Kristen Wahl

This is the first of a series of posts aimed at educating first-time homebuyers in the Rochester area about the home buying process. I've worked with many first-time buyers who are interested in becoming homeowners but have no clue where to begin. This series will explain the steps to homeownership, as well as giving first-time buyers tips to help the process go as smoothly as possible!

Step 1: Establish Financing

It's important to speak with a mortgage professional before you begin seriously looking at homes. They will look at a number of factors and issue you a pre-approval letter.

Some of the factors lenders take into account include...

• Employment: Salaried vs. commissioned, self-employed, or temporary
• Credit: How do you rate? What is your credit history and score?
• Finances: How much do you have available for down payment and closing costs?

Your pre-approval letter will give you a realistic price range for your home search. That way, you don't overextend yourself or end up disappointed after falling in love with a home you can't afford. By including it with a purchase offer, it also shows sellers you are a financially qualified buyer who can afford their home. That's why it's beneficial to have this letter before you find the home of your dreams!

If you are unable to qualify for a loan, a good mortgage professional can help you create an action plan to improve your credit, so that in the near future you should be in a better position to purchase a home.

Choosing the right mortgage professional is as important as choosing the right real estate agent. They can mean the difference between a smooth transaction and a "rocky road". If you are in the Rochester area and thinking of purchasing a home, I would be happy to refer you to some fantastic professionals who always get the job done for my clients.

Stay Tuned for Step 2: Refine Your Search!

P.S. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I frequently team up with Tracy Martinez from Five Star Bank to offer FREE home buying seminars to Rochester-area homebuyers. If you're interested in learning more, give me a call at (585) 455-5524 to find out when and where our next seminar will be held!

It's time for this week's post-Thanksgiving market report!

Macedon:

• 1 home was listed
• 2 homes expired

Walworth:

• 1 home was listed
• 2 homes expired

Palmyra:

• 1 home went under contract
• 1 home closed

Not surprisingly, it was another very slow week. The good news is that Palmyra's inventory seems to be moving in the right direction. Let's hope more buyers wake up from their turkey-induced sluggishness and jump back into the market!

Here are today's statistics for southwestern Wayne County:

Here's a breakdown of the activity this past week:

Macedon:

• 4 homes were listed
• 1 home went under contract
• 1 home expired

Walworth:

• 1 home was listed
• 1 home expired

Palmyra:

• 1 home was listed

It was definitely a slow week in the area. Only one home went under contract, and none are recorded as sold so far. Let's hope the buyers come out again after the holidays!

Have a great week, and stay warm!

This week, I'm combining my (late) market report with some other statistics about area home sales I thought my readers might find interesting.

First, the Western Wayne County market snapshot for today:

Now for the real news.

Are the number of home sales down in the Rochester area? Yes, no doubt. The Greater Rochester Association of Realtors recently announced that single-family home sales are down 15.8% compared to one year ago.

But, there's a bright side to our local market, and it's arguably more important than the number of homes currently selling. The average sale price of homes in the Greater Rochester area remained the same at $117,000. I repeat... less homes are selling, but our values are not dropping! That's huge!

Also, while national foreclosure rates are up 25% since this time last year, the foreclosure rates in New York State are down 42%. In Monroe County, which never even saw a huge increase in the first place, foreclosures are down 15%. That's great news for the national housing market. Once more states get their foreclosure rates under control, the market can really begin to stabilize.

Just take a deep breath and remember, Rochester is actually a great place to be!

Sources: WROC-TV and the Democrat and Chronicle

***

Kristen Wahl is a licensed sales agent with RealtyUSA in the Rochester, NY area. RealtyUSA is the largest independently-owned real estate company in New York State. Call Kristen at (585) 455-5524 or visit www.KristenWahl.com to see how she and her company can make the purchase or sale of your home a positive experience!

About a year ago, RealtyUSA launched a new website. It has tons of user-friendly features, like a virtual map search, information about all the regions we serve, school and community reports, and much more.

It appears the site is going over very well with consumers! Hitwise, a company that measures the number of "hits" or visits various websites receive, recently published their rankings for real estate websites. For the first time, RealtyUSA's site is in the top 100! When you consider that we serve only New York State and Naples, Florida and were competing with national franchises, I'd say that's spectacular!

Kudos to the RealtyUSA web gurus! And no, that cutie pictured above is not a member of the tech department... too bad!!