The assortment of homes for sale in our county gives a buyer a great opportunity to find the house that best suits their needs and wallet!  At this very moment, there are 586 homes in Anderson County for sale.  In the $100,000 to $200,000 price range there are 237 homes for sale.  Look at all the choices you have as a buyer!  Interest rates are at an all time low!  If you were prequalified for a home last year, with the rates even lower now, you can afford more home for the same payment.  At a seminiar I attended earlier this week, they emphasized that home ownership was the best retirement plan you could have.  Doesn’t that make sense?  You have to pay someone to live somewhere, so why not pay yourself?  If you have credit issues, take the time to sit down with a credit counselor at one of the mortgage companies (we can help with suggestions) and get your credit on track.  Start saving some money, cut out the little things and see how quickly your savings add up.  Home ownership is still possible…it is a goal we should all be looking to achieve.  If we can be of assistance to you, please call, email or stop by and we’ll help get you moving in the direction of home ownership!  We’ve been in Anderson County for over 38 years….you are more than clients to us…you are friends that we have built relationships with!  Put our years of experience to work for you….times are tough but we’ve been there before and we’ll be there afterwards too!  Let us help you!

Well, it’s Monday morning…and once again I’m here waiting to here back on a short sale.  Over 14 days ago an offer was submitted on a house in Anderson County, Clinton to be exact and the lender has yet to respond to phone calls or emails.  Is it any wonder that so many homes are going into foreclosure?  As a buyer, you get approved to short sale your house…you submit a ton of paperwork including personal taxes, letters from realtors, anything describing why you cannot pay for this house any longer.  It gets lost 2 or 3 times and you keep submitting it.  You finally get approved and get the house ready to sell.  A few days after it is listed, if it is a good deal, you find a buyer.  Then once again, the offer gets submitted to the mortgage company, you fill out more paperwork along with the buyer filling out extra paperwork and you wait…and you wait…and you wait.  You call the mortgage company daily to hear “don’t leave more than one message or your call will not be returned in a timely manner”.  Well, over 2 weeks later, we are still waiting for a return call. 

If you are wanting to buy a short sale, expect 2-3 months to close and a lot of paperwork.  Is it worth the deal you are gonna get?  You have to weigh that in…and be patient…very patient.  If you are selling in a short sale, be prepared to fill out lots of paperwork over and over again.  As a seller, you are getting rid of the monthly debt without have a “foreclosure” on your credit but you are also accepting a lesser amount and actually recieving a “gift” from your mortgage company that could be taxed. 

There is so much involved in a short sale but the major thing to remember is that you have to have patience.  This is my 3rd short sale deal and my patience is wearing thin.  It is very hard to represent a buyer and feel like you are actually doing your job in their best interest when you go weeks without anything to tell them other than “no news”.  I’m very lucky that my clients know me very well and they know that I’m looking out for their best interests (Thanks Mike and Olivia).

We just have to all remember to be patient!  I understand why the average person just lets their home go back.  It is so disheartening to be in a bad financial situation and have so much paperwork (half of which you don’t even understand) to fill out over and over again and then to wait months and months to even find out anything.  I can’t imagine being in that situation, even I get frustrated and I’ve been trained in it! 

Patience..patience..patience!

I just went through a short sale on a home and it was definitely a learning experience.  A short sale in my opinion, is the sale of a property for less than what is owed on the property, thus preventing the owners from going into foreclosure.  It was a very long process which actually started with an offer to purchase in April and we closed in July.  Buyers need to understand this is a very long process.  Are you willing to wait a long time to get a deal?  That is basically the question we as agents need to ask our buyers.  Yes, the buyers did get quite a bit of equity in this house but they had to be patient and wait almost 4 months for the process. 

I learned that you must fax documents to the sellers lender a minimum of 3 times to be sure they get them!  The selling agent must call at least twice a week and sometimes every other day to be sure the process is moving along! And be prepared that it won’t close on the date you expect!

It was a very stressful process for all parties involved, a lot of paperwork for all parties involved (about 3 times the normal transaction) but in the end all the parties were happy! 

Just be prepared if you are buying a short sale…it’s gonna be a long process!

The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce held their Annual Recognition Dinner last night.  The event was headlined by guest speaker, Hallerin Hilton Hill, local radio personality.  One hundred forty people attended the dinner which was catered by Catering by Delora.  Fox Toyota graciously hosted the event and First National Bank sponsored the dinner.  Music was provided by the Clinton High School Concert Band.  Several individuals received awards including Derek Keeton of Ameriprise Financial, Debbie Sellers of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Kristin Olsen of Small Paws Bed & Biscuit and Roger Houck of the City of Clinton Parks & Recreation Department.  There was a silent auction and I was lucky enough to be the winning bidder on an item!  Sellers Realty sponsored a table at the event with myself , Patrick Slone, Joey and Susan Smith, Debbie Sellers, Marty and Kim Stooksbury and Victoria Bowling seated at the table.  It was a great time!  I invite local businesses and individuals to join the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce…it’s a great organization and a great network!

We don’t have a bad market,  we  just have a different market.

At what point does it make financial sense to rebuild, as opposed to remodel?

I think we answered this question wrong, and are now stuck with a house that will never be what we want it to be, no matter how much we fix it up.

We started with a 1970’s split-level on a narrow, sloping lot. Ugly. But terrific views: because we’re on a hill overlooking another (unbuildable) hill, we see no neighbors, and very likely never will. We bought this house 12 years ago because we fell in love with the lot and could afford the ridiculously low $105,000 price. The neighborhood is not the best, however (the poorer neighbor of an extremely wealthy college town 4 minutes away, where we work), and the zoning is transitional — a red flag of uncertainty about the future. The house itself was tacky, old, outdated, and oriented in a way that blocked some of the nicest views.

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The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 authorizes a $7,500 tax credit for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing homes on or after April 9, 2008 and before January 1, 2009. The following questions and answers provide basic information about the tax credit. If you have more specific questions, we strongly encourage you to consult a qualified tax advisor or legal professional about your unique situation.

First time home buyers purchasing any kind of home—new or resale—are eligible for the tax credit. To qualify for the tax credit, a home purchase must occur on or after April 9, 2008 and before January 1, 2009. For the purposes of the tax credit, the purchase date is the date when closing occurs.

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