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Displaying blog entries 571-580 of 783

First Time Home Buyers

Monday, October 21, 2013
by Liz Warren

If you are a first time home buyer or a buyer with minimum down payment pay attention to recent news concerning Fannie Mae. Currently you can get a mortgage with 3% down. Many buyers have applied for a conventional loan with 3% down vs. an FHA loan due to the high upfront PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) required by FHA.  FHA loans have been losing out to Fannie Mae conventional loans due to PMI.

This November Fannie Mae will be increasing their down payment requirement to 5% instead of 3%. If you get your approval now and close by March 15th you can still get the 3%.

The mortgage insurance on Fannie Mae loans tends to be lower than the FHA insurance but that is dependent upon your credit scores.

So, the bottom line is if you are buying and want to get the best deal for a 3% down payment, you need to act NOW. See your mortgage professional for addition details.

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Fourteen September Sales on Mt. Hood

Saturday, October 19, 2013
by Liz Warren

Today's buying opportunities can't be beat! Recreation lovers are snapping up Government Camp condos like never before. A total of five Government Camp condos sold in September with the luxury Grand Lodges  hitting a record number with three sales in one month. Three of the fourteen sales were short sales. There's been a record number of short sales on the mountain this year with more to come. Our equities have not been rising at the same rate as Portland Metro area with around 12.5% over the past year. We hope the increase in Portland's home equities will eventually come to the mountain to help boost our sales too!

           September Sales on Mt. Hood for 2013

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Fall Sales on Mt. Hood Are Solid

Saturday, October 19, 2013
by Liz Warren

Fall real estate sales for the Mt. Hood area have been consistent with the rest of the year. Although the RMLS reports a total of 11 sales in Welches, Government Camp, Brightwood and Rhododendron, the real number is 14 for the month.

        Mt. Hood Real Estate sales for September

Take a look at the total market time for the month! 340 days average. Where did that number come from? Well, with three out of the 11 sales being short sales with over 300 and 400 days on the market, it really skews the statistics in a negative way. So don't take this as a true number for all recent September sales.

There's no doubt it, there's plenty of inventory out there with 146 properties for sale. Even more came on the market in September with 26 new listings. Sellers coming to the market based on the good news that things are picking up and the real estate market is stabilizing. October saw a major stall out with the government shut down and the anxiety of the debt ceiling left many buyers on the side lines. Now that the drama is over for the time being I expect inventory to stay strong through the fall.

 

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Government Camp Real Estate For Sale

Friday, October 18, 2013
by Liz Warren

It's that time of the year when many buyers start thinking about  ski season and that trek up to Government Camp in the winter. Welches is covered in yellow and red leaves, the Hood River fruit loop is in full swing and skiers are thinking about first snow. Timing could be perfect if you get your home or Condo on Mt. Hood before the snow flies. Whether you're on Blossom Trail or Mossytree Lane, Government Camp is the place to be in winter when the snow flies!

Check out what's for sale today!

Government Camp Condos with thirteen available units

Homes and Cabins Under $300,000 including National Forest cabins near Government Camp

Build your own chalet-there's still land available!

All properties in Government Camp

 

 

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Mt. Hood Home Buyers

Saturday, October 5, 2013
by Liz Warren

If you're currently in a transaction in the Mt. Hood area, or starting one, and are getting an FHA, VA, USDA or conventional loan, you might be wondering what the current government shut down is doing to your loan and transaction. Read about NAR's summary of the delays for each loan and the impact it will have on your purchase. Which government services are having an impact on your loan?  The IRS and social security divisions are needed for many types of loans so this "might" cause delays. USDA loans are dead in the water. Current processing times for USDA are already three weeks out so this could cause even more of these loans to have long delayed closings!

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August Sales Surge in the Mt. Hood Area

Thursday, September 19, 2013
by Liz Warren

Summer buyers came out to take advantage of our high inventory of Mt. Hood homes and cabins for sale this year. Many second homes buyers realize that now is the time to buy that Mt. Hood getaway while interest rates are incredible and choices are many! Check out the stats for August from multiple listing service below:

      Mt. Hood Sales for August 2013

Pending sales during this month were up 50% from 2012 and a whopping 20 properties closed in August! That's definitely a record breaking month over the past five years. Now that the kids are back in school and skiers are thinking about snow the next surge of buyers should be flocking in. There's lots of inventory to choose from in all pricing points.

Skiers, get your Government Camp condo now before they area all gone!

Do your search here to see current inventory.

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Soaring Mt. Hood Sales For Summer 2013

Monday, August 26, 2013
by Liz Warren

The glorious summer and massive influx of visitors brought higher sales this July for the Mt. Hood area. Sixteen sales for Brightwood to Government Camp were posted in the multiple listing service.

Here's a break down of what sold this past month and the actual sales are listed below.

Condo sales took off, but mostly in Government Camp with four units selling, one Shadow Hawk unit closed in Welches.

Two Timberline Rim homes closed!

Two Mt Hood National Forest cabins were sold. Current inventory is large for cabins right now.

Two golf course homes were purchased with one at the Resort at the Mountain and the other on Fairway Avenue with an acre of land and killer view.

Five waterfront properties closed this month.

July 2013 real estate sales for Mt. Hood

July 2013 Sales for Government Camp, Welches, Rhododendron

 

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July Mountain Sales Take Off

Tuesday, August 20, 2013
by Liz Warren

No misprint below. Yes, there were sixteen sales that closed in July! It's been a busy summer. There's lots of inventory to choose from. Our incredible summer weather has visitors and tourists flocking to the mountain. Take advantage of still low interest rates and buy your mountain getaway today.

        July 2013 Mt. Hood Real Estate Sales

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CPFB-Consumer Protectoin Financial Bureau Lacks Transparency

Tuesday, August 6, 2013
by Liz Warren

The CPFB was created after the Wall Street implosion to help protect consumers from financial transactions including mortgages. In the process, strict mortgage qualifications were developed so loans that would be packaged were solid (no liar loans) and these loans were called Qualified Mortgages. If a qualified mortgage failed it would give the right to the consumer to sue the lender in the event of foreclosure.  These rules for qualified mortgages were written by the CPFB.

After the Qualified Mortgage package was passed in January 2013, the director of CPFB, Raj Date, left to "spend more time with his family" and several months later created an investment advisory company called Fenway Summer LLC to make loans to people who did not qualify for the "qualified mortgage". He also hired many former CPFB employees setting his company up to make billions in future loans.

The CPFB didn't raise any alarms at what happened in their own backyard. Read the letter from the Committee of Oversight on Government Reform and the Committee on Financial Services sent out July 31st. to the current chair of the department.

Look for further news on this story in the next several months.

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Summer Inventory Increases on Mt. Hood

Tuesday, July 16, 2013
by Liz Warren

Inventory soared with 33 new properties for the Mt. Hood market this June! Pending sales are up 83% over June's 2012 sales. And total pending sales are up about 6% from last year at this time. What a difference an upturn makes. Not a large number of sales closed though with five total.

How about some sales stats for the year?

61 total sales as of today. Pricing points are as follows:

<$200,000   35 Sales

$200,000-$300,000  14 sales

$300,000-$400,000   8 sales

>$400,000   4 sales

 

RMLS chart for June 2013

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Displaying blog entries 571-580 of 783

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