Deana Smedlund

I thought I would share this very interesting experience I had just over the weekend. I was showing a house to some clients of mine and this was the first time my clients had ever been house hunting and the first house we get to is a fairly large home and a surprisingly low price. We spent some time there and discussed the potential that the home had for the couple and they seemed to really be excited about this house. For me this was a fun experience because first time home buyers usually are in an apartment setting and they get excited about the extra space and talk about what they will do and how their family can come to visit and have a place to stay as well and even mention how they can envision children living there some day. Definitely a happy moment for everyone.

Well on this lovely day we go out the front door and lock up and are discussing our next house that we will go look at and they mention to me please keep this on our list as a definite possibility and I'm thinking great, off to a good start here. Then low and behold a woman jogger passes by and yells out "Be careful with that house "Stem Wall Replacement" and she kept jogging and never looked back despite our efforts of asking her to further explain and trying to get her to turn around and talk to us. So we get in the car and all of us have this funny look on our face as if she just spoke another language because they nor I had ever heard of that. So my client googles this phrase that was so bluntly shouted to us and found out that it had something to do with the structure of course. So I later call the agent and asked if they knew anything about this house and if indeed it had this problem that was mentioned to us and she knew nothing of it and proceeded to tell me that there were two offers on the home and this was a short sale and the offers were way higher than the asking price and I was thinking ok thanks for the info but you might want to check into that. Later my clients ended up making an offer on one of the other houses we looked at and they had a friend that knew the area and house very well and said that indeed that house did have structural problems and would probably fall into the ravine in a few years. So if you ever have a jogger that lives in a neighborhood that

yells out something about the house you just showed your client it could be that they just don't want new neighbors or it could mean that jogging may be hard on the knees but very beneficial for the ears if it helps your client from getting involved with a home that is structurally unsound.

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to see if anyone out there could give me any ideas for a fundraising event we are working on at my office for Easter Seals. I just recently attended our International Convention and was amazed at the money our company raised for Easter Seals. I want our office to be apart of changing someones life.

We are getting ready to form a committee and discuss what would be a good fundraising event that would benefit this program. Your feedback is much appreciated. Your thoughts, ideas or past experience with fundraisers that were successful in raising money for Easter Seals.

Thanks,

Deana Smedlund

Our president and CEO of the real estate company I work for shared a very important e-mail with us a couple of days ago.

It was a Urgent Call to Action for us to get involved! It is not often that we have a chance to influence legislation as he stated. This amendment would have a positive impact on our business and boy do we need that. There is a provision for the Federal Government to buy-down mortgage rates to 4.5% or less for a 30-year fixed rate loan for the purchase of a primary residence.

This would allow thousands of new buyers to be able to afford housing which would boost our economy. He also encourged us to call and voice your support of Amendment #353 to the Economic Stimulus Plan and state why you think a mortgage buy-down will help stimulate housing sales in your community and the impact it will have on the local economy.

I agree with him. We as Realtors can have a positive impact on our economy and help our current and future clients. What a great way to show our support!

All you have to do is look up contact information for your U.S. Senators listed by state with their Washington D.C. office contact information.

Here below is Senator Ensign's information. Provide them with your name and company information including your location, # of sales associates and offices you have and the # of real estate transactions your company had last year. Also state why your in support of Amendment #353. Make sure you leave a message if you get a voice mail.

Just thought I would share because the more realtors that get involved the better impact we can have!

Let's show them our support!

VOTE AMENDMENT #353

This is a quote that is well known and recently adopted by my broker. She started to share this quote with us in meetings. If you really think about this quote you can apply to all areas of your life not just with real estate. If we stop and wait or if we run and hide what are we really accomplishing? You really have to face all things good or bad with an attitude that we might not be able to get around this but it is just a matter of working through it and finding ways to overcome it. Challenges in life make us stronger, better people. My mom always said there is always someone that has it worse than you. In this economy we need to reflect on how we got here as a nation and how we can improve it and make it better even if it is just one house at a time, one family at a time, one problem at a time. It didn't happen overnight and it will not be fixed overnight. Although we are in a time of despair and uncertainty, we will come back strong and look back on this and learn from it. I like that my broker and our office adopted this quote because it makes sense. If we learn how to dance in the rain then the storm will not seem so bad.

Deana Smedlund

Not all sellers are aware of how short sales and foreclosures can and do affect your credit score. The bad news is that whether you are going through a short sale or foreclosure your credit will be affected in the same way. For example if you have a credit score of 680 before a short sale or foreclosure it will drop anywhere from 200 to 300 points depending on the overall credit. Also in some cases a seller may be subject to a deficiency judgment for the difference in the loan amount and amount paid.

The lender has the choice of doing this in a short sale or foreclosure. To further investigate if you are in danger of this happening to you contact a real estate lawyer to assist you. The good news is a consumer can normally buy a new home after a short sale within 2 years and 3 to 5 years after a bankruptcy. This could vary depending on how well the consumer maintained good credit after the short sale or bankruptcy.

Bottom line is you cannot maintain your credit score after a short sale or foreclosure but if you are able to regain a good credit score there is light at the end of the tunnel. You can and will be able to buy again. Don't worry this unfortunately is very common these days. I'm just glad that consumers are able to bounce back from this and are able to buy again.

Comments are welcome!

Deana Smedlund