About Lori Cofer Find my Pullman dream home What is my home worth? Help me relocate! Contact Lori Cofer

Buyers are still looking in our Pullman Washington real estate market. Although the tax credit is over, buyers are still looking.  And that is great news for sellers!

Flowers Say Buy Me!

Over the Memorial Day Weekend here in Pullman, we often set aside some time to do some outdoor yard work.  If you are selling your home, it is more important than ever to keep it looking great from the outside! You want the buyer to drive or walk by and "want" to see YOUR HOME!  And when the buyer wants to see your home...that is going to convert into that all important showing!

Here are just a few items you might want consider tackling over the weekend.

Mow and trim the grass.  A freshly cut yard lays the foundation for your curb appeal.  Especially with the grass so green as it is now early on  in the season. And the last few weeks have had lots of rain giving it a lovely lush green color.

Weed the flower beds and put in some flowers. Flowers draw the eye to the house and say, "buy me!"  Weeds send a different message. Are there weeds because you don't care...or maybe this yard takes too much effort.  That is not the message you want!

Now that you have some space in that flowerbed, put the fast growing annual to work for you! I recently showed a home to a buyer that the seller was working hard to get those flowers in. It looked great!  And the buyers noticed! And a fresh coat of bark not only looks great but smells fantastic!

Hose the house, driveway and walkways down. Cobwebs and dirt don't leave a very appealing impression. This one is often overlooked.   It is an easy and quick fix.

Get eyesores out of sight! Make sure the hoses and garbage cans are tucked out of sight. We don't want anything detracting from the star of the show, your home.

Come On In!

Put out some final touches at your entrance. Keep your entrance and your front door looking great.  If it needs paint or a new door knob get to it!  Also,  a new mat, a container of flowers, maybe an item of interest can go a long way.

I personally am showing homes over Memorial Day Weekend. Maybe I will see you out there showing the loving care that buyers in today's market in Pullman are looking for!

 

About the Author: The above piece was provided as a community service by Lori Cofer, a local Pullman  WA & Moscow Idaho Real Estate Agent. Lori can be reached via email at loricofer@yahoo.com or by phone at 509-330-0086.  Looking for Pullman Washington Real Estate or Moscow Idaho Real Estate?  Lori is happy to assist you in all your Pullman Washington Real Estate and Moscow Idaho Real Estate needs.  Lori is "Your Moscow Idaho Real Estate Connection"

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About Lori Cofer Find my Pullman dream home What is my home worth? Help me relocate! Contact Lori Cofer

 

Pullman WA Buyer Tips: Finding Your Dream Home

Buying a home is most certainly an exciting time!   And there is lots to do to successfully purchase that new home in Pullman.  Here are a few tried and true tips to begin that journey to your new home in Pullman Washington.
  

• Get connected.  Your Realtor has lots of connections to ease you through the buying process.  I personally preview homes in our Pullman Real Estate Market for you.  I also have a great tool box of great professionals that help us get the job done!

• Get pre-approved.  This is a very important step.  I know it isn't fun to go through the process, but it really isn't as painful as you may think! This way we can look at houses that are in your price range. And a pre-approval letter in hand makes the home searching process less stressful and loads more fun for you!  Even if you can't buy today, contacting a lender can take tons of time off the process.  They will have sound suggestions to speed up the process!

• Sign up for an auto-email system.  You have better things to do than surfing web site to web site.  Have all the listings come to you when they hit the market!  And know what the price reductions are when they happen!  If you would like to sign up for my auto-email system, you can sign up here.  No pressure.  No hassle.  I promise. I have clients ranging from those who are ready to buy to those who are getting ready to buy.  You might just want to get to know me a bit.  And that is OK too.  Feel free to read my blog and get to know me.  Or maybe become a fan of my facebook fan page.  Or email or call me.  I am here to help whenever you are ready!

Let me go to work for you to help you find that Pullman dream home! Let's get started!

 

 

If you have any questions about Pullman or the Pullman Real Estate Market I am here to help!  Feel free to use my my free Pullman WA MLS search...and you are welcome to sign up for automatic market notifications too!

 

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About the Author: The above piece was provided as a community service by Lori Cofer, a local Pullman Washingtion Real Estate Agent. Lori can be reached via email at loricofer@yahoo.com or by phone at 509-330-0086. Lori is happy to assist you in all your Pullman real estate and Moscow Idaho Real Estate needs. Lori is "Your Pullman Washingtion Real Estate Connection

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Here's the answer to a question we have all been asked.  "What's The Point?"

More to the point - What are "points" and who pays them?

A point is equal to one percent (1%) of a mortgage amount. For example, on a $120,000 mortgage, one point is $1,200.

Are there different types of points?

Customarily points are quoted as something plus one. For instance, a 10% interest rate with points of three plus one: The one point is a loan origination fee, which pays the cost of processing the mortgage; the three points are discount points.

What is the purpose of discount points?

Discount points are used to purchase a lower rate of interest over the life of a mortgage. For example, let's say that a house is selling for $100,000 and the mortgage is $80,000. There are two rates of interest quoted: 10% with points of two and one; 10.5% with points of Zero plus one. Principal and interest at 10% for thirty years on $80,000 is $702.06; at 10.5% it is $731.79. Thus for an up-front fee of $1,600 (s% of $80,000), the borrower will pay $29.73 less each month for thirty years.

Who decides what points are?

Points are determined by the return demanded by the final investor on a loan. In other words, investors place open market bids for mortgages at different interest rates.

Who pays these points?

Except in the case of VA loans, the issue of who pays discount points is negotiable between buyer and seller.

Why would a buyer pay points?

The obvious advantage to a buyer is the lower payment on a mortgage.

What are the advantages of the seller paying points?

There are a number of potential advantages to sellers in these cases:

• Some buyers do not have the funds to pay points themselves and cannot or will not qualify for a lower rate of interest.
• Lower payments qualify more buyers for property. This results in more potential buyers for a home, meaning possibly a higher selling price.
• Lower payments, which qualify more buyers, can result in a quicker sale.
• Points are customary in most real estate transactions. Some buyers will refuse to consider a property where the seller refuses to negotiate.

Down to the Point...

Points offer buyers and sellers more options. If a lender has mortgages available at 8%, ask yourself how that lender could or would lend money for the same terms at 7%. The lender can't. Points expand the ways that a real estate transaction can be completed.

Being a huge Active Rain fan, not to mention an Active Rain addict, I like so many of us found myself a bit lost when we as a community had our recent and thankfully forgotten problems as we moved the servers.

During that time I found myself really missing those Active Rainers who have become a daily part of my morning routine.  

 

I plain and simple missed my Active Rain friends.  So....I was drawn to facebook.. See, I was missing your face....

And as I did, I saw there were lots of Active Rainers on the face.  Now if you are like me, you are still finding your way around the face.

A recent video came across my path that many of you have seen that got me thinking and was the subject of a blog I wrote called Social Media Are You Here To Stay?   It shows the explosion of social media.   

 

We all understand the need for social media.  That is why Active Rain is central to so many of our businesses.

As we all know facebook is a mixed bag.  I thought it might be helpful to have a group that would help us as Active Rainer's join forces to help us in our facebook endeavor as well as a place to pass along tips, success stories, updates, etc...

I hope Facebook Fanatics will be a great place for us to learn, grow our businesses...and just have some fun. 

 

Join Facebook Fanatics here or click on the picture!

 

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Many in our town of Pullman Washington took advantage of the first time home buyer tax credit as well as the extended tax credit.

Pullman WA Tax Credit Running Out

The last few months have been extremely busy.  And the last few days proved no exception.  I was working from 7:00AM and finishing up around 9:00 PM to get those contracts signed around before the books were closed on April 30, 2010 and the tax credit.

Buyers were  out looking and buying.  The buyers that I have been helping  have certainly had an eye toward value and eye toward the future.  Many of these buyers are looking for homes that they can grow into for many years.  This is true both for first time buyers and existing buyers.

And sellers that were selling in our market were in the 170,000 to the 225,000 range.  And of those homes that sold were not only priced to sell but prepared to sell.  They were the homes folks could see themselves in for a long time.  They did not just buy to buy a home.

Those buyers who didn't find that perfect home have wisely decided to wait.  They just didn't feel they should buy a home just to buy. Are they still looking?  Only time will tell us that for sure.  I believe they will.  I am still getting inquiries about properties and to me that is a good sign.

Curb Appeal And Selling Your Pullman WA Home

What does this mean for you sellers that didn't sell you home?  Keep  positive and keep it show ready.  Take some fresh approaches.  Spring is now in full swing.   Now is a great time to spruce up your yard for some fresh pictures.   So...think spring....think curb appeal!

 

Click Here For Pullman Properties ~

About the Author: The above piece was provided as a community service by Lori Cofer, a local Pullman WA Real Estate Agent. Lori can be reached via email at loricofer@yahoo.com or by phone at 509-330-0086. Lori is happy to assist you in all your Pullman real estate and Moscow Idaho Real Estate needs. Lori is "Your Pullman WA Real Estate Connection

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