Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Short Sales In Wasilla September 30th, 2007

Categories: Wasilla Real Estate News

We are starting to see a few properties come on the market as “short sales”.  I have had a few questions about them so it might be useful to go over them here.

What is a short sale?

     A short sale is the sale of a house for less than the amount that is owed on the mortgage.  Occasionally, an owner finds themselves in a position in which they absolutely have to sell their home, but find that their property is worth less than they owe.

Why do a short sale?

    If an owner finds that they cannot make their payments and can plainly see that their situation is not likely to improve in the near future, it’s time to sell…NOW.  But if they have recently purchased the home, or recently refinanced it to the maximum they may not be able to sell it for the amount owed.  That’s where a short sale comes in. 

    Before the home goes into foreclosure it’s best to talk to the lender about the situation.  You might be able to work out a lower payment temporarily or discuss with the lender the possibility of selling it for less than is owed. That would be a short sale.

How does it work?

     You list the house for a realistic sales price.  That is a price for which the house would actually sell.  You need to let people know up front that this is a short sale and your acceptance of their offer is contingent on the mortgage holders acceptance as well.  It is rare that the lender will agree up front to a sales price.  They want to review each offer individually.

    It normally takes a week or two for the lender to commit to an offer on a short-sale.  That is the problem for buyers, most of them want to receive a commitment within a day or two.  So, a short sale needs to be priced attractively to a buyer to make it worth their time to wait.

After the contract    

    After the lender commits to the contract you coordinate the rest of the transaction in a normal way.  The lender will have some instructions and may need to sign some documents as part of the closing but it should proceed in an orderly way.

Is a short sale a smart move for the seller?

     I have been told by people who know, (lenders, and title officers), that a short sale is better for your credit than either a foreclosure or a bankruptcy.  That would be the primary reason that a seller would sell their home with a short sale.  You would normally only do a short sale if the other choices are foreclosure or bankruptcy.

Why would a lender agree to a short sale?

     If a lender is in a position to take possession of the house, why would they agree to a short sale?  Because the process of taking possession of the house through foreclosure and then reselling the house costs a lender a lot of money.  It has been reported that the costs to a lender may average as much as $50,000–$75,000.  The lender may be way ahead if they take a $25,000 hit on a short sale.

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Interest Rates, The Fed, And Your Next Mortgage September 25th, 2007

Categories: Financing Your Home

I mentioned in yesterdays Market Memo that although the Fed lowered it’s rates by 1/2% it didn’t seem to change long term mortgage interest rates.  In fact, fixed mortgage rates went higher last week.

Howard Nugent at Wells Fargo sent me two interesting articles with a little better explanation about how mortgages work and what causes the interest rates to rise and fall.  The Fed And You, and Mortgage Saga are excellent informative articles for anyone looking for a mortgage or helping someone else to find a loan on their home.

If you are looking for a home…give us a call.  If you call 907 373–0999 it will ring on Jay’s cell phone and my cell phone at the same time.  You get whoever picks up first…try it.

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Wasilla Real Estate, Monday Morning Market for the week ending 9/24/2007 September 24th, 2007

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Here are the statistics for the Wasilla and Palmer Real Estate Market for this week.  These figures actually show the numbers for the whole borough from Mat-Su Borough. 

Our pending sales have been in the low twenties now for the last two weeks.  We normally see a small bump in real estate after the Permanent Fund Dividend checks come out.  That will happen in October.  It will be interesting to see what happens.

I notice that the pending sales this week averaged just over $200K.  The closed sales are still quite a bit higher.  With the new retail stores going in we will have more jobs in the area.  I would assume that these jobs will not raise the average household income in our area by much if any.  They affordable home for the average household remains about $200,000. Click here for an explanation of affordability in the Mat-Su Borough.

Mortgage Rates This Week

Last week the Federal Reserve dropped their interest rate…what happened?  Mortgage rates went higher!  I was quoted 5.875% on a 30 year fixed on September 14, that same loan had risen to 6.375% on Sept 21.

For a good explanation of why this happened click here.

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Alaskan Houses. They aren’t all Igloos September 22nd, 2007

Categories: Alaskana, Wasilla Real Estate News

I think I’m going to start a new category just for fun.  In my travels around I see a lot of interesting houses. Alaskans are unique, and some of us show it in our classic Alaskan houses. 

I’m trying to think of a name for these houses…if anyone has a good title let me know.

The one in the photos here is a good starter.  I don’t know the story behind this house but I’m sure there is one.  It is located right here in the Mat-Su Borough.

I can’t give you good directions to drive by it, the driveway is probably gated.  This house has been there awhile and has proven that it can withstand the winds and earthquakes.  It must be pretty stout, although it looks to me like it should fall over.

Take a look at the photos below…

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Good News For Alaska Economy? September 20th, 2007

Categories: Wasilla Real Estate News

I have said for awhile that Alaska has no real good news on the horizon.  We need some good news to revive the economic spirit in this state.

I am not a pro on the natural gas pipeline, but I have been watching it with the same interest most Alaskan’s have.  We know that it would bring a needed boost to the state.  There is a lot of gas in the state, (there is even some outside of Juneau).  If we can figure out a way to get it to market it might replace some of the declining oil revenues.

One of the major arguments against a liquified natural gas system is that there were no ports to accept it on the west coast.  But now I find that there are some plans in place and people are moving ahead.

In the unlikely place of Anchorage Daily News political blog I find this link to an application to build a deep water LNG port off the coast of California.  Apparently there are plans for several more up and down the West Coast.  That will put some wind in the sails of the people pushing for an “all Alaska line. 

So while it isn’t a big deal yet, you can use a little imagination to see that this could become a big deal.  Now we just need the other two pieces of the puzzle.  The LNG tankers…and the LNG pipeline and we are in business.

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