North Idaho Janna

2008 is history and thoughts are turning to the new year and our New Years resolutions.  If your New Years resolution involves buying a new home in 2009, it would be wise to get preapproved by an experienced lender as soon as possible. There is some anticipation of a pent up demand for home purchases  and an upswing in sales in the coming year.  Many prospective buyers have been sitting on the fence, waiting to see if prices and interest rates will continue to fall. You want to be ready to move quickly when you believe the conditions are right.  Being preapproved is your ticket.  The sooner you do this the better.  

Knowledge is power, and when you know your precise borrowing position, your chance of success in finding the perfect home at the perfect price is increased.  You will avoid disappointments, and your Realtor will be an a wonderful position to successfully negotiate on your behalf.

During the preapproval process, the lender can advise you what you can do to overcome problems with your credit score. Often, it can be improved significantly in just a few months time with some strategic planning. Your lender can advise you which debts might be best to pay down or pay off. They can tell you how much of a loan you qualify for, based on how much your down payment will be. This tells you the price range that you should be home shopping in. If that payment amount is more than you are comfortable with, the lender can work backwards and tell you the price range that will produce a payment at your comfort level.

You will learn about the various loan and/or down payment assistance programs that you might qualify for. Your lender will be able to tell you how much cash you will need for a minimum down payment based on the loan program that makes the most sense for you, and give you the total of your estimated closing costs. This will give you a pretty good idea of the total cash you will need to purchase your home.

If you are getting down payment funds through a gift or from the sale of an asset, they will tell you how to best document this so it does not become a problem to get the loan approved.

The low interest rates and excellent homes values make this an extraordinary time to buy a home! Call me today and lets get started!

Janna Rankin Scharf, AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.

Janna Rankin Scharf, 208.651.9700  NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com

Drive through any snowy North Idaho neighborhood this weekend  and you’ll see a fresh batch of riders atop the For Sale signs declaring: PRICE REDUCED! 

A price reduction sends a message, in spite of whether it’s true or not, that the home was most likely overpriced or that there is something wrong with it.  Statistically, homes that have been reduced in price will ultimately sell for the even less.  

Sometimes, a price reduction isn’t the best way for anxious sellers to successfully attract the buyer they need.  With a price reduction, usually the seller will net less, the buyer will have a higher payment and the home values in the neighborhood will take a hit.  Assuming the home is priced correctly for our local market, there are smarter incentives that will make your home stand out among the throngs of sellers reducing their asking price.   

Let’s look at one example.  We will use a home priced at $200,000 with a buyer putting down 10% with a 700 FICO score.  FICO is the credit scoring system that banks use to determine the creditworthiness of borrowers on everything from buying cars and homes and determining what your insurance premium should be. Nationally the average FICO score is 720, and 58% of buyers have a score over 700.

In our example, the buyer ends up with a lower payment, the seller ends up netting more, and the neighborhood SOLD comparable for future appraisals is $10,000 higher!  This is what you call a win-win-win situation!

The seller, rather than take a $10,000 price reduction, offers to prepay the buyer’s mortgage insurance premium of $3,780 as part of closing costs.  Final sales price: $200,000.  Concession: $3,780.  Loan amount: $180,000.  30 year fixed interest rate 6%. Monthly principal plus interest payment: $1,079.

Let’s see the difference if a $10,000 price reduction had been made instead.  Final sales price: $190,000.  Concession: $10,000.  Loan amount $171,000.  30 year fixed interest rate 6%.  Monthly principal plus interest payment: $1,025.  Add PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) of $88/mo for a total payment of $1,113.

In our current mortgage climate, more and more innovative deals are being struck.  It just takes some creative thinking and a willingness to think outside of the box.  Trades and exchanges, interest rate buydowns, seller paid payments, and even tropical vacations are being offered as incentives.  Just today I saw an ad for a “buy one, get one free” deal on a California estate.  Buy the $1,600,000 home and get a $400,000 condo free. All of these incentives are perfectly legal, but you will want to make sure your particular deal isn’t violating any housing or financing regulation.

With throngs of sellers putting up PRICE REDUCTION signs right now, your best chance for having your home stand out from the pack just may be to offer a savvy buyer’s incentive.

Janna Rankin Scharf, AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.

Janna Rankin Scharf, 208.651.9700  NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com

It's been a while since I posted a horrible MLS photo for your amazement, so here's one for you.  Honestly, it makes me feel like my head is going to explode when I see photos like these being used to market a home!

What are people thinking?  I'd say more, but I'm speechless.  Hello, anybody home????????

Sellers, please don't settle for this kind of marketing of your home!  The photos should highlight your home's best selling features, not make you wonder what that big white thing is on the cluttered counter that the guy with age spots on his hand is pointing to...  Geesh.

Janna Rankin Scharf, AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.

Janna Rankin Scharf, 208.651.9700  NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com

Some people say they want to wait for a clearer view of the future. But when the future is again clear, the present bargains will have vanished. In fact, does anyone think that today's prices will prevail once full confidence has been restored?"

~ Dean Witter in May of 1932 - only a few weeks before the end of the worst bear market in history.

For anyone sitting on the fence out there, you need to jump down and get going.  Interest rates are now hovering around 4.5%, sellers are motivated, inventory is high and the climate is right for you to get a tremendous deal on your purchase. 

A few years from now we will hear people saying that they sure wish they would have purchased a home back in '08 or '09.  Give me a call and let's find you an opportunity of a lifetime.

Janna Rankin Scharf, AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.

Janna Rankin Scharf, 208.651.9700  NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com

Since I first heard the story of the Christmas Orange, I have enjoyed sharing it each Christmas as a reminder of what the Christmas Spirit is truly all about.... 

 Jake was a resident of an orphan’s home, one of ten children supported by what contributions the home could secure on a continuous struggle.  There was very little to eat.  It was seldom very warm in the wintertime because fuel was expensive.  But at Christmas there always seemed to be a little more to eat and the home seemed a little warmer, and it was time for more than the usual enjoyment.  But more than this, there was the orange.  At Christmas each child received an orange.  The only time of the year that such a rare item was provided, and it was coveted by each child like no other thing they ever possessed.  They would save it for several days, admiring it, feeling it, loving it, and contemplating the moment when they would eat it.  Many children would wait until New Year’s Day or later.  Often it would start to dry out and shrivel before they would eat it, in order to extend their pleasure as long as they could. 

 This Christmas day, Jake had offended the rules of the home in some manner and his punishment was the loss of the orange.  After a year of waiting for this most desired of all rewards, it was to be denied.  Pleading was of no avail.  Although the offense was rather minor, it still was an infraction of such rules that must govern.  Jake spent Christmas day empty and alone.  It even seemed the other children didn’t want to associate with a person who didn’t have an orange.

 Night time arrived and was worst of all.  Jake could not sleep.  There was no love in the world.  There was no forgiving.  And certainly there could be no God that would permit a contrite little soul to suffer so much by himself.  Silently he sobbed for the future of mankind, and the world perhaps, but mostly because he didn’t have an orange like the other kids. 

 Then suddenly a hand was placed on Jake’s shoulder which startled him for a moment.  An object was quickly shoved into his hand. The donor disappeared into the dark of the room, leaving Jake with what he did not immediately identify as an orange.  Not a regular orange, but one fabricated from segments of 9 other oranges.  Nine other highly prized oranges that would of necessity be eaten this day instead of several days hence.

 Since the time of Christ’s birth, the spirit of giving gifts has been present in the mind of each Christian as he or she commemorates the Christmas season.  Our Heavenly Father gave to us His Son, Jesus Christ.  This precious son gave us His life, the Atonement, and victory over the grave. 

 What will you and I give for Christmas this year?  Let us in our lives give to our Lord and Savior the gift of gratitude by living His teachings and following in His footsteps.  It was said of Him that He “went about doing good.”  (Acts 10:38)  As we do likewise, the Christmas spirit will be ours.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Janna

Keeping you updated on the market!
For the week of

December 15, 2008

Rates are sliding down into the low 5's for conforming loan amounts.  We have seen the 30 year fixed this week touch in the high 4's..............Truly this is the time to lock for purchases. My suggestion is to get your application and documention in so that we can watch the rates and lock when they move..... Rates can move fast... So be READY ! 

(Sorry, one of these days I'm going to figure out why I can't get the formatting to make a nice little chart in this program.  It looks fine until I post it, then it is out of whack!)

Weekend Rates -12/05/08

  Product                 Points     Rate            ARR*       Points              Rate             APR*

30 YR FIXED*        1%             5.000              5.252           0 %   ­          5.250               5.413

15 YR FIXED*        1 %            4.750               5.109           0 %                5.000               5.207

FHA/VA 30 Yr #     1 %          5.000               5.756            0 %               5.500           6.185

NON-OWN 30yr*   1 %           6.375             6.643             0 %               7.000               7.174  

With 25% down:

Jumbo  7/1 ARM*   1%          5.600           5.553               0 %             6.000                5.630  

 *Purchase loan based on 730 FICO score, 20% or more down and Full income documentation unless otherwise specified. FHA/VA guidelines apply normally 3% down.  Rates and Products Are Subject to Change any time.

Janna Rankin Scharf, AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.

Janna Rankin Scharf, 208.651.9700  NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com

This weekend, Saturday and Sunday from 11 to 4, you won't want to miss the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association's Annual Gingerbread Walk.  Fifteen shops will be displaying Gingerbread Houses made by local residents, Santa Clause will be at the Plaza, and there will be free gift wrapping for your downtown purchases.  Good times!

Twenty years ago this month, I made my first Gingerbread house.  Such fun, I was hooked!  For the next decade, I was into elaborate creations, entering contests, winning awards and earning the nickname of The Gingerbread Queen!  I built and sold custom Gingerbread Houses to businesses and individuals, elaborate, and 100% edible. This past decade, I was less into competing and more into teaching and enjoying the delight that people, young and old, experience when they realize that they CAN do it!  I transitioned into doing workshops, gifting, making Gingerbread Houses for friends, my real estate clients, and local charities.

This year, my first Christmas back in Coeur d'Alene, my 15 year old son, Derek, and I decided to create houses for the Gingerbread Walk.  What a challenge that was because, for the first time EVER, I was required to use a kit and the flimsy plastic base that came with it!  That presented huge design and creativity challenges for me.  No dormers, turrets, cantilevers, candy glass windows or front door ajar welcoming you to step inside.  Hmmmm.  Derek, a cross country runner at CHS, illustrated the creativity that teenage boys have, by building a running track around his house.  I decided to make the best of my challenge and installed "log" siding on my modest, prefab, modular Gingerbread tract house.  I sited my house on my postage stamp sized lot the best I could to allow for good landscape design, and topped it off with three snowmen chilling in the pond in the side yard and a little squirrel playing on top of the woodpile.  You can see my humble house on display at Christmas at the Lake, and Derek's at Fleet Feet.

Last week, I helped my darling 2 year old namesake granddaughter, Rileigh Janna, build her first "Ginger House."  What a heartwarming and appropriate way to celebrate my 20th Gingerbread Anniversary, ushering in a new generation of Scharf homebuilders, and the launching of the future Gingerbread Queen!  Merry Christmas!

Janna Rankin Scharf, AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.

Janna Rankin Scharf, 208.651.9700  NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com

My friend Lane Bailey in Georgia posted this little blurb about the pending 4.5% interest rate and how it would translate into THE BEST time to be a BUYER than I have EVER seen!  Give me a call to talk about programs available locally to get you into your new home!

This past year has been a very exciting time to be in the real estate business. When people find out that I am a Realtor, they ask me what my thoughts are on the current state of affairs. Most people have the same questions, and are quite fearful.  Here is a reprint from David Bach's November 14 newsletter. He is the bestselling author of the Finish Rich Series, the Automatic Millionaire Series, and Go Green, Live Rich. He has been a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the Today Show, the Early Show, and is a columnist for Yahoo! Finance. He is best known for his common-sense strategies for living and retiring rich. Take a look at this question David was asked about what to do during difficult markets.

Q: What can you share about these difficult markets that we now see ourselves in? What about the housing market? For two decades you have been a huge advocate of buying a home as the best investment you can make in your life time-do you still feel this way?

A: Without a doubt - without any question in my mind - the best investment you will make in your lifetime is the home you buy and live in. As long as you are alive, you have to live somewhere. And if the recent downturn in the stock market proves anything it's that housing is your best investment. Why? First of all you can't live in a stock, mutual fund, bond, treasury, money market account, etc. When you buy a home you get to live in it! Your home is your castle. It's where you love and live with your family-it's where your memories are made. Homes are much more than investments, they are your shelter and your safety. But if you return to why homes make great investments-the simple answer is that they are forced savings (when you pay your mortgage you pay down your home) and they ultimately are leverage and they go up in value long term. I promise you a decade from now most housing markets will be higher than where they are today.

I cannot agree with David more! One of the fundamental basics behind investing in anything is "Buy Low, Sell High" Here we are! A time when prices have stayed relatively stable, and interest rates are historically low (as I write this today, owner occupied interest rates for a 30 year loan are hovering around 5.5%!), this is a wonderful opportunity to buy a new home, whether you are ready to move-up, downsize, or buy an investment property. Unlike a stock or bond, a home is a tangible asset. Years from now everyone will look back and say "I wish I would have bought back in 2008 or 2009". You can make that wish a reality!

Give me a call if you'd like to find out more about our current local economic situation, and where there are opportunities to make solid, sound investment decisions.

Janna Rankin Scharf, AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.

Janna Rankin Scharf, 208.651.9700  NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com

HUD Secretary Steve Preston has announced new limits on the mortgage amount insurable by the Federal Housing Administration beginning January 1, 2009. Under the 2008 Housing & Economic Recovery Act, limits are set at 115 percent of a market's median house price. They can't be lower than 65 percent or higher than 150 percent of the national conforming limit of $417,000. Preston says the limits will ensure FHA can to continue help struggling homeowners refinance and allow many first-time buyers take advantage of today's buyers market.  Read the Mortgagee Letter.

. . . There's More
The Secretary also unveiled that the new limit, effective immediately, on Home Equity Conversion Mortgages – reverse mortgages – will be $417,000, except in parts of Hawaii.

And Still More. . .
On November 12, HUD issued a final rule on regulations governing the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. For the first time ever, lenders and brokers will be required, starting January 1, 2010, to give consumers a standard, easy-to-read Good Faith Estimate that includes the term of the loan, whether the interest rate is fixed or adjustable, if there are pre-payment penalties or balloon payments, and the loan's total closing costs. HUD estimates that upfront disclosures will save consumers some $700 in closing costs. HUD received more than 12,000 comments following its publication of the proposed rule in March. Secretary Preston commented, "It has been a long road, but today we can finally announce a better way to buy homes in America."

Briefs
HUD's Hope for Homeowners program raises loan-to-value on its loans to 96.5 percent for borrowers whose mortgage payments are no more than 31 percent of monthly gross income and household debt no more than 43 percent. The program now allows lenders to extend loan terms from 30 to 40 years and provides immediate payment in exchange for a subordinate lender's release of its lien. . . Northeast Washington Housing Solutions in Spokane is accepting applications for Housing Choice Vouchers from December 3-18, 2008 . . . Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium moves offices to 720 West Boone in Spokane . . . Idaho Housing and Finance Association's Julie Williams chosen for inaugural class of NAHRO Fellows . . . LaGrande Observer says City Council okays micro-enterprise loan program funded with $40,000 in unanticipated revenues . . .

Grants
December 9, 2008 - begin submitting applications for emergency repair grants of up to $500,000 at eligible HUD elderly complexes . . . December 16, 2008 - deadline for HUD Section 202 Pre-Development Design grants . . . January 8, 2009 - deadline for Office of Violence Against Women grants of up to $250,000 to provide transitional housing to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking or sexual assault . . . January 15, 2009 - deadline for $47 million in Department of Labor YouthBuild grants . . . February 16, 2009 - deadline for $1 million in 2008 Urban Forestry Challenge Grant program . . . USDA now accepting applications, due May 31, 2009, for household water well funds to give rural residents access to clean, safe drinking water.

Quote to Note
"When I see the numbers of people coming to the food center I can't even think about it," Pastor Royce Right of the Oasis Worship & Food Center in Caldwell, ID told KTRV-TV. "I think we're not gonna have enough food, but we always have enough food. We'll always have enough food."

Janna Rankin Scharf, AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS, provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.

Janna Rankin Scharf, 208.651.9700  NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com

Mortgage Interest Rates as of December 2, 2008
 
Owner Occupied                 Conventional                  JUMBO
30 yr Fixed                         5.250%                               6.800%
Wells Fargo:                        5.375%       Wells Fargo:    8.250%
15 yr fixed                          5.000%                               6.400%
Wells Fargo:                        5.250%       Wells Fargo:    7.625%
7/1 ARM                             6.125%                               6.100%
5/1 ARM                             5.500%                               5.950%
Wells Fargo:                        5.500%                               6.00%

All interest rates include a 1% origination fee
Annual Percentage Rate will vary depending on loan amount and fees paid.   APR calculation available upon request.

Equal Housing Lender. Interest Rates subject to change with market conditions without notice. Rates shown assume full loan approval with good credit and fully documented income and assets. Variations may be acceptable but may cause adjustments in rates and/or terms. Approval is subject to satisfactory appraisal and title review and no change in financial condition. If your rate is not locked or rate protection expires, any  rate increase may lower your approved loam amount. Some products may not be available in all states. Refinancing or taking out a home equity loan or line of credit may increase the total number of monthly payments and the total amount paid when comparing to your current situation. This is not an offer to extend credit.