My New Blog

Spring has sprung and now is a great time to start thinking about home improvements. It's finally warm enough to get outside and spruce up the exterior of your home. When we're talking about the exterior of the home, you can really break it out into the "actual" exterior, or skin, of the home and the landscaping portion of the home. There are several things that will really add value to your home that can be done at a rather inexpensive cost.

Let's start with the actual exterior. Check your roof for missing shingles. Patching those shingles will not only make the house look better, but it might keep any leaks from occurring. You might think about painting the exterior. Even if your house is brick or siding, there might be gables and soffits to paint. Try to use soft or neutral colors that will complement your existing brick or siding color. After a long winter, it's probably time to clean those dirty screens that cover your windows along with cleaning the windows themselves and your doors.

Now let's talk about the landscaping portion of your home. Nice landscaping means so much to increasing the "curb appeal" of your home. Start out by trimming your existing trees and shrubbery. Make sure trees are trimmed up at least 4-5 feet off the ground. Trim back some of those shrubs too. Those overgrown shrubs often times hides the windows and a good portion of your brick or siding. We want the shrubs to accent the look of your home, not cover it up. It's important to have some nice edging and mulch in your flower beds. It makes for a nice clean look. And finally, make sure your lawn is fertilized, mowed, edged, and trimmed at all times. The more you mow, the less weeds you will have.

With all of the doom and gloom that you keep hearing about in the news it's refreshing when you actually hear some good news. I was watching the 6:00 p.m. news last night and they ran a great story about the housing market in Southwest Oklahoma. I logged onto their website (www.kswo.com) this morning and printed the story below for everyone to read.

Real estate slump hasn't hit western Oklahoma

March 6, 2008 05:03 PM CST

If you're thinking about buying a home, in Oklahoma you had better do it fast.  But, if you're thinking about selling, you may want to postpone the notion for a few years. 

Despite the fact that the national housing market is in a slump, the Oklahoma Association of Realtors (OAR) says Oklahoma is seeing great numbers on average, and the western part of the state is really booming.  It seems that home prices keep rising in Lawton.  "You can see, just driving around looking at all the new construction in all the different areas...It's wonderful," says President of the Lawton Association of Realtors Betsy Park.

It's not just Lawton, either.  "It's in Duncan and Altus, and all the areas in our Western District," says Park.  In 2007, home values in Lawton increased by 5.68%, in Duncan they increased by 17.4%, and in Altus, the number of homes sold increased by 34% -a sharp contrast with the country as a whole.

The majority of people in western Oklahoma probably believe the housing market is down, and while that may be true for other states, it isn't for Oklahoma.  "In fact, ‘the sky isn't falling' on Oklahoma real estate market," says CEO of the Oklahoma Association of Realtors Lisa Yates.  "According to our MLS numbers Oklahoma housing values statewide were up 4.2 percent in 2007."

So, the OAR is making Oklahomans aware of the fact that the market is strong.  Their campaign is called "Good Thing You're in Oklahoma," and there's at least one new home buyer who is glad.  Dustin Stanton is building a new home in east Lawton.  "I didn't know what to expect.  We had good luck in selling our house in Jenks, so my thought is that maybe in Oklahoma there's not been a negative crunch on real estate," he said.  "Our house sold in less than 2 weeks in Jenks, so we've been very happy with the Oklahoma real estate market at this time."

Real estate agent Alan Boggs sold Stanton his home.  He says the market crunch is more of a coastal problem.  "Here in the heartland, we took care of business, and so it's taking care of us," he says. 

The OAR says as far as the housing market is concerned, it's like comparing Oklahoma's weather to New York's weather.  Why would you check the weather in New York if you live in Oklahoma?  So, why worry about the real estate market in other areas of the nation when it's good right here at home? 

The OAR says the increase in Lawton home values has continued to climb for seven straight years.

Wow! What a great story. Alan Boggs is quoted in the story and he is a top realtor in Lawton along with being a straight shooter, so if he says the problem is an East Coast/West Coast dilemna, that has to be pretty encouraging.

The Federal Reserve once again lowered interest rates. As a matter of fact, this is the second time in a little more than a week that rates have been lowered. Most people assume that mortgage rates go down when the Federal Reserve lowers rates. This isn't necessarily the case. Often, mortgage rates increase following a Fed rate cut. Actually, it's impossible to guess what rates are going to do. I have people ask me all of the time that they are going to obtain a mortgage loan within the next 1-6 months and they want to know what the interest rate will be. This is impossible to predict. Honestly, I don't know what the rates will be tomorrow. With that being said, rates are still really low-the lowest they have been in about four years.

I talk to realtors on a daily basis and if you are interested in buying a home, now is a great time to purchase for several reasons. One reason, as mentioned above, is that interest rates are really good. The second reason is that there is an abundant amount of homes on the market right now. This is a simple case of supply and demand. When there is an oversupply of homes on the market, you will be able to find a better deal. Market times will be longer for homes on the market and certain sellers will grow impatient and will be willing to sell their home at a lower price.

Well, Superbowl Sunday is this weekend and like many of you I will be glued to the television set. My team went out in the playoffs so I'm not really rooting for either team. The best part about the Superbowl is the great commercials. I read that a 30 second spot during the game is going for over $2.5 million. All I have to say about that is WOW! 

I have been in the mortgage industry for over 10 years and I can't remember when rates have been this low. Rates are in the 4% range for a 15 year term. That is just incredible.

Right now, the very best loan, if you are eligible, is a VA loan. Rates on a 30 year term are in the 5% range. If you're not familiar with a VA loan, you can get 100% financing and you can usually negotiate with the seller to pay all of your closing costs. So basically, you're getting into a new home without a penny coming out of your pocket. The greatest benefit of a VA loan is that you don't have to pay the dreaded private mortgage insurance (pmi). On a conventional loan, anytime you are borrowing over 80% of the purchase price the lender will require that you pay pmi until the balance reaches 80% of the original purchase price or the value of the home. 

Another great loan that we have started to offer is the USDA Rural Development Loan. It is easier to qualify for these types of loans compared to a conventional loan. And, like VA loans, you don't have to pay pmi. The only drawback is that there are income limitations and the property can not be within city limits of larger cities such as OKC, Tulsa, or Lawton. The property can be within the city limits of a smaller town or a rural area.