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Expanded Services at Look East Realty

May 2, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

We are proud to support the men and women of our Armed Forces. As such, we are proud to join PCS America to assist our Active Duty and Retired Veterans in their home search.

We are proud to have you in our communities, and honored to be able to serve the needs of you and your families.

We are well versed in the VA Loan process and have an experienced VA Lender to assist us through the process.

Feel free to share this link with anyone you may know who can use our services:

Click here to visit PCS America

Thank you for your service to this country, and for protecting our freedom for future generations.

Caroline Nordyke – Broker/Owner

Kim Iverson – Associate Broker

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: housing, Loans, military, PCS America, real estate, VA, veterans

The Health Care Law’s 3.8% Real Estate Sales Tax

May 1, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

There are many things that can stand in the way of you being able to sell your house. It is very disconcerting when you tell friends or neighbors that you are going to sell your house and they inform you that there is a new 3.8% sales tax you will be required to pay which goes toward paying for the health care law.

Although this provision was written into the law, it applies only in a very narrow way to real estate sales. I am including a link from the National Association of Realtors which outlines the regulation and how it applies. There is also a video from NAR’s Director of Tax Policy to help explain what this is and how it works.

http://speakingofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org/2010/11/24/the-3-8-tax-is-not-a-real-estate-transfer-tax/

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: health care, law, real estate, sales, sales tax, transfer tax

What is a REALTOR® Anyway?

January 27, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

There is a lot of talk about the value of using a REALTOR^® these days. Why would a real estate professional choose to pay extra money in membership dues to a voluntary organization with the economy the way it is? What does this mean to you as the consumer? Well, let me explain the value of using a REALTOR^® and why maintaining our membership is so important it is our office policy.

REALTOR^®s belong to an organization with over 1 Million members nationwide. This provides us with resources in the way of contacts and networking opportunities which translates to more contacts to help Buyers find homes and Sellers to find Buyers.

Only REALTOR^®s voluntarily commit to a Code of Ethics which is focused on professional service and fair treatment. We take this oath seriously, post it on a wall in our office, and renew our pledge regularly.

REALTOR^®s have access to continuing education classes, some available ONLY to REALTOR^® members, to make sure we are on the cutting edge of new technology, marketing strategies, business planning and legal information. All of this helps us provide a higher level of service to our clients.

REALTOR^®s have exclusive access to comprehensive property information, research results and other resources which helps our clients make the best decisions about where to live and what to buy.

The most important reason I pay extra money to maintain my REALTOR^® status is to help protect homeownership rights. Part of our membership dues pay to fight for homeownership protections at the state and national levels. REALTOR^®s are a powerful group among lobbyists. REALTOR^®s helped create, and continue to fight for, the home mortgage interest deduction. We believe this is an important benefit of owning a home and MUST be protected. REALTOR^®s support political candidates who prioritize home ownership rights. We also join the lending industry to fight for Buyer’s rights. We lobbied successfully to extend the federal flood insurance program, ensuring thousands of homes nationwide would be protected in case of flooding.

Finally, REALTOR^®s are active members of the communities in which they work, supporting local causes and working toward safe & healthy communities. Look East Realty is a member of the I-70 Corridor Chamber of Commerce and I (Kim) am on the board representing Bennett. Caroline is a past president of the Chamber. Caroline also sits on the local advisory board for a local bank. As part of our REALTOR^® membership we are members of the Aurora Association of REALTOR^®s where I (Kim) am the President-Elect and Caroline is a Director for the Colorado Association of REALTOR^®s. We publish local sales statistics quarterly to track the health of the local real estate market.

We recommend you research your real estate agent to find out if they are a REALTOR^®. The following link will take you to the National Association of REALTOR^®s “Find a REALTOR^®” page. Here you can find out of your Agent is a REALTOR^® http://www.realtor.org/rofindrealtor.nsf/pages/FS_FREALTOR?OpenDocument

You can also check your REALTOR^®‘s status with the Colorado Division of Real Estate by clicking this link http://eservices.psiexams.com/crec/search.jsp

Call us with any of your real estate questions. We are here to provide any information we can so you can make an educated decision about your future. Our office number is 303-644-4444.

Filed Under: Eastern Plains Sales Statistics, Real Estate Tagged With: eastern colorado, home sales, home valuation, housing, housing statistics, mortgage, real estate, real estate buyers, real estate professionals, real estate sellers, real estate services, real estate trends, realtors, sales, sales results

2011 Year End Sales Statistics

January 18, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

As promised, here are the 2011 year end sales statistics. I conclude this video with some thoughts on what to expect in 2012.

One projection is that mortgage rates will remain low. If you are currently renting this would be a great time to consider buying your own home. Home values are low, but are inching upward, and mortgage rates are low. You may be able to own a home for about what you are paying in rent. Give us a call: 303-644-4444 to find out more.

Filed Under: Eastern Plains Sales Statistics, Real Estate Tagged With: distressed properties, eastern colorado, foreclosure, home sales, home valuation, housing, housing statistics, mortgage, real estate services, real estate trends, realtors, sales results

4th Quarter 2010 Sales Statistics

January 16, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

I have completed the sales statistics for the 4th Quarter of 2010. The video is embedded here. This seems to be a popular way to share the information with everyone so I will be trying to improve the video quality between now and the end of Q1. I would love to hear you comments or questions about the real estate market. I am happy to share my thoughts and experience. Sit back and enjoy the video.

Filed Under: Eastern Plains Sales Statistics, Real Estate Tagged With: distressed properties, eastern colorado, foreclosure, home sales, home valuation, housing statistics, mortgage, real estate, real estate trends, realtors, sales results

Latest Plan for Mortgage Relief

December 1, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

President Obama recently announced a revamp of the Home Affordable Refinance program. What does this mean for homeowners whose home values have declined? The following post looks at some of the details of this plan.

The original version of this program helped fewer than 20% of the applicants and is viewed by most industry insiders as a failure. So, will this new program be revamped enough to be a benefit to homeowners and help the housing industry? Time will tell but some of the details make me skeptical.

Here are some of the details:

Homeowners must be current on their mortgage for at least the last 6 consecutive months & not have more than 1 late payment in the last 12 months.
The homeowner’s current financial situation is not taken into account nor is how far their home value has declined.
The mortgage cannot have been refinanced in the last 30 months.
Only mortgages bought by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac before June of 2009 are eligible.

If you are considering this option, please educate yourself about the program before jumping in. If you have questions, or don’t know who to call, please contact us today. We have a list of resources and mortgage brokers who may be able to help you weigh your options. An educated consumer is the best consumer.

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: distressed properties, foreclosure, HAMP, mortgage, mortgage relief

Adding Energy Costs to Underwriting Standards?

November 1, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

The Boston Herald has released a story (read story here) about legislation that was introduced on Oct. 20 by Senator Bennett and a Republican from Georgia that would require Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA to add energy costs into underwriting standards. This will impact a Buyer’s ability to qualify for a loan just like when home owners insurance and HOA fees are factored in. Another aspect of this bill, which does make a little more sense, is that appraisers for these government backed loans would be required to add value to a property if energy efficiency improvements are documented.

This last aspect of the bill I understand. If you have added solar panels, an energy efficient furnace, windows etc. to your home you should get credit for it. I don’t know that we need legislation for this to happen. You would hope lenders and appraisers would see the value and take this step on their own.

Now for the bulk of the bill – the requirement to add energy costs into underwriting is ludicrous. The more expenses you add to a loan, the less the borrower will be able to afford. Just like when you add HOA fees to a loan it reduces the amount of home the Buyer can afford. There are so many factors that could impact energy costs. It would be unfair to penalize a buyer who may prefer the thermostat be set at 65 degrees when the current owner prefers 75. The number of people in the household will also impact energy usage. This seems arbitrary at best.

All this initiative will do is complicate an already cumbersome loan process and slow down an already dismal housing market. I really wish Congress would take a ‘do no harm’ approach to housing & stay out of it. Let’s hope this bill doesn’t make it any further than it already has. The National Association of Realtors has come out against the bill although they aren’t saying much at this point. I’m sure if this bill makes it any further we can expect a call to action. This one will be worth watching.

Filed Under: Real Estate

Foreclosures – What is Happening?

October 14, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

There are so many housing stats being reported in the media that it’s hard to know what is real and what is fluff. I have some information and local insights that might help a bit.

What we have seen locally is that distressed inventory is down. Those bank owned properties at $150,000 and below that were flooding the market 12 – 18 months ago are now nearly non-existent. New foreclosure filing notices are also down dramatically. Is this happening everywhere, and why?

According to RealtyTrac (which tracks foreclosed property trends) shows that foreclosure filings in the 3^rd quarter increased by 1%. This is a small increase and foreclosure rates are still below 2010 levels. However, for the last 3 quarters (9 months) the foreclosure filings have been declining. This may be a sign that banks are beginning to slowly move through their inventory again.

Many headlines are touting the September numbers because they are better than the quarterly numbers. Nationwide foreclosure filings decreased by 6% when compared to August and 38% compared to September 2010. In Colorado, our foreclosure filings were down about 21% in Q3 2011 vs. Q3 2010. We still ranked in the top 10 states in the nation for foreclosure activity. The other 9 states include: Nevada, California, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Utah, Michigan and Illinois.

With the September stats showing a decrease in foreclosures, why are we proceeding with caution? Various sources, including the National Association of REALTORS®, estimate 2 million homes nationwide are somewhere in the foreclosure process. RealtyTrac’s CEO is quoted at www.cnnmoney.com as saying, “The marginal increase in overall activity was fueled by a 14% jump in new default notices, indicating that lenders are cautiously throwing more wood into the foreclosure fireplace after spending months spent trying to clear the chimney of sloppily filed foreclosures.” He is referring to the robo-signing scandal that rocked the industry.

What does all this mean? It doesn’t look like we are out of the woods yet. More foreclosures are probably on their way. This is great news for Buyers (along with the low interest rates) and it means the home values will continue to be depressed.

Filed Under: Distressed Properties

3rd Quarter Sales Results

October 13, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

It is time again for the real estate sales statistics for Eastern Colorado. The 3rd quarter one again presented us with some interesting information.

The recent statistics are being presented via video. I hope you find the presentation helpful. The video is a little over 5 minutes long. Feel free to fast forward to the information you are most interested in.

Filed Under: Eastern Plains Sales Statistics