The Real Estate Market is Doing Better than Many Believe. ~ Check Out These Stats!

People Are Buying Homes AND GETTING MORTGAGES!

by THE KCM CREW on JANUARY 11, 2012

Many believe that very few houses are selling and that almost no one can get a mortgage. We want to let everyone know that neither of these assumptions is true. Recently, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released theirExisting Homes Sales Report. According to the report there are, on average, 12,109 homes selling in the United States EACH and EVERY DAY! That means that approximately 12,000 houses sold yesterday, approximately 12,000 will sell today and approximately 12,000 will sell tomorrow. So the thinking that homes aren’t selling just isn’t true.

Another interesting fact in the report was that 72% of these transactions were accompanied by a mortgage. That means that approximately 8,719 people qualify for a mortgage on a daily basis in this country.

There are over 12,000 homes sold and over 8,000 mortgages granted every day. The real estate market is doing better than many believe.

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY: 

Thinking of Selling Your Home Yourself? Are the Potential Risks Worth the Minimal Advantages??

 

 

Although their are advantages to selling your own home, more often than not the risks far more outweigh the minimal advantages. Contact Tammy to discuss why it is in your best interest to list with a professional such as a Certified Residential Specialist. 

(Tammy Stuart 402.689.1769 Tammy@SOLDbySTUART.com)

FSBO Sellers Decline as More Sellers Turn to Real Estate Agents to Sell the Home

On December 12, 2011, in Did You Know, by Jessica Lautz, Survey Research Manager 

The method most used to sell a home has changed in recent years. A higher share of sellers are relying on the expertise of real estate agents and brokers to sell their home, rather than trying other methods.

• From 1991 to 2011 the share of home sellers who used a real estate agent or broker to sell their home increased from 77 percent to 87 percent.
• Over the same time period, the share of sellers who sold their home as a FSBO (For-Sale-By-Owner) decreased from 19 percent to 10 percent.
• Sellers use real estate professionals to help them sell their home in a reasonable timeframe, to market their home to potential buyers, and to price the home competitively.
• For more information on the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, click here.

 

Jessica Lautz, Survey Research Manager

Jessica Lautz is the Survey Research Manager. Jessica analyzes data and writes annual studies such as the Member Profile, the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, and the Commercial Member Profile.

"Save 2nd Base" - 1st Annual - Pub Crawl for JEH Breast Health Center - 100 Block, Council Bluffs, Iowa

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"Save 2nd Base" 

Pub Crawl for JEH Breast Health Center



Date:  October 15th 2011
Time:  4p-8p

Crawl from PUB to PUB on the 100 Block
Barleys~Glory Day's~T'z~1892~Beer & Loathing~Fiddln Monkey~Venue 162


Check –in / register – Passage way   
3:30-5:30pm
Early Sign-Up - $15/per person
Day of Event - $20/per person

REGISTRATION REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE &  BE ELIGIBLE FOR PRIZES!!
For early sign up: 
save2ndbase100block@gmail.com or fax to 712.396.7780

At Check-In receive:
Wrist Band
Button
Player Card
Souvenir Cup

SPECIALS
$2 Draws
$3 Well Drinks

Special PINK Drinks at each location

Proceeds from this event will go to Jennie Edmundson Hospital Breast Health Center to help in their continued efforts to provide FREE screenings, educational opportunities to those in need and to continue awareness in our community.

Contact Tara Slevin or Amber Hawk at Jennie Edmundson Hospital for more info.

A VARIETY OF PINK T-SHIRTS WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE TO HELP SUPPORT THIS GREAT CAUSE

Why You Should Choose a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS)

Why Choose a Certified
Residential Specialist (CRS)

The Answers You Need

In the current marketplace, you need more than just a REALTOR®. You need a professional with the unique training and know-how to create opportunities, identify potential pitfalls up front, and make your home-buying or-selling experience an unqualified success.

You need a Certified Residential Specialist.

What is a Certified
Residential Specialist (CRS)?

A Certified Residential Specialist is a REALTOR® who has earned certification from the Council of Residential Specialists by completing a rigorous course of advanced training and by meeting significant experience requirements. It's this rare combination that makes a Certified Residential Specialist more than just another real estate agent. It's the ability to make a real difference in the purchase or sale of your home that places them among the best in the business. Discover the difference for yourself. And discover how enjoyable and successful a real estate relationship can be.

Benefits for Home Buyers and Sellers:

Less than 4 percent of the more than one million REALTORS® in business today hold the prestigious Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Designation, the highest professional designation awarded to REALTORS® in the residential sales field. That's because just one in 25 has the experience, the commitment and the hours of advanced training necessary to call themselves a Certified Residential Specialist. Yet, despite all the extra expertise you get, a Certified Residential Specialist doesn't cost any more than any other REALTOR®. In fact, the skills and know-how you get with a Certified Residential Specialist may actually save you time and money.

And that's just the beginning. Here are some of the other reasons you should consider hiring a Certified Residential Specialist when you buy or sell a home.

4 Reasons to Work With the Top 4%

Experience

A hallmark of the Certified Residential Specialist isn't just the advanced training and education they receive. Just as important is the marketplace expertise they bring to the sale or purchase of your home. To earn the Certified Residential Specialist Designation, every REALTOR® must have significant experience and a number of real estate transactions. These strict requirements are your assurance that your Certified Residential Specialist is able to apply his or her education in the real world, giving you the knowledgeable, skilled service you expect.

Ethics

Ethics aren't just important in a REALTOR®. They're essential. That's why every Certified Residential Specialist is required to maintain membership in the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and to abide by its strict Code of Ethics. That means, when you work with a Certified Residential Specialist, you can rest assured you're dealing with a trained real estate expert who will treat you fairly and professionally every step of the way.

A Focus on Home Buying and Selling

Whether you're looking to buy or sell a home, you face many risks along the way - financial risks, legal risks, even the risk that a home purchase or sale will fall through. A Certified Residential Specialist is trained to minimize those risks.

With that in mind, a Certified Residential Specialist is prepared to bring you the benefits of their significant experience and variety of successful real estate transactions. That expertise, combined with advanced education in areas like finance, technology and marketing, lets you know that your Certified Residential Specialist is able to make your home purchase or sale a success in every way.

Technological Expertise

Technology is changing the face of real estate. Computers, the Internet, mobile communications - each has helped make the market more efficient, and at the same time, more daunting. More than ever, the success of your home purchase or sale depends on the ability of your REALTOR® to harness that technology and make it work for you. For that reason, the training required of your Certified Residential Specialist focuses extensively on technology and its effect on the real estate business. You can count on a Certified Residential Specialist not just to understand technology, but to use it to make your home purchase or sale a worry-free experience.

Information Provided by: Council of Residential Specialists

The Council of Residential Specialists is the largest not-for-profit affiliate of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, with its headquarters in Chicago, Ill. It is composed of over 38,000 Certified Residential Specialists (CRS) Designees and Candidates/General Members.

Why You Should Choose a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS)

Why Choose a Certified
Residential Specialist (CRS)

The Answers You Need

In the current marketplace, you need more than just a REALTOR®. You need a professional with the unique training and know-how to create opportunities, identify potential pitfalls up front, and make your home-buying or-selling experience an unqualified success.

You need a Certified Residential Specialist.

What is a Certified
Residential Specialist (CRS)?

A Certified Residential Specialist is a REALTOR® who has earned certification from the Council of Residential Specialists by completing a rigorous course of advanced training and by meeting significant experience requirements. It's this rare combination that makes a Certified Residential Specialist more than just another real estate agent. It's the ability to make a real difference in the purchase or sale of your home that places them among the best in the business. Discover the difference for yourself. And discover how enjoyable and successful a real estate relationship can be.

Benefits for Home Buyers and Sellers:

Less than 4 percent of the more than one million REALTORS® in business today hold the prestigious Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Designation, the highest professional designation awarded to REALTORS® in the residential sales field. That's because just one in 25 has the experience, the commitment and the hours of advanced training necessary to call themselves a Certified Residential Specialist. Yet, despite all the extra expertise you get, a Certified Residential Specialist doesn't cost any more than any other REALTOR®. In fact, the skills and know-how you get with a Certified Residential Specialist may actually save you time and money.

And that's just the beginning. Here are some of the other reasons you should consider hiring a Certified Residential Specialist when you buy or sell a home.

4 Reasons to Work With the Top 4%

Experience

A hallmark of the Certified Residential Specialist isn't just the advanced training and education they receive. Just as important is the marketplace expertise they bring to the sale or purchase of your home. To earn the Certified Residential Specialist Designation, every REALTOR® must have significant experience and a number of real estate transactions. These strict requirements are your assurance that your Certified Residential Specialist is able to apply his or her education in the real world, giving you the knowledgeable, skilled service you expect.

Ethics

Ethics aren't just important in a REALTOR®. They're essential. That's why every Certified Residential Specialist is required to maintain membership in the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and to abide by its strict Code of Ethics. That means, when you work with a Certified Residential Specialist, you can rest assured you're dealing with a trained real estate expert who will treat you fairly and professionally every step of the way.

A Focus on Home Buying and Selling

Whether you're looking to buy or sell a home, you face many risks along the way - financial risks, legal risks, even the risk that a home purchase or sale will fall through. A Certified Residential Specialist is trained to minimize those risks.

With that in mind, a Certified Residential Specialist is prepared to bring you the benefits of their significant experience and variety of successful real estate transactions. That expertise, combined with advanced education in areas like finance, technology and marketing, lets you know that your Certified Residential Specialist is able to make your home purchase or sale a success in every way.

Technological Expertise

Technology is changing the face of real estate. Computers, the Internet, mobile communications - each has helped make the market more efficient, and at the same time, more daunting. More than ever, the success of your home purchase or sale depends on the ability of your REALTOR® to harness that technology and make it work for you. For that reason, the training required of your Certified Residential Specialist focuses extensively on technology and its effect on the real estate business. You can count on a Certified Residential Specialist not just to understand technology, but to use it to make your home purchase or sale a worry-free experience.

Information Provided by: Council of Residential Specialists

The Council of Residential Specialists is the largest not-for-profit affiliate of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, with its headquarters in Chicago, Ill. It is composed of over 38,000 Certified Residential Specialists (CRS) Designees and Candidates/General Members.

HOLY HAIL!! ~ Now what?? - Council Bluffs Hail Storm 8.18.11

WOW! What a storm that was! It hit my neighborhood pretty hard and it sounds as though it was city wide!

You may be asking yourself...
Now what??

If you own real estate be sure to notify your insurance company of potential damage within the next few days.

If you aren't 100% sure whether you sustained damage your insurance company may advise you to first seek a damage assessment from a local contractor to avoid filing an unnecessary claim.

If there is damage you will want to get an exact assessment of damage from a local contractor, and then you will want to share this information with your insurance company.

If a claim is necessary your agent will have an adjustor come out to do their own damage (loss) estimate.

Insurance companies vary on their procedures for filing a claim so be sure to talk with your agent, or refer to their website.

Also important to Remember: AVOID STORM CHASER CONTRACTORS if at all possible. These are contractors that go state to state chasing storms to find work. ALWAYS HIRE A REPUTABLE, LOCAL CONTRACTOR FIRST!!

I have many business contacts in the home contracting trades, so never hesitate to call me for a reference!

~ Tammy

The American Red Cross Opens Emergency Aid Station in Council Bluffs

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa, Saturday, June 25, 2011 --The American Red Cross is offering an alternative for people who either need to move out of their residence or just are concerned about being there in the face of the threatening waters. An Emergency Aid Station will open tonight at 6:00 p.m. for individuals and families who will be able to check in 24 hours a day for information, a meal, shower, nap or in special circumstances, a safe bed for the night just until they can make other provisions. The temporary Emergency Aid Station is intended for citizens of Council Bluffs, but as is always the case with the Red Cross, no one in need is turned away.

Located at First Assembly of God, 3320 Harry Langdon Blvd., Red Cross officials emphasized that this is a temporary safe refuge in the storm.  Three shelters, operated by the Red Cross, are open and located at Missouri Valley High School, 605 Lincoln Highway; Peru State College – J. F. Neal Hall, 600 Hoyt St., in Peru, and East Mills High School, 1505 E. 15th St., Malvern. Shelters remain on standby in Douglas, Cass, Sarpy, Dixon, Cedar, Thurston, Washington and Pottawattamie. Additional sites are on standby should the need arise.

More information is available by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Make a donation:

The Red Cross depends on financial donations to help in times of disaster. Those who want to help people affected by disasters like tornadoes, floods and wildfires, as well as countless crises at home and around the world, can make a donation to support American Red Cross Disaster Relief. This gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for and provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance in response to disasters. Visit www.redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS; people can also text the word “REDCROSS” to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Contributions may also be sent to local American Red Cross chapters or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation’s blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization – not a government agency – and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org/.


by American Red Cross Heartland Chapter on Saturday, June 25, 2011 at 5:38pm