Candice Reinke

Looking for something fun to do this Memorial Day weekend? Gas prices are still high and many of us are wanting to pinch pennies wherever we can. However, thanks to the fantastic minds of the managers of the Bremerton and Port Orchard Marinas there is something fun going on locally this beautiful Memorial Day Weekend!

The Habor Festival will feature $2 rides between the Bremerton and Port Orchard Marinas via the foot ferry. The foot ferry will be running later on into the evenings that normal schedules. The Tall Ships will be arriving in both marinas today, Friday, May 22 at noon.

Starting at 7 pm, the Historic Orchard Theatre on Bay Street in Downtown Port Orchard (next door to my brokerage, Old Towne Realty) - and the Admiral Theatre on Pacific Avenue in Downtown Bremerton, will both be playing Sean Connery movies (The Hunt for Red October - Port Orchard, and From Russia With Love - Bremerton).

Other highlights include a pancake breakfast in Bremerton, live music played by a local Navy band, a sailboat race, and food tasting. Check out the Port Orchard Independent article online for more information and times of the different events. I will certainly be trying to take part in as much of the festivities as possible - I hope to see all my fellow Bremertonians and Port Orcahardians out there with me!

LET'S CELEBRATE THIS AWESOME PLACE THAT WE LIVE IN!!

You have started to search the Yahoo! Real Estate classifieds, or checked out Zillow.com to see what homes are for sale in your area. You stopped at an open house and you have been browsing the homes on CraigsList.org for weeks on end.

You're ready to buy a home. Now what? Mom says to use a Realtor. You think "HUH? That is for OLD people!" You're young - you know how to use a computer! You're smart! Why would you want a Realtor to help you?

Outlined below are some very important reasons for using a Realtor to help you buy your first home in the Port Orchard, Washington (or Kitsap County) area...or any place, for that matter!

• To begin, choosing a home and making the purchase is going to be one of the biggest decisions of your life. It can be a stressful experience or a fun, happy experience. Realtors make sure (as long as they are GOOD Realtors) that it is an exciting, happy experience. We make things run smoothly for you.
• As a buyer, most of the time the services of a Realtor are FREE!! You get to enjoy using a competent, licensed professional at no cost to you.
• There are enormous amounts of paperwork and legalities. There are ultra-important deadlines. There will be negotiations to be made and calls to be made. In today's market, if you are a first time home buyer in Port Orchard, Washington or Kitsap County, Washington, then you are most likely looking under $250,000 - and the vast majority of homes offered in this price range are short sales or bank owned homes. Navigating short sales and bank owned homes for purchase is INCREDIBLY TIME INTENSIVE - plus you need to know how to ask the right questions to get the right answers.
  
• We know things you might not know - after all, this is our job, our career, and our passion. We are not in this for the money or the glory - we are in this because we enjoy what we do and we thrive when things go well. We are only successful if you are happy and your home search or sale is successful. Like all trades, there are tricks of the trade!

Take advantage of all that we have to offer you for free - contract negotiations, access to homes, organization of all the details - we are basically your home buying assistant!

I love my hometown of Port Orchard. I know a lot of other people do to. We are close enough to Seattle that it doesn't take weeks of planning for a quick day trip, yet we are far enough off the beaten path to be able to enjoy a small-town feel.

Are you looking to buy in the Port Orchard area? How about Bremerton or Silverdale? I'm sure you have all heard about how housing prices are at a record low and financing is still available. You have heard about down-to-the-ground interest rates. Still skeptical?

You should be! I was a first time home buyer not too long ago. I bought my first investment property in October 2008 and my first "real" home in February of this year. I did a lot of research and put a lot of thought into things before I decided to "make the jump" though.

There are lots of things to consider before buying a house - you'll now be responsible for simple things like your own water, sewer (or septic) and garbage. You'll have homeowners insurance and property taxes...you might end up paying a little bit more.

But what I think all people should consider is that buying a home really is an investment in your future. If it is plausible and you are going to be sticking around Kitsap County for at least a few years - why not give me a call to chat about the local real estate market? There are some SCREAMING deals right now (honestly - I am not exaggerating. I bought my houses for $90,000 and $110,000). You can purchase a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2100+ SF home for under $190,000. That is unheard of. And you can purchase homes like that in desirable, fun neighborhoods! A lot of homes even have zero down financing available in the Port Orchard area thanks to USDA Rural Development loans.

Are you currently renting? Wouldn't you love to have your own place? Please give me a call, or you can email, or text me. No high pressure sales tactics or anything....we can just chat about the likelihood of you buying your own home. I specialize in first time buyers because I enjoy working with people and making their dreams come true. Hope to talk to you soon!

I am working with two clients right now and both have offers in on properties that are being sold as a short sale. I don't know about anyone else's market, but it seems that Port Orchard and Kitsap County in general are really getting hit hard with short sales. Initially, I did not understand the fear and the frustration that could be caused by a short sale.

Now I understand it wholeheartedly. I am beginning to develop a love-hate relationship with them. The hate is obvious - they are very frustrating. There are so many times when the problem or whatever is going on is completely out of my hands. It is frustrating to have to tell my clients "I'm sorry and I understand that you are upset and frustrated, but I can't do anything else." In my area, short sales are beginning to take longer and longer to process. I have one short sale that I have been working on since December of 2008.

But where is the love for them?

Well, I will admit something. Working these two short sales has definitely helped me to become a better agent. I feel that my learning curve has been shortened because I have learned from so many small mistakes. I feel like the next short sale I do, I will be able to represent my buyers much better. I feel that I will be able to handle it with more confidence because I will have a better understanding of the short sale process.

THIS IS A GOOD THING FOR ME!!

As I am drinking my Dunkin' Donuts coffee and perusing the MLS, I searched (just now) for homes within Port Orchard that are offered at $250,000 or less (general pricing for a first time buyer which is my specialty). I would venture that approximately half of these are short sales. I must say that I would probably prefer to work with a regular owner who has their home on the market and is going to be making some sort of profit...however, I won't live in a world and wear rose colored glasses. Short sales are real and they are all over my market and they are what the majority of my buyers are interested in and can afford.

Here are my three top tips that I have taken away from dealing with my current two short sales:

1) Be prepared to explain what a short sale is to your clients. Be prepared to explain that there are times when things will be out of your hands and that there will most likely be a waiting game that will have to be played. Set the expectation that this could take months to close.

2) Prepare yourself to babysit the transaction. You will quite possibly end up calling on something EVERY SINGLE DAY. And most days you won't get an answer. You will leave lots of voicemails and email messages. Remind yourself not to get frustrated and know that it's okay to have to take a moment to close your eyes and breathe for a second!

3) If you have prepared yourself mentally and armed yourself with all the tools you can muster (including as many names and contacts/phone numbers/emails you can get) - and if you have prepared your clients and set realistic expections for them...PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK EVERY NIGHT BEFORE BED. Short sales are stressful, no doubt about it. But do the best that YOU can do and it makes it much better.

$500 $1750 $4200

Is anything free anymore? Do people ever do things out of the kindness of their hearts? No. They don't. Or so you might think. However, I want to take a moment to inform you of a cool thing that my boutique real estate brokerage, Old Towne Realty, started to do.

A quick background on us...we are located on Bay Street in Historic Downtown Port Orchard. Our address is 834

Suite B. Feel free to stop in and chit chat with us some time.

Now, back to the subject - our new PAY IT FORWARD Free Load Modification Assistance.

What does this mean exactly? We want to help you. As real estate agents we have seen first hand the devastation caused when families fall behind on their mortgage payments. We don't want to see that happen to anyone else, so we have decided to institute a "Pay It Forward" program for the distressed homeowner (someone who is in

danger of foreclosure or is late on their mortgage payments).

There is NO FEE for this...our service to you is COMPLETELY FREE. We just want to help folks in our community

keep their homes.

Are you having trouble paying your mortgage payments? Call me...or email me...I will happily chat with you about your situation or I can email you a free e-book that our office has created, DIY Loan Modification.

All we ask is that you PAY IT FORWARD by someda

y helping someone else who is in need.