Just a reminder, Christmas is just a few short days away. Are you ready? It is going to come weather you are ready or not. Have you been good? Are you looking for something nice? I hope you all have a great Christmas and a better 2009. Thanks Bruce Dicks Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty www.NorthFlHomesandLand.com Lake CIty, Florida
In all my years as a mortgage broker I've never done this. I just quoted 4.5% for a 30yr fixed loan. A month ago they were at 6.5% & two weeks before that they were 7.5%!! There has been a lot of speculation about the Fed lowering rates to 4.5%, but the market has done this on their own due to the current economic conditions. We are seeing a lot of volatility right now & there's no telling how long these rates will last, so if there are any buyers on the fence now is the time to jump!!
Snow (fake) is coming to Lake City, Fl. (Downtown on Marion Street) on Sat. 12/20/08 from 12:00 to 5:00 pm. WOW! Am I a great weatherman or what? All activities are free, but children have to be younger then 12 years old. Come enjoy this. Bruce Dicks, Realtor Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty www.NorthFlHomesandLand.com
WOW, it was a great weekend for college football. The games where for Conference Championships, rankings in the BCS and where other teams not in the BCS would go. The BCS show was good last night, too. I still say that Texas was robbed, but I can't do anything about it. I guess why I really liked this weekend so much was because I am a Fl. Gator. Go Gators!
The Federal Reserve is continuing to look for ways to get the housing market back on it's feet & with the target rate already very low, Fed officials are mulling new ways to get the economy going. One discussion is to reduce mortgage rates. Because they have a stake in Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac they would potentially be able to control home mortgage interest rates. Talks along these lines indicate that rates could get in the low-mid 4's!! I'll keep everyone posted as to the progress of the Fed's moves.
The basic definition of deflation is when prices go down instead of up. That sounds great, right?? Actually it is a very dangerous problem. When there's inflation, people scramble to buy things now, right now. The mentality is that prices will go up forever so buying something has to be cheaper today than it will be tomorrow. This is exactly what happened with real estate between 2003-2007. Inflation was rampant back in the '70s when the government programs of Lyndon Johnson fueled purchases for everything and anything as well as payments for the Viet Nam war. Treasury bonds yielded over 18%. It was only the fortitude of a very brave Fed Chairman, Paul Volcker, that finally broke the trend. He kept raising interest rates until borrowing money made no economic sense. Over a long period,...
Below are the Numbers released by the Lake City Board of Realtors comparing October 2008 to October 2007 and it is not to pretty. Realtor sells where down a negative 36% and the median sell price dropped a negative 28%. I just received a call from one of our Local Banks here in Lake City, FL. and they now have a 30 year fix loan with a 740 credit score or more for a great rate of 5.375%. WOW! If you are a buyer or have thought about buying, this could be a great time for you with so much inventory and the Banks cutting rates. Bruce Dicks, Realtor, e-PRO Lake City, Fl. www.NorthFlHomesandLand.com Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty
I thought I would put a poll out there and see what it will show. Who do you think will go to the BCS Championship Game and what team do you think will win? My pick is Florida Gators vs OKlahoma Sooners with the Gators winning. It would be interesting, because Bob Stoops the Ok. Head Coach use to be a Defense Cor. with Fl. I would still like a 8 team playoff system, but I think it will be a while before we see that. Thanks Bruce Dicks, Realtor Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty www.NorthFlHomesandLand.com
Two days ago, I decided to go through all of the Active Rain Groups and see if there was any others ones that I might would like to join. To my surprise there was many in groups that I seen that I would like to be a member with. Most of them are new, but I also found out that some of the ones that I had past up before, that I did add. It is amazing what is out there to join. If you have not gone throught the groups in a while, you should go through them. You could be missing out! Thanks Bruce Dicks, Realtor Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty www.NorthFlHomesandLand.com
I'm sure everyone is gearing up for a nice extended weekend. Enjoy your time with family & friends!! Even though most in our industry have seen a drastic slowdown from where we were this time last year, we have lots to be thankful for. Count your blessings, eat a lot of turkey, & get ready to finish the year up with a bang!!
Did you know that on www.ESPN.com home page (close to the bottom on the right side) has daily polls. They have 10 polls that you can vote on. You don't have to be any kind of membership, you can just go on it and vote. Also if you search autozone in their search area, you can register for a great ESPN tour, trip to New York and go to the Liberty Bowl. All for Free! Thanks Bruce Dicks, Realtor Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty www.NorthFlHomesandLand.com
This Saturday (11/29/08) the Gators will go to FSU and play them in football. Occurring to what I have heard the Gators are a 14 point favorite. I know you can never tell and we have beat them when they have been up and the same for them, but how can we just be a 14 point favorite when you look and see who we have beaten and by what spread and what is on the line for us. By the way, let me know what you think. Go Gators! Bruce Dicks, Realtor Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty www.NorthFlHomesandLand.com
I'm sure many realtors and buyers alike that have walked into a home that has many attractions: Nice neighborhood, lots of acreage, good layout, etc, but the condition is less than desirable & needs lots of work before it's in liveable condition. In the past you'd usually turn around & say "Next"! There's now a program available that allows a buyer to purchase a home and make upgrades/repairs to the property & combine everything into one loan. You can borrow up to $35,000 over the sales price for repairs such as: § Repair/Replacement of roofs, gutters and downspouts § Repair/Replacement/upgrade of existing HVAC systems § Repair/Replacement/upgrade of plumbing and electrical systems § Repair/Replacement of flooring § Minor remodeling, such as kitchens, which does not involve str...
J.P. Morgan announced that it has decided to modify the loan terms for borrowers who are in default on their loans or about to fall behind. When J.P. Morgan took over Washington Mutual Inc. in September. they inherited $54 billion of such loans. Their new loan modification plan will help as many as 400,000 borrowers with $70 billion in mortgages. J.P. Morgan has already helped 250,000 customers since 2007 modify their loans worth approximately $40 billion in mortgages. In this latest modification, Borrowers will have their loans restructured into more affordable loan terms with lower interest rates. The new loans will be structured whereby the borrower's outstanding balance sometimes grows month after month. While they are instituting the program, they will not put any additional proper...
By Chad Stewart, Broker Associate - Real Estate Pro
(Rockford Realty Group)
Right now, yes in the year 2008, is the most affordable time to purchase a house in the last 35 years... Based info from the NAR (National Association of Realtors), every year, the combination of median single family home price, family income, qualifying income, interest rates = the Housing affordibility index. Here is how it works, a score of 100 means a family has the exact amount of income to qualify for a home, a score of 120 means a family has 120% of the income needed, therefore making it actually more affordable & the home mortgage payment a smaller portion of their bills.. http://www.realtor.org/research/research/hameth Right now the index is at 135!!! So, we need to spread the word!!, there is no technical, financial, or analytical reason not to buy a home.. Not only is it the...
Well the last 2 weeks or so I have been working several hours a day on my web site. What I have found out, is that I can never do enough to make my web site rank up, but every little thing helps. I will continue to try and below are some of the things that I have done. 1. http://website.grader.com/is a great site. It helps show you what you can do to improve your site. It compares you to other sites in the area that you are working with. It helps with meta tags key words and does a great job. When I call my web site company that are willing to help me when I tell them what I found out on this site. 2. http://ping.fm. This will save my a lot of time. I can blog every social site I have at one time. I am able to write one submission and ping sends it to everyone that I have an account wit...
We, here in Lake City, Fl. have a new Publix that open a few months ago and a new Food Lion that open today. Both are real nice and big. Food Lion said that this is the first of a kind store for Florida, at this time. Below are two pictures I took of it. Thannk You Bruce Dicks, Realtor, Lake City, Fl. Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty www.NorthFlHomesandLand.com
Well, I thought I would take a break and see what you Realtors out there are thinking. Wow, I think we are in store for a go close vote at the end of the season. Below is who I think will go to New York for the finals and then who will win. What do you think? 1. Tiim Tebow (Yea, I am a Gator and we would not be where we are without him. He is also last years Heisman and has done nothing to loss it). 2. Graham Harrell (This guy is good. Texas Tech would not be where they are today without him). 3. Colt McCoy (He is pretty good too).
WOW, Lake City, Fl. (the Town I was born and raised in) is listed in Forbes Magazine as a City that can deal with and come out good on the other side, of the economy problems that are effecting our Nation. Forbes ranked Lake City, Fl. 95 out of 141 of micropolitan towns. The towns used in this survey was graded on the following things: Median Income, Unemployment, education, mortgage debt and poverty rank. Lake Cityis still opening up new stores at this time. We have a new Publix, MacalisterDeli, Kazbor's Grille, Target Warehouse Cold Storage and other Business. More new Business that are building at this time is a Food Lion, Vyster Credit Union, Family Dollar and more. We also have the rivers, to swim, boat and fish in and wildlife areas to hunt in. Lake Cityis located in North Fl. We ...
By Chad Stewart, Broker Associate - Real Estate Pro
(Rockford Realty Group)
I thought this was well worth blogging about for Lake City FL area. Forbes recently ranked about 141 "micropolitan" towns for thier ability to weather the current economic crisis based on income, unemployment rates, poverty ranking, mortgage debt, and education. Lake City, FL ranked #2 in Florida!!! only behind Key West. Out of the 141 micropolitan towns in the survey Lake City ranked #95 overall with the higher number better. Here is a link to the Lake City Reporter Article. http://www.lakecityreporter.com/articles/2008/11/09/news/doc49166a61004de174884352.txt Here is the chart from Forbes http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/09/cities-vulnerable-towns-forbeslife-cx_rr_1009vulnerable_chart.html Hope you find this info interesting, if so, drop me a quick note. Chad - www.chadstewart.com
