TIGHT MONEY?

Getting a loan isn't the only thing buyers have to worry about these days. The insurance industry is making it even more difficult for some. Now the buyer not only has to prove his status of being credit worth, but the home, itself, must be vetted as well. The process is called "CLUE".

CLUEs are financial reports on people and properties generated by a national insurance industry databank called Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, nicknamed CLUE.

The system contains a five-year history of claims and payments, along with records of inquiries concerning coverage, said Chuck Jones, director of external communications for ChoicePoint Asset Co., the Alpharetta, Ga., data management firm that runs CLUE.

"CLUE speeds decisions at the point of sale, detects and deters fraud and insures a fair rate structure so homeowners with few claims don't pay as much as homeowners with a history of numerous claims," Jones said.

THe problem occurs, though, when a buyer of a home is ready to close his purchase, and the CLUE report says that the home has be burglarized in the past! In this case the premiums for the insurance may be doubled, tripled or even quadrupled!

THe best way for a buyer to handle these types of things is to get an insurance binder on the home he wants at the beginning of the process!! Then he won't be surprised at the last minute should something like this coming up.

REAL ESTATE CYCLES

This blog article especially applies to Texas, and even more exclusively to Tyler, Texas; but it is certainly true of many other places in this country. Here at http://www.johncmartin.com/, I don't claim to be an economist, but the cycles are apparent to anyone who has been around for a while.

Neither will I pretend to have the graphics that might go with an economist's article. But there are distinct, chartable increases and decreases in real estate activity, and always on an upward slant. And we're talking about closings, prices, appraised value, and tax revenue from assessed value. And the numbers of properties on the market nearly mirrors the four above categories.

Where in other locations around the country, the chart might jump around wildly, that regarding Tyler, Texas does not. Therefore (unless there is some significant interruption, such as 9/11) one can almost predict what will happen with real estate at any given time during the year. That's what one might term "stability". It's a good thing!

PRICELESS

In today's real estate market, folks are looking for exceptional service. They're a bit frightened by the economy, but they still want to buy that dream.

"Can I still get a loan?" "Will the seller accept an offer?" "What about inspections?" "If I qualify for this home, how fast can I move?" "Can I expect an increase in value in this market?" These are all questions that run around in their minds, and they require sure, confident answers. But once they have their questions answered, they pull the trigger.

Experience is priceless. An experienced realtor can instill confidence that a buyer's decisions are the right ones, whether that decision is "yes", or "no". If you need help, call an experienced realtor. You'll get it. And you can't put a price on it. www.johncmartin.com

FAILING BANKS

IndyMac Bancorp failed. It's said that more will fail. It must be that those banks bought subprime mortgage packages that were based on adjustable rate mortgages. One question I have is "why do folks put more in their bank accounts than the FDIC insures? Isn't that more risky than the stock market? What are they thinking?

But the real reason for this blog entry is the media hype. Everybody's crying about the possibility that 150 banks failing over the next year and a half. Anybody else do the math? One hundred and fifty banks is exactly 2.5% of the 7500 banks in the United States. Hype is driving most of the panic out there.

Come to East Texas, where real estate is reasonable, foreclosures are minimal, and the economy is stable. Risky isn't reasonable; stability is reasonable. www.johncmartin.com is ready when you are!

BUYING THE NEXT HOME

Sometimes you just have to move!

If you sell your home first …the fear of selling your home before you've purchased a new one is obvious: You're homeless. But all of us realtors agree that this scenario is more attractive than the alternative, which is to buy a new home before your current one has sold (more on that below). The advantage is that you have the cash to buy your new house. In the meantime, however, you might be considering moving into your moving boxes.

The worst of all is being unable to sell your existing home. This is a nightmare if your move is mandatory. You can move in with siblings, parents or friends, but how long will that be acceptable? Below are the two best things you can do:

1) Drop the price of your home to the point at which it's just stupid for anyone NOT to buy it. Remember, this is a mandatory move.

2) Move your 401K to a trust management firm that specializes in property purchases within the plan. The money will be there to close your new home until the old one sells. Of course, a well-funded 401K is required.

Anyway, the Tyler Texas realtor on this end will make sure that you are served well.

GAS PRICES

One sure way to save 14% of your gas bill is to come home from Church on Sunday and stay there. Don't drive any more. Rest. Read. Family. Contemplation. Renewal.

Another surefire saving is to buy a home in a small town. No commute. No fifty mile shopping tour. No twenty mile trip to the supermarket. No backed up traffic on an elongated parking lot.

Sell yours.....buy ours. Not only would you save gas by buying real estate in Tyler Tx., but selling your home and buying one here would, more than likely, add real money to your bank account. Cash anyone?

DOWNTURN IN CITIES

If your income doesn't top six figures, making it in big cities such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco can be tough. It can take more than a decade to save up enough money to buy a house; and even then, the size of that mortgage payment might keep you up nights.
But if you're willing to look beyond these urban hot spots to midsize to smaller cities in the middle of the country, there are cheap places to live where the economy is strong, home prices are appreciating and the quality of life is good.

One of those, of course, is Tyler, Texas. All of us are being hurt by prices right now, but smaller cities are doing much better. And your money goes a lot further. http://www.johncmartin.com/ is the primary source for luxury homes in Tyler Texas and in East Texas.