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Client Testimonial from Greg and Patti, Sellers in Beverlywood |
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His personality is different than many other local agents we met. Easy to work with, sincere, knowledgeable, and very accommodating. Ben, Elizabeth, and Julia provided a stress-free and well orchestrated sale of our home. He negotiated four offers within a few days of listing our home and three offers above asking. We were in escrow within a week and before our only open house, and were completed in thirty days. Ben was sensitive to understand our house was the home were we raised our children. He gave great advise to maximize the value of our home and our profit from the sale. Best of all, his wife makes amazing brownies. You want Ben Lee to represent you. |
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Mortgage Rates at All Time Lows |
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Results from Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey show that fixed mortgage rates have met or are near all-time-lows.
The 30-year-fixed matched the average all-time record low of 3.94 percent for the week ending December 15. This number is down from last week when it averaged 3.99 percent and much lower than last year's reported 4.83 percent.
A new record was set for 15-year-fixed mortgage rates, at 3.21 percent. This is down from last week's average of 3.27 percent and 4.17 percent reported this time last year. The previous record was recently set in October of this year.
The 5-year-adjustable-rate mortgage also set a new all-time record low at 2.86 percent.
"Mortgage rates were at of near all-time record lows this week amid a rough environment for housing," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac.
Many economists predict that the continuance of low mortgage rates and new record-lows will help convince potential homebuyers that owning a home is more affordable than ever. |
by Lilli Lee
When it comes to our kids’ education, nothing fills me with as much inner panic or turns me into a version of my mother more than when our first grader comes home with a project, report or assignment other than his typical weekly homework packet. It’s a twisted, cyclical, silent, one-way conversation that ping pongs between, ‘What more can I handle?’ to ‘Why should I worry about this?’ to ‘How can we make this the best Manatee report the teacher has ever seen?’ to ‘I’m so annoyed at hearing myself nag him to do it, I’m just NOT going to nag and see if he does it on his own! Let him fail! That’ll teach him!!’ But no matter how many times I fantasize about a 6 year old having the motivation to tackle this wide-ranging subject on his own, I know I will not let him fail and I will mercilessly harass him every single day until we are both so sick of the subject and each other we will have wished his teacher had stuck to the boring weekly assignment instead of trying to teach him the importance of research and deeper study.
Just the mere mention of our son needing to write and present an oral report prompted me to conjure up distant memories of my own elementary school anxieties. Recollecting one seemingly innocuous task struck me in the gut like an extra helping of a bad burrito. |
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Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Short Sale? |
Not Ben! I recently closed a fabulous short sale on the West Side, and the hardly was even in arrears! That means that the seller’s credit was barely impacted.
They bought their home in 2005 at the top of the market, and put down only 3%. They were totally underwater, and needed to relocate for work. They kept making payments in good faith, and were able to sell their property and move on without a big fat FORECLOSURE on their credit.
There are three reasons a short sale will fail.
1. The package is incomplete. The lender won’t even tell you if the Seller’s package is complete or not. They just won’t respond.
2. The buyer’s expectations haven’t been clearly laid out. If the buyer is not prepared for the long lag in between getting into escrow and closing escrow, they will walk in the meanwhile. Short sales can take a long time!
3. The communication is ineffective. Bad communication equals frustrated buyers and sellers, and banks who don’t respond! This is key.
We make sure that the package is air-tight, make sure the hardship is in place, and that the property is properly marketable. And we make sure that the lender will take what is fair, which may be under 20 cents on the dollar (where a junior lien holder is concerned).
Also, we have state of the art communication methods where everybody can log into our password protected site and see what the last conversation was with the bank.
Even if you have a notice of trustee sale and are 2 weeks from sale, we can save your home and your credit! Just give us a call and we can help you determine if a short sale is right for you. |
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What's Happening - Multiple Offers in This Market? |
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The papers and TV are blaring the bad news that the RE market has crashed, and with interest rates showing signs of increasing, all experts seem to be worried. But those fears are not really shared by today's buyers. In the last two weeks, I have been in 4 multiple offer situations! Two of those have sold for OVER ASKING and, in one situation, my client lost the purchase by a mere $500.00!
So does this really sound like doom and gloom? It is still a fact that if your property is not priced appropriately, one can expect low offers. However, when homes are priced in the correct range, expect action, and expect it fast.
And open houses are teaming! If you're a seller, you had better hold your home open. The buyers are out there, and they are ready to buy. You just have to make sure that they know where to find you! I will be at 10436 Troon Ave, my new listing in Cheviot Hills. Please come and say hi. |
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