The First Step in Buying a Home-YOUR CREDIT REPORT!

All too often I am approached by a prospective home buyer who asks to look at a home they have fallen in love with only to have them end up in the situation where they can't get the home. The culprit....the dreaded credit report!!

The first step that a buyer should take when beginning the search for a home, before they talk to a Realtor, before they talk to a lender, even before they think of pulling up CENTURY21.com or Realtor.com, they should pull up their credit report. Consumers have the ability to pull up a free credit report online through sites such as FreeCreditReport.com and should do just that.

I recently read that over 70% of consumers reported that they have found errors in their credit report, with 25% of them being serious enough to either deny the consumer credit or significantly delay the process. With over 54 billion credit updates annually, it is very likely that you may have an error on your credit that you are not aware of. Many times these errors are negatively impacting your credit in such a manner as to deny your ability to get credit or to cause you to pay excessive interest expenses.

All consumers should routinely pull their credit reports to look for errors and have them correctly immediately. They need to be proactive in protecting their credit and become educated and understand how credit works. When a questionable activity is identified, it needs to be correctly immediately. Usually the first step in doing so is to notify the applicable credit reporting bureau.

If you are wanting to buy a home, do this and then call me to help you find that perfect home. If you have questions regarding your credit, contact me and I will help you answer them.

What's the Latest with West Wood?

We're all curious as to what the market is doing in our neighborhood. The latest information for West Wood is very positive! Two homes have sold in the neighborhood since January 1st of this year. One on Durden Court and the other on Benoit Drive. So welcome your new neighbors if you live near them!

Statistically, the average sales price of these homes was $121,950 with a price per square foot of $70.63. This is an increase over the total sales price per square foot for 2008 of $68.84. So for the first quarter of 2009 things seem to be looking up for us in terms of home values.

Currently there are 9 homes on the market ranging in sales price from $119,900 to $170,000. These homes range from 1480 sq. ft. to 2356 sq. ft. with an average price per square foot of $78.16. If you know of someone looking for a home, please tell them about our neighborhood. If you like living here, don't you think yours friends would also?

I personally feel that we are making some progress in getting our home values up. For a time we seemed plagued with a lot of foreclosed homes in the neighborhood and that trend has seemed to decrease. Most of these homes currently on the market are being sold by the home owner and do not represent bank owned properties. That is GREAT news for us as a community!! In order to keep our property values up, we need to lessen the number of foreclosures in our neighborhood.

Yeah, we all agree to that and I'm sure you're saying what can I do? I pay my bills but it's my neighbors who are causing the problem. Well, there is plenty you can do. If you know of a neighbor, or anyone for that matter, who is having difficult paying their mortgage or maybe has just lost their job, urge them to contact their lender IMMEDIATELY!!! There is a lot that can be done to keep that family in their home.

When the homeowner contacts the lender ask to speak to the home retention or workout department. Be firm and insist that you need help and that you run the risk of foreclosure and you want to work out a deal to keep you in your home. Lenders have the ability to restructure the loan any way they see fit and should be able to work out a plan to keep you in your home. The recent government acts have provided money to help lenders restructure loans to keep homeowners from losing their homes. Call your lender today if you have lost your job or are having difficulty paying your mortgage! Be proactive, don't wait to talk to them when they call you!

We can all do our part to help our neighborhood and our community. If you, or someone you know is in trouble, talk to them and have them take action. If you have any questions or need the number for your lender, please contact me. I'd love to help you keep your home!

To Buy or Not to Buy?

Yesterday I stood freezing my toes off with a client looking at three different condos trying to decide if this is the right time for her to buy. The conditions are right. My client is wanting to buy, she doesn't have a house to sell, has good credit and has a sizable downpayment. If you know anything about the market you're probably screaming, "OF COURSE IT IS, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!" So, what's the issue here?

The area that she is wanting to buy in is with a builder that is ceasing operations in Indiana. My client is concerned about what will happen with the neighborhood and since it is a condo community, who will be receiving the monthly maintenance fees, take care of the property management, handle any necessary repairs, etc. Even though those are very valid concerns I told her not to worry. My client is very fortunate in that the community she is buying in is a finished community. All of the lots have been sold, the homes built and the community has been turned over to the Homeowners' Association who has hired a property management firm to handle the day to day operations of the association. I assured my client that she probably wouldn't notice any difference in her specific community in the ways things are being handled now that the builder is no longer in operation than if that builder was still actively building in the area.

So, is my client going to buy? I'm not sure. My advice to her is that the property is a very good deal. We might be able to find her another similar condo but the price could be substantially more than what she would pay today to purchase this one. Probably this is a deal that might be too good to be true, but all Realtors know that we don't have a crystal ball to tell us what will happen with the market.

Welcome To the New Year!!

Okay, sure it's the 14th and the new year is well underway, but this is my first post of the new year. So, Welcome!!

As I sit and watch the snow pile up out my office window I have reflected on the current condition of the real estate market. We hear a lot of negatives through the media and around the office cooler. Yes, times are trying. But when things get trying, opportunity presents itself. Opportunities for a lot of things to happen. Opportunities to grow. Opportunities to get better. It doesn't matter what the circumstance is, when we get pushed outside of our comfort zone things can happen. It's just up to you to determine what the outcome will look like for you.

What's Happening in West Wood?

Wondering what the housing market is like in West Wood? As of December 15 there are 13 active listings with sales prices ranging from $111,500 to $170,000. The average list price per square foot is $78.29 with the average days on market of 172 days.

To date, 14 properties have sold this year ranging from $80,500 to $160,000 with an average sales price per square foot of $64.40. Those figures compare to a range of $68,000 to $163,000 for 2007 with average SP/SqFt of $68.84, with 15 units sold.

There has been some discussion in the neighborhood about the number of foreclosed properties in the neighborhood. While it is somewhat difficult to pin down that information, some of it can be gathered from readily available real estate data. Six of the 14 homes sold in 2008 were bank or corporate owned homes which compares to six of the 15 homes sold in 2007. One of the homes sold in 2008 was a property that was agent purchased in 2007 and resold in 2008 as a rehabbed or "flipped home" in a sense reducing the number of foreclosed homes sold in 2008 to 5.

If you wish to have more indepth data or would like to receive current information about new listing in your neighborhood, please let me know. I would be more than happy to provide that information for you.