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Selling Your Home On Your Own?

Many homeowners decide to try selling their home on their own.  You may be one of them.  Below are some tips to keep in mind when selling your own home.   However, if the time ever comes when you think you may need assistance, a full-time real estate professional can actually save you time and money in the following ways:

•  A real estate professional can hold your home open at any time in order to get as many buyers through your home as possible.
• A real estate professional can screen all inquiries and only show your home to QUALIFIED BUYERS.
• A real estate professional will take on all responsibilities of advertising and marketing, from placing ads and creating/distributing flyers to direct mailings/e-mailings and direct promotion to hundreds, if not thousands of other area agents via e-mail bulletins, brokers opens, etc.
• A real estate professional can do research to determine the correct market value of your home, and sell it within your time frame.
• A real estate professional knows the buying/selling process from beginning to end, can anticipate potential issues, and can head them off before they become real problems.
• A real estate professional can rely on extensive experience and knowledge of the market to negotiate effectively on your behalf.

If you wish to have a Free Market Evaluation of your home at no cost to you, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.  Remember, real estate professionals provide this as a service to you.  Don't choose a real estate professional based on the highest price suggested for your home; as the seller, it is you who ultimately decides at what price you wish to sell your home.  Instead, choose someone whom you feel has an effective marketing plan, and someone with whom you feel you can work closely together as a team for the next couple of months.

I just received an e-mail from Team Evergreen @ Evergreen Home Loans(www.teamevergreen.net) regarding changes to Fannie Mae coming December 11th.  There are some significant details regarding credit scores, ability to secure loans after a foreclosure, loans for duplexes and more.  These have not gone into effect yet and have not been confirmed. 

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Fannie Mae will be upgrading their automatic underwriting engine (DU) on Dec 11^th.  This doesn’t include FHA/VA or Freddie Mac, but usually they follow suit in a short amount of time.

Here’s is what has been shared with our underwriting department.  We will confirm these changes when they actually go in to effect.  The reason why we are notifying in advance is incase you have a client that falls in to one of these conditions, it might be wise to get them fully approved & under contract before the Dec 11^th date.

1)       620 minimum credit score required on all loans (Most banks have already implemented this rule)

2)       Talk is that FHA will be increasing to 660 (not yet, but expecting)

3)       Duplex purchases will require 20% down for Owner Occupied, 25% down for investment. (This is a significant change.  Keep in mind that FHA owner occupied will allow 3.5% down)

4)       Max Debt to Income (back ratio which includes the new house payment & existing debt) cannot be over 45%.  It’s not clear if they will allow exceptions with good compensating factors.

5)       2 months cash reserves on all owner occupied purchases, 6 months cash reserves on each home if purchasing a non-owner occupied home.

6)       Be careful of a person owning a home when they owe more than the value, or it’s close.  If a person is trying to keep the existing home as a rental and purchase a new “owner occupied” home that is in the same area or has a similar value, the new bank might be worried that the buyer plans to “Buy new home and Bail on the existing home after the new home closes”.  This is called “buy and bail” and the new bank is being told not to extend credit for the new purchase. 

7)       Any person who has filed a Chapter 13 or 7 Bankruptcy, executed a Foreclosure on a home or has a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure registered, they will not be qualified to purchase another home for 4 years after discharge date.  After 4 years, they will need 10% down and higher credit scores.  We’ll keep you posted on the final outcome of this change.

Interest Rates remain good at 5.125% for 30 year fixed – Conv, FHA and VA.

Kimberly Terry and Cathy Pizzini

Certified Mortgage Planning Specialists

Team Evergreen

2265 First Ave SW

Seattle, WA  98134

206.774.7595

Fax 206.774.7509

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Thanks for stopping by my blog!

You can reach me at 206-595-5866, or e-mail me: LisaBosques@PNWRealty.com

Or visit my website:  www.98146online.com

I am an Associate Broker and Marketing Specialist with Prudential Northwest Realty Associates.   I specialize in homes located in the Burien/North Highline/West Seattle area, and I am here to serve all of your Real Estate needs. 
Your success is my goal!

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When I think of Realtor Safety, usually the things that come to mind have to do with protecting myself from the actions of strangers in various situations.

Self-defense is, in my opinion, a very necessary skill, particularly when you're in a field like Real Estate where you're working with the public and in many different geographic areas.

However, the one thing I never imagined I would have to do was protect myself from MYSELF. 

Let me explain: I fell down in a house today while out previewing at Broker's Opens and sprained my ankle.  I had a moment where my mind was more intently focused on the room I was heading to than on my footing.  I fell down one step and twisted my ankle.  I was on the ground a good 2-3 minutes, with the agent standing over me asking if she could help me up. All I wanted to do was lie there for a while. 

I did eventually pull myself and my humiliated ego off of the ground, and limped to my car.  The pain wasn't nearly as bad then as it is right now.  This injury is seriously going to put a cramp in my week.  If it were any more serious I'd have to go to the doctor, and then I'd really be mad at myself.

I am usually very careful when previewing homes.  Even so, something at some point is bound to catch you off guard.  I once caught my foot on a slightly higher than normal threshold, and threw out some back muscles pretty good.

From this experience I've been reminded of two things:

1. Pay complete attention to where you're walking inside and outside of a home.  There are many things to contend with such as slippery moss, super-secret basement stairwells with no lights and wobbly handrails, and my own klutzy self just to name a few.

2. Wear sensible shoes.

I'm off to elevate and ice my foot now. Be careful out there everyone!