Fixed mortgage rates flat, hover near yearly low

Fixed mortgage rates were mostly unchanged this week, hovering near yearly lows.

By DANIEL WAGNER

WASHINGTON — Fixed mortgage rates were mostly unchanged this week, hovering near yearly lows.
The average rate on the 30-year loan held steady at 4.50 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday. It hit 4.49 percent two weeks ago, the lowest level this year. The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage, popular for refinancing, inched up to 3.69 percent. Last week it reached a yearly low of 3.67 percent.
Rates typically track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. That yield has been dropping in recent weeks based on weak data that points to a slower economy.
Low mortgage rates and falling home prices have done little to boost the troubled housing markets. Tougher lending standards and bigger down payment requirements have prevented many people from taking advantage of the ultra-low rates. Many people who can qualify are holding off, worried that prices have yet to bottom out.
Fewer people purchased previously occupied homes in May. Sales fell to their lowest level of the year. Since the housing market went bust in 2006, sales have fallen in four of the past five years and hit a 13-year low last year.
New-home sales fell last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 319,000 homes. That's far below the 700,000 homes per year that economists say must be sold to sustain a healthy housing market.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that the housing market is dragging down the broader economy. For the market to recover, he said foreclosures must be cleared from the pipeline of homes for sale.
Most economists say home prices will keep falling through the rest of the year. Many forecasts don't anticipate a rebound in prices until at least 2013.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac collects rates from lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a single day.

The average rate on a five-year adjustable rate mortgage fell from 3.27 percent to 3.25 percent, the lowest rate on records dating back to 2005. The average rate on a one-year adjustable-rate loan rose to 2.99 percent, slightly above the record low of 2.95 percent.

The rates do not include the extra fees known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount.

The average fees rose to 0.8 percent from 0.7 percent for the 30-year fixed loan, according to Freddie Mac's survey. They were flat at 0.7 percent for the 15-year fixed loan, the survey found. The average fees for the five-year and one-year ARM were unchanged at 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Link to original article - The Seattle Times

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Resolutions for Home Sellers in 2011

If your New Year's resolution involves selling a home in 2011, you've got some work to do: There's lots of inventory out there and in a buyer's market like this one, getting an offer on a home can be challenging.



Still, for the committed seller willing to do some prep work and come to terms with the current value of his or her home, locking in a buyer isn't impossible.
By listing in early January, you might be able to catch some of those early birds who start browsing in the winter so that they can find a new home before school starts in the fall, said Louis Cammarosano, general manager of HomeGain.com, a real-estate website. In fact, many buyers tend to start their searches online right after Christmas, and continue throughout January and February, he said.

"If you hit the ground running and you're a fresh listing that has done everything right, you've got the best shot," said Cammarosano.
Consider the following tips to give your home the best chance to get noticed -- and sold -- in 2011.
Price It Right from the Start
Many sellers suffer from attachment bias, said Tara-Nicholle Nelson, consumer educator for real-estate website Trulia.com. They believe that their home is worth more than they'd pay for it in another context. While it's always a bad idea to overprice a home, it's especially dangerous in times like this because there is so much competing inventory in many local markets.
Nelson's advice: Give yourself a reality check by looking inside comparable homes during open houses. That can help you get a clearer idea of your home's value.
You might even consider interviewing a few real-estate agents to get more than one take on how the home should be priced, Cammarosano said.
The longer something sits on the market, the more price reductions you might have to make and the more potential buyers will assume that there's something wrong with the home, he said. So more often than not, it's best not to try testing the waters with a higher price, he adds.
Don't be afraid to advertise in the listing and marketing materials that it's not a foreclosure or short sale, Nelson said. In markets where distressed sales are plentiful, there are buyers who simply don't want to deal with the extra hassle and uncertainty of a short sale or bank-owned property, she said.
Get the House Ready
Most sellers know they need to declutter, paint in neutral colors and generally stage the home as best as they can to help buyers envision themselves in the home. Often, this is done on the advice of a real-estate agent or professional stager.
The closer you can get your home looking like a photo from a Pottery Barn catalog, the better off you will be, said Beth Jaworski, a real-estate agent in the Milwaukee area.
And make sure that your cabinets and refrigerators are cleaned out and decluttered, too. "You want to have a minimum of 'stuff' in the house. The less stuff you have, the larger the closets, basement and garage will look," she said.
Jaworski also recommends having a home inspection done a month before putting the home on the market to identify any major defects that need to be corrected.
Provide as Much Information as Possible
Have energy bills and a list of updates available for buyers to see, Jaworski said.
"Buyers are always curious what the utility bills are, how old the roof is, how many layers it has, how old the major mechanicals are and when that addition was added," she said. "The more information you can provide on the house, the better."
Consider providing a floor plan with listings as well, Cammarosano said. That way the prospective buyers don't have to keep making return visits to determine how their furniture will fit in the space -- they'll have the dimensions in hand.
Make It Easy to Show
The more available you can make your home for showings, the better, said David Welch, a broker/associate in Orlando, Fla.
Make it easy for your real-estate agent to access the property and keep the place clean.

"You want your home to be easy to show because you don't know if you will get a second chance," Welch said. "Trust me, the buyer wants to like your house. Keep it in show-ready condition," he said, so they aren't turned off by a first impression.
Be Flexible
Buyers are in the driver's seat these days, and they know they can make all sorts of unusual requests without risking the deal. Be ready.
"Buyer wants to see the house at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, OK," Jaworski said. "Buyer wants to bring 10 family members and an inspector to check out the house for three hours this weekend, OK. Buyer wants you to include the kitchen table and chairs, the painting over the fireplace and your snow blower, OK."
"The more flexible you are," she said, "the better off you will be."
Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch reporter based in Chicago.

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/111704/resolutions-for-home-sellers-in-2011

For more information please contact John Kritsonis & Karl Lindor.

How to create an effective real estate flyer

By Averie Garman


Anytime you market yourself you want to be sure you're creating a product that is a clear representation of you. Branding yourself is your first goal as a real estate agent and one way to do that is to create an effective real estate flyer for your sellers. I've found that buyers want to see lot's of photos of the property and don't care about frilly designs. E-how suggests that you have at least one spectacular photo of the exterior, followed by other photos that clearly and accurately represent the home. I agree, make sure the exterior photo is edited properly as well. Make sure that more grass and landscape is showing in the photo rather than concrete and garage. I use the program “Irfanview” to edit photos (you can download it for free Irfanview download). Have someone else spell-check your work. Make sure the grammar is correct and makes sense. Avoid writing a lengthy paragraph, keep is short and to the point. I like to use bullet points but other formats work well too. Write the description as if it was a restaurant menu and you’re describing the dishes. Give the buyer just enough information so that they can see if the home fits their personal tastes. I like to use different fonts depending on the style of the home; my favorites are Times New Roman, Arial, Cambria and Garamond. Make sure it’s still easy to read and clear. The size of the font is important as well. Most buyers who pick up flyers are walking by or driving up, they may not have their reading glasses close by. I recommend font size 12 and larger. Depending on your brand and its market share your going to want to up sell (or maybe down sell) the company logo. Your company should have their brand guidelines posted. Make sure your obeying the size and layout guidelines. Just like a business card, you want the quality of paper and ink the flyer is printed on to be nice. If your spending a lot of money on flyers you might want to propose a cap on how many colored flyers your going to deliver to your sellers. For example after the first 200 colored flyers, the sellers have to cover the cost of printing.