Upcoming Free (& non-promotional) Home Buyer Classes:
Saturday February 24th , from 11am - 2pm (ish)
Vancouver YMCA, conference room
11324 NE 51st Cir, Vancouver WA (off SR500 at 112th St & Gher Road)
Saturday, March 3rd, from 9am-12pm (ish)
Marshall Community Center, conference room
1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College)
If these class dates and/or times don't work for you, please let us know. We understand that you have lives, and families, and work. We will work something out that works better with your schedule. Just let us know....
....we also have home seller classes available too...link on left on website
Remember...with reservation...we will throw in lunch, or dinner
Happy Sunday evening....or Monday Morning...depending on when you see this. :-)
I want to start this week asking for YOUR pictures for a 2019 calendar. At the Client Appreciation event this December, we are going to offer a calendar for this next year, but we don't want to just put together the boring, standard calendar with the pictures that everyone has.... we want our calendar to be yours... with your pictures. So, email me your pictures... going hiking? Send the picture. Going to a fun local event?... send us a picture. See a beautiful sunrise? a stunning sunset? something that just takes your breath away? Email me those photos to traciedemars@aol.com. I will put them on the 'Tracie DeMars Real Estate' facebook page, and those pictures with the most 'likes' will get put into the calendar, and the sender of the winning photo gets a gift card out of my 'gift card stash'.
So, what to talk about this week? How about the current market pretty quick?
The market is pretty crazy pretty early this year. The mild winter seems to have brought on the 'homebuying season' earlier this year. Last year, the market didn't get crazy until mid-April, and we had a pretty hard winter. What we also seem to have this year (as early as it is) is some volatility with the interest rates, and they have gone up quite a bit. This is something that we have been talking about and hopefully preparing for though. Spring season always seems to bring this up as the market heats up... just seems to have happened earlier this year.
What this means for you is that when you get pre-approved to make sure that your lender is taking into account that interest rates are pretty volatile currently. Please remember that your lender can not lock in your interest rate until you are about 30 days from closing. Interest rate fluctuations could affect your pre-approval, so if you have any questions...please talk to your lender.
A pre-approval is a snapshot of your current financial situation...as we have talked about in the past. An actual pre-approval is where you have sat down with a lender and provided concrete evidence of your finances... your last couple of paycheck stubs, your last couple of bank statements, your social security numbers to the lender for approval to pull your credit score, verification of employment, and of course, your last couple of years of W2's/tax information.
A pre-approval only means that, based on the information you have provided to your lender, that you 'could' buy a home if you find a home and get a signed around, agreed upon, purchase sale agreement. It does NOT mean that you are guaranteed to buy a home... because sometimes people change their financial situation... and don't get a home. DON'T change your financial situation! Do not cut your work hours, and on the flip side... do not start working a whole bunch of overtime if you are using a loan program that has an income cap. Do NOT go buy appliances, or furniture. Do NOT go buy a new car, or a boat...or get any new loans. NO new credit cards. Do NOT quit your job. Do NOT spend the money you need to buy a home....and yes, even if you are using a program that will help with your down payment, or closing costs... you still need money to buy a home...
Some things you Do want to do.. Please...by all that is holy... PLEASE continue to pay your bills...ON TIME! I can stress this enough. Paying your bills on time is 33% of your credit score. Any questions on what you can/can not or should/should not do while in the process of buying a home? Contact your lender...
PLEASE use a local lender, someone you, and your agent, can contact...this is very important.
So, when isn't a pre-approval a pre-approval? A pre-approval is like the golden ticket in American Idol...it means you are on to the next step...which is meeting with your Realtor and going out to find a home. A pre-approval does not mean that you have won American Idol and that it's time to get groupies... it's just the second step in the process. A pre-approval is never concrete... you still have to do your part in keeping it up, and keeping your financial situation the same, or better. Until you receive keys from your Realtor...anything can happen. There's a reason I don't drink much, my friend...it's because sometimes I think that if I start...I won't stop!
A non-approval is one that hasn't been verified by concrete evidence (those papers I mentioned above). For some, a non-approval is one that hasn't been looked at by underwriters. A non-approval is one that has been expired. A pre-approval is consistently updated throughout the home buying process. You get pre-approved... you meet with your Realtor....you find a home. You make an offer (hopefully the offer gets accepted), but once the offer has been accepted, your Realtor sends the purchase/sale agreement to your lender. At this point your lender will contact you to congratulate you on finding a home...and ask you to come in to sign loan disclosures. Now that you have a signed around agreement to buy a home, your lender can actually start your loan. This is awesome, and where your fabulous lender takes over to help you get that home.
If it has been some time since you got pre-approved, and you haven't found a home yet...or decided to wait ...now would be a good time to re-connect with your lender to check on your pre-approval, and update it. Times...they are a-changing... as always.
**as a quick reminder...all home buying adventures should START with the Home Buyer Education Classes. Don't talk with lenders, and agents until after the classes so you know the questions to ask, what the paperwork means, and fully understand the process. As always though...the classes are Free and Non-Promotional. We are not there to promote ourselves or any 'special' agenda like some classes, and while we certainly hope you will call Chris or I, or both of us, to help with your home buying adventure, that certainly isn't the main focus of the classes. :-) We are, both of us, as always, here to help!
Information is power, and I hope that I am able to help you. Good luck, and as always...May the odds be ever in your favor out there.... AND If you are looking for a real estate agent, I would love to be able to help you.
As always....this is just a quick overview.... again...and I can't say this enough...please remember that your agent is NOT a salesperson, and should not be acting like one. Real Estate is not really about houses, it is about relationships. Your agent, and your lender work for YOU. You drive the bus...we are merely GPS to help you get to your goals. Like the classes, this weekly blog email is to help you with your home adventure. The goal is to be informative and non-promotional. :-) We are, however, hoping you will call and want us to help with your adventure.
If you have any questions about this, or something you have heard...or if you would like me to help you with your home adventure, please call, email, text, or facebook me anytime. I am, as always, happy to help!
Thank you again for your business and your referrals!! ...and thank you for referring these classes to your friends, family, and co-workers.
. ..disclaimer...if you have already purchased a home, or would no longer like to receive these emails, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from any further mailings...
Upcoming Topics: What happens after an offer is made? or
When is the pre-approval, not a pre-approval?
Last Week: Escrow Accounts?
Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon,
;-D
Tracie DeMars
Real Estate broker
Re/Max - Van Mall
360/ 903-3504 cell
360/ 882-3600 fax
www.traciedemars.com
traciedemars@aol.com
“Interested in free and non promotional home education classes? Go to www.freehomebuyerclasses.com for local upcoming home buyer and home SELLER classes, or facebook: Tracie DeMars Real Estate for my home buyer education blog.”
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be."
- Shel Silverstein, American poet, cartoonist and composer, (1930 - 1999).
Saturday February 24th , from 11am - 2pm (ish)
Vancouver YMCA, conference room
11324 NE 51st Cir, Vancouver WA (off SR500 at 112th St & Gher Road)
Saturday, March 3rd, from 9am-12pm (ish)
Marshall Community Center, conference room
1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College)
If these class dates and/or times don't work for you, please let us know. We understand that you have lives, and families, and work. We will work something out that works better with your schedule. Just let us know....
....we also have home seller classes available too...link on left on website
Remember...with reservation...we will throw in lunch, or dinner
Happy Sunday evening....or Monday Morning...depending on when you see this. :-)
I want to start this week asking for YOUR pictures for a 2019 calendar. At the Client Appreciation event this December, we are going to offer a calendar for this next year, but we don't want to just put together the boring, standard calendar with the pictures that everyone has.... we want our calendar to be yours... with your pictures. So, email me your pictures... going hiking? Send the picture. Going to a fun local event?... send us a picture. See a beautiful sunrise? a stunning sunset? something that just takes your breath away? Email me those photos to traciedemars@aol.com. I will put them on the 'Tracie DeMars Real Estate' facebook page, and those pictures with the most 'likes' will get put into the calendar, and the sender of the winning photo gets a gift card out of my 'gift card stash'.
So, what to talk about this week? How about the current market pretty quick?
The market is pretty crazy pretty early this year. The mild winter seems to have brought on the 'homebuying season' earlier this year. Last year, the market didn't get crazy until mid-April, and we had a pretty hard winter. What we also seem to have this year (as early as it is) is some volatility with the interest rates, and they have gone up quite a bit. This is something that we have been talking about and hopefully preparing for though. Spring season always seems to bring this up as the market heats up... just seems to have happened earlier this year.
What this means for you is that when you get pre-approved to make sure that your lender is taking into account that interest rates are pretty volatile currently. Please remember that your lender can not lock in your interest rate until you are about 30 days from closing. Interest rate fluctuations could affect your pre-approval, so if you have any questions...please talk to your lender.
A pre-approval is a snapshot of your current financial situation...as we have talked about in the past. An actual pre-approval is where you have sat down with a lender and provided concrete evidence of your finances... your last couple of paycheck stubs, your last couple of bank statements, your social security numbers to the lender for approval to pull your credit score, verification of employment, and of course, your last couple of years of W2's/tax information.
A pre-approval only means that, based on the information you have provided to your lender, that you 'could' buy a home if you find a home and get a signed around, agreed upon, purchase sale agreement. It does NOT mean that you are guaranteed to buy a home... because sometimes people change their financial situation... and don't get a home. DON'T change your financial situation! Do not cut your work hours, and on the flip side... do not start working a whole bunch of overtime if you are using a loan program that has an income cap. Do NOT go buy appliances, or furniture. Do NOT go buy a new car, or a boat...or get any new loans. NO new credit cards. Do NOT quit your job. Do NOT spend the money you need to buy a home....and yes, even if you are using a program that will help with your down payment, or closing costs... you still need money to buy a home...
Some things you Do want to do.. Please...by all that is holy... PLEASE continue to pay your bills...ON TIME! I can stress this enough. Paying your bills on time is 33% of your credit score. Any questions on what you can/can not or should/should not do while in the process of buying a home? Contact your lender...
PLEASE use a local lender, someone you, and your agent, can contact...this is very important.
So, when isn't a pre-approval a pre-approval? A pre-approval is like the golden ticket in American Idol...it means you are on to the next step...which is meeting with your Realtor and going out to find a home. A pre-approval does not mean that you have won American Idol and that it's time to get groupies... it's just the second step in the process. A pre-approval is never concrete... you still have to do your part in keeping it up, and keeping your financial situation the same, or better. Until you receive keys from your Realtor...anything can happen. There's a reason I don't drink much, my friend...it's because sometimes I think that if I start...I won't stop!
A non-approval is one that hasn't been verified by concrete evidence (those papers I mentioned above). For some, a non-approval is one that hasn't been looked at by underwriters. A non-approval is one that has been expired. A pre-approval is consistently updated throughout the home buying process. You get pre-approved... you meet with your Realtor....you find a home. You make an offer (hopefully the offer gets accepted), but once the offer has been accepted, your Realtor sends the purchase/sale agreement to your lender. At this point your lender will contact you to congratulate you on finding a home...and ask you to come in to sign loan disclosures. Now that you have a signed around agreement to buy a home, your lender can actually start your loan. This is awesome, and where your fabulous lender takes over to help you get that home.
If it has been some time since you got pre-approved, and you haven't found a home yet...or decided to wait ...now would be a good time to re-connect with your lender to check on your pre-approval, and update it. Times...they are a-changing... as always.
**as a quick reminder...all home buying adventures should START with the Home Buyer Education Classes. Don't talk with lenders, and agents until after the classes so you know the questions to ask, what the paperwork means, and fully understand the process. As always though...the classes are Free and Non-Promotional. We are not there to promote ourselves or any 'special' agenda like some classes, and while we certainly hope you will call Chris or I, or both of us, to help with your home buying adventure, that certainly isn't the main focus of the classes. :-) We are, both of us, as always, here to help!
Information is power, and I hope that I am able to help you. Good luck, and as always...May the odds be ever in your favor out there.... AND If you are looking for a real estate agent, I would love to be able to help you.
As always....this is just a quick overview.... again...and I can't say this enough...please remember that your agent is NOT a salesperson, and should not be acting like one. Real Estate is not really about houses, it is about relationships. Your agent, and your lender work for YOU. You drive the bus...we are merely GPS to help you get to your goals. Like the classes, this weekly blog email is to help you with your home adventure. The goal is to be informative and non-promotional. :-) We are, however, hoping you will call and want us to help with your adventure.
If you have any questions about this, or something you have heard...or if you would like me to help you with your home adventure, please call, email, text, or facebook me anytime. I am, as always, happy to help!
Thank you again for your business and your referrals!! ...and thank you for referring these classes to your friends, family, and co-workers.
. ..disclaimer...if you have already purchased a home, or would no longer like to receive these emails, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from any further mailings...
Upcoming Topics: What happens after an offer is made? or
When is the pre-approval, not a pre-approval?
Last Week: Escrow Accounts?
Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon,
;-D
Tracie DeMars
Real Estate broker
Re/Max - Van Mall
360/ 903-3504 cell
360/ 882-3600 fax
www.traciedemars.com
traciedemars@aol.com
“Interested in free and non promotional home education classes? Go to www.freehomebuyerclasses.com for local upcoming home buyer and home SELLER classes, or facebook: Tracie DeMars Real Estate for my home buyer education blog.”
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be."
- Shel Silverstein, American poet, cartoonist and composer, (1930 - 1999).
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