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Most of you know about Coins for Kids and its history, but just to bring you up to date. Coins for Kids is a local charity that provides Christmas presents to less fortunate children in our community. The program began in 1990 by a small group of Kony radio employees who saw a need to assist to a small group of needy children in the community. That first year the Coins for Kids volunteers raised $2500 and shopped for 10 families. Last year Coins for Kids raised more than $110,000 and provided Christmas presents for more than 800 families.
One of the questions that we receive every year is “Where do you get the names for the children that you help?” Last year we changed our application process from an open enrollment system to a system where the individuals are identified by their clergy, school counselor, teacher, or other approved organization. This system was a marked improvement and we were able to work directly with those who know of families who are in need of assistance at Christmas and it also helped us avoid duplication with other organizations.
We are looking forward to another successful year of fundraising and providing Christmas for less fortunate children in our community. We know that this year may be a little more difficult for attaining our goal of $110,000 due to the economy, but we will do the very best that we can with the money that we raise.
To learn more about the Coins for Kids program, visit our website at www.coinsforkids.net. You will find the schedules, the fundraising events, how you can help, where you can donate, donate on-line, and the history of the program.
Habitat for Humanity Re-StorePosted at 9:33 AM, Nov. 23, 2008Habitat for Humanity of Southern Utah just recently opened their new “ReStore” at 270 E 1478 South (off Riverside Dr). Habitat ReStores, according to Habitat for Humanity’s website, “are retail outlets where quality used and surplus building materials are sold at a fraction of normal prices. Proceeds from ReStores help local affiliates fund the construction of Habitat houses within the community”.
The materials that are sold at the ReStores are generally donated by local building supply businesses, and individuals such as contractors, sub-contractors, demolition crews, and homeowners who are remodeling their homes. The ReStores not only benefit the Habitat organization by helping fund the construction of Habitat homes, but they offer drastic savings of building supplies to the community at large. Plus, these stores help the environment by recycling usable materials into constructive use.
If you are undergoing a remodel project and are wondering what to do with your old cabinets, lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, appliances, etc., please consider donating them to the Habitat ReStore. They can sell them to someone who can use them, which helps them fund the construction of Habitat homes in our community, and you get a tax write-off. It is a win-win for all concerned.
For more information about Habitat for Humanity or to donate to the ReStore, call 674-7669. For really great deals on building materials, be sure to visit their new store soon
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View more entries tagged with: Habitat For Humanity, Restore, Building Supplies, Habitat Restore Real Estate happenings at The Legacy Nov 2008Posted at 4:54 PM, Nov. 12, 2008On November 12, 2008 there were 8 homes for sale through the MLS and 1 for sale by owner. The homes that were listed through the MLS are as follows: Dover Way, 1389 sq ft for $210,000 on the market for 156 days Legacy Dr, 1933 sq ft, on golf course, foreclosure, $229,000 on the market for 58 days Hampton Dr, 1400 sq ft, corner lot no views, for $269,900 on the market for 94 days Legacy Dr, 1829 sq ft, on golf course, for $289.900 on the market for 59 days Hampton Dr, 2430 sq ft on golf course for $319,900 on the market for 365 days Windsor Dr, 2690 sq ft with views for $369,000 on the market for 10 days Legacy Dr, 2444 sq ft, brand new w/views, for $369,000 on the market for 73 days Hampton Dr, 2900 sq ft, with views for $409,900, on the market for 188 days { 0 comments } { add comment } { Permanent Link }
View more entries tagged with: The Legacy, Real Estate In The Legacy, Legacy In St George Life in Southern UtahPosted at 3:43 PM, Nov. 12, 2008
THIS IS NOT A SPIELBERG MOVIE SET, THIS COULD BE YOUR BACKYARD!! Homes with this backdrop have never been more affordable! 435-680-5178 Search the Southern Utah MLS { 0 comments } { add comment } { Permanent Link }
View more entries tagged with: Dream Home, Southern Utah Home, Red Rock Splendor, Real Estate Colleges in Southern UtahPosted at 2:39 PM, Nov. 12, 2008Here are links to schools of higher education in Southern Utah: { 0 comments } { add comment } { Permanent Link }
View more entries tagged with: Dixie College, Southern Utah University, St George Area College Washington County School InformationPosted at 2:13 PM, Nov. 12, 2008Here is a link to the Washington County School District website. Each individual school in the District has a link to their website where you can find information about each school. { 0 comments } { add comment } { Permanent Link }
View more entries tagged with: Washington County Utah Schools, St George Schools Tax Credit for First-time HomebuyersPosted at 4:52 PM, Nov. 10, 2008We have had lots of questions lately about the Tax credit for first time homebuyers. Lot of people think that they are going to receive $7500 at closing, and we thought it might be helpful to provide a link to the information about the tax credit as all of the information is right there. http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,, If your questions are not answered in this article, please contact us and we will get the answer for you. This tax credit makes buying a home even better for first time buyers: low prices, low interest rates, tax credit, and lots of inventory. It really doesn't get any better than this!! { 0 comments } { add comment } { Permanent Link }
View more entries tagged with: Tax Credit, First Time Home Buyers, Home Purchase How to do a Short SalePosted at 11:10 AM, Nov. 7, 2008WHAT IS A SHORT SALE? A short sale is when a lender agrees to accept less from a homeowner than the amount that is owed on the mortgage. The property may have more than one loan, in which case both lenders must agree to a short sale. HOW DO I DETERMINE THE LIST PRICE? The best way to determine the list price is to enlist the help of an experienced Realtor® who can prepare a Comparative Market Analysys. This analysis, or CMA, will include comparable properties that have recently sold, are currently on the market, or have not sold because the price was too high for the market. The list price may be less than the underlying loans against the property, and it should be listed at a price that will attract buyers. An experienced real estate agent will be able to tell you what homes like yours have been selling for, and what price will attract the most buyers. HOW DO YOU GET YOUR LENDER TO AGREE TO A SHORT SALE? Homeowners who are considering a short sale need to provide their lenders with a hardship letter explaining why the seller cannot afford to continue to stay in the home. They will also need to provide the lender with bank statements, tax returns, profit and loss statement, list of assets, list of debts, etc. The lender will also require that you have your home listed through your local Multiple Listing Service. They will not allow you to try to sell your home by owner. They want the property to be exposed to the greatest number of buyers, which includes the MLS. Some lenders won't agree to a short sale until there is an accepted offer on the property. HOW LONG DOES THIS PROCESS TAKE? Short sales, unfortunately, can take months to complete. From the time the property is listed to getting an offer, to getting the offer accepted by the lender can take from 2 to 6 months. It is dependent on a number of details; one of the major reasons that short sales take so long is that the Realtors® involved are not experienced in transacting short sales and haven't taken care of the necessary paperwork. Another reason is that there are so many short sales taking place that the lenders can't keep up with the demand. We have heard of offers that were submitted to the lenders becoming "lost" and the agents having to re-submit their offers and start over. WHAT IF THE LENDER REJECTS THE SHORT SALE? If the lender rejects the short sale, there are a few alternatives the homeowner can take. They can find out through their Realtor® why the lender rejected the short sale and re-submit the paperwork to the lenders specifications, they can choose foreclosure, or they can request a deed in lieu of foreclosure from the lender. These are issues that the homeowner can discuss with their real estate agent. WHAT HAPPENS TO MY CREDIT WITH A SHORT SALE? A homeowner in default is technically "in collection". These events are reported to all three bureaus as "Score Factor Code #22". The real difference between short sale and foreclosure on the homeowners credit is that the homeowner who has sold their home through a short sale is eligible to purchase another home in two years as opposed to 5 years for a foreclosure. Both foreclosure and short sale will stay on the homeowners credit report for 10 years. If you would like additional information on short sales, or if you know of someone who could use the counsel of experienced real estate agents, please call of email us.
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View more entries tagged with: Short Sale, Lenders, Foreclosure, Credit Score, Real Estate, Homeowners Washington County Real Estate Statistics Oct 2008Posted at 3:37 PM, Nov. 6, 2008
There is good news and bad news in our local real estate market. The good news is that there are some sales. But the bad news is that there aren’t too many and the prices are lower than they were just this past Summer. In October, there were 190 total sales in the County (including residential, land, lots, commercial and multifamily) and the average sales price was $213,746. In June of this year the average sales price was $290,741.
There are currently about 6319 active listings in the MLS, this includes single family, condo/townhome, lots, land, multifamily, and commercial. With only 190 total sales last month, that leaves us with 33.26 months worth of inventory, up from June with 25.63 months of inventory.
Single family home sales in Washington County have dropped 18% this year to date, compared with the same time period last year.
As can be expected, new home sales have dropped considerably from last year, a whooping 85% overall.
If you would like to know what is going on in your neighborhood, or a statistic that we didn’t address here, please feel free to call us. We would love to chat with you about our market.
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View more entries tagged with: St George, Real Estate, Sales, Washington County, Real Estate In St George Washington County Real Estate Statistics Oct 2008Posted at 10:54 AM, Nov. 5, 2008Click on this link to see a graph that will show the latest real estate statistics in Washington County Utah. As you can see the number of sales in Oct were a little less than in Sept, and the months of inventory has increased a little more. Hopefully now that the elections are over, there will be a little more consumer confidence and our real estate market will pick up. There are some really great "deals" on the market right now; I have seen some fabulous luxury homes that were on the market a year ago for $1.5 million that are listed right now for $650,000. members/bassogroup/files/Real estate statistics on Oct 2008.pdf { 0 comments } { add comment } { Permanent Link }
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