The Hogue Group

Right off the bat today we had a great state of the company program and we moved ahead of ReMax into the 3rd largest Real Estate Company in the United States. The comradery of the people at this convention was unbelievable. The sharing of ideas and success plans and how agents got to the point of reaching their goals was insane! The classes were a major help in establishing some additional areas to concentrate on over the next few months.

I will be including tips on green living, what to look for in a home that will last for the rest of your life and various tips on staging your home with some specials from various organizations. If you would like to become part of my Lowes Real Estate Partner group and receive discounts on items you buy every day then just email me at info@propertybyrick.com.

Marketing your home to the best got even better with the new digital Virtual Tour camera that I purchased from a local vendor. Now I can put unlimited tours of your home on your listing and have them work from several locations.

Let me talk to you about listing your home. If you are in the market to sell your home, want to move up to the next level or you are feeling stressed due to possible foreclosure. Call me I can help you in all of these areas from existing and new construction.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Well you know by now that the stimulus package has passed and unlike my last post  which was really upbeat about it was kind of a shortfall from what we hoped for. The tax credit ended up being $8000.00 for first time home buyers but that is someone who has not owned for 3 years. One of the other things to notice is that if the property is held 3 years, no repayment is required.

I think this will really effect those first time buyers who are looking in the 120 to 190K range but will still be a help for those in a higher purchase bracket.

My next post will be some time during the Keller Williams Family Reunion that I am currently attending in Orlando, Florida. I am looking forward to all of the courses and informaiton overload that will occur during this 5 days. Look for more notes after I digest some of the information and look for special tips and tricks on how to get your home in the best selling order without costing a fortune.

Buyers will be seeing some of my notes on how to generate your dream home by making some of my check off lists. More info is available by emailing me at info@propertybyrick.com.

Till next time.

So today the Senate voted to allow for the stimulus package to be put into operation and to boost the sagging credit market. Now onwards to the House and much debate and possible passage by the 16th of the month.

The way it is currently written is that if you purchase a home you will be given 10% of the purchase price up to a maximum of $15,000.00 on the next home purchase. In my humble opinion this will mostly effect those home buyers purchasing homes in the 300k and lower market. Think about it. at 300k 15,000 is 5%  ($1612.85 per month P&I at 5.47%) for a loan downpayment meaning someone who has a home that sells for 200k with 30% equity will have a 20% down on the 300k home, all expenses for closing, and some money left over to help with small changes such as paint and wallpaper on a new home. Not only that but they also would not have to pay mortgage insurance on the place thus keeping their monthly payments lower due to a smaller escrow payment each month. So now you have two houses that were in play that have now changed hands and the 200k house could use the 15,000 to put 10% down and still have enough to pay for closing and potential small changes in paint and landscaping.

So if the other portion goes through with a fixed rate of 4% mortgage refinances will be rampant. Look for much higher closing costs on these refinances but in the long run it could really save money to consumers. The same not from above now becomes $1360.63 per month P&I. A $252.22 per month savings or in a family of 4 approximately 1.5 weeks of groceries. Or the owner could take the cash and pay 2 extra payments per year which would reduce the time of the loan from 30 to approximately 17 years.

This could mean a surge of buying on the market of houses for primary residence for the next 6 to 12 months.

I have mixed feelings about the stimulus package as I am sure many of you do as well. One thing to take in to consideration on the unemployment skyrocket for January is that all of the extra Christmas help was also let go in January which is a normal thing. The numbers did go up substantially but we must consider the seasonal help lose in the mix too. The stimulus package is great for the real estate industry and for the banking industry but what is it doing for the manufacturing  and retail systems in place now without them jobs are mcuh shorter.

Enough for now, time to sleep.