Working by Referral!

Most of you know I have changed the way I do business. For years I was in the prospecting race. Looking daily for new clients to serve. Now my business is built by referral and it has been awesome to see how my past clients, friends and acquaintances have supported me.

This past two weeks have been exciting. First I got a call from Andy Stone and long time friend. Andy mentioned he had a friend at work that is looking to buy in the next few months. About a week later I was doing some median cleanup in West Salem with my others from the church I attend Soma and neighbors of Dwayne and Julie Hilty, Nate and Melissa, Nate's Dad and Mom want to move to West Salem.

Take a second and think about how many referrals you give out in a day. Someone might ask "I love your hair! Who did it?" What about the movie you told all your friend to go see. Real Estate is a little different but when you know or work with someone that provides professional and reliable service would you refer them?

Do you have a Real Estate Professional that you refer to others? If you don't I would like to be that Referral Source for you. Be assured that I will treat your referrals with the highest level of service.

The easiest way to refer me is to tell your friend, family member or co-worker that Trevor will be calling you.

Thanks for your support, Trevor

Busy in a Bad Market?

I have not had time to post for a while as I have been very busy. It is true buyer and sellers are still out there looking to buy and sell. Even with all the Negative Press about how bad the market it people still need housing. There is always going to be people moving, downsizing, upgrading, tranferring or just changing scenery.

I have had the pleasure of working with some great clients. Dwayne and Julie Hilty bought a great home in West Salem with the dream of entertaining friends and family and also serving the need of West Salem's Edgewater District by planting a church called Soma. There home is the temporary meeting place for Soma and serves as a hub for their connection to this community. The home was sold by owner and I represented the Hilty's and enjoyed it.

Selling 7 homes as FSBOs that is FOR SALE BY OWNER, I have learned a great deal. I understand the need for some seller's to sell themselves to save the commission but in this situation I felt bad for the sellers. At the closing table the Ecrow officer presented the sellers with a settlement statement showing there credits and debits and most importantly their bottom line. Upon review they came accross the words I cringe at "Pre-Payment Penalty". The saw a $3000 penalty for not waiting two years. I think if they had an agent they would have know about that penalty and saved a lot of work and money.

Brian and Julie Mohr transferred from Denver and were looking a unique home to remodeled. Julie is very experienced and sounds like she has a good grasp of every facuet of home remodel and repair. They found a very nice home in the a Historic District off Center street. Not first timers but were able to sell their home is Denver and walk away with a healthy amount they saw took a hit on their home there but new it was time to sell.

Tyler Everson a first time home buyer found a great new home in West Salem with all the ammenties of new construction. Seeing a good price for the builder he was able to get 3% off the price for closing costs. Something that is not often seen in new construction but now a reality in this market. Funny story though was I called him a couple of weeks after closing to ask how the house was. He told me he had been freezing in the master bedroom at night. The builder came over and looked at all the vents to make sure they were connected. The found an 11 degree difference from the rest of the house. They could not figure it out until they went up in the attic and notice the insulation was not blown in over the master bedroom. Tyler is sleeping comfortably now. It just shows the importance of an inspection which Tyler had, but the inspector missed and the importance of insulation.

Alex and Cassie Rugh also first timers bought a new home is Albany. A large single story with a great price. After closing they had not moved in for a week and I found out that Alex did not want to move in until the Curtains went up. I remember that from my house. One of our neighbors came over and said you guys need for kitchen blinds.

Is the market as bad as they portray?

Opportunity Knocks!

More and more buyers are seeing this is the time to buy. Take for instance the one of my first time home buyers. After looking for a while at existing homes we looked at new construction. Ultimately it was the right fit for this buyer. Being around new construction and buying my house new I was sure that only a full priced offer would do. But after seeing some other deals work I thought it would be worth a try and we were right. I can't disclose what we offered and what we got, but the old school thought of seller sticking to their price is no longer around.

Another buyer of mine say a similar reduction in the purchase they made. It goes back to the idea of supply and demand. If they are out of whack then reductions happen!

I have talked with some clients lately and they have told me that they want to wait and see. Unfortunately that it not the best idea right now. We all now that home will always be necessary, people will move, grow, downsize, retire, invest. Know is a good time to do just that!

Are we Late to the Real Estate PARTY?

For any of you that use Zillow.com you may have seen a graph like this before. This one is from my Mom's house up in Portland. She is considering selling after 10 happy years there, but I though the best thing about this graph is it illustrates Real Estate is the US, Oregon and Portland and Specificly her house.

Before I tell you which line is which ask yourself if your home has experienced the same thing. The Dark BLUE line is here home. Since Jan 03 see has seen great gains. The light BLUE is Portland specificly her zip code in Garden Home and SW Portland, right by Washington Square. The GREEN line is Oregon as a state average.

So what about the Yellow Line? You may have guessed the USA. Look carefully at what this line does. It peaks and valleys and then peaks again. We are late to the party. Always have been always will be. The good thing however is we can use this to our advantage. If we look at what is going on in the US we now what to expect in the coming months.

Buyers it is time to buy. If not this month then next month. Sellers stop think about the past and start looking to the future. Your equity was never really cash in your hand don't expect it to be.

I encourage you to try this on your own. Go to www.zillow.com type it your address. I hope you see good things.

1556 Brewster Ct SE Salem

This is the time to Buy!

Over the last three months the Real Estate Market has changed. Mortgages have become increasingly harder to qualify for and home prices have cooled due to the vast inventory of homes for sale. This fluctuation has caused the supply and demand curves to become unbalanced. This unbalance along with foreclosure rates have made America fear the worst. Days ago the Fed lower the discount rate making interest on new loans more affordable. The idea is to boost sales by offering loans more cheaply.

The last four years interest rates have been at historic lows and continue to stay that way. I feel there are three undeniable reasons why today is the day to buy Real Estate. First, Interest Rates are low. If you understand how our world economy works then your are smarter than most everyone. Logical Wisdom says that rates will some day rise to match inflation. Secondly, Loans may be harder to qualify for but today, yes today sellers are wising up and saying, I will carry a contract - loan that the seller gives to the borrower at set interest for say a minimum of 5 years. So even if you do not have 5% or 10% to put down the seller's see this need and are ready to help. First time home buyers will benefit most from this because they may not have the money to put down. Lastly, with the increased amount of inventory on the market sellers are wising up to the fact that they have to be different than their neighbor. How do they do this? They sell at a better price or they make concessions for the buyer.

Buyer's have a lot of leverage in this market. They can set the price they want. They can get concessions from the seller and if they can't qualify for a traditional loan with money down, then they can walk down the street to the other seller and see if he takes it.

In my past two deals with buyers I have seen these advantage. Chip offered 5% less and asked for closing cost and the seller jumped at the deal. Raul offered $8,000 less and the seller jumped at that deal too. A year ago if an offer was made to the seller the seller would have laughed at us.

Beg, Borrow, or Steal a good deal because today is the day to buy a home.

I have devised an action plan if you do not know where to start.

1. Call me, Trevor Elliott 503 602-1039 and just simply tell me you are wanting to start the process.

2. Call one of my three lenders. In no particular order. Get Approved for what you can.

Dolly Davis, National City Mortgage 503 566-3035 - 26 years experience. Banker with programs that can meet or beat banks and mortgage brokers

Greg Bolton, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage 503 881-3323 - 10+ year experience. Big Bank with many programs and lot of backing.

Nathan Knottingham, Professional Mortgage Corp. 503 581-8100 - new to business. Access to many programs - Mortgage Broker

3. Call me up again and tell me what you found out and schedule out first meeting.

4. Meet with me. Based on your needs in home I will create a list of homes to look at.

5. Negotiate for the house you want. I will present the offer to the seller and we will negotiate a way for you to own the home.

6. Close on the home and move in, tell your friends why they need to buy too.

If you would like to get started with my action plan email me. telliott@equitygroup.com

Understanding the Liquidity Mortgage Crisis

Another day another dollar, right? No so much. Take a look at this link. It gives a very good summation for what is happening here in the U.S. as well as the world.

http://www.blownmortgage.com/videos/meltdown2/meltdown2.html

It was created for Real Estate Agents, but it is applicaple to anyone wanting to understand loan programs. The days of 100% no documentation loans are over!

September 16, 2007 2-4pm. Come by and see this house!

http://www.equitygroup.com/getagent/show.php?ecard_id=15943&aid=004601261