February 2nd, 2010 | 
Author: I would always prefer to write answers to actual questions submitted by our readers, and in this case a perfect one for mid-January: QUESTION – Steve, I keep hearing you and others saying we should buy a home now, why? What’s so key that we need to buy now instead of waiting until this summer?
ANSWER – I’d be happy to supply my thoughts in general, and yet I acknowledge up front that many of you have situations that are unique. Top 5 Reasons to BUY now!
Interest Rates are not going to stay at or even just below 5% much longer. Even this morning as I took an early look at the mortgage bond markets and treasury bills, the credit markets are leaning back toward higher rates. (FNMA 30-year 4.5% $100.91 down 3bps or translated a slight move up in rate) The United States Government is borrowing billions of dollars ever week to pay for our current deficit spending, and as with any supply and demand market too much supply pushes down prices. In this case too much supply of debt instruments pushes down what investors are willing to pay and since prices and interest rates are inversely related, RATES go UP!
One reason that rates have stayed in the low 5’s (or even just under 5%) is that the Federal Government was paying a tax credit to first time real estate buyers. The original tax credit ran out in November, causing a lot of homes that would have been purchased in late November or December to be purchased instead in October and early November. An aberration in the demand therefore causing us to think real estate was recovering fast in the fall, when in actuality real estate is probably recovering slowly without market manipulations. In December due to the market manipulations, Existing home sales went down steeply. Back to the point, this means prices in January are softer than in the fall and many sellers motivated to get the deal done now! That tax credit was extended until mid-Spring and is available now for all buyers, not just first time buyers.
Here in Northwest Indiana the real estate market has been slowly but surely picking back up from the low point a year ago. We did not go as high as the coastal and resort markets, so we did not take as much time to rebound. If you are waiting for prices to go down further, you are probably waiting on something that won’t happen. The steel mills have called back some employees, Ford Motor Company announced yesterday over 1,000 hires in Chicago and small businesses are slowly but surely dusting themselves off from the 2008 Recession. The real engine of job growth will be small business.
January is typically slower, with weather being the dominant factor. Buying a home in a slow month will typically yield less competition and a more flexible seller. I would recommend working closely with the seller to gain assistance with closing costs (for the record every single title company in the region increased their closing costs on January 1st in response to more government requirements) and stay away from antagonistic battles with sellers. If you are willing to pay $100,000, contract for $100,000 … don’t use the home inspection as a second line of negotiations to beat the seller down even more. That’s unethical and the REALTORs using that tactic aren’t going to last as the market recovers.
Many local communities are increasing rental registration fees, inspection fees, utility fees, storm water fees, and a whole host of fee income generation. Property taxes in the State of Indiana are capped at 1% for your owned home … but 2% for a rental home. This means that your landlord is going to be hit with thousands of dollars in fees and higher taxes … guess who pays those fees and taxes … YOU! Your rent will most likely be increased at your next renewal. You may well be able to buy a home for the same or less than you will be paying at your next rent renewal. But due to the 4 above mentioned reasons, you better act now while prices are low, temperatures are cold, and rates are low. Rents are going up!
Call me anytime if you need assistance in starting this process, a pre-qualification should be the first step: 219-465-8352. While at a conference in Indy this week I heard that some sellers are listing with the following requirement “showings for buyers with pre-qualification only” … Great idea.
Steve Dalton
Sr. Mortgage Banker
Sierra Pacific Mortgage – Residential Mortgage Group
219-465-8352 (cell)
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With a lifetime of experience in real estate investing, home building, consulting and working as a Valparaiso home mortgage lender anyone would have a hard time finding a more knowledgeable guide to mortgages and real estate. More than that no mortgage lender in northwest Indiana will be more fun to work with. If you building, buying, or refinancing spend 20 minutes with Steve you’ll come away laughing and amazed at how much Steve knows about your project and equally amazed at how many people in the industry he knows. Having all that experience in your corner can make a potentially stressful experience enjoyable. Little example of Steve’s insight into northwest Indiana mortgage rates and you’ll understand why Steve is the lender to trust.
What’s affecting the rates right now?
- Sales of homes in the latter part of 2009 were greatly affected by the rush to obtain the tax credit that originally was intended to run out by the end of November. That tax credit is not back in affect and will extend into April. But in the meantime there was a bit of a rush at the end of last year. I expect that due to this mirage affect, there will be a restatement of sales in December downward a bit. This is positive news for rates.
- The substantial amount of money being borrowed by the Federal Government to cover their historic and unsustainable deficits is putting a lot of pressure on both rates and inflation. So far rates have risen from 4.5% 30 days ago to where there are now at just over 5%. I expect rates to continue a slow increase month by month as recession problems fade, jobs begin to increase, and there is more focus on inflation. This is negative news for rates.
- Yesterday rates were actually better than expected, see I don’t have a crystal ball, so there’s always the strong possibility that today we get a correction day. See the 10 Year Treasury Chart yesterday, where rates did come down a bit, slightly yesterday.
- As always, if you want a quick personal update at 10:00 a.m. this morning when rates come out please email me and I’ll personally send you a quick update when they are in my hands.
One of our partners, Silveus Insurance, has been sending relief and supplies into Haiti, including 15 medical professionals, food and cell phones. Unfortunately they have found that many can’t get to where the food is or the relief team can’t get doctors to the injured. Someone has donated vehicles to the effort, but they will need to hire a c-130 to fly out of Florida. The estimated cost for the flight and 44,000 pounds of cargo will be $60,000. I wouldn’t normally pass this on but the letter sent by Tyler Silveus got to me. If you can help it will be appreciated. I have been told that every cent will be going to the effort, no admin costs no labor costs, everyone involved has volunteered.
Please Contact Tyler@cropins.net
I hadn’t really thought much about the difference in real estate agents until I met Evelyn. Evelyn is the leading online real estate agent in Elkhart county. I always figured realtors got you a sign in the yard and a listing in the mls. Evelyn has used social media and online exposure to raise the bar. She has started an Elkhart county subdivision site with fantastic information on what is selling or listed in individual subdivisions. If you were going to list your home with any Elkhart Realtor why wouldn’t you use Evelyn? Her willingness to provide valuable information to buyers makes it easier for buyers to find her. The more buyers that find her the more exposure your home receives.
Kerry Haven Subdivision is located on CR 3 to CR 108 in Cleveland Township, Elkhart Indiana. Children who live in Kerry Haven Subdivision who attend public school will be attending Elkhart Community Schools.
Kerry Haven Subdivision 2009 home sales consisted of 6 homes that sold for $98,900 to $160,000 after being on the market for 36 to 645 days. These were all an arm’s length transaction and neither were a short sale or anREO Property.
REO Properties are homes that are owned by a Bank/Investor which they obtained thru the foreclosure process.
Short Sales are definded as a sale where the debt owing against a property combined with the costs associated with the sale exceed the property’s market value. In a loan default situation (pre-foreclosure) , lender(s) may be willing to agree to allow the property to be sold for less than the loan amount and/or accept less than (or “short”) the amount owed, and may or many not accept the net proceeds of sale as payment in full of the debt.
This is just a quick sampling of the information Evelyn tracks and provides. Clearly Evelyn is going above and beyond for the Elkhart real estate community. Thanks Evelyn
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads.[1] The blues form which is ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll is characterized by the use of specific chord progressions — the twelve-bar blues chord progressions being the most frequently encountered — and the blue note that for expressive purposes are sung or played flattened or gradually bent in relation to the pitch of the major scale. (via Wikipedia)
What in the world does the blues have to do with inbound marketing or SEO? You’re asking and I’m prepared after a little research to give the result of my research this week.
I came across Nate Findlings blog How to write a book of blues. Nate is an inbound marketing consultant right here in NW Indiana, and is writing a Book about the Blues, or better yet about a blues musician. I think Nate has combined both subjects to really hit his stride.
“Plan A: To write about our adventures in getting our drafts edited and published. This includes trials, tribulations, influences, and the essentials that go into such a project.
Plan B: To use our careers in SEO/SMO, Social Media, and Copywriting to not only get the word out about our endeavors but to share, learn and grow as we go.”
Some recent posts on this blog:
The lyrics often relate troubles experienced within African American society. For instance Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Rising High Water Blues” (1927) tells about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927:
“Backwater rising, Southern peoples can’t make no timeI said, backwater rising, Southern peoples can’t make no timeAnd I can’t get no hearing from that Memphis girl of mine.”
However, although the blues gained an association with misery and oppression, the lyrics could also be humorous and raunchy as well:[20]
“Rebecca, Rebecca, get your big legs off of me,Rebecca, Rebecca, get your big legs off of me,It may be sending you baby, but it’s worrying the hell out of me.” From Big Joe Turner’s “Rebecca”, a compilation of traditional blues lyrics
An author, a lyric writer, aninbound marketing expert, and that almighty Search Engine Optimization project that we all want but can’t quite put our finger on. So what does Blues music have to do with your business marketing? Everything. Creativity, honesty in voice, and the ability to relate to real people where they’re at.
NWI Quotes is ready to find Lake and Porter county the best homeowners insurance quotes. In about two minutes you can have competitive quotes from agents in Valparaiso, Merrillville, Hobart, Portage and Chesterton. Follow the link above see what the market has for you.
VXS4Y2HT8NSB
We ran into Kathy at several social media strategy events throughout the past year. Kathy has been instrumental in leading NWI businesses through social media consulting, helping their team members serve local consumers. We were lucky enough to attend one of Kathy’s social media training classes that was helpful for beginners. More companies are using social media marketing in attempt to reach more customers and stay connected with existing customers. We will be looking forward to attending more of Kathy’s classes this year.
Last week I met with a group of real estate agents hungry for information on social media marketing. Besides just learning about it, they were curious to know “how much time is this going to take?” and “what return will I get on my investment?”
An effective social media program does require some time. It’s not a magic machine that you set up once and forget about. By definition, that form of media would not be very social or interactive, which are two of the things that make social media marketing such a potentially effective vehicle for connecting with other people.
The social media marketing tools I showed are free. That doesn’t mean that they come without “cost” as time is obviously worth something. What other marketing channels are open to Realtors (or other business people) that don’t cost time and/or money? Realtors spend time putting together print ads that run in home magazines; they pay a lot of money to run the ads and they spend time putting the ads together. The ads don’t magically design themselves, after all. I asked what return they were getting on these print ads and all but one or two had no answer. For some reason, social media seems to be held to a different standard and I’m not sure why, but I think because it is largely because it is unknown and seems unmanageable without a roadmap.
Kathy has established herself as, one realtor put it, “My Social Media Coach” in the Northern Indiana area.
I wanted to hi-lite each person that came through our $25 restaurant gift card giveaway but I’m already behind from the weekend. We had a lot of winners from Hobart and Portage, and still have about 20 gift cards left! Fill out your auto insurance application and it will be on it’s way.VXS4Y2HT8NSB
This has been fun. Gene S from Hobart filled out our online auto insurance quote form and won a $25 dollar restaurant gift certificate. We found three quotes for Gene that were right in line with his current insurer. After some thought he felt he was satisfied with the service at his current agency. Gene we wish we could have saved you a few dollars but thanks for getting a quote and enjoy the gift certificate.
Tags: NWI Quotes is giving away $25 restaurant gift cards. They serve over 50 restaurants in Porter County and many more in Lake. All you need to do is fill out an auto quote no purchase needed. To qualify you must fill out a complete app. All apps must be in by the Jan 01. We have over 50 cards to pass out. Enter you e-mail to receive notice of our ongoing contests and giveaways. Merry Christmas from NWI Quotes.