Low Interest Rates Green Tip Mark’s Minute Team Stodola’s...
Transcript of Low Interest Rates Green Tip Mark’s Minute Team Stodola’s...
Issue
SIX
Holy LOW RATES Batman!
location
in this issue >>>
current topics >>>
You’re Invited! Have you thought about a move?
Low Interest Rates
Investor’s Corner
Green Tip
Mark’s Minute
Y ou might have heard that mortgage rates were low, but it’s hard to figure out
exactly what that means to you. Here we’ll discuss exactly what that means to
people and how you might be able to capitalize on the historically low interest rates.
On the fourth page of the newsletter we always include an update with our upcoming Team Stodola Parties. Well this month we’re putting it out there in two places because we have an extended get-together set up at Austin’s in Libertyville on the 18th of November. Starting at five this will run until late because we’ve got space reserved so we can watch the Bears game that night. Food and drinks will be provided as always and since it’s our last event of 2010, we’ve got some special surprises as well. So come and join us next Thursday, and feel free to bring a friend! Austin’s is at 481 Peterson Road in Libertyville.
on A Monthly Insight into the Current Real Estate Market
First, let’s discuss current rates. For
someone who’s purchasing a home and
borrowing less than $417,000, putting
20% down, and has very good
credit, rates are about 4.125%.
What about the guy without
20% down and average credit?
Well if you’ve got 3.5% to put
down on a home and a credit
score of about 620 or above,
you can get an FHA loan for
about 4.25%. You’ll need to also purchase
mortgage insurance, but still these are in-
credible rates with just 3.5% down.
So what does 4.125% really mean to
you? This means that if you were to bor-
row $200,000 you’d have a mortgage pay-
ment of just $970 a month. This is what it
costs to borrow $160,000 at 6.125%. If
the last time you purchased your rate was
7% this same amount would cost you
$1,330 or $360 more each month!
You’re probably in one of three boats as
you sit there reading this (Mike said, hop-
ing people actually read this newsletter.)
One, you own and don’t plan to move.
That’s fine. I won’t make you move, but I
do want to make sure you’ve
checked into refinancing
recently. While rates to refi
are slightly higher it’s some-
thing to look into. Two, you
don’t own a home and don’t
plan to move. For you I ask, what are you
waiting for? Really...what? Call me now!
Third, you own and want to move but
your homes’ value has decreased below
what you paid and you’re not sure what to
do. This one’s easy. Call me and we can
discuss options. Your best option may be
to stay put for now, but we’ve worked with
dozens of people in the last few years who
thought they couldn’t move who are now
living in their new, beautiful homes.
Team Stodola’s >>>
www.1100LaurelLn.com
Fun, Dumb &
Inspiring Quotes
prematurely. They also are homes to insects and rodents.
While you’re up close and personal, check the walls and foundation for cracks or openings by vents, pipes etc...otherwise, mice and other lovely creatures may join you for the holidays.
If you use the fireplace, have a chim-neysweep clean and service it. Santa says ,“Thanks...ho, ho, ho.”
Remove hoses and turn off the faucets from the inside or else they could trap water and burst (trust me here!) If you have a second home, make sure to have it professionally winterized.
Investor’s corner >>>
A look at the LCPIA While it doesn’t exactly just roll off the tongue, the Lake County Property Investors
Association, or LCPIA, is the topic of this months’ Investor’s corner. This is an association
of real estate investors, vendors, property managers and all around extraordinaires who
meet monthly to discuss...you guessed it real estate in Lake County.
“I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-
fashioned way. I invited everyone in
the neighborhood to my house, we
had an enormous feast, then I killed
them and took their land.”
- Jon Stewart
“Thanksgiving is an emotional holi-
day. People travel thousands of miles
to be with people they only see once
of year, and then discover once a year
is way too often.” - Johnny Carson
This weekend instead of watching the Bears (just kidding) you can do the following tasks to ready your home for winter. It’ll save you money and frustra-tion and keep your home in good shape.
Clean gutters and downspouts. Make sure the gutters are clear of leaves and downspouts are empty. Just be careful if you’re using a ladder or on the roof.
While you’re up there, check out your roof, look for missing shingles, depres-sions or debris that’s stuck.
Trim bushes and trees that are against the house or hang over the home. They trap moisture and can wear your siding
Many clients have asked where they can
learn more about real estate investing or
what books they should read to learn
more about how to take advantage of the
current market to invest. While I’m happy
to help people get a jump start, I suggest
that for a well rounded view of investing,
you need to join a real estate investment
club. There are a number of them in Lake
County but the LCPIA is great for anyone
who owns or wants to own investment
property. While the property doesn’t
need to be in Lake County, they do have
meetings with speakers and guests who
deal with Lake County specific issues.
However, much of the information is
universally (or at least globally) helpful. In
the past year they’ve had a number of
Autumn Home Maintenance Checklist >>>
Get your home ready for the winter this weekend.
Have your furnace inspected and serviced. You’ll save money and your heater will work better. If nothing else, at least replace your filter!
Check windows and doors for a proper seal. This will save countless dollars year round. To check for leaks, turn on bathroom and kitchen fans, then walk by windows doors and outlets with a lit incense stick and see if the smoke moves which indicates drafts (and wards off evil spirits.)
All of this takes just a few hours (or less if you hire someone else to do it) and it’s good for you and your home.
national and regional speakers including
such distinguished guests as “Mr.
Fix-it” and “Mr. Landlord.” While both
of these gentlemen have other names,
these are their Hollywood names.
The meetings are held in Gurnee on the
second Tuesday of the month at 749 N.
Milwaukee Ave. at the American Legion
Post. The meetings start with Investing
101 at 5:30 and then the main meeting
starts at 6:30. Afterward, people head
down to the bar and talk about the
speaker or investments or just grab a
drink together. It’s free to attend as a
guest, and even if you join it’s a whop-
ping $75 a year for your family or
company. If you’re interested in going,
just give me a call and I’ll see you there.
Green Tip Of the Month
ask the experts >>>
Is now a good time to sell?
Yes, no and heck no!
Can You Handle the Truth???
This month we’ll talk about the
moratorium on foreclosures that’s
been in the news lately and what it
means to you.
This month I’m not going to talk about how you can save the world but how to
keep green in your wallet (or purse or clutch or whatever it is women use) by
talking about a few services that I use that save me some dough each month.
1. www.iDine.com - This site allows you to
enroll, and when you dine at their partnering
restaurants, they rebate a percentage of the
bill back to you. Their basic membership is
free. The cool part is you just enroll certain
credit cards, and then those purchases are
credited to you. So if you have a company
card or something, you can register that card
(assuming your company doesn’t have a
problem with it) and then when you throw
down the card so you can take your
real estate agent out, you make a few
bucks too.
2. HappyCoupons.com - While I’m not
one to clip coupons out of the paper, I
purchase a fair amount of products or
services online. In doing so I’d always
see those little boxes that asked for a
promotion code. Alas, I never had a
code...until I went to HappyCoupons.
www.HappyCoupons.com has promo
codes for hundreds, nay, thousands of
stores that are online. Recently GAP
Jeans were $20 off online and boy I’ve
never looked better!
3. Groupon.com - I know I’ve talked
about this one before, but that’s
because it’s awesome! You save at
least 50% on their deal each day. It’s
great for gifts or just going to the plac-
es you love for 50%+ off. Plus discover
new stores, restaurants and attractions
you didn’t even know existed.
I wish there were a catchall to this question. The overall answer is no, unless you
need to in order to buy, then it’s a great time to sell. See, if you wait until the mar-
ket rebounds and prices increase by 20%, your home that’s now worth $200,000
will be worth $240,000. Great, you think. But the $400,000 home will then be
worth $480,00 meaning it’ll cost you $40,000 more to buy that home. Plus interest
rates will probably be higher and you’ll have less to choose from. If you can afford
to buy without selling, rent your home out, and buy low now and sell high later.
There’s no easy answer to this ques-
tion, but the most likely answer is
“not much.” If banks ceased foreclo-
sures for a long period, that actually
may temporarily increase home pric-
es because it would remove low
priced homes form the market. But
in the long run, they would then
flood the market once they resumed
activities. Since it looks like there
aren’t going to be prolonged foreclo-
sure freezes, again the answer is...not
much.
Q: A:
What’s the REAL Deal?
Several of the large banks temporari-
ly stopped processing foreclosures
because they wanted to make sure
that they were filing paperwork
properly. While it’s been discovered
that tens of thousands of foreclo-
sures were filed improperly, the truth
of the matter is that they still haven’t
found a single case where someone
who’s up to date on their payments
were foreclosed upon. Though many
states attorneys general want longer
bans, some of the large banks have
already fixed their systems and
resumed with the foreclosures.
What’s it mean to you?
Finding An Agent That’s Right For You
Besides being a very well liked and
successful agent, Judy complements
our team by actually laughing politely
at my stale jokes, something Mike
has been refusing to do with increas-
ing regularity.
Behind Mike’s back (at least until
now) Judy and I have been doing a
little bit of plotting. I think it is more
than mere coincidence that Judy’s
last name is Hall, and my first name
is Mark. While Mike might fancy
himself to be the Team Leader, Judy
and I are really the “Hall-Mark” of
the team, both in name and in fact.
While Mike was hobnobbing with
some of you at one of his recent
client “happy hours,” Judy and I took
a brief respite from our long day to
reflect on ways we can better help
our clients. We realized that we help
smooth out the turbulence! No, we
have not really found a way to over-
come the forces of Mother Nature,
but we do recognize that in today’s
real estate market there are a lot of
bumpy situations, or turbulence, that
our clients need to deal with.
Sellers are slowly realizing the short
sales and foreclosures are no longer
aberrations but are now setting the
market price for homes. They are
dealing with buyers who are more
discriminating, because they can be,
and with buyers who might be trying
to sell a home of their own.
Although this may sound like a rosy
situation for buyers, they too need
the help of professionals. While
847 -557 -1622
100 N. Mi lwaukee Ave .
Team Stodola
mortgage interest rates are at the low-
est level we have seen in many decades,
buyers are discovering that lending
practices have tightened up. Even after
agreeing on the price of the home with
the seller, they may discover that the
appraisal value is lower than expected,
thus limiting the amount that may be
borrowed. Or, when they make offers
to purchase short sales or foreclosed
properties they may find that the
process of buying a home is different,
and often far more time consuming.
While these buyer and seller issues can
frustrate a person who deals with real
estate transactions just a few times in
an entire lifetime, dealing with these
bumps along the way is fairly routine
stuff for agents who deal with the issues
daily. Our entire team understands that
our job is not to paint a false picture for
people that there won’t be any bumps.
IT IS OUR JOB to bear the burden of
dealing with those bumps so that our
clients can focus on getting ready to
make their move.
While the bumps can be aggravating,
they also can make our jobs more inter-
esting and more rewarding. When you
notice people you care about who need
our expertise and experience, you can
help by introducing them to our team
quickly. Let us deal with the turbulence
while they recline the seat and enjoy the
ride. Act today by entering 847 909-
6389 into your cell phone. May I
suggest that you label this phone listing
as... “My HALL-MARK real estate
agent!!!”
I thought this month we’d get an invitation
out to you BEFORE the event. We’re going to
celebrate Thanksgiving early by having you
out on November 18th to Austin’s, 481 Pe-
terson Rd. in Libertyville. We’re pulling out
all the stops this time so this isn’t one to
miss. Mark it down on the calendar and join
us anytime after 5:00 and stay for the Bears
game that night. Bring a friend or co-worker
and let’s kick off the holiday season in style.
From time to time Mike reminds me that “Team Stodola” is really the “Mike Stodola
Team” consisting of one team leader (guess who?) and his associate. Mike claims
three pages of space in this newsletter, limiting me to a single page at the very end
of the newsletter. Well, things are gonna change around here! Recently Mike and I
brought aboard Judy Hall to create a larger and even more capable team of agents
here at Koenig & Strey Real Living.
minute... Mark’s
Join Us On November 18th
Story of the Month
My wife, Heather, and I were at the mall
recently and we got separated. Being a big
mall, I wasn’t getting any reception on my
cell phone so I wasn’t sure what to do.
Just then a beautiful young woman walked
by, so I got up and ran after her. When I
caught up to her, I said, “I’ve lost my wife
here in the mall, and I wondered if I could
talk to you for a few minutes?”
The young lady looked puzzled and asked
“Why in the world would you want to talk
to me?”
“Well,” I replied, “every time I talk to a
beautiful younger woman my wife seems to
appear out of nowhere.”