2012 Year in Review!

***if
you know anyone who is thinking about buying a home, our next classes
are:

Saturday, January 5, 2013, from 9am-12pm at the Vancouver YMCA located at 11324 NE 51st
Circle (corner of SR-500 & 112th/Gher Road). 

Thursday, January 10, 2013, from 5pm-8pm, at the Marshall Center, conference room at 1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd. (kitty corner from Clark  College

Remember….with reservation…we will throw in lunch, or dinner!  🙂 …we also have other class dates/times…check out the
website

 Please go to www.learningtobuyahome.com, or www.traciedemars.com for information on ALL upcoming Free Community Home Buyer Classes.  I do keep all updated information, and directions there… I would love to hear from you about when you might like to see the classes.  These classes are for you, so please, I love your comments and feedback!!  🙂 ***

Happy Sunday~

Happy New Year to you, and yours!  This time of year always makes me a bit melancholy as I reflect on the past year.  I try to concentrate on the good things that have happened, but yes, I need to acknowledge the bad things as well so that I can analyze what happened and how I can change it.  I like to turn bad things into positive things….it is so much easier to be positive than negative…agree?  🙂  2012, was a year of extremes.   For my family the good was very good, but the bad things were very bad, and seemed to linger, and linger, and linger some more.  I am hoping for a bit more balance in 2013, and that we all get along and play nice in the sandbox…

So, again I am going to go off topic…but I promise to get back on topic next week!   🙂   I would like to look at the year and review…

The real estate market for 2012, at least in our local Clark County area, has been HOT!  I am so excited with how many keys I have been able to hand out this year, and even more excited to have helped so many hard working, and deserving families achieve home ownership.  Truly, it has been a pleasure, and a privilege to be a part of your lives.  😀    That is the wonderful…and now the not-so-wonderful…  Because the market has increased with so many buyers our inventory of available homes has decreased from this time last year, and with the low supply, and the high demand of buyers, the prices have risen quite a bit.  Last year about this time I was able to find 3 bedroom, 2 bath homes around $150,000ish…easily…..now?  Not so much.  The same homes that I was assisting folks with last year are now about $175,000ish.  However, interest rates are lower right now than they were last year…so it kind of balances.  The hardest thing we are dealing with is the lack of inventory.  I am just telling clients to be patient….if it isn’t the home for you, then just hang in there….the right home will come up when you are ready for it.  🙂

Now  more than ever before, you need to have your ducks in a row.

• • With
    the ever changing real estate and lending rules, get your education and take one
    of the free home buyer education classes.   The point of these classes
    is to de-mystify the home buying and loan process, and to help you get ready if
    you are not ready already.  Too often we see folks who want to buy a home NOW,
    but aren’t ready to do so…and they had no idea that they were doing anything
    ‘wrong’.

• • You MUST have a legitimate pre-approval before you start the home buying
    adventure.  With the limited supply, and the many buyers out there, no
    seller will even consider your offer unless you have spoken with a lender and
    have taken those formal steps to the pre-approval.  For sellers, and banks it is
    all about RISK…. how much of a risk are you?  We want the sellers to want to
    sell to you over another offer.

• • You
    must be prepared to maintain that pre-approval…remember that the last
    step of the home buying process is the underwriters refreshing your pre-approval
    by updating all your information, and yes, this includes, credit reports, bank
    statements, paycheck stubs, etc before they can order docs and before you can
    close. Any changes you make in your lifestyle between the pre-approval and
    closing can prevent you from closing and getting keys.

 

• • Keep
    an open line of communication with your Lender and your Real Estate
    Agent.  I can’t tell you how many times people don’t tell us something
    thinking we will never find out so it doesn’t matter.  From the time you get
    pre-approved to the time you get keys you live in a fish bowel.  You may think
    we won’t know, or find out, but we ALWAYS do.  We truly WANT to help you get
    keys (remember, we don’t get paid unless you get those keys) so let us know what
    is going on.  We will help you with things that come up, but if we don’t
    know…we can’t, and yes, things you don’t tell us can prevent you from getting
    those keys.

• • You need to have some money put away for those fees that are a part
    of buying a home, like, earnest money, home inspection, and appraisal.
    The total of these fees runs a little under $2000.  Don’t spend this money, and
    don’t spend your downpayment….you’re going to need it!

• • You must feel comfortable asking questions….even if you
    are afraid of the answers, or feel that the question is ‘silly’. We do this
    every day….you don’t….NO question is ever ‘silly’!  This kind of goes with
    the open line of communication….

• • You MUST want what you can afford.  Yes, this sounds silly,
    but often I run into someone who wants a home at last years prices because a
    friend bought there.  I am so sorry….that was LAST year, not THIS year.
    No…we don’t see prices going down.  Last year was the bottom, and home prices
    have been going steadily up since the beginning of 2012. Again, I am sorry, but
    if you want what you can’t afford then you have two choices…you can adjust
    your home expectations, or adjust your price range.  Please remember that this
    is your FIRST home, and not your last.

• • KNOW what  you want in a home.  What are the top 3 things
    you want in your home?  Are these things in your price range?  Are you prepared
    to change what you want, or change your price range?  Spend some time on the
    rmls.com and check out homes.  Check out prices in your price range, and the
    price range of the home of your expectations.  Do they match?  DON’T look at
    short sale homes unless you are prepared for the wait that comes with it, and
    the gamble of a 10% close (see previous blog entries about short sales, or call
    me for questions)

• • Be prepared for the roller coaster ride of the home buying
    adventure.  This is tongue-in-cheek advice, but really there are 4 big
    events in a persons life….and they are all stressful.  Buying a home ranks
    right up there with getting married, having a baby, and loss of a family member
    and/or divorce.  Buying a home has very fun, and wonderful moments and it has
    those moments where you are pulling your hair out, screaming in frustration, and
    wondering why you even wanted to do this to yourself!  All I can say is, be
    prepared….

• • Pay your Bills on TIME!  33% of your credit score is paying
    your bills on time!  I can’t stress this enough….

• DON’T buy anything for your new home until you have keys
  for that home in hand.  This is another one of those things that we see folks do
  all the time, and it was on Sale!  However, I don’t care how good that sale
  was…is it worth losing your home?  Don’t use your credit cards, and don’t buy
  things for your new home until you HAVE the new home.

In 2012, a lot of my blog entries were in reaction to questions by readers, class attendees, and by clients going through issues when buying their homes.  I appreciate everyone who reads this, and passes it on to your friends, family, and co-workers.  appreciate your comments and questions, and as always, if I don’t have the answer then I will help you find it.  I have had
some wonderful clients, and some learning experiences, but as always, my faith remains strong that everyone deserves a home to call their own.  With your assistance, Chris Berg and I truly want to help you get there.

I have faith that 2013, will be even better as interest rates remain low.  Many homeowners who were hesitant about selling their homes are starting to feel more confident about doing so and that will help the inventory.  As we come into the early months of 2013, more banks will release bank owned foreclosures from their inventory to be sold.  The real estate market is getting healthier by the month, and really, that helps all of us in the long run economically.  2013, is going to be wonderful for all us, and hopefully, more balanced!

From my family to yours, Happy New Year!  We wish you nothing but the best in the coming year and looking forward to helping you with any of your questions, and with your home buying adventure!

Please call, email, text, or even facebook me (at Tracie DeMars Real Estate) anytime with any questions, or if there is anything I can do to assist you with your home buying adventure! As your buyers agent, I am, as always, here to help!!
😀

Thank you again for your business and for your referrals!

…as always…if you have already purchased a home, or no longer would like to receive these emails
from me, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from receiving any more.

Thank you again for attending the home buyer education classes, and I hope that you will continue to refer the classes out to
your friends, family, and co-workers. Upcoming class dates and times are located at www.freehomebuyerclasses.com. Just click on the link on the left hand side. Or you can go to www.learningtobuyahome.com and click the links.

We appreciate your  referrals and word of mouth! Also, if you have somewhere that we can place the flyers at, please let me know….
:-D

Next Week:    Tax Benefits of Mortgage…explained
(coming up – Credit….explained,  Inspections…explained & Mortgage
Insurance….explained)
Last Week:  escrow….explained

Remember that you can always go to ‘Tracie DeMars Real Estate’ on Facebook for all of my weekly blogs and upcoming
class dates/times/locations. I  post the weekly blogs on there as well.

Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon,
;-D