The romantic comedy "I Love You Because" is being performed Feb 5 - 21 at the Knutzen Family Theatre at Dumas Bay, which is a fantastic setting in Federal Way .. for more details, and to see about buying tickets, please go directly to the Centerstage website . The comedy is about 2 brothers and dating in New York city .. directed by Brandon Ivie of the 5th Avenue Theatre and starring Don Daryl Rivera, voted the 2009 "Person to Watch" by the Puget Sound theater community. Grab your sweetie and enjoy great, local entertainment!
Diane Kawell Associate Broker
- Home Sales & Marketing Windermere/WestCampus Federal Way, Washington 206-794-0844
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January 27, 2010
January 25, 2010
King County Real Estate Home Sales Stats - Easy Version
Here's a great post I'd like to share from our friends at Talon Title:
Existing home sales for King County put into perspective...
Reading the headline of the recent AP article about home sales for December 2009, one would think the real estate market just fell off a cliff. The AP article is citing national sales data of 5.45 million seasonally adjusted sales, down 16.7% from 6.54 million from November. Median prices, the AP reports "plunged by more than 12 percent last year - the sharpest fall since the Great Depression". Pretty powerful stuff.
Recently, we examined how local news differed from national news and why. The conclusion was that national trends have little or no correlation to your local market conditions. On the national level there was a big drop, but consider that November had the highest resale total for all of 2009. Also consider that the home buyer tax credit was extended until mid-2010, all of which affect overall numbers once this was realized.
Of much more value to us in the Puget Sound is how our local market is holding up. So lets take a look at the numbers:
Dec 2009
Total King County SFR Sales: 1125
Avg Price: $487,105
Total % from November 2009:-15%
Total % from December 2008: +34%
Total price change from November 2009: +4.2%
Total price change from December 2008: -3%
Overall, it appears that December 2008 was a much worse month than December 2009. Total sales increased by 34% in 2009, while prices held relatively stable. Average prices actually increased from November 2009, while being down 3% from December 2008. These local numbers are much more palatable than the reported national news.
Looking ahead, expect much more activity as the tax credit deadline looms again.
Re-posted from Talon Northwest Neighborhoods Blog
January 22, 2010
August 02, 2009
June 13, 2009
May 11, 2009
April 14, 2009
April 08, 2009
Check out current mortgage rates!
Here's a reminder of some of the factors that impact the rates quoted below.
Loan to value. Rates are also impacted by how much equity you have in your property. The value of your property is determined by an independent appraisal requested by the lender. The appraiser includes 3-4 homes similar to yours, located near your home that has recently sold. For conventional loans, rates below will be based on an 80% loan to value; FHA is based on a minimum of 3.5% down payment (96.% loan to value).
Type of home/occupancy. Rates quoted are based on a single family dwelling (1-unit) and, unless otherwise noted, owner occupied.
Documentation. These days, you can count on a full-documented loan when applying for a mortgage. Full-doc loans provide the best pricing. This typically includes documenting 2 years of employment, 30 days of income and 30-60 days of assets.
Lock period. The number of days that your loan is locked impacts the price of the rate. The shorter the lock, the less expensive the rate. Since most purchase transactions take 30-45 days, I'm using 45 days for the lock period. If your transaction is closing in less than 30 days, the pricing for your rate may be improved.
Points, no points and reduced closing costs. How your mortgage is priced is completely up to you. Points may be shown on the current Good Faith Estimate on lines 801, 802 or 808 depending on if you're working with a mortgage banker, lender or broker. A point equals 1% of the loan amount and typically reduces the rate by 0.25-0.375%. Closing costs can be reduced in the same manner. If your rate is increased by 0.25%, your closing costs shold decrease by 1% of your loan amount (there are no free loans--you're paying for it in rate).
Type of transaction. Rates vary depending on if the mortgage is for a purchase, rate/term refinance (no cash back) or cash out refinance. Unless otherwise noted, rates I quote on Di's blog will be for purchasing a home.
Quick note (before I get to rates): during this volatile market, lenders are averaging around 3 rate sheets per day. This means that once I publish rates here, they may have all ready changed for better or worse. If you're selecting your mortgage professional by rate alone (which I do not recommend), you must do your rate shopping on the same day at the same time or you're not comparing apples to apples. Rates are a moving target. To see what rates I'm quoting live to my clients, click here.
Rates below are as of 11:30 a.m. on April 8, 2009. Note: Markets will be closing early tomorrow and remain closed on Friday (you may not be able to lock in rates) reopening on Monday, April 13, 2009. Also important to note; King County's Recording Office will be closed on Friday, April 10, 2009.
Conforming Conventional ~ loan amounts up to $417,000 for single family dwellings. Rates below based on a sales price of $500,000 and a $400,000 loan amount:
- 30 year fixed: 4.500% at 1 point (apr 4.641).
- 15 year fixed: 4.375% at 1 point (apr 4.620).
High Balance Conventional ~ loan amounts up to $506,000 for King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties. Note: any moment, lenders will start pricing the revised 2009 loan limit of up to $567,500.
- 30 year fixed: 4.750% at 1 point (apr 4.986).
FHA ~ base loan amounts up to $417,000 for King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties.
- 30 year fixed: 4.875% priced with 1 point (apr 5.698).
FHA High Balance ~ base loan amounts from $417,001 to $567,500 for King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties.
- 30 Year fixed: 5.000% priced with 1 point (apr 5.823)
VA ~ loan amonts up to $417,000.
- 30 year fixed: 5.000% priced with 1 point (apr 5.107)
Prime rate (what most HELOCs are based on) ~ 3.250%.
Rhonda Porter is a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist, Licensed Loan Originator 510-LO-32047 at Mortgage Master Service Corporation.
Rhonda started in the real estate in 1986 in the title and escrow industry and began her mortgage career on April 1, 2000. Mortgage Master has been serving Pacific Northwest homeowners since 1976. As a Correspondent Lender, Mortgage Master features in-house processing, underwriting, prepares loan documents and funds transactions from their own credit lines. They are a direct endorsed FHA approved HUD lender and also offer VA and conventional programs at their office located in South King County.
