Hi all!

The weather here has gotten in to the high 80's over the past couple of weeks with "abundant sunshine" as weather persons like to call it! BUT, as you may or may not know, June 1 marks the beginning of Hurricane Season (I'm from the midwest where a "season" meant we hunted for and killed it...).

Well for those of us that do or have lived in areas ravaged by hurricanes, we know first hand the havoc it can cause. And when you are buying or selling a home, watching one "come this way" can be stressful. You have your house on the market to sell, and now "they" are telling you to evacuate. Or better yet, you have a contract on your house--whether you are a buyer or seller, and suddenly you find out you can't get insurance to close on your set closing date.

While dealing with a hurricane is stressful in itself, you can mitigate some of it when buying or selling a home. In the state of Florida, if a named storm enters the Gulf of Mexico, all insurance companies cease writing insurance binders until the storm completely dissipates or hits landfall. I've seen some hurricanes bounce around the Gulf for what seemed like forever, and then of course, in 2004, where we had 4 grace their presence in Florida. This can increase the stress level considerably.

If you have a house on the market, or you are in the market to buy, you do want to keep an eye on any storms. Once you have an insurance binder "locked in" you are ok. However, if you're buying, and haven't decided on a house yet, you can't get insurance until you have a contract--and of course, an address. If you've found the perfect home, and can't get insurance, the closing will be held up until you can get insurance. You can still make that offer, go under contract and complete everything else you can...and wait. A bit stressful, but knowing you've been keeping an eye on this before hand can alleviate some of that stress.

The two places I go to a lot during hurricane season are of course www.weather.com and www.noaa.com both are good resources of weather information.

Hi all!

I was looking at the Wall Street Journal for some information on the Housing Market as a whole today, and maybe to use for my blog and found out something interesting. One article from the WSJ I was sent last week said that the housing crisis nationwide is over. That April IS the bottom. This doesn't mean we're going to see values return to the boom levels of 2005, or even that they will begin rising soon. The builders have slowed down their building, so housing starts are lower than they have been in years.

Then I went to the same paper today and it states that the market is still declining nationwide, except for some pockets here and there. It's amazing how the story changes from day to day. But then that's the news.

So what does all this mean? In Valerie's opinion, we are in a normal market. While we had a big boom of 2005...that boom and fall is 3 years old. Real Estate has seen double-digit interest rates in the 80's, and people bought and sold houses regularly then. Interest rates are 1/2 to 1/3 what they were then, they've remained steady for the last few years, but how long will that continue? With interest rates in the 6% range, it's still a good time to buy. At least you know more will be going towards equity than for the interest than in the 80's timeframe!

So, if you have to move from one region to another due to a job transfer, how do you determine where within that area to buy your new home? Or would it be better to rent? That depends on your situation. If you are there for the short term--2 years or less, you may want to consider renting. Longer than that, buying may be an option, but of course, you need to do your homework. There is a lot of information on the internet to research the area, the schools, activities you prefer, and how long you prefer for your commute to and from your job. With gas prices, it's time to think about maybe paying a little more money for a house closer to work instead of your gas tank eating up the money.

Even if you don't have children, areas with good school districts have housing with better market and resale values, so that is something to consider. Also, just because your current commute where you live is only 30 minutes for a 30-mile drive, doesn't mean that's the way it will be in your new area, so make sure you ask someone at your new job, or your realtor if you are working with one, about traffic and commuting if that is a concern for you.

For example, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, between Eglin AFB, and Hurlburt Field, from just about anywhere in Fort Walton Beach, you can get to either base in about 20 minutes at the most (depending on traffic). For those stationed at either base, they live anywhere from on the bases themselves, to Fort Walton Beach, Navarre, Gulf Breeze, Pensacola, Crestview, Holt, Baker, Defuniak Springs, and Freeport all climbing to an hour commute, sometimes more. As with anything, you have to decide if the commute is worth the house. If you've checked out the schools for your children if you have any, the house itself, the neighboring communities, and your new neighbors, jobs for those in the house that will be commuting and their commute time.

There are a lot of factors to consider--while the news stories paint a pretty picture one day, and then the next say we are still spiraling, the decision to "wait it out" is not always the best decision or option. While everyone wants to get a good deal when buying their new home, it's not only about the price of the house, it's the condition, the size, how it makes you feel being there, and in the neighborhood. This is a place you'll be building memories for just a few years, or maybe a lot of years to come. Memories your children will have the rest of their lives.

Gauging the value of a home is not always just about the price, but what you will get out of it as well.

Hi all!

I hope this finds you doing well! I spent last week in the second portion of a three-portion GRI-class. GRI is short for Graduate Realtor Institute, and it means I've taken additional education on how best to help my buyers and sellers meet their needs when it comes to buying and selling homes. I learned SO much information last week. I'm glad the class is broken up in to sections so that I can put what I learned in one portion to use before learning more.

Anyway, this week I am going to talk about CMA's, or rather Comparative Market Analysis. This is a tool that helps both buyers and sellers when they are listing their home for sale, or searching for the home of their dreams, or making the steps to get to that point.

In short, a CMA is a "snapshot" of what the market around your house looks like "today." As soon as a new house comes on the market, or another one sells, it will change the statistics, hence the term "snapshot." A CMA is something that your Realtor can put together for you, and they will look at all the sales in your neighborhood, to include thos that weren't listed on the multiple listing service. The point is to look at those houses that are "comparable" to yours. If your house is move-in ready, the house down the street that sold as a fixer-upper isn't a comparable--but it does help to look at the price to guage where you need to be to sell yours. With this CMA, you can determine the average listing price, and average sold price, price per square foot, among other things.

This tool is helpful in determining your list price when selling. For example, let's say the house on the corner sold last week, and you've decided to list yours. Your house is similar in age, size, lot size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, you don't want to price your house $35,000 more than the one that just sold. Why? Because a smart buyer will use these same tools to help determine if the house they are considering buying is worth the asking price. They will use it to determine what they should offer for a house.

So why not just list a house at $35,000 over the neighbors house that sold last week when someone can just "offer whatever they want to?" Well, because statistics show that a property that is overpriced to start out will end up selling for less than it would have had it been priced properly to begin with. When a potential buyer (and remember, as a seller, at some point you are also a buyer) looks at a house that's just been listed and it's overpriced, they won't take the seller or the price seriously, it stays on the market longer and then potential buyers start wondering what is wrong with it, so they wait longer to "see what will happen" before making an offer. In turn, the seller, wanting or needing to sell the house gets "more" desparate and needs to keep lowering the price to get the activity.

So how do you KNOW for sure if you're house is listed at the right price? Well, at the risk of sounding flip, when you have a contract on the house. In reality, your house is worth only what someone is willing to pay for it. How many people do you know today that are willing to pay $35,000 more than the house that sold on the corner last week--for a similar house? I don't know any. Besides that, when it comes to getting a loan on that house that is priced $35,000 than the neighbors...the appraiser the bank hires uses the same comparables those buyers use. And if a house doesn't appraise for the contract price, the bank is not going to lend over the appraised value. If you still want that house, though, you can always come up with that extra as a down-payment on your own. I wouldn't recommend that, though.

The best thing to do is talk to your realtor, or if you're a FSBO, do your research. Part of selling a home is getting the exposure for your property, and there are many ways to get exposure...I'll talk about exposure and marketing a house in another entry.

Have a GREAT day!

Hi all!

I hope all of you were able to enjoy the wonderful weather we had here this last weekend! I know I did!

I had a conversation this last week with a good friend of mine about short sales. She's in the military and is up to transfer sometime in the next year. Unfortunately, when she bought her current house, it was at the top of the real estate boom 2-3 years ago. Renting out the house was not an option, and she's well aware of the fact that to sell your home quickly, you have to price your home ahead of the market (meaning what the price will be 30 days from now--not yesterday or today), but to do that, she would have to price it lower than what is owed to the bank--which--as I've mentioned before, is called a short sale.

As any well-informed consumer does, though, she educated herself on the ramifications of short saling her home. She knows what she is and is not willing to do to sell her home. As it turned out, she decided it was worth it to come out of pocket and show up at the closing table with whatever was owed to the bank instead of doing a short sale. And believe it or not, in the 1970's it was not unheard of to bring money--as a seller--to get your home sold. Back then there was no such thing as a short sale.

Anyhow, so why did my friend decide this route? Because she didn't want to take the hit on her credit report. I found an excellent article that explains how much credit scores drop when doing a short sale, as well as a foreclosure, or deed in lieu of foreclosure (signing the deed over to the bank, give them the house, and walk away).

Making the decision between going into foreclosure and doing a short sale is like deciding if you want to get hit by a train or a bus. Hmmm. A foreclosure AND short sale will drop credit score ratings 200-300 points. Someone with an outstanding credit at 720 could see it drop to 420. WOW! So if I have "good" credit at 650, it can drop to 350--what a punch in the gut! I can't say I blame my friend for her decision! But either way, it is a personal decision for everyone, and only you know what the best option is for you. Make sure as a seller, you are informed about all of your options. Talk to an attorney if you have to.

If you would like to read the full article--which also discusses time frames before a lender will even consider giving you another house loan, go to

http://brokeragentpro.com/viewArticle.html?ArticleID=1147

As always, keeping you informed!

Valerie@ValerieSullivan.net