Makes you Stop and Think

This is interesting. Makes you stop and think!!

Have you ever been guilty of looking at others your own age and thinking, surely I Can't look that old?
Here is a little story about that:
My name is Alice Smith and I was sitting in the waiting room for my first appointment with a new Dentist. I noticed his DDS diploma, which bore his full name. Suddenly, I remembered a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name in my High School class some 30 years ago. Could he be the same guy that I had a secret crush on, way back then?

Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, gray- haired man with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been my classmate.

After he examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended Morgan Park High School. "Yes, I did. I'm a Mustang," he gleamed with pride. "When did you graduate?" I asked. He answered 1960. "Why do you ask?" "You were in my class!" I exclaimed.
He looked at me closely.
Then that ugly, bald, wrinkled, fat, decrepit old man asked,
"What did you teach?"'

What we've Learned from the Housing Bubble Bust

The pop heard ’round the world when the housing bubble burst brought a lot of bad news — from plummeting home prices to mounting foreclosures.
Depressed home prices and low interest rates may have you wondering if the real-estate market has reached its bottom. Even if the worst is behind us, it makes sense to take in the lessons of the past few years so we can avoid making the same mistakes again.

Lesson No. 1:
Adjust your expectations. Years ago, people purchased a home, lived in it all or most of their lives, passed it down to their children and enjoyed a gradual increase in wealth as the home gained value. But in the last decade, people bought a house expecting it to increase in value about 5 or 10 percent in a couple of years, and they’d move on to something bigger.

If the housing-bubble nightmare has shown us anything, it’s that you can’t count on a home to be worth more than you paid for it when you’re ready to sell. It’s back to basics. You have to be in it for the long haul and you can’t be looking at your home value every month to see how much it’s gone up.

Lesson No. 2:
You can’t time the market. When home prices were skyrocketing, many people bought homes they could barely afford — or couldn’t afford — thinking they’d ride the wave of rising equity since the market was on the upswing. Likewise, today, many potential homebuyers are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the market to reach its ultimate low.
You will never sell at the all-time high and you’ll never buy at the all-time low by planning it. The market will time you. You will sell, and on occasion you may happen to hit the all-time high or happen to hit the all-time low, but to study it and plan it and figure out and actually do it — it doesn’t happen.
Instead, take a long-term approach to real estate and look for a home that enhances your life and will increase in value over time.

Handbook 2010

This is another one of those how to live your life. This one is pretty good.
Maybe we need to be reminded of this at least once a year....

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Interest Rates & Your Monthly Payment

"Did you know that a ½% change in interest is approximately equal to a 5% change in sales price?"

Buyers need to realize the importance of the relationship of interest rates to the monthly payments.
Change in Interest vs. Reduced Sales Price
Purchase Price
$200,000
Interest Rate
5%
Term
30
Payment
$1,073.64


½% Increase in Rate
$1,135.58
5% Increase in Price
$1,127.33
A ½% change in interest rates is approximately equal to 5% change in price

1% Increase in Rate
$1,199.10
10% Increase in Price
$1,181.01
A 1% change in interest rates is approximately equal to 10% change in price

Short Sale vs Foreclosure. What's the difference?

We are getting many questions as to what is the difference between a Short sale & a Foreclosure. Here is your answer:

Short Sale
1. Homeowner owns the property. .
2. Buyer enters into the executed contract with the homeowner,
subject to lender approval.
3. Property is generally occupied by the owner or tenants.
4. Sold As Is.
5. Timeframe from executuion of Contract: 3-6+ months. Maybe more.

Foreclosure
1. Lender owns the property
2. Lender enters into the executed contract.
3. Utilities are often disconnected.
4. Property is vacant.
5. Sold As Is.
6. Timeframe from execution of contract: 30-60 days or more.

Update on the Local Real estate Activity

The above graph is from March 15th to September 20, 2009.

These are the number of showings per week, of our Coldwell Banker office listings. Note how they have been on an upward trend.

Real estate activity has been picking up.

We have personally, in 2009, passed our sales for 2008.

The $8000 tax credit has helped and buyers know that home prices are very affordable.

From Aol Finance:

"The housing recovery is one bright spot in our economic recovery. Forecasters expect 2010 to be the first year since 2005 that the housing sector will contribute to overall growth. Home prices are expected to rise 2 percent in 2010."

Let's hope that applies to our local market!

Real Estate Myths....Fact or Fiction?

Here are a couple Real estate myths that we would like to confirm as facts:


Myth #3: The first offer is never the best offer. Most sellers believe that it’s smart to hold out for something better.
I could name a dozen sellers, right off the top of my head, who wished they had taken that first offer. I don't know why this phenomenon happens, but it is not a myth! Four times out of five, the first offer is the best you’ll ever see.

Myth #4: ‘I can always reduce my price later.’
Sellers often price their home high for a few weeks just to test the market. But buyers shop by price bracket and if your house is in the wrong one, you’ll just help sell everyone else’s home, while yours just sits their overpriced. Reducing your price later in small increments puts you in the position of chasing the tide as it goes out.