Independent Real Estate Market Forecasts

How about some good news!! Those of us that have grown up in Montana know that we don't follow the National trends as much as other parts of the country. We are tough and we are positive and now it is showing through in the Indpendent Real Estate Market Forecast. Here is the link so you can read the article; http://www.housingpredictor.com/montana.html.

Yes the market is slow but we are not seeing the negative appreciation that other parts of the country are. Now that we are through the 1st Quarter and hopefully spring is not to far away things are starting to pick up. If you are thinking of selling your house this spring, now is a good time to get it on the market.

Reverse Mortgage Information from Wells Fargo

I have had a lot of my clients ask me about the Reverse Mortgages, so I invited Kathy Earle a Reverse Mortgage Consultant with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage to our Business Meeting at our Missoula office to explain all of it to us. She provided us with a lot of useful information and provided us with this link so I could share it with all of you. If you want to learn more about Reverse Mortgages here is some information for you; https://www.wellsfargo.com/mortgage/refinance/learn/reverse

There is a lot of useful information on the website. If you have any further please feel free to give me a call and I will do my best to find answers.

Pay Off Mortage Sooner to Save

Did you know that you can pay your mortgage off years sooner simply by changing your payment period from monthly to weekly, and save yourself thousands of dollars in interest in the process?

What’s more, most financial institutions and mortgage lenders will let you make the change in just a few minutes of your time. This is just one of several mortgage tips that I can offer you. Wouldn’t you like to pay your mortgage off quickly and free your money to use on some of the other things in life?

If this seems like a good move for you, then why not call today, and find out how I can help you with creative financing solutions you may never have considered.

First Time HomeBuyers Tax Credit

Do You Know Someone that would benefit from this Tax Credit?

Overview

The Economic Stimulus Bill signed by President Obama in February offers first-time homebuyers a tax credit equal to 10% of the cost of their home up to $8,000. This tax credit is available to first-time homebuyers who purchase a home in the United States as their principal residence on or after January 1, 2009, and on or before November 30, 2009.
To qualify as a first-time homebuyer, you cannot have owned an interest in a principal residence in the past three years from the date of the qualifying purchase.
To qualify for the full amount of the tax credit, you must earn no more than $75,000 if filing as Single or Head of Household. If filing a joint return, the buyers may have a combined income of no more than $150,000. There is a phase out of the credit if reported income is more than $75,000.
The tax credit must be taken as a credit from your total tax liability for the 2008 or 2009 tax year. Also, the tax credit is "refundable," meaning that the taxpayer can receive a tax refund if the credit is greater than the estimated liability.
This credit does NOT have to be repaid, making the tax credit a fantastic opportunity that anyone considering becoming a first-time homebuyer cannot afford to miss.
Further information can be found at www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com or www.irs.gov. This information is provided for general awareness only, and is not intended for the purpose of providing legal, accounting, tax advice or consulting of any kind. Please consult with your tax professional for complete details.

Bitterrot Market Update

We are starting to see more activity going on in the market place as we get closer to spring and warmer weather. (It's close!!)

Our residential inventory in the Bitterroot MLS is down 20% from a year ago and that is a good thing. As we clear out some of this inventory we will see our prices stabilize. We are also seeing more pendings at this time of year compared to a year ago, but our closings are still way down.

The new First Time HomeBuyers Tax Credit should help our market, especially when those buyers get educated about the $8,000 tax credit (that is no longer a loan). If you know a first time homebuyer have them give us a call, as it is a great time to buy with low interest rates, great prices on homes and the tax credit.

Watch for news of our up and coming First Time HomeBuyer Seminar.

Premier Service Diamond Award Winner

Greater Montana GMAC Real Estate joins a select group of real estate professionals nationwide recognized for providing incredibly high levels of customer service to their clients. “With our Premier Service program, buyers and sellers are asked to complete a survey evaluating the service they received. Once completed, the surveys are tabulated by an independent research firm and the results detail how we did.”

To qualify to become a Premier Service Diamond winner, Greater Montana GMAC Real Estate had to receive a minimum 95% customer satisfaction rating based upon at least thirty returned surveys and maintain a minimum survey return rate of 30 percent. Greater Montana GMAC Real Estate's customer satisfaction rating is, 97.5%.