Women's Wisdom Network (981)
“A lot of my work is a matter of reacting to surprises in life.” Alexander Wang What will the jobs report bring us? If the job market is strong, we may see the bond market yield go up, taking pricing on mortgage rates with it. If you are thinking about refinancing your mortgage to lower your interest rate, lower your payment, shorten your term or pull cash out to accomplish another project, don’t wait too late and get a negative surprise. As we say on the radio show Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe, “Make your plan. Work your plan. If the deal works for you today, let’s do it today.” Corelogic HPI reports the highest month-over-month gain we have seen with an 11.3% national rate of appreciation during the month. Corelogic anticipates our 2021 spring housing market will outpace trends we saw in 2019 and 2018. Millennials make up 54%…
Those of you that have worked with me know I am a stickler for vacation time. I push for a minimum of ten days to two weeks consecutive days unplugged, and a minimum of three other long weekends, three to five days, unplugged from your work. I say this from experience; you either unplug, or become unglued! We all know how stress and drama can appear in our business. So many variables that can come crashing down at any time to sabotage a deal, transaction, or relationship, that going for an extended period of time without disconnecting can ruin more than just your career! The reality is nobody is a machine! Now more than ever, surviving 2020 and all of the challenges that came with it, shows us the value in recharging our own physical and metal batteries! Vacation is more important as we come out of COVID because so…
Bring it Home® Communities accelerated its national rollout with the introduction of a patent-pending mobile app for brokers and agents. The innovative app, appropriately named “Before they list,” acts as a catalyst to receive specific information on a property. This social tool is used to gauge interest from other agents in an office, to determine market viability, which can be used by the agent or broker to help generate a listing agreement. “We know that inventory is at an all-time low, and we want to provide the latest technology to assist in generating new listings,” explains John Giaimo, President and CEO of Bring it Home® Communities. “Creating feedback for homeowners on the fence is a great way to provide valuable information to help them reach an informed decision, while following the rules of the local MLS,” Giaimo continues. In a recent homeowner survey by Homes.com, 76% of respondents are considering…
“After closing, you can paint an ugly house, but you can’t paint over ugly financing.” Jo Garner Real estate is still hot, and mortgage rates are still low. When a home buyer gets his offer accepted, he had better be able to move –and fast. As a mortgage loan officer, the best advice I can give anyone getting a mortgage is to get preapproved and compare more than one financing option. When you sign the last paper at the closing table, you want the contented feeling of satisfaction, knowing that you made the very best decision. Here are some general rules of thumb to consider: 1. If you plan on keeping the mortgage for over five years, strongly consider getting a mortgage with a fixed rate and not a variable interest rate. You will enjoy the stability of a principal and interest payment with a fixed interest rate that…
Here we go again! The constant whine about how hard it is to be in real estate because of the lack of inventory. How tough it is to deal with multiple bid situations, houses selling well over asking, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! I might even buy into the challenges if it weren’t for a few things: • 2018 was a record setting year – highest from 2006• The 2019 came along and sold more homes than 2018• Then, despite COVID-19, 2020 surpassed 2019. Now we are seeing projections from many groups that expect 2021 to outpace 2020, and 2022 to be even stronger. So I ask this again, “Why is everyone so upset that so many people want to buy houses?” You would think people would be happy? I remember when the housing market went bad and there was what seemed like years’ worth of inventory sitting with nobody to…
Some of the most common conversations I have been having with mortgage customers are those concerned with how much value they will get from the home appraisal. These calls come from customers who want to get a cash-out to refinance and remodel the home where they live. We get calls from customers competing with multiple other offers to buy a home. They want to know, “How much higher than the asking price should I offer for this home? Do you think it will appraise for that much?” Prices of homes are continuing to rise. The median home price of $329,100 is up this week 17% year-over-year. Mortgage rates are lower than they have been in seven weeks. Prices on homes are being pushed up by high demand from aspiring home buyers competing to buy and lock low fixed rates. The forecast is for home prices to rise and for mortgage…
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There are plenty of people around who have a lot to say about why things in the mortgage and real estate markets are a challenge. Many seem to spend more time looking to complain about why they aren’t doing better or how “hard” the job has become, then to spend time looking to see how much opportunity there is. Yes, it is likely that for originators who depend on 50 – 60 – 70% or more of their business last year, that 2021 is looking a bit scary as we roll into the second quarter. However, purchase business remains very strong, so strong in fact that people are complaining about how many people want to buy homes! The issue now is how to we continue to thrive as refinances shrink? First of all, refinances aren’t completely going away, they just aren’t as easy to sell since rates have come up…
There are plenty of people around who have a lot to say about why things in the mortgage and real estate markets are a challenge. Many seem to spend more time looking to complain about why they aren’t doing better or how “hard” the job has become, then to spend time looking to see how much opportunity there is. Yes, it is likely that for originators who depend on 50 – 60 – 70% or more of their business last year, that 2021 is looking a bit scary as we roll into the second quarter. However, purchase business remains very strong, so strong in fact that people are complaining about how many people want to buy homes! The issue now is how to we continue to thrive as refinances shrink? First of all, refinances aren’t completely going away, they just aren’t as easy to sell since rates have come up…
Rick began his career as a part-time agent in 1976, quickly becoming full-time and eventually buying the company in his fifth year. He grew it from 34 to 193 agents and lead the U.S. in agent productivity. His personal sales production saw him sell 200+ homes per year during his sales career. He was honored to be both Renos Salesperson of the Year, as well as the Nevadas Realtor of the Year. Upon selling his company, Rick has shared his successful strategies worldwide ever since. He has spoken in all 50 states, for every real estate franchise and has been recognized as one of the most popular trainers within the real estate industry. In 2014 Rick became the Regional Director for an Australian based franchise and grew it to 7 offices with 125 agents in Oregon and Washington. With over 40 years of experience Ive seen every real estate model…
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