This Week in Real Estate 3-27-2015 - Spring has Sprung

Inventory is building back.

For all of the buyers that were complaining about lack of inventory. We are seeing inventory levels build up quickly.

Napa County	Homes Listed	Homes Sold	Net
January	105	76	29
February	136	86	50
March	143	89	54
Total	384	251	133
Solano County	Homes Listed	Homes Sold	Net
January	509	274	235
February	511	322	189
March	493	283	210
Total	1513	879	634
Sonoma County	Homes Listed	Homes Sold	Net
January	411	254	157
February	454	292	162
March	442	275	167
Total	1307	821	486

As you can see in our local area inventory has added nearly 2 months’ worth of inventory in just the first quarter.

If you put off looking because you thought there was nothing to look at, you may want to start looking again.

-Kris

Home Tip of the Week.

It is Window Cleaning Season again. And Jason from Absolutely Clear is offering a great discount for you.

It’s time to clean your windows.  Who will you hire? Who is the best, and best priced?

Absolutely Clear, that’s who!  We all love clean windows, they make us feel better, and make our homes look better.  The value of a home can increase when you regularly clean your windows, but not all cleaners are equal.

At Absolutely Clear, we guarantee excellent customer service and this is incorporated in our Quality Statement:

·         Integrity

·         Doing things right the first time

·         Meeting customer expectations

·         Continuous Improvement

Absolutely Clear has been in business for 5 years and is rated a 5 star (out of 5) company by yelp and twitter.  Referrals from satisfied customers occur every day. 

When hiring a window cleaning company, make sure you are getting what you want.

There are many window cleaning companies out there searching for your business.  Some will take on any job, do it quickly with no attention to detail and create a lot of mistakes (examples:  stepping on plants in your planter boxes, not drying the edges of your windows, leaving window tracks in muddy condition, etc.).

Absolutely Clear employees clean window tracks, frame edges and inadvertent drips on floors, including any water running down the wall under a window sill.  They remove insect droppings, cob webs, etc., using soapy water and razor treatments.  We guarantee all our work

I am a loyal customer of Absolutely Clear.  Can I get a discount?

Absolutely Clear offers deals for contracted, regular cleaning services:

            Quarterly Cleanings:  20% off

            Semi-Annual Cleanings:  10% off

            Yearly Cleaning:  15% off.

We hope you take advantage of our services.  Call now for your free estimate 707-227-7598

This Week in Real Estate 3-20-2015 - Fed News

Rate rollercoaster into high gear?

From the Economist: “After a two-day meeting, the Federal Reserve dropped the word “patient” from its monetary-policy statement. Why the fuss over this single word?

’Patient’, in Fed-speak, indicates that it will hold off increasing interest rates for at least two meetings. Now the word has been ditched, at subsequent meetings (most probably in June) we could see rates move off from rock-bottom for the first time since 2008.”

From the NY Times: “’Just because we removed the word ‘patient’ from the statement doesn’t mean we’re going to be impatient,’ Janet L. Yellen, the Fed’s chairwoman, said at a news conference after the statement’s release. Ms. Yellen said the Fed was not declaring an intention to raise rates in June, ‘although we can’t rule that out.’

Her remarks suggested that borrowers have a few more months to take advantage of exceptionally low interest rates on mortgages and car loans, while savers face a few more months of exceptionally meager returns on their low-risk investments. And even after the Fed raises its crucial interest rate, borrowing costs may well remain comparatively low well into the future.”

Rates have been rising steadily since February. With the news coming from the Federal Reserve meetings this week, this trend is likely to continue.

-Kris

Home Tip of the Week.

Here is a Tip about locking your mortgage from one of my preferred lenders.

Locking Your Mortgage Rate

You’re out looking at homes to buy and hopefully at this point you’ve already submitted all the paperwork to be pre-approved for a mortgage. The next step after you find the right home is to get your interest rate locked in through your closing date. Decide on a rate and cost structure with your loan officer that you’re comfortable with and lock it. It’s often times a good idea to lock that rate just a bit longer than your escrow period. For example; if you have a 30 day closing it’s usually a good idea to get a 45 day interest rate lock, just in case there is some delay in closing. Even though you and your lender possibly do everything in a timely manner, the seller may have circumstances that can cause a delay, perhaps there are renegotiations that take additional time due to inspections, or maybe other delays due to matters that are just unforeseen at the start.

So, you think interest rates may get better and you don’t want to lock until later in the escrow period? Generally rates won’t change too much during the closing period and when you do lock, your lender will have to issue a series of re-disclosures which may take some additional time before drawing all the closing documents. Additionally, it is extremely hard to predict interest rates. When you (and everyone else) predicts they will go down, often they go up! They also go up much faster than they come down. So I would advise against this position, unless you happen to be in a much longer escrow period.

Dale DiGennaro

Custom Lending Group

This Week in Real Estate 3-13-2015 - Napa Limit up

Conforming loan limits adjusted for 2015

There were only 46 counties out of 3234 total counties in the US that had the loan limits increased for 2015. Napa was one of them. The new conforming loan limit has been changed from $592,250 to $615,250.

This is significant since it barely 1% of the counties in the country had increases in the loan limit. It shows the strength of the Napa market.

Great jobs report for February = Rates rollercoaster

In the February Jobs Report, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 295,000 and the unemployment rate edged down to 5.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Both the unemployment rate (5.5 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (8.7 million) edged down in February. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were down by 1.2 percentage points and 1.7 million, respectively. The increase in jobs was 55,000 more than the economists expected and the lowest unemployment rate since May 2008.

For the week of February 5, 2015 30 year fixed mortgage rates were at nearly 2 year low with the Freddie Mac weekly average at 3.59%. This week (3/12/15) that figure is at 3.86%. As the economy improves, rates get higher.

Home Tip of the Week.

If you are thinking about buying or selling this year, who you hire can make a dramatic difference in your experience. Interview people for the job to help you with one of the most important financial decisions of our life.

Here are the 5 questions you should ask your potential agent?

1.      Why should I hire you? What makes you different?

a.      We have guarantees for both buyers and sellers that can result in thousands of dollars in their pockets at the end of the transaction.

2.      What is your process to have success in my transaction?

a.      We have many very specific processes for both buyers and seller depending on their specific situations

3.      What have you sold/helped purchase in my area?

a.      I am in the top 8% of agents in Napa for number of transactions and I am also very involved in the community as the president of North Bay Association of REALTORS – Napa Chapter for 2015

4.      On Average how long does it take?

a.      That depends on the urgency of the client. Average time to contract for sellers is two week. Average time to contract for buyers is two months.

5.      Can I talk to your past clients?

a.      YES Please, you can also listen to testimonials on my website at http://kristoferchunrealestate.com/Testimonials