About Spokane County, WA

February is a great month for bargains! Who doesn’t love to find the perfect piece of clothing on a clearance rack at their favorite store? How about shoes marked down 65 to 85% with another 15% off if I buy them now? Count me in!

But sometimes, the clearance items just don’t work. The shoes pinch my toes! OUCH! Or they are too big! Flop, flop, flop. And if they ARE just the right size, the heels are way too high or they are . . . .well . . . downright hideous!

Sometimes those bargain shoes just don’t fit! They don’t fit my style . . . my feet . . . my needs!

These days in real estate we get buyers who are looking for a super bargain, because they have heard all about the huge clearance sale of foreclosed and short-sale homes.

I recently wrote an article: How to Buy a House - 5 Must Know Tips where I describe some foundational issues that all home buyers face when getting started in their home search. Sometimes people feel the need to jump in and figure things out later when they get serious. This is almost always a disaster yet this is the default road home buyers tend to take.

A real estate agent usually gets involved once they call on a few ads. This is really the best thing that can happen to the home buyer because they then at least ahve a chance to get on the right track. As a real estate professional I can tell you that there is a right way and a wrong way to buy a house. After more than a decade of watching people be both successful and unsucessful I can say that getting educated is probably one of the largest keys to buying a home.

So nothing fancy here, we are talking about one of the most major purchases you are going to make in your life. Instead of jumping in and making mistakes, why not learn how to buy a house from a professional that does it for a living year after year. Remember, you have nothing to lose but your time, money and mind. :]

HARP II ELIGIBILITY WORKSHEET

Homeowners in Spokane need to pay close attention to the upcoming changes announced by President Obama in the Making Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP 2.0). These changes will provide relief for the 245,000 homeowners in Washington who are upside down on their mortgage.

Under previous HARP guidelines low mortgage rates were not made available to Washington homeowners because their loan balances exceeded 125% of appraised value (LTV). HARP 2.0 guidelines make it advantageous for homeowners to check their eligibility for this enhanced program to see if they qualify to lower their rate and payment.

SHOULD I REFINANCE WITH HARP 2.0?

• Is your home "upside down" and think you might not qualify for a HARP refinance?

• UNLIMITED LTV - No matter how far upside down your home is, eligible homeowners can refinance a first mortgage.

• Do you think you are going to have to pay for another appraisal fee?
• APPRAISALS WAIVED - An appraisal fee will not be necessary if sufficient data is already available on your property. The cost saving alone is upwards of $500!

• Are you tired of some of the high fees associated with refinancing?
• REDUCED COSTS - There could be fee savings of $2,000 or more associated with HARP that can be reduced or eliminated!
• HARP 2.0 has capped fees that are half the level of HARP 1.0 fees.
  

DO I QUALIFY FOR HARP?

• Complete the Quick Eligibility Check and we will notify you within 24 hours whether or not you are eligible.
• Requirements:
• Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac must own your 1st mortgage loan.
• There can be NO mortgage payments 60 days past due within the previous 12 months.
• Your 2nd mortgage must agree to go back in 2nd position.
  
  

STEPS TO TAKE RIGHT NOW!

• Complete the Eligibility Worksheet form. This form is NOT a loan application and will take only a few minutes of your time to complete OR . .
• Call (509) 252-9151 and provide the information over the phone. The information necessary to determine your eligibility will only take about five minutes of your time

Lenders are NOT required to offer this enhanced program to the public and there will be an inconsistent rollout by banks and lenders. First Priority Financial is both a banker and a broker, so we still have the ability to direct your loan to the Lender offering the most flexible guidelines of HARP 2.0.

We all LOVE it when things go as planned!

The buyer doesn’t elope with another agent.

The inspector doesn’t discover rabid bats living in the attic.

The seller doesn’t quibble a bit when the buyer wants to include Great Aunt Matilda’s portrait in the deal.

The appraisal comes in a whole five dollars over the offer.

The mortgage is rolling smoothly along until . . . bumpity, bump, bumpity, CRASH!

What do you mean my pre-approved buyer can no longer get the loan?!

With all the new rules and regulations in the mortgage industry, it is sometimes not easy to keep a deal together till closing. It is especially difficult when the buyer is on the edge . . . a little short on the down payment, a little shaky on the credit score, a little too close to a past bankruptcy, a little too tight on the debt/income ratio. Sometimes even the tiniest change in the buyer's life or the lending rules can wreak havoc! When the deal is a week away from closing and the wheels fall off the wagon, what do you do?

Go to Plan B, of course!

If you want to buy a house in the Spokane area, I know a mortgage lender who is the QUEEN of PLAN B!

Robyn Garlich-Baird is our in-house, home loan officer and this lady is one tough cookie when it comes to getting the deal to the closing table. She perseveres through the most difficult transactions. In a recent sale, my pre-approved buyer was suddenly too high a risk for a certain bank just one week before closing! She hunted down a whole new loan to make it work. Happy ending for all, except maybe the three trees she killed with that stack of paperwork! :)

A few weeks ago, I went into a local gift shop and saw this mug . . . had to buy it for Robyn as she instantly came to mind. As I was opening my front door, the bag with the mug in it fell to the ground and the handle shattered. Darn! I threw it in the trash! A few minutes later I went back and dug it out . . .after all, isn't Plan B really a test of character? So, I filed the sharp spot where the handle had broken off and gave it to Robyn anyway . . . filled with a few little bottles of "give me strength" juice . . . just in case she ever needs to go to Plan C!

My best friend called me this week. “Val, she said, I have to tell you about my new part-time job! You’ll never guess what it is!” Now let me tell you a little story about Mary. In high school a small group of us got together every weekend and baked cookies. We would take them to school and peddle them in what we called “The Underground Bakery.” Thinking back, we weren’t really too “underground” because we actually sold some to teachers, but they weren’t ratting us out because those cookies were pretty darn good! But, Mary was a talker . . . maybe one could even call her a chatterbox . . .and virtually every week she forgot at least one batch of cookies while busy yakking and burnt them to a crisp! We both laughed when she told me her new job is in a bakery! Luckily, and even she will admit this is for the good of the bakery’s bottom line, she ONLY has to mix up the muffins . . .no baking for Mary.

Yes, I told my friend, that is probably the last job I would have guessed, but then I paused a minute and said, “But who would EVER have thought I would become a Realtor?” You see, I was quite the opposite of Mary. I spent the first eighteen years of my life speaking to few outside of family and a couple of close friends. Every report card, no matter how good, had a disclaimer at the bottom “needs to speak up more in class.” The quote under my junior high picture said something like, “Speak louder please!” I was beyond shy. I was painfully shy.

It wasn’t that I didn’t have anything to say. As a child I was an avid reader and quite the little philosopher. My mind was bursting with ideas and I constructed complex imaginary worlds in my head. But, I didn’t trust anyone enough to share them. Even writing was a challenge because teachers required us to read our work out loud. Because I knew I would have to do so, I censored my own writing to make sure it conformed to what was expected.

After high school I went to college and encountered someone who changed my life . Anyone who has gone to college may be horrified when I say that an assistant professor in English 101 was my savior. As any undergrad knows, 101 classes are rarely inspiring experiences! This professor assigned rather philosophical, thought-provoking subjects for our essays. They were topics that stretched us to think outside the box. He would ask for volunteers to read their work. No way! He never forced me. Finally, about the third week of classes, he said he was going to read an excellent piece by an anonymous contributor and he read my essay out loud. No one laughed. The next week he publicly asked my permission to read another. The world didn’t crash in around me. It progressed from there. Before the end of the quarter, I was empowered to share on my own.

In that English class I learned to trust not only my peers, but also my own ideas. I discovered my commonality with those around me. I married a man whose job took us all over the country and learned to make friends easily and converse with random strangers. I discovered that no matter how different people were from me, we always had something in common.

Looking back at my childhood, I wouldn’t trade the child I was for one more out-going or personable. I might have missed out on so much that has nothing to do with speaking. At an early age I connected with nature and learned to read her subtle signs . . . dark clouds that forewarned of the coming storm or the patches of lawn that drew in the honeybees ready to sting my little feet. And I watched people. I learned to read body language and determine the intent of those I encountered . . . to let down that guard could be disastrous for a child who never wanted to be the center of attention. But one young professor taught me that a little crack in my armor could lead to good things as well. He showed me that trust could mean the difference between existing in my own world or being part of something bigger . . . I took it from there.

So, here I am today, a Realtor. Talking up a storm to strangers. Asking buyers to share intimate details about their lives in order to help them find the perfect home. Listening to sellers with heartbreaking stories of life gone wrong or grandiose dreams of where the future will take them.

Some of these clients are full of trust and ego and have no problem sharing whatever I need to know to help them and then some. Others are more cautious and require encouragement. I don’t think they question my qualifications. It is their own ability to make the right choices that is frightening. To them, buying or selling a home is like taking non-pilots to a lot full of used airplanes and telling them they must choose the one that will fly them across the ocean. They want to take the journey but fear making a decision that might not result in a good outcome. So, they seek someone to educate them.

My job is to teach people about the real estate process and do so at their speed so they are comfortable every step along the way. I give them the facts. I let them know what their options are. I introduce them to experts who educate them even more. We spend as much time as they need to reach a point where they are knowledgeable and confident enough to make the decisions that will have a lifelong impact. . . they have learned to trust themselves!

This post is a submission to the ActiveRain / Adobe EchoSign Trust Contest. I could possibly win a prize. You can find out about the contest by clicking here

If you need someone to help you understand your options for buying or selling a home in the Spokane area, contact me! I would love to help you learn the ins and outs of the real estate process!

Valerie Baker

509-496-6938

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