Who are you working with ?????

The biggest financial decision most of us will ever make and do we treat it that way? If you are selling or buying have you done some homework? Some questions you should be asking yourself or your prospective representative:

- Is the agent you're using experienced? how much business have they done? are they familiar with the different types of financing,technologies, laws, that it takes to sell your property and avoid pitfalls, do they know how to negotiate?

- are they working in your best interest? is your goal to sell as quick as possible or to maximize your net value of your property, not everyone wants or needs to sell in 3 days- is the agent low balling you or  overpricing you to get the listing? are they explaining the difference between a full service listing and cut rate commission listing

- are you dealing with the person you think you are hiring or are you dealing with an assistant, are you dealing with someone who does real estate full time - do they have a "real job" somewhere else.

- what are the hours of availability, what systems do they have backing them up to answer client calls, have information available to clients both the techie and the traditional client.

- do they recognize a qualified offer? do they have a network of lenders, title, attorneys, inspectors, maintenance people that they know they can trust when they are told looks good should be good for settlement

ask yourself if you've asked these questions

where's our recovery?

had a client say to me where is our recovery? and I am sure a lot of people in ?York county are asking the same thing. Remember if you are from York we were always slow and reliable didn't have the big swings either way - then we finally did, and people are conservative so they are cautious about the market. I hear "well I am waiting to see if my job is stable" or "how are prices going to be affected by Obamacare, everything else is going up will I be able to afford my payment" but we are seeing the signs still - prices seem to have stabilized, the wild sale prices of foreclosures and short sales has calmed, property prices beyond stabilizing have even started to go up in some segments. rates are low, financing is not as hard as some people expect. it is a great opportunity

You are in time

Yes you may have missed the lowest rates ever- but don't make the mistake worse- rates are still really low- you may not sell your house for as much as you may have several years back but prices have stabilized it appears and you wont be paying as much for what you are buying.  house are selling , rates WILL go up, this may be the opportunity to get that house you thought you couldn't get.

are you going to miss out?

Don't get me wrong rates are still unbelievably low but - they have gone up government loans are now in the mid to upper 3's where they were upper 2's low 3's and conventional which were in the 3's are now in the 4's - it doesn't make that big a difference in payment but sooner or later it will. As I have said in early posts we are cautiously seeing improvement but its a fragile recovery. 

listings

spring has sprung and so has the inventory - some great listings on the market, looks like prices have finally bottomed out we are seeing some actual appreciation in the market, appraisals are coming in at higher prices, interest rates have gone back down to the lows they had gone up a little but have settled back in. A great time to buy or sell

Change

The Sold Team has officially become the Sold Team of Prudential Bob Yost Home Sale Services. After a really long time under the Century 21 Banner we decided looking at available tools, direction of the company, market share etc. it was the place to be!! Same great people, location, services, contact information, experience, but with a lot more tools, and staff to do what we do better than anyone else. We look forward to the rewards of this change and the enhanced services we will be able to offer.

Warm up

Well the weather is set to warm up, even though right now the weatherman is calling for 3-9 inches of snow, but with the warmth comes the market.  we are seeing properties that have been on the market for a while going under agreement, and short sales and foreclosures are starting to become less prevalent, Rates are still holding and despite all of the experts rates are going up somewhat but they are still unbelievably low, while I don't think we will see the craziness again homes are selling, and the market is improving, if Washington will stay out of the way.  Quality is back in style, optimistically looking forward.

what are you still waiting for?

OK the super bowl is over, excuse 1 gone, weather pretty good, excuse 2 gone, Rates lowest our lifetime, excuse 3 gone. Not sure whats going on? Well there is a lot of misinformation out there - there are some rules to getting a mortgage but it is not the root canal people think it is. Got a job? saved any money, not a lot but some? paid your bills on time? guess what you probably can get a mortgage and at the rates out there for way less than rent and you can lock it in for a long time- cheap money.... and there are still programs to help people buy and prices have stabilized so don't think they will go much lower if at all - excuse 4 gone........