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June 11, 2009
Mortgage News Update

Fannie Mae changed the rules for condo purchases. 70% of new projects (new construction) must be sold in order to qualify the unit as a Fannie Mae project. In past years, 51% of the units had to be under contract. Fannie Mae has tightened the guidelines due to the prevention of further loss of revenue from these projects. If 70% of the new projects are not sold, financing has to come from other sources.

Recently, the warehouse lending has become more difficult. In 2003, at the height of the mortgage industry, more than 50% of the Mortgage Business was originated by Mortgage Brokers. Currently, about 16% of the business comes from Mortgage Brokers. A huge amount of Mortgage Brokers recently left the business. It has become even more difficult for them to be in business, largely due to government regulations.

Today, Mortgage  Brokers still in the business are more qualified and have to mork much harder to stay qualified. Also, it is a challenge to stay tuned with the constant changing of the rules. Mortgage Banking is another option for originating a loan. In those cases, the loans come from the bank so the client buying the home still has several choices. It is just the view on the inside of the industry that looks very different.

The good news is home buying affordability is way up. When one considers the price of homes being very low, interest rates historically low and the $8,000 first-time home buyers tax credit make it an incredible time to buy a home. What an incredible opportunity.

In terms of what is going on in the Mortgage Industry, the pendulum has definitely shifted from the philosophy of "everyone should be getting a loan" to "people must be qualified to buy a house".


May 29, 2009
The Median Home Price in Louisville Dropped

The median home price for April 2009 was $124,000. "The median" is a term describing the half way price point. So, half of the homes sold in April were below $124,000 and half sold were above that amount. It is actually a pretty good measurement to determine how overall home prices are doing relative to another time in history.

For example, the median home price fell 6% from a year ago. That means home values generally dropped. Although, this seems like tough news, The National Association of Realtors said that it fell 13.8% nationally.

It is also interesting that the amount of homes sold in April was also down 22%. What that means to those of us selling our homes, is that we have to become even more aggressive on our price if we want our house to sell.


May 05, 2009
The Incredible Tax Benefits of Home Ownership

A stunning revelation of the advantages of home ownershup was published by Robert D. Dietz, Ph.D. in an article he published March 27th entitled The Tax Benefits of Home Ownership.

Dr.. Dietz ran the numbers and discovered that, "a househould with $80,000 in annual income who obtains a $200,000 mortgage will save on average $1,765 in the first year of home ownership. By the end of the fifth year of homeownership, the household will save on average $8,607 on taxes, and this amount grows to $19,488 by the end of the average period of ownership - twelve years. This stylized homeowner can expect to save $21,650 in capital gains taxation, yielding a total benefit of $41,138 over the expected period of homeownership."

He also "provides variants of these calculations if the analysis allows the homeowner's income to increase with their age and labor market experience. For example, the five year tax savings for this homeowner increases to $9,723."

His findings go on to calculate "how the numbers are increased by the existence of the temporary $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. In the case illustrated above, the five year tax savings estimate increases 82% from $9,723 to $17,723."

The tax advantages for home owners are staggering. The deductibility of mortgage interest, deductibility of real estate taxes and capital gains exclusions for principle residences create unreal tax savings. Homes are and will continue to be a strong vehicle for helping us create wealth in our lives.

This paper has been made public as a courtesy of HousingEconomics.com


April 15, 2009
Perry and Lynn Thomas took 340 Students to Bible and Beach in Panama City Beach, Florida

Perry and Lynn arrived in Panama City Beach, Florida on Friday March 27th. They were there to set up for the arrival of 340 High School students to Bible and Beach 2009. The students came from Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

Once the students arrived, the stage was set for some amazing biblical teaching from Mark Moore of Ozark Christian College. Matt Bayless from Northside Christian Church led some incredible times of worship. During the week, everyone studied the book of Exodus.

Fun was a major component of the week. The students participated in volleyball tournaments, flag football games, sandcastle building, square dancing and a talent show. Pictures of the event can be found at www.bibleandbeach.com

It truly was an amazing time to see what God was doing with his High School Students.  A dozen studentswere baptized in the ocean; two of whom rededicated their lives to the Lord. Over forty students made a decision to make a 180 degree U-turn to get their lives back on track.

Nearly every student that went to Florida made a dramatic commitment to radically change something in their life and their community to bring Glory to God. Perry and Lynn really are grateful for the opportunity to be apart of it as it happened. Given the opportunity, they would go to Bible and Beach all over again.


March 26, 2009
Keller Williams Louisville East Is The 10th Largest Real Estate Company In Louisville, Kentucky

In the March issue of Business First Magazine, all of the real estate firms in Louisville were ranked according to how many sales each office made in 2008. Here is that ranking:

       1. Semonin Realtors
       2. Remax Properties East
       3. Century 21 Realty Group Cos.
       4. Re/Max Associates
       5. Coldwell Banker McMahan Co.
       6. Schuler Bauer Real Estate Services
       7. Re/Max 100 Inc.
       8. Re/Max Alliance
       9. ERA Kepple Keene Realtors
      10. Keller Williams Realty Louisville East

It is absolutely amazing to consider a real estate office opening in an extremely competitive marketplace and within one year taking the number ten spot in that marketplace. Especially, since it did not open until March 2008.

The phenomenal growth is due in large part to the culture of the office. The marketcenter is agent centric. One of the primary focuses is on educating and equipping the individual agents to exceed to the highest levels in their businesses. Uniquely, the agents train eachother. It's not a staff person assigned to training agents. A spirit of collaboration is formed when agents share what they know and grow stronger as a result.

It is reflected in an abundance philosophy that is shared among teh agents. The feeling is there is enough real estate buisness for everyone, even during times of scarcity. That atmosphere creates an energy that helps the agents succeed even more. It becomes infectious and causes the office to grow in both the amount of agents in the office and their individual production.


March 18, 2009
Home Sales In The United States Are Up This Year By 6.5%

There is a 6.5% national rise in home sales since November in 2008. This increase is driven largely by 4 states that experienced some of the biggest price declines in 2008. Home sales in California are up 84.7%, Nevada is up 133.7%, Arizona is up 42.6% and Florida is up 12.5%. The biggest reason for most of this new activity is because of distressed home sales, foreclosures and short sales.

It would appear that lower interest rates and lower home prices are attracting home buyers to Markets like California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada. Could it be the states that brought us into the market downturn could be the ones who lead us out of it?

Comparing home prices in 2008 to 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors, California was down 26.9%, Nevada was down 22.8%, Arizona was down 19% and Florida was down 18.2%.

The states with the biggest price drops in 2008 are the same states that saw the biggest increases in home sales this year. With home sales on the rise 6.5% nationally, home prices low and mortgage rates at a low not seen since 1969, now is an incredible time to buy a home.


March 17, 2009

There is a 6.5% national rise in home sales since November in 2008. This increase is driven largely by 4 states that experienced some of the biggest price declines in 2008. Home sales in California are up 84.7%, Nevada is up 133.7%, Arizona is up 42.6% and Florida is up 12.5%. The biggest reason for most of this new activity is because of distressed home sales, foreclosures and short sales.
 

It would appear that lower interest rates and lower home prices are attracting home buyers to Markets like California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada. Could it be the states that brought us into the market downturn could be the ones who lead us out of it?

Comparing home prices in 2008 to 2007, according to the National Assosiation of Realtors, California was down 26.9%, Nevada was down 22.8%, Arizona was down 19% and Florida was down 18.2%.
 

The states with the biggest price drops in 2008 are the same states that saw the biggest increases in home sales this year. With home sales on the rise .5% nationally, home prices low and mortgage rates at a low not seen since 1969, now is an incredible time to buy a home.


March 11, 2009
What The 2009 Tax Credit Is And How It Works

In February 2009, Congress expanded the first-time homebuyer tax credit (as modified in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) to provide a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first time home buyers that no longer has to be paid back to the government. It's called the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and this is fundamentally what it is:

• The Tax Credit is for first time home buyers only.
• The Tax Credit does not have to be repaid.
• The Tax Credit is equal to 10% of the home's purchase price, up to a maximum of $8,000.
• The Tax Credit is available for homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.
• The Tax Credit is available for single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000.

That is essentially it. If you have more questions about the plan, just visit the website where most of this information came from. It's www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com

This is an amazing time for the first time homeowner to purchase their first home. The price of most real estate is at a record low. Most everything is on sale. Interest rates are also low. 5% to 6% make already low priced real estate even more affordable. Now Congress has offered us $8,000 cash back on our taxes if we buy our first home in 2009. As the first-time homebuyer considers their first purchase, now is an incredible time to buy that first home.


March 6, 2009
Lynn and Perry went to Orlando last week and attended the annual Keller Williams Conference called Family Reunion.

Thousands of Keller Williams Agents from all over the Country and Canada filled up the Orange County Convention center in Orlando, Florida. Perry and Lynn met with old friends from all over the country and went to so many training classes. Perry said, "It's like trying to drink water from a fire hydrant; there is so much great information!"

Clint Swindall was the keynote speaker who explained when asking how someone is, rather than asking, "Hey how are you?" and getting an answer you way not want, try asking, "Tell me somethin' good!"

An incredible announcement was made during the state of the company event that Keller Williams bumped RE/MAX for the number 3 position in agent count in the United States. The current count is as follows: #1 Coldwell Banker 101,170 agents #2 Century 21 98,390 agents #3 Keller Williams 72,794 agents #4 RE/MAX 69,108 agents #5 Prudential 62,000 agents.

During a time when most real estate franchises are cutting back benefits for the agents, Keller Williams is adding more free training to everyone and unbelievably, affordable health care for their agents.

Perry and Lynn stayed two additional days in Orlando, Florida so Perry could swim in hte ocean at Coco Beach and go see Peter Pan and Tinkerbell at the Magic Kingdom.

On their drive home, Perry and Lynn were so inspired by the conference they couldn't wait to get home and omplement these phenomenal elements into their business. They feel challenged to give more time and energy to their staff and clients than they ever have before. The are off to not just survive, but to thrive in this current Louisville Real Estate Market.


February 28, 2009
The Update On What The Housing Portion Of The Stimulus Bill Is That Going Onto President Obama's Desk

Here is the best way to describe what the housing component of the stimulus portion of the bill includes. The loan limits of a buyer of a home will be raised from it's current amount to $727,000 in high cost areas. The tax credit will be raised from $7,500 to $8,000 with no requirement to pay it back. Currently, it's loan that has to be paid back. The current bill reads as a true credit. Also, the bill has over $50 Bollion in it for forclosure mitigation.

Good news for investors, Fannie has just agreed to lift the cap of 4 investment properties eligible for loans and raise it to 10.

The bill did not get a whole $15,000 credit. They dropped it back to $8,000.