David Width Jr.

I wanted to give customers one of the most simplified views of the mortgage process, so here it goes.

1. Finding the home of your dreams.
Do some shopping to different lenders to find the best terms and rates for yourself. Ask your Realtor for some suggestions if you do not know of any lenders off hand. Before you go out to shop for homes, you need to meet with a lender to find out how much you can get qualified for. You don't want to find a home out of your price range and fall in love with it because it will make it hard for other homes to measure up.

2. Formal Application
Meet with your loan officer, and at this time have an idea of how much you can comfortably afford monthly. Most applications can be taken by phone, mail, or the internet.

3. Pre-approved
Once you are pre-approved, your file goes to underwriting for review. The underwriter may ask for additional documents or information before making a final decision.

4. Processing
All the documents you have given to your lender now go through processing. They normally send out verifications of your assests and employment, which are completed and returned.

5. Approval
Once your loan is approved, your loan officer will now issue a formal mortgage committment. Your committment letter will give you all the instructions you need to prepare for closing. You should be assigned a closing cooridnator, who will corridnate with you, your Realtor, and closing agent for a smooth settlement.

6. Closing day
It's finally here, Settlement Day! Buying a home can be hard work, but with committed professionals working for you, it should make the home buying process easy and hassle free. Sign the documents, take the keys to your new home and celebrate. You deserve it!

This is a must see. It is absolutely amazing how far technology has come. Not only how far it has come but how rapidly it is "becoming". They have just developed a real "robot" per say. You have to check it and see what it is capable of. The link is below.

http://asimo.honda.com/Disneyland.aspx

The big game starts in about 1 hour. Now being a Dallas fan myself (booo I know) I think you can guess who I will be routing for today. I don't know if I could handle Philly fans if the Eagles won the superbowl this year, first the phillies and the world series then if the eagles and the superbowl. I'm starting my pre-game now. Good luck to whichever team you are routing for. FLY CARDINALS FLY!

At a recent seminar I had attended, I learned some interesting facts about the decreasing value of home prices. Jeff Otteau, a respected New Jersey economists has figured out statistically that home values are decreasing 1% per month and have been since October 2008. Prior to October 2008, home values were decreasing by .5%. Home values are expected to decrease by 1% per month through May or June of this month and it is not certain yet where they will head from there.

The reason I am revealing these facts is for homeowners and listing agents. Listing agents should be doing new CMA's as of today to determine the new value of their listings. There is no reason a home that you "comp'd" out 6 months ago for $200,000 should be re-listed for $200,000 again.

To put this into an exact perspective, homes are averaging 9 to 11 months right now. So if you home has been on the market 8 months exactly as of today this how where you should be now.

Lets say your CMA (comparitive market analysis) originally came in at $300,000 and you listed your house at that price in May of 2008 (approx. 8 months ago). You still haven't sold and your price is still the same. According to these statisitcs this is where you need to be, at the maximum, at this point.

May through September- .5% ($1500.00) decrease in value X 5 months = $7500.00

October through December- 1% ($3000.00) decrease in value X 3 months = $9000.00

1/2 of January- half of 1% ($1500.00)= $1500.00

$18,000.00

So as of today you should be listed at the most $282,000.00

We have to be honest and realize that prices have descreased in value and we need to start adjusting them accordingly. I hope these statistics help somewhat and you can use them to your advantage.

Again these percentages are focused on Southern NJ specifically Ocean county.

I know we have all seen many articles about pricing properties, and how extremely crucial it is to price them correctly. Well I am here to just reinforce that thought. I was speaking with one of my seller's the other day and she is trying to convince me an interior shot of her home for our advertising magazines would be better, and to stress the fact that there is a bus stop on the corner of her street. Although these suggestions aren't absurd, they still don't sell houses. The fact that she is asking $20,000 over what her ASKING price should be is the problem. I would say 70% of "sellability" is based on the price, 15% based on a appearance, and 15% on marketing. Some of you may disagree but when searching for a home for a buyer, the main factor is what the can afford (price), then there specifics. They can visualize what they can do in the future to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

Let's face it, a properly priced property (which in this market is priced under the competition), sells quick. I had a town-home go under contract in 18 days last year because the property was truly worth it and buyers were able to see the value in it. If your sellers are serious then they will listen to your professional and expert opinion on what they HAVE to be asking to sell their home.

Bottom line is get your properties priced right this year. They might have to change the motto for real estate from "location, location, location" to "pricing, pricing, pricing."

Give me your opinions.