Michael Russell's Q&A

Wells Fargo just announced that they will do FHA loans with a credit score as low as 500 but they would require a 10% down payment, if your score reaches 580 they will do the loan with 5% down. Your score needs to be above 600 for the traditional 3.5% down payment. I would check with your local communities, many of them get grants from HUD for affordable housing and will use the money to provide grants for DPA.

It is amazing that investors are putting their money in T-Bills at near 0% that have kept rates this low. Depending on what happens in the middle east we could see low 4's again.

If you are going to limit yourself to buyers who only have the same personality as you, you are not going to have very many clients.I will agree that there are some buyers who you will not mesh with and there might be an agent who is a better fit but a good buyers agent learns how to work with different personalities.

Advertised 2 open houses on craigslist this weekend, they had 65 views and both open houses were well attended.

Every website is different as they pull ther information from different sources. Realty Trac is a good source but you will have to pay for a membership after the initial free trial period expires. It can be very hard for sites to list just the foreclosures because it is how the information is listed into the MLS. Some banks don't allow the listing agent to note that the home is a foreclosure. Sometimes you just have to read the description and look for keywords like Corporate addendums apply or selling as-is.

yes, and it also affects how long you have to wait before you can obtain a mortgage again. 2 years for a short sale vs 4 year for foreclosure. 

Find yourself a good realtor, most consumer website will not have a search function for swimming pool but all MLS searches will have it. A good realtor can set up a search that will email you all the new listings as they become available and will also be able to send you a list of all homes currently listed with a pool.

An appraisal is meaningless. A home is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it. Yes you can market your property on your own but what is your experience with contracts, inspections, radon, mold, appraisals, loan commitments, title insurance, surveys. $400 may get you in the MLS but how much did the house down the street sell for, why is it worth more/less than yours. Once your home goes into the MLS there is a recordm of DOM, price changes and everything about your property, if you have a failed contract it will cost you thousands. If your property stays on the market for over 6 months right now, you are a dead listing. You have to decide if saving 2% and that is if you really save that much is worth the risk of losing thousands. JMPO

our government doesn't believe in pain. Socialism is alive and well in America. That being said, the article is right homes are selling a lot faster and price are starting to stabilize. That doesn't mean we will stay there. You can wait to see if it get's worse or cash in now.

Come join me for an open house this sunday July 22nd from 2-4 pm. Come see why Century Estate is such a fantastic place to live.