According to Key Savings Bank a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is down to 4.275%.

How does a lower interest rate translate into more buying power for you?

$100,000 mortgage at 4.275% = $493.40 payment

$100,000 mortgage at 5.275% = $553.75 payment

Not only does a lower interest rate mean a lower payment, but it also means an increase in your buying power.  Purchasing a new home with a 4.275% rate allows you to purchase a home for $112,000 for the same payment as a $100,000 home with a 5.275% rate.

INCREASING your buying power by 11%!

No matter what your goal, a low rate means only good things for you.

The question that everyone wants to know is: What’s the next move for interest rates? Higher or lower?

The answer is–we don’t know. What we do know is rates will go up faster than they fall.

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The last thing area buyers and sellers needed was a ‘slight’ delay. Any delay could have resulted in not being able to close before the June 30 deadline. Numerous title companies and lawyers were booked solid on Wednesday, June 30. Often for weeks…

But after separating the tax extension from other parts of the bill (like railway spending) the bill picked up steam and Congress nearly unanimously passed the bill.

Next the Senate passed the bill after, once again, separating it from another larger bill.

But, here’s what’s important to you:

You OFFICIALLY have until September 30, 2010 to close on the sale or purchase of your home.

Almost 200,000 homeowners can take a huge sigh of relief knowing that closing on their home just became a lot easier.

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That’s always a very popular question. It goes without saying that you want your home sold in the quickest amount of time for the highest price possible…

Right?

But can anyone or any brokerage deliver the goods? Are all Wisconsin Rapids Realtors created equal?

Can you expect the same results from First Weber, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, NorthCentral or Newlun Realty?

Wisconsin Rapids says NO.

See the results from 2009.

As you’d expect, 2010 is shaping up the same as well.

If results are not important to you, call anyone. If you want the best, call the best.

Photo Credit

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This will be especially good news  if you’re navigating the often frustrating waters of a short sale… 

The deadline will be extended from June 30, 2010 to September 30, 2010.

Real estate activity in April was significantly higher than a normal April, heck, even a normal July. As the dust settles and all closings take place we’ll be able to see the net effect in the overall market.

As we wait, here’s a current snapshot of activity between 2009-2010:

• Number of closings from May 1, 2010 – June 16, 2010: 85
• Number of closings from May 1, 2009 – June 16, 2009: 58

After a little math that equates to a 47% increase!

Hopefully this extension will allow a few of you sleep a little easier.

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You want to stay on top of your home search…but it can be difficult. Work, family, friends… Great weather… Vacations… Grilling…You’re pulled in a hundred different directions.

Something will always try to borrow/take/steal your time. Some good, some annoying, some painful.

But you don’t want to put your home search on the back burner, because a new home make your life and your children’s lives better. A new home will make it easier for your growing family or easier on your budget…

Solving your housing problem ends up solving many more problems. But how can you devote the time needed for your home search plus the time for the rest of your day to day activities?

Ahh, but the answer to that question really is an easy one.

Simply sign up for a Home Watch and any properties that meet your requirements will be instantly emailed to you.

No more having to sift through the same MLS listings week after week. New listings, listings with a price adjustment and even open houses that fit YOUR needs will be at your finger tips…well at least in your inbox.

No delay. No worries about missing a new listing. Or even missing an open house on a home you’re interested in.

And best of all, no disruption to your already busy life!

Click here to sign up!

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The $64,000 question that I’ve been receiving: “I’ve already filed my taxes, how and when will I receive my refund?”

The answer can be found in Dan’s article.

Accepted offers need to happen before April 30. Yes, that’s this Friday…

I was able to help another person get their tax credit last Friday. We’ve been looking for the past 2+ months with no luck. Obviously both the buyer and I were concerned about not finding a home that they would feel comfortable purchasing.

But we both hung in there and now she’ll be a happy first-time home buyer with a little extra cash from the IRS as well.

Have you taken advantage of either tax credit offered? Sadly, I wasn’t able to take advantage of the $6500… My five year anniversary happened in April, making it difficult to sandwich an accepted offer into the allotted time frame.

And maybe more importantly, we have a few unfinished remodeling projects… Yeah, I guess that’s probably it.

You still have time for some free money… Get in touch and we can get started tomorrow. Happy House Hunting!

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In conjunction with the National Association of Realtors, First Weber will be participating heavily in the Realtor National Open House Weekend April 10-11, 2010.

View all First Weber open houses.

This is the final push to help both home buyers and sellers qualify for the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit and the $6,500 home seller tax credit. Hopefully this weekend will allow numerous people gain some free money from the government. The more the better.

Why an open house? An open house allows a buyer to walk through a home at there convenience at there speed with less interference from a real estate agent. Does it get any better than that?

If you’re interested in seeing the best homes available in each price range this is the weekend to get out.

And feel free to stop by and see me.

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But then we started to talk about the MLS. No doubt if you’ve had your home listed in the past few years your agent touted the advantages of the MLS heavily.

It’s great, don’t get me wrong. But I see one inherent problem that no one wants to talk about…

Which reminded me of a post I wrote in June 2009. The post had 2 takeaways:

1. Statistics on who will probably buy your home.
2. How the MLS is like a grocery store.

The article is below. Enjoy!

——————————————————————————–

Have you met yet? Probably not…

But first, why should you care who will buy your home? As long as a buyer offers a price you can live with…what does it matter?

In the past not much because their was only so much a Wisconsin Rapids home buyer could do when purchasing their first or next home.

In the old days, you know 2004 , a home buyer would usually:

• check the Daily Tribune and Buyers’ Guide
• look through the local MLS on the internet
• find some homes that looked promising
• contact an agent
• walk through 15 homes before purchasing

Through the entire process the real estate agent was in control. How? The buyer was always given bits and pieces of information. Newspaper and Buyers’ Guide? A picture and a few lines of text, always ending with “call so and so at 423-call-now.” MLS? A few more pictures, but your listing would still contain a limited number of words. Then buyers did the only thing they could – they called an agent (You remember 2004, email still wasn’t huge, and besides an agent always wanted to get a person on the phone – remember we used to be called a “Real Estate Salesperson). I shudder just thinking about that…

And once you made contact, the agent shuffled you around from house to house showing you homes they picked out… And 15 homes later, plus more time than you could imagine, you purchased a home. But those days are long gone.

Enter 2010 and Generation Y

Lets now meet the next owner of your home.

The average home buyer is 31 years old. (Odds are, you’re around 41 and and your typical agent is in his/her 50’s) These new buyers are technology driven. The internet has empowered this new generation. This has caused these new home buyer’s to become confident and self-reliant in their decision making.

If they have questions, they “Google it.” If they want to buy something, they go online (giants EBay and Amazon to name only two). If they rent movies, they have a membership with Netflix. If it’s time to buy a new car, they go to Auto Trader to find the best deal. Are we (I’m generation Y) concerned about 1100+ auto dealerships closing? No. We’ll find the car we like online, drive to the dealership, drive it around a little, haggle and then buy it. We already knew we were going to buy it before we got there. Why? We compared multiple cars together online–mileage, amenities etc. and found the one that suited us best. Does it matter if we had to drive to Appleton to get it? Nope.

This ability to find information easily and quickly has caused buyers to need real estate agents less. There’s very little your agent can control outside of marketing it aggressively and making sure your home is where this new buyer hangs out, the internet. (When it comes to selling a home, I believe my main job is as a marketer. The real estate stuff is easy, I earn my money by marketing your home 5x better than older agents.)

Does that mean your MLS listing is enough to reach this new buyer? That’s the internet… Right?

Yes, the buyer will probably see your home. But will they REALLY see it? You know, enough to make contact to walk through your home? Does a few pictures and a 500 character description do your home justice?

Lets picture a trip to the grocery store. You only need milk, bread and some cereal for breakfast. So you head to the back of the store for milk–oh yeah, eggs too–next the cereal aisle–Kellogs is on sale so you buy two–next on to the bakery–but wait–roasts are on sale, that’ll be good in the crock pot tomorrow–ugh, you don’t want to have to make dinner tonight–good Tombstone pizzas are on sale–almost to the bakery department–made it, finally–might as well buy a couple loaves of bread. Time to check out–your total comes to 28.83.  You wanted three things–bread, cereal and milk. But you ended up with those plus meat, pizza, and eggs.

The MLS is the same way. Too many choices. When your home is alongside hundreds of other homes what are the odds that a buyer will choose your home?  If an agent promises internet marketing, and that marketing sets your home alongside every other home, how is he/she marketing YOUR home?

This is why I create a single property website for your home. When I’m marketing your home I funnel all advertising to your home’s website. You know, because you want your home sold…

Originally published June 4, 2009

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This is the second installment of the “I couldn’t have said it better myself” post…

Some call it negotiating. Others call it playing mind games. Read Margaret Woda’s article about buyer’s playing mind games with sellers.

I was in a very similar situation last year. Except that I was the agent representing my brother and his wife in the sale of their home. Mixing family and business is never easy.

I can attest that my brother and sister-in-law felt the exact same feelings described in the article.

Remaining emotionally neutral is extremely important. But there were times when it was difficult for them to not take things personally.

“What do you mean _____ is too old? Its worked everyday we’ve owned the home (5 years).”

“Now you want us to replace it? At our cost!?!?”

It came to a point when they almost would have sold it to another person, at a lower price, than to finish the sale.

But in the end, being in a new home home won out. But just barely…

When you’re ready to make an offer, yes it seems impersonal. It’s just a house. But remember that this ‘house’ has been a ‘home’ for the current owner for years, maybe even decades.

Yes, you want to look out for your bottom line. But at what cost? Will it be OK if you lose this home? How much is it worth to you to be in your dream home?

There are two sides to every situation. Considering both can have a dramatic impact on your situation. For the better or worse.

Last chance to read the thought process a seller goes through when selling.

*Update*

Coincidentally after this post went live Jay Thompson of Thompson’s Realty in Phoenix, AZ posted an article discussing if you’re able to get proof of a competing offer. The interesting story is when another agent tried to bully a buyer into increasing an initial offer by flouting “another offer” in their face. And then the next day, the original offer is accepted…

Read Jay’s reasoning behind why, as a buyer, you’ll never know for sure if there is another offer. Plus reasons why agents are unable to disclose information relating to the offer.

Each is an example of why you shouldn’t play mind games in real estate.

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Just realized that the tax credits are ending only a wee-little bit after taxes are due… Yikes. Hopefully taking advantage of the tax credits can put a smile on  your face after the tax-man taketh away.

Corollary–we’ve already received our tax refunds AND they’re also already gone.

Poof, just like the tax credits.

What’s stopping you from getting me on the horn about a question or two? Even easier you could send me an email. Look up and to the left a little bit…

Check out the following links:

• First-time Home Buyer Info
• From IRS website
• Also from IRS website
• Recent changes to tax-credit

Stay classy Wisconsin Rapids!

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