Real Estate Information, Corvallis Oregon Real Estate, Sue Long's Blog

Here’s an interesting tidbit that you should know: With  homes that have had their main lines inspected visually with a camera snake, there have been many issues. Collapsed lines and major obstructions are a few.  Whether purchasing or  occasionally experiencing backed up lines, you would do well to have your lines visually inspected.  It costs approximately $125 but can save you money down the road by knowing the real issue lurking beneath the ground.

For a great money saving coupon from one of our Business Partners, American Rooter, e-mail me thesuelongteam@kw.com. 20% Savings on Visual Line Inspection! 

Keller Williams Realty Brokerages Dominate Annual Industry Surveys
3^rd largest company in U.S. the only major franchise to show growth

AUSTIN, TEXAS (May 19, 2009) —According to two of the industry’s most comprehensive annual surveys of the largest residential real estate brokerages, Keller Williams Realty brokerages continue to defy the pervasive downturn in the industry by growing and expanding. This year, Keller Williams Realty had more brokerages on both lists than any other real estate brand.

In the REAL Trends 500 report, Keller Williams Realty offices were more than a quarter of the entire list. Keller Williams was the only company to boast growth in both number of agents added to its ranks and in total transactions closed.

Within RISMedia’s Power Broker Report, Keller Williams Realty again accounted for 35 percent of all the brokerages listed. The report also ranked Keller Williams Realty #1 in number of agents and total closed transactions.

They have a bill in legislature now to give buyers the opportunity to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment.  This will allow many more buyers to qualify for a home bacause the main stumbling block for first time home buyers is gathering together the down payment.  If this is successful, it will mean that many more people will be able to buy.  Look for this idea to possibly travel south to Oregon??? It may become a model for other states soon!

Wonder how we are doing in our area compared to last year?  Here are the answers in a nutshell:

Our average days on market have gone up by about 12% from last year so it’s now more than 5 months

The average price in Benton County has gone down by about 2%.  This is less than most other areas in our MLS and reflects the fact that we are selling more lower priced homes rather than prices being down by that much.  Prices are down by more in the higher price ranges ($350,000 and up) and less in lower price ranges (up to $250,000).

New construction sales are at 44% of last year.

Total sales in our MLS are down by about 29%. 

People are now financing more using government backed loans such as FHA and VA  as well as more owner carried contracts.

CONSUMER ALERT

FORECLOSURE RESCUE SCAMS 

If someone who is not your mortgage lender promises to save your home and asks for you to pay money up front, WATCH OUT.  Many fraudulent foreclosure consultants are springing up who target homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments.

TO AVOID BECOMING A VICTIM CALL THE PLATINUM GROUP FOR A FREE CONSULTATION

1. DON'T transfer title or sell your house to the foreclosure rescuer.  Fraudulent foreclosure consultants often promise that if the homeowners transfer title, they may stay in their home as renters and buy it back later. The foreclosure consultants claim that transfer is necessary so that someone with a better credit rating can obtain a new loan to prevent foreclosure.  BEWARE! This is a common scheme "rescuers" use to evict homeowners and steal all or most of their home's equity. 
2. DON'T pay money to people who promise to work with your lender to modify your loan. It is unlawful for foreclosure consultants to collect money before (1) they give you a written contract describing the services they promise to provide and (2) they actually perform all the services described in the contract, such as negotiating new monthly payments or a new mortgage loan.
3. DON'T pay your mortgage payments to someone other than your lender, even if he/she promises to pass the payment on to the lender.  Fraudulent foreclosure consultants often keep the money for themselves.
4. DON'T sign any documents without reading them first.  Many homeowners think that they are signing documents for a new loan to pay off the mortgage they are behind on. Later, they discover that they actually transferred ownership to the "rescuer."
5. DON'T ignore letters from your lender.  Consider contacting your lender yourself, as many lenders are willing to work with homeowners who are behind on their payments.
6. DO contact a housing counselor approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), who may be able to help you for free.  For a referral to a housing counselor near you, contact JUD at 1.800.569.4287 (TTY: 1.800.877.8339) or www.hud.gov
7. DO consider contacting the Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HOPE), which assists consumers facing foreclosure, at 1.800.995.HOPE or www.995hope.org HOPE is a non-profit organization that partners with community-based organizations, mortgage companies, and government agencies and is part of the HOPE NOW Alliance supported by the U.S. Department of Treasury and HUD.

What is all the fuss about these days with FHA loans?

Everyone stands to gain right now from their use!

That's a bold statement for a loan that was created in 1934 and has served up 34 million loans to borrowers. But they are the loan of choice now for several reasons.  They protect the lenders because there is insurance against default built in for them.  FHA is even better for taxpayers becuase even though it is a government-backed loan, there is little cost to tax payers because the cost is born by the borrower in the form of insurance premiums paid until there is 78% loan to value paid down.  They are great for borrowers for lots of reasons, but mostly the fact that it requires minimal down payments-only 3.5%. Realtors are pleased because more buyers can get into loans because this down may be paid as a gift by someone else, credit does not have to be perfect, interest rates are comparable to other loan products, there is more protection against foreclosure for their buyers down the road and appraisals are now more similar to conventional loan appraisals as far as repairs needed.

For borrowers, it is ideal--especially first timers, where they wouldn't qualify for other loans.  Now they don't need as much down and even their past credit history is treated with more leniency whether we are talking credit rating or past foreclosures.  They are able to buy manufactured homes, multi-family properties, homes needing repairs or rehabbed as well as single family homes more easily.  For the over 62 set there is a program for reverse mortgages and for our public servants such as police and teachers, there are deep discounts for buying inner city homes that are in revitalization areas. 

If you'd like more info, just send an email.  This is the greatest thing since sliced bread--within limits of course.

Yesterday was a great day.

We saw more food being brought in than most years before for the annual Linn Benton Food Share Spring Food Drive.  After 16 years of organizing, this year was by far the smoothest running and most generous results as far as food and money donations go.  I was tickled to see the quantities of food just keep coming and coming by the truckload and trunkload.  Besides the Girl Scouts from the Benton Area, we had great participation from the leadership classes at both Crescent Valley HS and Corvallis HS as well as Santiam Christian.  First United Methodist group were heroic too, in that they had a huge turnout after just getting back from a big mission trip just a couple days before.  And many of the Realtors at Keller Williams did a phenomenal job of getting bags out and knocking on every door to bring loads after loads of food in.  Several people expressed disappointment at not having been asked to help, which is new, and overall we collected far more monetary donations than had been received in past years, as well. 

What a great spirit of humanity responding to their neighbors' obvious difficulties in these hard economic times.   It really makes you proud to be part of the community.  I am more excited about next year's drive than ever before and would love to hear from you if you'd like to be part of this movement to better so many peoples' lives in time of need.

Call me at 766-0272 to participate.

Thanks everyone!!!

Sue Long

Activity is clearly picking up with many more offers coming on homes that have been listed-- even for over 200 days, now under contract!  This is good news for all and it appears that we may have some stimulus features working as well as springtime pent-up demand, university parents on a spending spree, more people using 401K's for buying property, and the seasonal upswing, all playing in together.  Many people are also afraid of impending hyperinflation and want to be sitting on hard assets if and when that comes to play. 

What about interest rates?  They are so low right now, it is almost a no-brainer!  There may be an additional drop as consumers are still pretty tight-fisted about spending and this may put some downward pressure on rates. 

We are still off as of February this year about 30% on sold volume compared to last year end of February.  This gap may be shrinking somewhat with additional buyers out and about at the moment.  Many buyers we are dealing with are also held up in their buying by the shackles of not having their home sold.  So the domino effect will be in play as more buyers all over the country start spending, creating sales for potential buyers who can now move on with their lives...

Here are some statistics comparing Feb. 08 to Feb 09 real estate in Linn and Benton Counties from WVMLS only and does not include private sales:

                                                                          Feb 08                    Feb 09

New constr. offered (all counties of MLS)                    1112                        797

New constr. under contract                                         124                         74

Year to date sales (Jan and Feb)  Benton County           90                         64

                                                 Linn County             150                       101

Price as a percent of Listed to Sales price                    94.5                      91.5

 Average Days on Market:  Benton County                    145                       142

                                          Linn County                     160                       132

Average sold price per sq. ft.  Benton County               $167                     $146

                                            Linn  County                $125                     $120