Linda Lipscomb Lexington TN RE/MAX 731-695-1118

A first for our little rural community. The local newspaper initiated a contest to determine the town favorites. The list included a variety of categories. There were certain rules to keep it fair. The results were published in the March, 2008 weekly edition of the Lexington Progress.

How much fun was all this!!!! Well, for the winners it was great. The Lexington Progress dropped off a certificate to the winners. You see these posted on the doors of businesses, in the windows, framed on the walls. This was a big deal.

As one of the winners, I am so grateful for those who voted and am honored to have the title as the favorite real estate agent and real estate company. How wonderful!!!!

Thanks, Lexington Progress!

Linda Lipscomb, RE/MAX Unlimited, Lexington, TN. www.lindalipscomb.com

Today an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal regarding Fannie Mae. The article explains that Fannie Mae has tightened standards for the home mortgages it guarantees or buys.

Fannie will require a miniumum credit score of 580 for most loans it buys on an individual basis. In the past, Fannie had no minimum score.

Fannie has told lenders it will increase the period needed for borrowers to re-establish credit history after a foreclosure from four to five years.

In an already tightened market, it was a little disappointing to see these requirements. It appeared in recent months there was a shift to FHA financing for various reasons. However; not sure how this will affect the mortgage market.

Would be nice to hear from some of our mortgage experts.

Linda Lipscomb, RE/MAX Unlimited, Lexington, TN. www.lindalipscomb.com

Monthly I will begin posting what is called Absorption Rate. This is a number that calculates out how many homes are on the market, how many have sold, and it covers a specific period of time. The market in Lexington and Henderson County is by far better than in most areas. Below are the stats and a measure of the health of the market.

Month Rate

Nov, 07 7.4

Dec, 07 7.1

Jan, 08 6.8

Feb, 08 6.5

Mar, 08 6.4

Apr, 08 6.6

May, 08 6.6

June, 08 7.9

July, 08 6.6

Aug, 08 9.7

Sept.08 10.8

The saying goes, anything above 6 is a buyers market, below 6 is sellers. The ideal number is 6.

With these stats, the inventory is high and it is a buyers market. Go find your dream home!

Call RE/MAX Unlimited for all your real estate needs.

RE/MAX Unlimited, 870 W. Church St., Lexington, TN. 731-249-5376

www.lindalipscomb.com

What an emotional meeting today at my board office. I saw realtors I had never seen and probably will never see again.

The issue to vote was whether to have a Homes Magazine published by the board. Each of the members would pay a $26/mo. fee and every listing in their inventory would be published in this catalog. The same for everyone, so one listing or 100, the fee the same. All or none.

Most of the dialogue was negative. All seemed hopeless that this product of the board would ever be seen by the consumer. Enough said, let's vote.

The vote results are in.....we are publishing a Homes Magazine. Vote 2-1 in favor. Couldn't believe.

Bottom line decision factor, I think, was if there was going to be a homes magazine in the area, the board members wanted it to be controlled by us and not the local newspaper. The members are paying outrageous fees for magazines in Sunday papers, and ads in weekly rural newspapers.

www.lindalipscomb.com

RE/MAX Unlimited of Lexington, TN.

We have numerous families moving into the area due to new business ventures.

Several are not ready to buy homes as they have homes to sell in the state from which they are moving.

We need rental homes!!!! If you have a rental home or know of someone who does, please call and let us know.

Linda Lipscomb, RE/MAX Unlimited 731-249-5376 wwww.lindalipscomb.com