New Telluride Colorado Real Estate Resource Now Online

A new Telluride, Colorado real estate website from leading area brokerage Village Real Estate, LLC has just gone online. The new site offers a wide array of features for homebuyers and sellers looking for in-depth, up-to-date information on the real estate market in the region.

Telluride, Colorado (PRWEB) January 10, 2012

Village Real Estate, LLC, one of the most prominentTelluride, Colorado real estate brokerages, recently announced the launch of their new website, TellurideVillageRealEstate.com. A new resource for homebuyers and sellers in the area, the site serves as a window into the diverse and dynamic real estate market of the Telluride region.

“We built our site because we wanted to provide online users with a reliable and easily accessible guide to the Telluride and Mountain Village real estate market,” says Jean Vatter, Village Real Estate’s managing broker. “Most homebuyers get their information from the internet these days, but we all know that not everything we find online is accurate or up-to-date—and when you’re dealing with something as important as a real estate sale or purchase, you definitely want to have access to information you can trust.”

“Through our new site, we hope that anyone interested in properties in the area—whether it’s a ski-in/ski-out condo, a golf course home or fractional real estate—will gain a better understanding of what’s available here,” adds Janice Gerona, another member of the five-broker team that is Village Real Estate. “We have a particular expertise in Fairmont Heritage Place, Colorado real estate and we can tell you more about the various real estate and lifestyle options in The Fairmont Heritage Place, Franz Klammer Lodge.”

The team’s new site not only boasts extensive information about Franz Klammer Lodge, it also has a fully customizable property search tool, detailed listings of their own featured properties, real estate news updates and more. It also offers access to their monthly newsletter, which provides insights on the region’s real estate market and what life is like in Mountain Village and Telluride.

For more information on currently available properties and to learn more about the services of Village Real Estate, LLC, visit their site at TellurideVillageRealEstate.com or schedule a consultation with the team today.

December Real Estate Data Show Positive Signs

December 2011 statistics released by theNorthwest Multiple Listing Service offer positive signs for a gradual rebound of the housing market. Many factors have contributed to the positive outlook expressed by many industry leaders.

Even with the all-time low interest rates, buyers have been skeptical about venturing into the market. However, many areas are not only seeing an upsurge in sales, but also multiple offers in some price ranges. This is likely due to a mix of new laws that help homeowners delay or prevent foreclosure, new financing options, faster acceptance by many lenders on offers on short sales, hiring by companies such as Boeing, and shrinking inventory.

However, the overall sales price is down 11.8 percent and distressed properties still account for one third of the sales.

O.B. Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate, stated in an article of the Northwest Reporter that he believes the market has undergone a shift.

"Where we've been during the past year is a place of transition. It has been a slow recovery, but the housing market has finally turned a corner, albeit a soft one with some bumps along the way," he said.

While December statistics offer hope for a transition into a better market, we are still facing an uphill battle in a volatile economy. Only time will tell if the decrease in inventory is the result of sellers waiting until after the holidays to list their homes or if sellers are frustrated by the decrease in home values and deciding to wait. The volume of distressed properties must decrease to stop the downward flow of property values.

According to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service figures for King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties, there has been an overall 20 percent increase in pending sales. Last month's pending volume exceeded the number of new listings (4,604) for the second consecutive month. The last time such an imbalance occurred was November 2006. 

Closed sales also outgained year-ago totals. December's completed transactions were up 7 percent from twelve months ago, rising from 4,430 closings to 4,741.

King County saw new listings for the month of December fall from 1,891 in 2010 to 1,552 in 2011. Total year new listings dropped 7,000 from 45,182 to 36,198. Pending sales were up 8 percent over the year. Closed sales were up 10 percent but prices fell 9 percent.

New construction starts in 2011 dipped 1,000 below 2010 numbers with an average listing price decreased 9.5 percent.

On the Eastside, inventory fell 24 percent. Pending sales are up 8 percent and closed sales are up 12 percent from last year’s figures. Market time decreased by 10 percent to 95 days. The median list price fell 4 percent but closed sale price dipped an additional 7 percent. Condominiums followed a close pattern.

This all bodes well for the housing market, but only a continuation of these results will bring certainty to the market. Statistics are released on a monthly schedule. In the coming months we can chart those statistics and hopefully see a consistent gradual improvement.

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Joan Probala is the managing broker for Issaquah Windermere and has 30 years of experience in real estate, construction and sales. She is president-elect (2012) of the Seattle King County Association of Realtors.

4 Best Real Estate Moves

 (Shutterstock.com)

(MoneyWatch)  

Ever since the housing market collapsed five years ago, buyers, sellers and investors have been climbing their way out of the rubble. Things have improved a little, but it's clear we're not there yet.

Housing market predictions for 2012

Real estate trends: College town real estate

Your 2012 winter home maintenance checklist

Even so, there are signs of hope. Existing home sales are up by a large margin compared with the close of 2010. And for those with the cash, credit, and determination, there has never been a better time to buy a home or apply for a mortgage or refinance.

Mortgage interest rates are at all-time lows, hovering at or under 4 percent for a 30-year fixed loan. Last Thursday, Freddie Mac reported that mortgage interest rates matched the all-time low.

With some careful planning, a little research and a lot of persistence, you can avoid housing market misery in 2012, and come out on top.

Here are four best real estate moves you'll want to make this year:

1. Surround yourself with experts

No matter your goal - a first home, a refinance, reverse mortgage or the purchase of an investment property - you will need a little help from qualified professionals who can help you navigate the rough real estate waters.

Having a good experience starts with hiring someone who has been around this block many times before. So find yourself a very experienced real estate agent who can list your property or help you find the right new home.

But you'll also need to secure the services of trusted experts who can help you seal the deal. Look for a great mortgage lender, real estate attorney (especially if you're buying a foreclosure or short sale or are selling in a short situation), home inspector and tax advisor (for real estate investors).

Putting together the right team can go a long way toward helping you make sound real estate decisions in the coming year.

2. Know your credit score

As I suggested above, even those with a healthy credit profile can find securing a loan challenging in 2012. The wild days of mortgage lending, where everyone with a pulse got a loan, are over. Lenders are extremely (and perhaps overly) cautious, and your credit score has become a more important tool than ever in deciding upon interest rates and terms.

Start by going online to AnnualCreditReport.com, which is the only site operated by the three credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). There, you can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies, as required under federal law. For an extra $9 or so, you can purchase a copy of your credit report.

Or, you can visit a number of websites that will provide a free or low-cost copy of your credit history and score. If you don't like what your credit history or score looks like, you can make the decision to simply put off buying or refinancing and instead work on fixing your credit.

The key thing is to know where you stand before you negotiate.

3. Manage your credit for the long haul

In today's mortgage market, a credit score of 780 or above is considered optimal. But you should be able to get a mortgage if you have at least a 720 credit score.

If you're not there yet, there are certainly a number of steps you can take. Obviously paying your bills on time and in full is a key part of the process, but you should also act now to correct any errors on your report. If you don't have any errors on your credit report, you'll want to work to pay down existing debt as quickly as possible and make sure you don't have too many open lines of credit. (For some suggestions on how to fix your credit history, check out some of my posts on theEquifax Finance Blog.

4. Not all loans are created equal

It may be tempting to sign on the dotted line of the first lender who grants an approval, but don't. Consider that in many cases, a mortgage is going to be a 15 or 30-year commitment, and make sure you're comfortable with the terms for the long haul.

I suggest you talk to at least four or five lenders before making your decision. In addition, vary the type of creditors you're researching: A major bank, a local lender, a credit union, a mortgage broker and online options. Each of these will offer a variety of different loan programs, at different price points.

In 2012, if you want to make the best real estate moves, you'll have to arm yourself with information. In order to negotiate and secure the best deal, it is important to know what the competition will offer.

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Understanding credit ratings

When we approach a lending institution to borrow money, how does the lending institution know whether we are trustworthy or not? We might be able to assure them that we are… but can they take our word for it?

The lending institution is in the business of making money by lending money. They lend money to people who they think will pay it back and they charge a bit of interest which is their way of making money on the risk they've taken. But again, how do they know who will pay the money back?

That's where credit ratings come in. A credit rating – or "a credit score" – is derived from a big pile of information collected about us. There are three main credit scoring companies out there. They are private companies who get information about us from various sources. These credit reporting agencies use this information to give us a score. Every person has their own score.

Then, when we want to borrow money, we ask a lending institution for the money and they go to the credit reporting agency and find out what our score is. If we have a good score, the lender will give us money. If we have a bad score, the lender will either give us money but charge us a higher interest rate or they simply won't give us money at all.

So, it makes sense that we should work hard to improve our score. But how do we do that? Here are some tips:

1. Pay all bills in full. Don't leave any money outstanding on a bill. Pay it in full. Credit reporting agencies, and the lending institutions that use the scores, are going to want to know this information. After all, the lenders are considering lending us money and don’t you think they want to know if you pay your bills in full???
2. Pay all your bills on time. Don't be late. Don't wait until the last moment. Pay them on time. Again, lenders who are about to lend you money want to know that you are a conscientious borrower who happily meets your obligations.
3. Make sure you HAVE a credit history. A good score doesn't just occur because you don't own anybody anything. No. People get a good score because they've owed people money and they pay it back. Someone who doesn’t have any credit score at all isn't going to get much money loaned to them.
4. Watch your available credit. Available credit is how much money you CAN borrow. For example, if you have a maximum of $10,000 credit limit on your credit card, your available credit is $10,000. Lenders want to know this because they want to find the balance between what you earn and what your available credit is, If you have lots of available credit but a low income, they might be reluctant to lend you money. Some of the might be thinking: "If they go on a spending spree, they'll never be able to pay it all back."

Getting good credit is a strategic, time-consuming effort but it pays off if you want to borrow money.