Short Sales
by Lynne Green with The Cindy Wadsworth Team
posted April 27, 2009  

Not only are short sales the hottest way to invest in real estate, but they help people too. Every time you successfully discount a mortgage for someone that has little to no equity you make it possible for them to sell their house. Not to mention you prevent foreclosure or bankruptcy! Please go to our home page and click on the button to receive a list of our short sales. 

Staging & Setting the Scene . . .
by Beth Topor with The Cindy Wadsworth Team
posted April 21, 2009 

How to tell if your furniture is properly placed in your room by following a few simple steps. Sit in each chair or on your sofa and view your room from that spot. If you're holding a glass, be sure you have a place to put it down, end table, coffee table. Make sure you have the right lighting by having your lights on during the day and in the evening. Lighting should not be blinding, but a comfort when you're in the room. Most important is the balance of your room.....to decide on color start with one "special" piece and work around that piece, i.e. rug, table, or even your wall color. Dark walls, light furniture, light walls, darker furniture. Enjoy.
 

It's Time . . .
by Beth Topor with The Cindy Wadsworth Team
posted April 1, 2009 

It's time to turn off the news....change your mindset....listen to the facts. FACT: 70% of households that do have a mortgage, 96.7% are NOT in foreclosure. FACT: 30% of all homowners are free and clear and do not have a mortgage. I call that very positive news! 

REAL Trends, a leading source of analysis and information in the residential real estate industry, Keller Williams has grown to become the third-largest real estate franchise in the United States. posted March 21, 2009 

Keller Williams surpassed Re/Max International by ending 2008 with 72,794 associates. 

From 2006 to 2008, Keller Williams increased its associate count by 52 percent, while market share for its offices increased 83 percent and agent gross commission income went up 35 percent. The company who originated in Austin Texas in the 1980’s currently has 679 offices nationwide.
Keller Williams also announced that they were the only residential real estate franchise that made a Keller Williams Realty Climbs To Third Largest Real Estate Franchise!! According to profit in 2008 and the only company who currently has no debt. They also shared more than $30 million in profits with its associates in 2008 through their company-wide profit sharing program. Through their phenomenal coaching, training and technology offerings the agents at Keller Williams aren’t only surviving, they are thriving in this shifted market!!
 

Is Now a Good Time to Buy a House in the Suburbs of Philadelphia?
by Howie Riley with the Cindy Wadsworth Team, March 17, 2009 

Here’s a question we hear all the time:
Is now a good time to buy a house in the Philadelphia area?
Here’s what people are now saying…
. . . I have to tell you that we haven’t see buying opportunities like this in many years.
Now is an excellent time to buy.
If you want a good hedge on inflation now would be a great time to invest.
There are awesome values outside the Philadelphia area right now! 

And from the National Association of Realtors themselves comes all sorts of material available to Realtors in the (ridiculous) “It’s a Great Time to Buy!” campaign (search realtor.org for “It’s a great time to buy” and you get 2,720 results…).  

So, is it a great time to buy a home? 

Yes, interest rates are at historic lows. (contact us for more details) 

Yes, there are a ton of homes in the region to chose from. A “ton” is defined here as the 55, 280 Residential homes currently listed in the Regional Multiple Listing Service .. 

Yes, there is a new $8,000 refundable tax credit available for first time home buyers. 

But whether it is a good time for YOU to buy depends on many factors such as:
• Your financial situation.
• Your personal situation.
• How long you intend to stay in the home if you’re going to occupy it.
• Your risk tolerance if you are looking at investment property.
• The location of the home you would like to buy.
• The condition of the home you would like to buy.
• And more. Much more.  

Are there “deals” out there to be had? Yes, there are.
Is every home listed in the area a “deal”? Absolutely not. 

Are there realistic and “motivated sellers”? Yes. But clearly not all sellers are realistic or motivated. 

Are there unrealistic sellers? Yep. But not all sellers are unrealistic. (and trust me, there are also plenty of unrealistic buyers too.) 

Are foreclosures and short sales a great deal? Maybe, maybe not. Depends. 

Will prices continue to decline in the market? Maybe, maybe not. 

I’ll go out on a limb and say “Generally speaking, probably.” We still have far too much inventory – in most locations. There are location pockets that are in what is generally considered a “neutral market” (loosely defined as six months of available inventory). But no one knows when prices will hit bottom, and when you think they have…you already missed it and prices have already starded going higher.  

One thing is sure, interest rates do not have much room to go any lower, so there’s only one way for them to go…UP! 

So while much of the Philadelphia area market is a “buyer’s market”, that does not necessarily mean this is the right time for anyone to buy a home. 

Is it the right time for you to buy a home?  

Maybe, maybe not. Talk with professionals – a real estate agent, a CPA/Financial planner, a mortgage lender for help in determining your options and what is right for you in your specific situation. Everyone is different.  

How are You Doing in this Economy?
By Cindy Wadsworth, March 11, 2009 

It seems like every time I turn on the news or radio there are commercials asking if you are behind in your mortgage payments. Almost 50% of the listing appointments I am going on are people who are upside down on their mortgages. When talking to a lot of these people they feel like they are the only ones experiencing these problems and are embarrassed. I explain to them that it isn’t their fault that they got caught up in this economic insecurity and that they certainly are not alone. 

According to Zillow, home values nationwide declined 11.6% in 2008 (still better than the 35% decline I personally experienced in my stock portfolio) and foreclosures made up 20% of all transactions in 2008. Short sales (which means you sell your home before it goes into foreclosure, but you sell it for less than what you owed on it) made up another 11% of transactions in 2008. It is estimated that nearly 18% of all homeowners currently have negative equity in their homes. 

If you are currently experiencing difficulty in paying your mortgage, there are some things you can try to do until you get back on your feet. You can call your lender and ask for forbearance, meaning they will temporarily suspend your mortgage payments. Or you can ask for a mortgage modification, meaning they will temporarily reduce your monthly payments or will permanently refinance your note with more favorable terms – maybe extending the time to pay back the mortgage from 30 years to 40 years or take advantage of the 50 year low interest rates and get your payments down. Mortgage companies aren’t in business to own homes, so if they can negotiate better terms to help you keep your home they will. 

If you are currently behind in your mortgage payments, don’t be embarrassed and not tell anyone. Call us and we can meet with you and figure out your best plan of action before it is too late. Typically if a homeowner is behind two months (it seems to be a little longer now with so many people in this situation) in mortgage payments it is posted publicly and in another 3 months the foreclosure process is started. Once the foreclosure process is started it is very difficult time wise to get your home on the market and try to sell it before it goes to auction. If you know selling your home is imminent, the sooner in the process you get it on the market the better and with values steadily declining, you will be able to get more money for your home now than you will 6 months from now when you are forced to sell it. 

As always in life, one person’s misfortune is typically another person’s fortune. In my 20 years in this business, I have never seen a better time to buy for first time homebuyers, investors or move up buyers who have been in their homes for more than 5-7 years. With the tax relief credit of $7,500 (which they are currently trying to pass a bill to increase it to $15,000), the prices being where they are and the interest rates being at a 50 year low, now is the time to jump in and buy. We hear a lot of people saying that they want to wait to buy because they think the prices will come down more, but I tell them I don’t think it is worth waiting. With the tax relief credit, you must currently make settlement by July 1st of this year or you can’t take advantage of this program and with the volatility of the mortgage industry, who knows how long the interest rates will be this low and you can only lock into today’s rates for 60 days. For every 1 percent rise in interest rates you lose 10% value in purchasing power – which means if you are looking at purchasing a home for $300,000 (which is this areas average price range) for every 1% rise in interest rate it would be equivalent to you paying $30,000 more for the same property – why risk it. 

Another way that some may benefit from the volatile economy is possibly being able to reduce their taxes. If you are going to stay in your home, you may want to take a closer look at your property tax assessment. Even though declining home values are not a good thing, it could mean a property tax reduction for you. However, even though your property values may have dropped, your assessment and taxes won’t unless you take action by filing a tax appeal. It is critical for you to get the right documentation to show that your property is over assessed or you might actually face your taxes going up if you appeal and the tax assessment board feels that you are under assessed. The other factor in this process is that tax appeals are only looked at once a year in each county and you must file the appeal before the deadline or you will have to wait another year. 

No matter what your current situation is we are here to help. Whether you need advice on re-negotiating your mortgage, need to sell because of being behind on your mortgage payments, are looking to take advantage of the great buying market or know someone who is or need help with determining your tax assessment contact us today for your free, no obligation, private consultation. 

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