Amy Willis Real Estate

30-Year Mortgage Rates Plumb New Depths

admin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:07:38 +0000

Freddie Mac reports that the average interest on 30-year fixed mortgages slipped to an all-time low, for the third consecutive week, to 4.19 percent.

At the same time, 15-year fixed-rate loans and the five-year adjustable-mortgage rate both also hit record lows. Rates on the former were 3.62 percent, while the latter averaged just 3.47 percent.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nathan Becker (10/15/10)

Kevin Bergin

admin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:19:59 +0000

The Amy Willis team made the themselves available to us, regardless of the time or day. When we had requests or concerns, they were prompt to address them. During every step of our buying our home, a member of the team was there, in person, to answer any question or address any issues.

Daniel and Hope Abrego

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:29:03 +0000

Who’d of thought that blessings could come in the form of a realtor? When we’re in need of a doctor, lawyer, or any professional for that matter, we want the best for our family. Why settle for anything less for something as important as selling/purchasing your family’s home? We got exactly that with Amy and her team. We were guided through every step of the process making it easier with a better outcome for us than expected. We praise God for connecting us with the Willis family. Simply wonderful!

Most Homebuyers Have No Regrets

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 08:03:00 +0000

An overwhelming 90 percent of homeowners say they don’t regret buying their current home, according to a new study by Bankrate, Inc.That’s even in the face of stagnant – or sliding – home prices they’ve suffered and rock-bottom mortgage rates they may have missed out on.

Only 9 percent of respondents expressed second thoughts about taking the plunge. Why? Most often because they couldn’t sell their home and move on, or because they were unable to afford the monthly mortgage payment.

“It’s surprising and reassuring to hear 90 percent of homeowners say they don’t regret the purchase of their current homes,” says Greg McBride, CFA, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com.

“And all the nasty headlines in the past two years have really moved the needle in terms of mortgage awareness, with a significant drop in the percentage of borrowers who don’t know what type of mortgage they have,” McBride said.

Only 8 percent of Americans don’t know what type of mortgage loan they have. That’s a lot lower than the 26 percent of respondents in a Bankrate study done two years ago who said they were in the dark about their mortgage type.

Being bullish on homeownership isn’t necessarily new. A recent Fannie Mae report revealed 70 percent of consumers see a home as one of the safest investments to make and 64 percent think now is a good time to buy.

“The key to any real estate survey conducted in today’s market would be to factor in the state where the survey’s respondents reside. In many parts of the country, particularly in the Central states, they did not experience a real estate boom like the West and East coasts and therefore are not faced with the fall out of a dramatic real estate bust today,” said Nancy Osborne, chief operating officer of Erate.com, a Santa Clara, CA-based financial information publisher and interest rate tracker.

She added, “Feelings about homeownership should have changed very little in those states where home prices and equity have remained relatively stable.”Other results in the Bankrate poll of 1,001 randomly selected adults, conducted last month by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, include:

Fixed-rate mortgages are gaining in popularity. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they had this type of mortgage on their home.

Wealthier Americans — those making more than $75,000 — overwhelmingly preferred fixed-rate mortgages. Almost 90 percent of those who were asked, said they used a fixed-rate mortgage.

By: Broderick Perkins

NAR Urges Flood Insurance Reform

admin — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 13:54:50 +0000

Congress needs to act quickly to reauthorize and strengthen the National Flood Insurance Program for the long-term to prevent undermining the fragile real estate market, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® testified Wednesday to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs .

The NFIP authority is set to expire on September 30 for the ninth time in the past two years; Congress has approved eight short-term extensions during this time.

“We are pleased that last night the Senate passed S. 3814 to extend the NFIP for one year until Sept. 30, 2011. We urge the House to immediately do the same,” says REALTOR® Nick D’Ambrosia, who testified on NAR’s behalf.

“However, this month-to-month approach has hindered recovering real estate markets and exacerbated the uncertainty for the more than 5.5 million taxpayers who depend on the NFIP to protect them against floods,” says D’Ambrosia, vice president of training and recruiting for Long and Foster Companies and vice chair of the Maryland Real Estate Commission.

The House has already passed H.R. 5114, the Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act, which would reauthorize the NFIP for a full five years. The Senate is holding this hearing to begin the process of developing the Senate response to the House reform bill.

As part of long-term reauthorization reforms, NAR supports strengthening the NFIP’s solvency through outreach and education programs that would help raise participation beyond the current 50 percent of home owners in federally designated flood areas. The increase in participants would boost funding for the NFIP, help property owners recover from flood losses and decrease future federal assistance when uninsured properties flood and suffer loss, NAR said.

Adding types of coverage for living expenses, business interruption and replacement cost of contents and updating coverage limits – which haven’t been adjusted since 1994 –would also help increase participation.

NAR also strongly supports extending and fully funding the pilot program to mitigate properties that have repeatedly suffered insured flood losses.

“NAR urges the Senate to consider H.R. 5114 and work to strike a proper balance between the NFIP’s fiscal stability and housing affordability,” D’Ambrosia said.

— NAR

Erik Wold and Maureen Sullivan

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 13:42:30 +0000

Amy Willis and Associates are an amazing team! They were always available for us, had a great deal of knowledge about all areas of the real estate market, and went out of their way to make us feel like we were always their first priority. We highly recommend them!

Bill and Edith Antonetz

admin — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:42:32 +0000

We felt like Amy, Jeff & Miranda did a tremendous job in marketing our home. They brought us great offers & “held our hands”, when some of those offers didn’t pan out, they showed great interest in not only selling the house but they cared about us. Hats off to the number #1 remax team in Corpus Christi, Texas!

10 Reasons to Buy a Home

admin — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:35:55 +0000

Time magazine is being overly pessimistic in its recent cover piece that called into question the benefits of homeownership. In fact, now is a great time to buy. And, what’s more, tomorrow will be a great time to own, because the fundamental strength of homeownership hasn’t changed.

Why is now a great time to buy? Here are 10 reasons:

1. You can get a good deal. Prices are down 30 percent on average. They’re at a level that makes sense for people’s income.
2. Mortgages are cheap. At 4.3 percent on average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, your costs to own are down by a fifth from two years ago.
3. You can save on taxes. When you add up the deductions for mortgage interest and others, the cost of owning can drop below renting for a comparable place.
4. It’ll be yours. The one benefit to owning that never changes is that you can paint your walls orange if you want (generally speaking; there might be some community restrictions). How many landlords will let you do that?
5. You can get a better home. In some markets, it’s simply the case that the nicest places are for-sale homes and condos.
6. It offers some inflation protection. Historically, appreciation over time outpaces inflation.
7. It’s risk capital. If the economy picks up, you stand to benefit from that, even if you’re goal is just to have a nice place to live.
8. It’s forced savings. A part of your payment each month goes to equity.
9. There is a lot to choose from. There are some 4 million homes available today, about a year’s supply. Now’s the time to find something you like and get it.
10. Sooner or later the market will clear. The U.S. is expected to grow by another 100 million people in 40 years. They have to live somewhere. Demand will eventually outpace supply.

Source: Wall Street Journal, Brett Arends (9/16/10)

Mr. & Mrs. Ortmann

admin — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:42:25 +0000

“I want to Thank Jeff and Amy for all their assistance in the sale of my home. They have shown true professionalism in what they do. They do go the extra step in showcasing your home to the public. They know their business extremely well. I would recommend them to any family in need of a home or are looking to sale one. Best of Luck!”

30 year Mortgage Rates Rise

admin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:30:37 +0000

Average interest on 30-year fixed mortgages rose for the first time since June, lifting to 4.35 percent this week from 4.32 percent last week and 5.07 percent a year ago, reports Freddie Mac. Rates for 15-year fixed loans held at 3.83 percent, the record low set last week.

Also, the five-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.56 percent, compared to 3.54 percent last week and 4.51 percent a year ago; and the one-year ARM fell to 3.46 percent from 3.5 percent last week and 4.64 percent a year ago.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Amy Hoak (09/10/10)