New Home Sales Edge Up!
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The modest housing market winning streak continued as the Census Bureau reported Friday that sales of new homes rose again in November to an annualized rate of 315,000.
That was up 1.6% compared with the revised October rate of 310,000 and 9.8% higher than November 2010.
The good news followed other recent positive industry reports. November sales of existing homes rose 12% year-over-year; homebuilding spiked nearly 21% compared with 12 months ago; and mortgage rates hit record lows this week.
The sales hike was in line with expectations: The forecast from Briefing.com was for a 315,000 annualized rate.
The median price for a new home was $214,100 in November. Inventory shrank to 158,000 units, a 6-month supply at the current sales rate.
New homes sales are particularly important because they have a large impact on the overall economy, said Bob Denk, senior economist with the National Association of Home Builders.
"Inventories of new homes are very low: There's nothing on the shelf, so any increase in new home sales will translate directly into new housing starts," he said. "That means putting people back to work."
Residential housing construction has been a missing link in the slow economic recovery. Denk described conditions as still slow but "generating momentum." He expects steady but modest improvement through 2112 with a more robust recovery coming in 2013.
Reduce, reuse...
REDUCE, REUSE...
Not sure what to do with old holiday lights and Christmas trees? Below are helpful tips on what to do:
Tree-Cycling
Most cities have curbside tree recycling or a Boy Scout Troop in the area that will take trees for a small donation. Contact your city or local boy scout troop for locations and more information:
www.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste
www.co.pierce.wa.us/treecycle
www.co.snohomish.wa.us
Holiday Lights
McLendon�s Hardware
Whole Foods
Southcenter Mall
Bellevue Square
Alderwood Mall
Northgate Mall
Tacoma Mall
Toys
Think about taking some of your children�s gently used toys and donating them to a charity after the holidays. It�s a great way to teach your children the importance of giving. For each gift they receive let them select one toy to donate. Remember, donated items are a tax write-off so save the receipt.
Gift Cards
Every now and then you might get a gift card to a store or restaurant that is not your favorite. Below are ways to put them to work for you:
Exchange or sell:
www.plasticjungle.com
www.giftcardrescue.com
www.cardpool.com
www.cardavenue.com
Donate to charity:
www.plasticjungle.com
Winterize Your Home!!
10 ways to winterize your home
Check smoke detectors:
1. Don't neglect that smoke detector any longer! Take some time right now to check the operation of detectors, and to change the batteries. If you have an older house with a limited number of smoke detectors, install additional ones at each sleeping room, and make sure there is one centrally located on each level of the home as well.
Install a carbon-monoxide detector:
2. As houses get closed up for winter, the chances of carbon-monoxide poisoning from malfunctioning gas appliances increases substantially. If you have a furnace, fireplace, water heater or other appliance that's fueled by propane or natural gas, or if you have an attached garage, install a carbon-monoxide detector. They're available inexpensively from many home centers and other retailers, and offer easy, plug-in installation.
Service your heating system:
3. Perform a complete system check of your furnace annually,
either by yourself or by a trained furnace technician. Check for worn belts, lubrication needs or other servicing that might be required; refer to your owner's manual for specific suggestions, and follow any manufacturer safety instructions for shutting the power and fuel to the furnace before servicing. Check the condition of duct joints and insulation, and of course change the filter.
Upgrade your thermostat:
4. An older thermostat that's a couple of degrees off can result in a lot of wasted energy, and so can forgetting to lower the thermostat at night. You can take care of both of those problems with an upgrade to a programmable thermostat. They are digital and typically very accurate, and they allow for easy, set-and-forget programming of temperatures for different times of the day, including energy-saving nighttime and workday setbacks.
Trim trees:
5. Trees that are overhanging your home can be a real hazard. They can deposit debris on your roof, scrape against shingles during wind storms and, worst of all, snap off with potentially devastating results. Have a professional tree-trimming service inspect the condition of overhanging tree limbs, and safely cut them back as needed.
Check the gutters:
6. Clear the gutters of leaf and pine-needle debris, and check that the opening between the gutter and the downspout is unobstructed. Look for loose joints or other structural problems with the system, and repair them as needed using pop rivets. Use a gutter sealant to seal any connections where leaks may be occurring.
Break out the caulk:
7. A few hours and a few tubes of caulking can make a big difference in both your heating bills and your comfort levels this winter. Caulk around windows, doors, pipes, exterior electrical outlets, and any other exterior penetrations where cold air might enter. Use a good grade of acrylic latex caulk, either in a paintable white or, if you don't want to paint, use clear.
Drain sprinkler systems:
8. In colder areas, now is the time to be thinking about having your sprinkler and irrigation systems blown out. You can rent a compressor and do this yourself, or contact a landscape or irrigation-system installer and have them handle this for you. This is also the time to shut off outdoor faucets and install freeze-proof faucet covers.
Adjust exterior grade:
9. Fall is a great time to look at the grade around your home, and make sure that everything slopes away from your foundation to avoid costly problems with groundwater. Add, remove or adjust soil grades as necessary for good drainage.
Change light timers:
10. If you have exterior lights controlled by timers, including low-voltage ones, check the timer settings. Change the "on" times to an earlier hour to reflect the winter darkness.
Local Happenings!
N O V E M B E R
24 Fantasy Lights - Spanawaythru January 1
www.piercecountywa.org
25 Tree Lighting & Parade
www.seattle-downtown.com
25 The Nutcracker
Pacific NW Ballet Co
Seattle thru December 27
www.pnb.org
25 Tree Lighting Celebration
and Holiday Parade
Westlake Center
www.seattlecenter.com
25 Zoo Lights - Tacoma
thru January 1 www.pdza.org
25-27 Christkindlmarkt
Leavenworth
christkindlmarktleavenworth.com
26 Holiday Tree Lighting
Tacoma
www.broadwaycenter.org
26 Garden d’Lights
Bellevue Botanical Gardens
thru December 31
www.gardendlights.org
27 Seattle Marathon &
Half Marathon
www.seattle-downtown.com
30 Victorian Country Christmas
Puyallup thru December 4
avictoriancountrychristmas.com
D E C E M B E R
1-28 Stanwood Lights of Christmas
www.snohomish.org
1-30 Issaquah Reindeer Festival
Cougar Mountain Zoo
www.cougarmountainzoo.org
11/26 Seattle Men’s Chorus: Cool Yule
Seattle thru December 12
www.flyinghouse.org
2 Lakewood Tree Lighting Festival
www.cityoflakewood.us
2 Mercer Island Tree Lighting
www.mercergov.org
206-275-7864
2 Mountlake Terrace Tree Lighting
www.cityofmlt.com
2-4 Vashon Island Winterfest
www.vashonchamber.com
2-18 Leavenworth’s Christmas Festival
www.leavenworth.org
509-548-5807
3 Arlington Hometown Holidays
www.ci.arlington.wa.us
3 Auburn Santa Parade &
Tree Lighting
www.ci.auburn.wa.us
253-931-3043
3 Country Village Tree Lighting
Bothell
www.countryvillagebothell.com
3 Burien Winterfest
www.burienwa.gov
206-433-2882
3 Federal Way Jingle Bell Brunch
www.cityoffederalway.com
3 Gig Harbor Tree Lighting
www.gigharborguide.com
3 Lake Stevens Dickens Fair
www.snohomish.org
425-335-1500
3 Merrysville for the Holidays
www.ci.marysville.wa.us
3 Mill Creek Tree Lighting & Parade
www.cityofmillcreek.com
3 Mukilteo Tree Lighting
www.mukilteochamber.org
3 Redmond Lights Winter Festival
www.redmondlights.com
3 Renton Holiday Tree Lighting
www.piazzarenton.com
7 Maple Valley Holiday Lighting
www.ci.maple-valley.wa.us
10 Kent Christmas Fun Run & Walk
www.ci.kent.wa.us
253-856-5050
10-21 The Nutcracker
Tacoma City Ballet
www.broadwaycenter.org
17 Puyallup Breakfast with Santa
www.cityofpuyallup.org
18 Home for Hanukkah Celebration
Seattle
www.sjcc.org
206-232-7115 ext 269
21 Everett Wintertide
www.everettwa.org
31 New Year’s Eve - Seattle
www.spaceneedle.com
For additional events, please visit your local Chamber of Commerce
.
Windermere Foundation Rocks!
I am so proud to be the Windermere Foundation Representative for my office. Yesterday all the Windermere Eastside (of Seattle) Foundation Representatives met and reviewed grant requests from many wonderful Eastside Charities. We focus on charities that deal with families facing homelessness and in financial crisis. And clearly, this is a bigger issue than ever before for most of us.
With so many great charities in front of us and with many of us also having personal involvement with these charities, we had some tough decisions. Do you give to a camp for abused kids or do you give that money to help more families that are homeless? Do you give to charities doing amazing work, but with huge budgets and donations coming in or take care of the little guys? Many debates and opinions on where to give out our money.
Did you know a big portion of our money comes from agents commissions? Out of every real estate transaction, a contribution is made to Windermere Foundation. Those funds are kept in the area the agent serves. So, all the contributions from agents on the Eastside are kept on the Eastside of Seattle.
So, where did we give our money yesterday?
Kirkland Interfaith Transition In Housing 31,500
Eastside Baby Corner 17,000
Housing at the Crossroads 16,000
Operation School Bell (Assistance League of the Eastside) 15,000
Mama’s Hands 11,000
Bellevue Lifespring (Formerly Overlake Service League) 8,500
Friends of Youth 8,500
Harrington House 6,500
Eastside Domestic Violence 5,000
Royal Family Kids Camp 3,000
Total For 2011 $122,000 I know other Real Estate Companies have foundations, but many of them use that money to promote the company and be sponsors of fundraisers. Less than 2% of our money is admin, the rest goes straight to the charities. There are many reasons I am proud to be a Windermere Agent and this is just one of them! I love a company that takes care of it’s community and gives back.
5 Credit Myths- Busted!
inaccurate beliefs run wild and free through our mental real estate. Most of the time, there�s no harm; following finance fundamentals like paying every bill on time, every time, keep us out of credit danger zones. But when it�s approaching the time to buy, refi or even rent a home, relatively small credit score differences can stop you from getting your dream home, and can cost (or save) you thousands of dollars in interest over the life of your loan.
If you�re at a time in your life where it makes sense to invest some time and effort into optimizing your credit score, here are five common credit myths we�d like to help you bust without further ado:
Myth #1: Having lots of cash, a great income, or tons of equity, makes your FICO score less relevant.
Fact: No matter how much cash you have, if you want a mortgage, you must meet the lender�s FICO score guidelines. Of course, if you�re flush with cash, it should be relatively easy to make your monthly payments on time. But if you have come into cash relatively recently or you�re coming off a rough financial patch, lenders don�t not look at your credit score on the theory that your other assets diminish your credit riskiness. Most lenders want nothing more than to avoid having to foreclose on a home, even if the homeowner has other assets.
And the best predictor of whether you�ll default on a loan in the future is how you�ve handled your credit in the past, so your credit score will drive whether you qualify for a home loan and what interest rate you�re charged, no matter how much you make.
Two exceptions: if you buy a home with all cash, or take a hard money loan, which usually requires a much larger-than-average down payment and interest rate, you might be able to bypass credit score scrutiny, but you�ll pay for it.
Myth #2: Having no debt or no late payments means you have great credit.
Fact: Financial responsibility and good credit are two different things. Your FICO score is meant to be a measure of your responsibility when it comes to managing debt, as proven by the fact that you have credit accounts, use them regularly and don�t abuse them.
Having no credit accounts or debts doesn�t give you good credit - it gives you no credit. And on the other end of the credit usage spectrum, being maxed out on various credit accounts all the time, submitting lots of credit applications and other credit moves that indicate you may abuse your credit can actually depress your score. Best practice is to have several credit accounts (student and car loans count!) that you actively and responsibly use on a monthly basis.
Tip: FICO gives a top score to accounts with balances that are 30 percent of the credit limit, so if you can keep your credit card or loan account balances at or around that mark, even better.
Myth #3: Checking your own credit score in advance prevents surprises when you apply for a mortgage.
Fact: Your mortgage originator (broker or banker) must pull their own version of your report from their own provider, and it might have a very different score, rating scale or even different line items than the free or paid report you pulled online. This is why it�s imperative to start working with a mortgage professional as early as possible - a year in advance is not overkill - so you can detect any errors or issues and get their recommended fix in the works with plenty of lead time.
Myth #4: If you�ve had a foreclosure or short sale, your credit report will be damaged for 7 years.
Fact: Derogatory credit items, like late mortgage payments, foreclosures and short sales, appear on your credit report for 7 years, but your credit score can be rehabilitated enough to buy a home or obtain other credit in less time, depending on your circumstances. Your post-short sale or foreclosure waiting period depends on a number of things, including what type of loan you�ll be seeking to buy your next home with, how much cash you�ll have to put down and whether there were any extenuating circumstances involved in losing your home in the first place; some loans allow for an immediate purchase, others require a waiting period of 2, 4 5 or even 7 years after the loss of a home.
Of course, your FICO score is also a key criteria in a post-home loss �buy,� but interestingly enough, the length of time it takes to get your FICO score back up depends on how high it was beforehand. Earlier this year, the New York Times reported that it would take a consumer with a 680 FICO score three years after a foreclosure to bring their score back to that level, while it might take someone with a 780 FICO score (near-perfect) seven years for full score recovery.
And keep in mind that as your foreclosure or short sale ages, its impact on your score will decrease, too.
Myth #5: Short sales have much less impact on your credit score than foreclosures.
Fact: Hear ye, hear ye - short sales and foreclosures have the same impact on your credit score, according to the FICO folks themselves. (The only exceptions are for short sales or deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure where the property was not upside down, which are few and far between, if they�re not just a real estate urban legend!)
