Don Sieb

By: Don Sieb

If your primary goal for your personalized website to establish your creditability with clients, you don't need to do much more than making sure you are presented professionally. It is likely the only people visiting your site are those who you contact and leave your business card with.

However, if you want to use your website to drive traffic and leads your way then the cookie cutting approach is not designed to accomplish this.

After years of developing real estate websites for myself, new developments and agents, I know firsthand the effort and knowledge it takes to make a real estate website successful. I have had so many people ask for help in designing a results drive website, that I have formed a sister business Results by Design Marketing.

Key Elements of a Well Designed Real Estate Website

One needs to remember the top use of a site visitor is to search for property. If your website does not accomplish this you are not satisfying the number one need of consumers.

The next critical function is to make sure the search engines can find you! This requires a lot of knowledge, technical expertise and writing skills.

Here are a few of the most recent real estate websites launced.

Starlite Crest
Lakeside at Wonderland
Homeseeker Center

If you are interest in tuning up your website to optimize site visitors or if you have listed a new community please contact me at 425-931-4665.

All of us here at Golf are looking forward to another great week and we hope you are too. Golf has a few new products that we are offering. We have come out with a 7/1 ARM for our Premier Tier. Our Premier Tier is a basic jumbo product intended for high quality loan purchases. We are also offering a 5/1 and 7/1 ARM product for refinances. So contact your local Golf Savings Bank Loan Officer for more details about these products and how they can help you make your dreams of homeownership come true.

Have a great week,

Jason Tsang - 425.673.8288

Choosing a Fixed Rate Loan

Fixed rate loans generally come with one of two options; the 30-Year Fixed and the 15-Year Fixed. If a borrower is planning on being in the same home for a long period of time, a 30-Year Fixed may be more attractive because it offers stability. The monthly payment will remain consistent over the life of the loan. If interest rates are at historic lows at the time the borrower is seeking to obtain financing, this is a good program to consider.

A 15-Year Fixed loan program offers the same stability, but the accelerated amortization schedule makes the monthly payment substantially higher. While the interest rate may be lower on this type of loan, the borrower must be willing to commit to a higher monthly payment. If the borrower wishes to retire in 15 years and be debt-free at that time, this loan program may be more suitable to the borrower's long-term needs.

It is also possible to make pre-payments on a 30-Year loan and reduce the life of the loan, as well as the overall interest payment, without committing to the higher monthly payment of a 15-Year program. As long as there is no pre-payment penalty associated with the 30-Year mortgage, pre-payment offers the borrower the latitude to make additional payments when it is affordable. If cash flow becomes difficult, this arrangement will not put the borrower in a compromising position.

To apply for a fixed rate loan, please feel free to visit my website: www.golfmortgagepros.com

Thanks!

Jason Tsang - 425.673-8288

By: Jason Tsang

Now is the time to buy! There is only 10 weeks left of the Homebuyer Tax Credit ($8,000 to first time buyers and $6,500 for current homeowners wanting to move). You might not have another opportunity like this.

In January there was an 8.9% increase in home building in the West. It is said this is due to the small drop in the unemployment rate and low mortgage rates. Some builders think the low mortgage rates are due to the Home Buyer Tax Credit. Experts are worried the increase in home building will halt if mortgage rates go back up once the government fails to renew the Home Buyer Tax Credit and discontinues it's support. The tax credit expires April 30, 2010. So don't miss out on this chance to take advantage of the tax credit and the low rates available.

To learn more, go to www.golfmortagepros.com

By: Don Sieb

News on Thursday that the Fed would raise the interest rate that it charges banks for temporary loans was seen by lenders as a sign that their long, profitable period of ultralow rates was coming to an end. The discount rate applies to loans the Fed makes for very short terms, to sound depository institutions, as a backup source of financing.
While the move will not directly affect home mortgage, credit card or auto loan rates, it was a clear sign to the markets and the country as a whole that the era of extraordinarily cheap money necessitated by the crisis was drawing gradually to a close.

The Fed’s board of governors raised the discount rate on loans made directly to banks by a quarter of a percentage point, to 0.75 percent from 0.50 percent, effective Friday.
The modifications are not expected to lead to tighter financial conditions for households and businesses and do not signal any change in the outlook for the economy or for monetary policy.

Despite that attempt at reassurance, there were some early signs after the announcement that investors were already beginning to anticipate broader interest rate increases. Stock futures fell in after-hours trading; yields on 10-year Treasury notes rose about seven basis points, or seven-hundredths of a percentage point, to 3.8 percent; and the dollar gained slightly.

My suugestion...If you are considering purchasing a home I would recommend you do so soon. The Tax credits for buying homes is set to expire on June 2010. We still have no indication is these tax credits will be extended.

To learn more about Local industry home tends visit us at Market Watch.