Bend, OR

I had a short sale submitted and was very pleased with the progress BofA had made over the holidays. We hit a glitch however. Once we were off to phase 2 negotiator, we never heard from anyone. I called and found out the file had simply been closed due to insufficient offer amount, but nobody bothered to notify us because "they are too busy." I was not a happy camper here. To make a long story short, the buyer stepped up to the plate to pay the low appraisal amount and we resubmitted the offer. The customer service person i spoke with recommended we also upload via equator. So, I faxed it to the old number and also initiated a short sale on equator on 1/24. They are accelerating and tell me that a negotiator has already been assigned and that it is just a matter of time until I hear from them - they made it sound like any day. I also requested that the negotiator contact me.

My opinion from all this is that equator is working - at least for my deal. The only thing I did was call several times to make sure i got consistent answers on what they need and require. I printed out the borrowers name and loan numbers on each piece of paper submitted. A good shortcut I have is printing out mailing labels to just slap on each sheet. They had everything we submitted and it was nice that it was acknowledged right away on the equator site. I call them twice a week for status updates and they have been very responsive. So, if I get a response this week, it will be awesome. And yes folks, it is possible because I got an approval from Wachovia yesterday after only five days. I really believe things are getting better for whatever reason. I will keep you posted on how this ends - keeping my fingers crossed and saying my prayers!

If you’re considering a kitchen remodel, you’ll want to visit the blog of Kit Tosello, kitchen designer, and read her most recent post about kitchen trends for 2010. The National Kitchen & Bath Association reported the styles for 2010 and here’s a summary of what they expect we’ll see:

1. Traditional will continue as the most popular kitchen design style in 2010, with contemporary following closely behind.

2. Cherry will remain the most popular wood for kitchen cabinetry, followed closely by maple, while alder increases in use. Medium natural, dark natural, glazed, and white painted cabinets will all be common while distressed and other colors are on the decline.

3. Ceramic and porcelain tile, as well as natural stone tile, remain popular kitchen flooring options, but hardwood will dominate the kitchen landscape more than ever in 2010.

4. For countertops, granite continues to be the most popular option, but quartz will nearly catch up in popularity. For backsplashes, ceramic or porcelain tile and glass will serve as the primary materials.

5. Standard kitchen faucets will become less standard in 2010 in favor of more convenient models like pull-out faucets and pot filler faucets. Kitchen faucets will most often be finished in brushed nickel, followed by stainless steel, satin nickel, and—surprisingly—polished chrome.

6. French door and freezer-bottom are the two most popular styles of refrigerators, and side-by-side refrigerators remain a popular option. Undercounter wine refrigerators have been recently specified by half of kitchen designers.

7. The tried-and-true range continues to serve as the workhorse for cooking, although the combination of a cooktop and wall oven is beginning to overtake it. Gas will maintain its position as the most popular type of cooktop over electric.

8. Standard dishwashers, with the traditional door that pulls from the top down, will once again be easily the most common type in 2010. However, an increasing number of dishwasher drawers will be installed in kitchens this year for their convenience and their ability to wash small loads of dishes in each drawer, thereby saving water and electricity.

Visit Kit’s blog for more information: http://highdeserthomecompanion.blogspot.com/

I couldn't believe it: submitted short sale package to Wachovia last week for one of my listings and already got an answer and it is affirmative. Just thought I'd pass along the information. They are even giving the seller a $5000 incentive - wow. This is great work. Has anyone else had such results with this lender? I am truly impressed. There is some hope. The office I dealt with had a 210 area code which caller ID shows as Texas.

Central Oregon Home Sellers - Avoid the 10 Biggest Mistakes Most Home Sellers Make. With the majority of the sold homes in Central Oregon being short sales and foreclosures, there is tough competition for selling your home. View this short video for 10 easy steps to avoid making the same mistakes much of your competition is making.

While some of these tips are more costly than others, any extra steps you can take to make your home more appealing to potential buyers can help.

Happy Selling! Contact us if you could use help selling your Central Oregon home fast.

The various jobs reports numbers and revisions had a favorable impact on mortgage-backed securities in the week. The home mortgage rate available through Signet Mortgage for conforming, 30-year fixed is riding at 4.750% for the price of an origination. The stock market has taken a beating causing dollars in a flight to quality to go into MBS and Treasury Bonds. The important commercial rate index, 5-year LIBOR Swap rate improved over 11 basis points in the week. And the watch on inflation continues to hold steady. However, in the home mortgage arena, we know that an artificial life-preserver will soon be removed. We are into the last 7 weeks now of Fed purchases of MBS that will end on March 31. Encourage transactions to get to a lock-ready position before that date if you can. Please call if you have any questions.

A quick note on the jobs data from Thursday: First there is reason to take some encouragement from the numbers and the trends - there have been incremental improvements in many of the numbers over the past 5 months. We should not get comfortable however that this is the final number for January. The revisions data increased the jobless number for prior months by nearly 1 million people. Jobs data are gathered in a number of ways. The "Establishment" report calculates jobs lost and created by surveying companies. The unemployment number is a phone survey of households and even though it is over 50,000 households, errors are easily imputed. The 9.7% unemployment number is said to be a little shy of where it will be in February. If you have further interest in seeing the trend charts on employment and a simple analysis, click here. (Care of Bill Watkins' CERF group.) The weekly report attached by clicking here has a good rundown on the jobs reporting methodology also.

The coming week has few, but important economic news releases. Wednesday will be the trade deficit number. Remember that we have two critical deficit numbers that have to be watched - the budget deficit (currently on a $1 Trillion per year trend line for the next 10 years!) and the trade deficit, typically near $50 Billion per month versus China for example. More information on these deficits are available from the slides and audio of the economic forecast presented by EDCO available by clicking here. Other economic data will be initial jobless claims and retail sales data Thursday, along with consumer sentiment numbers on Friday. Make it a great week!