get a loan for what the appraisal states.  Are the appraisers bring down some of those home prices or can we actually blame the economy on all of this?

It seems to me we have a never ending problem if we allow the short sales  because the mortgage company that  is holding the 2nd note will now  loose money, they in turn raise the interest on other loans or make it impossible to get a 2nd loan because of the bad debt that they are carrying, so where does it end?

I also recently discovered you don’t have to be behind on your mortgage payments to get a short sale, you only have to prove that your house cannot be sold for what you owe on it.

I also recently discovered that if the house is for sale that includes the short sale and you have an offer for it, the bank can wait for as long as they like with the anticipation of other offers coming in, this can result in a 60 day delay for closing.  And what I was told to do was to write an seperate addendum stating that your offer will be the only one presented to the bank.  You can and will present all the offers to the seller but only one has to go to the bank and that is the one the seller wants.  I think I am missing the boat somewhere here.  It all sounds pretty fishy to me.