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Are Interest Rates Headed UP for 2009?
I was rather surprised that with all the mortgage guys in the Rain, I couldn't find any current blog on where they think our interest rates are headed. I have a bad feeling that it's possible we're headed back to the days of 10%+ rates and if that's possible, personally I'd like to start preparing for how I'm going to deal with that now.
Here's a historical interest rate chart, courtesy of Mortgage-X.com http://www.mortgage-x.com You can clearly see how long rates were above 10%. I don't relish those days again.
So for the Rain Brains of the Financial Market out there...just where do you really think we're headed and why? |
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What Makes a BETTER Listing Agent?
It's not too difficult to see how a Buyer Agent does a good job.... --They do a good job explaining to their buyer the process of buying a home
But what about the Listing Agent? There are a lot of "What We Do" proclamations on websites, in person presentations, etc. but as a consumer, if you look at the reality of what is actually being done, what is being done that is so great or "better"? --They explain the selling process including how to prepare your home for sale But where is the "WOW"? There are over 1,200,000 licensed agents in the country and only about 60,000 agents in ActiveRain, |
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Property Owners Associations - Dues & Websites
Many new homeowners get very upset when they purchase a home and later find out there are POA (Property Owner Association) dues and were not told about it. A real estate agent in the process of listing a home can only rely on the seller to inform them of any association and related dues and many times that information falls through the cracks OR is not accurate information. After listening to my little 96 year old neighbor complain for years about not being told about "dues" and how she doesn't even use the "park or pool", I decided to do something about it. After spending almost 2 years in gathering information making phone calls, letters, prior listings, websites, agents and mostly private Title Company "in-house list", I put together a comprehensive webpage list of every property owner association in the metropolitan area, including condominiums. Through the years I have promoted this site to real estate agents, the associations and title companies and everyone has been real good in providing updated information. As far as I know, this is the only such website you'll find in the country. I hope it helps the public and potential homeowners with regard to associations and their information. Just click on www.LittleRockMetroPOA.com and you'll find close to 350 POA's. |
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Advice: BUY NOW or Possibly SUFFER! Personally I'm tired of all the negativity on the news about how bad the real estate market is from all the narrow-minded so-called experts that have never been in the real estate business or sold a house as an licensed Realtor. Where do these pencil pushing, computer model analysis people get off saying this is not a good time to buy? Do they do ANY research on the history of home ownership cost and the effects of interest rates? Let's put things in proper perspective. Fact 1: When I entered the business in 1974 interest rates were 9% and rising Current interest rates are in the 6.5% range. Below is a chart of estimated PITI payments (including the taxes and insurance estimates in my area) on a $200,000 FHA loan at the interest rates of 6.5%, 9%, 12% and 14%. With the market uncertainty in the banking system and interest rates, isn't it just as likely to repeat the mid 80's rate of 9% or more? Take a look at the interest you'd pay IN ONLY THE FIRST 15 YEARS OF A LOAN at the various rates. Do YOU want to "wait" and get caught with no choice but a 9% rate or even 14% rate for 15 years and pay $404,497 in interest versis only $172,663 now? What expert is going to guarantee you that rates will not hover 9% over the next 15 years? |
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If you are a resident of the St. Charles/St. Michael/St. Thomas Subdivisions, you'll want visit our new cutting edge Subdivision Real Estate Market website that contains all the current Property for Sale and Past 6-Months Sales as well as other valuable information, including our Blog Link on community activity. We maintain this site on a daily basis and post all new listings for sale, price changes, remove expired listings and record all the latest sales data to keep you up to date on the market in your subdivision.
It's sometimes difficult to remember to check a website for information or to even remember a web address for that matter, so we've set up a convenient method of staying up-to-date by voluntarily signing up for auto-updates. This way, each time a new listing or sale has taken place, you'll receive an automatic email letting you know.
A real estate agent cannot keep track of an entire city, which is the reason they are not always well-informed on what is going on in a specific neighborhood. By creating and maintaining this site, that gives us an advantage when a current homeowner needs a "neighborhood expert".
We still have a few "Links" to connect, but the fastest way to reach the site at this point is to visit www.NetworkRealEstateAR.com and click on the "Subdivision" pic on the center of the homepage. Then click on the St. Charles marquee.
Feel Free to Join in on the Community Localism.com Blog on St. Charles as well
I have been a Real Estate Broker for some 33 years in the Little Rock Metro area and have pretty much worked in all phases of the industry including managing some 6,000 units of multifamily property.
I've been a Broker in Little Rock, Arkansas for over 33 years. Back in the beginning days there wasn't even an MLS System or Lockbox Key. I've owned real estate and my own company for the last 26 years and have worked in about all phases of the real estate business including working in tax sheltered syndications, managing 6,000 units of multifamily apartments, mobile home parks, shopping centers, strip centers, office building, and selling commercial property. Honesty and Integrety are my primary pet peeves in this business. I don't understand why so many agents market so many strangers and forget about their own base of past clients. Better than 80% of my business is referral based.
In this modern age of the internet and consumers wanting more information faster and better, we keep our company on the cutting edge of new technology. I started doing real Video Walk Through Tours and uploading to UTube almost 3 years ago when it was unhead of. The quality back then wasn't near as good as today, but we've honed up our quality and web host. When you see a "Virtual Tour" on 95% of the MLS Listings, they're Slide Shows of still pictures compared to our full blown video walk throughs. We also enter every one of our listings in more than 20 popular national listing websites to be found easier, faster and on more search parameters.
Another Cutting Edge method of our operation is all of our agents are Home Based. We do not operate from a Bricks & Mortar building with rent, utilities, etc. but rather each agent is 100% home-based and we stay in constant communication via phone and email. 100% of all our documents in a transaction are scanned and kept in computer files for easy transfer to other agents, title companies, bankers, etc. We are almost a "paper less" operation. Our company primary phone is a Cell Phone which means we don't play "Phone Tag"...when you call...you reach us. We use cutting edge Video Email communication and eFlyers, custom eNewsletters and we actually "update" our website daily.
HEALTH & WEALTH: MONAVIE !! If you're looking to make additional money or concerned about Health, I would strongly urge you to go to my MonaVie website at http://www.TheGreatProduct.com/HealthOne
My area of expertise is plan and simply "experience". As any agent knows, the longer you're in business, the more knowledge you gain and the better able you are to keep your clients out of trouble and/or keep them happy.
I've worked extensively in the foreclosure market working with clients in buying, fixing, renting or flipping distressed property and managed extensive multifamily investments for large corporate owners. I concentrate in developing niche market areas to be an "expert" in certain markets to better serve clients. One perfect example, which stays with our cutting edge technology approach is "Subdivison Marketing". We've started capturing the subdivisions we like to work in by purchasing subdivision Domain Names and dedicating a webpage to all the activity of that subdivision with a redirect to that stand-alone page. This not only makes you look like an "expert" for that subdivision but maintaining the information DOES make you an expert.
In summary, our "Area of Expertise" is Real Estate, from start to finish.
Thanks David for the update on my new Investment Purchase! With all the work you did on this one, I'm going to have to nominate you for "Best Real Estate Agent of the Year!". Thanks again, Ray Turner 02/05/06
Thank you so much for helping Denise and I through the sale of our house. Not only was your assistance invaluable to us but your services allowed us to pocket many thousands of dollars that would have otherwise been spent with another agent. Anytime you want to use us as a reference, PLEASE ask them to call me personally. I´d love to help you out the way you help us out.
Sincerely,
Terron & Denise Lindholme
02/25/06
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