Do You Know Your Credit Score?

In one of my recent posts I mentioned that the lenders have tightened their standards. Although, there are still ways to qualify for 100% financing it isn't as easy as it was a year ago. I always suggest that talking to a lender should be your first step in buying a home. Once you and I know where you stand, we know exactly how to proceed in order to find you the best and most house for your money. One of the most important factors is your FICO (credit) score. Do you know your FICO score? How do you stack up and what does it mean? If you are unsure I would recommend that you check out the following websites.

myFICO - This website is recommended by Suze Orman. For a small price you can find out what your FICO score is and if needed how to improve it.

CreditBloggers, Where do you rank... - This explains how and where your credit score ranks.

Is It A Good Time To Invest In A Rental?

The answer to that question is going to be different for each individual. There are a few factors to consider before investing in a rental. As a general rule, lenders are going to require that you have some money to put down on your investment. A rental can provide some tax breaks and write-offs, an accountant can tell you the different ways you might benefit. In the end it comes down to the bottom line, how much return will you see from your investment? It is important to know what your expenses will be. Your expenses included mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, any utilities you might pay, management fees(if you chose to have a company manage your building), any HOA dues, times of vacancy, and other miscellaneous expenses. There are different ways you can see a return. You can break even on your annual expenses, but sell the building at a profit in a couple of years, or make a profit from the rent received, or both.

Right now in Grand Junction the vacancy rate is 1.8% (almost nonexistent), but the asking prices sometimes make it hard to profit from the rents received when very little cash was put down on the mortgage. However, the rents being received, across the board, are continuing to increase due to lack of availability. I just rented a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment for $950/month in the Redlands area, with a 1 year lease. When looking at investment properties it is important to see if the rents currently being received are low or if improvements can be made to the building. If you can raise the rents or improve the building and then raise the rents you could realize even more profit. This is an investment definetly worth considering, especially when compared to some mutual funds. The following websites and recent newspaper article may help you with your figures. You can, also, search investment properties on my website at http://www.bringingyouhomeonline.com/. Feel free to send me an email or give me a call if you have any questions.

Daily Sentinel article - Apartments Difficult to Find

A Local Lenders Blog - http://kevinwade.blogspot.com/2008/07/grand-junction-rentals-should-you-buy.html

http://www.catholicoutreach.org/AlmostHome.html - Click on the Almost Home Report and you can view available rentals and the monthly rents.

Latest U.S. Oil and Gas Rig Count

My recent post about the Oil and Gas Commission meeting about 2 months ago has continued to be one of my posts that has generated the most interest. This was recently reported by the Associated Press and I thought some of you might find it interesting. This article states that Colorado has gained 4 rigs. I wish I knew how many total were in Colorado, how many of those are on the western slope(I'm guessing most of them are), how many were natural gas, and how many were for oil.

U.S. oil and gas rig count down by 6

HOUSTON — The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States dropped by 6 this week to 1,951.

Of the rigs running nationwide, 1,550 were exploring for natural gas and 392 for oil, Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday. Nine were listed as miscellaneous.
A year ago, the rig count stood at 1,781.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Colorado gained four rigs, Louisiana gained two, and North Dakota gained one. Texas lost six, New Mexico lost four, Alaska lost two and Arkansas and California each lost one. Oklahoma and Wyoming were unchanged.

Baker Hughes has tracked rig counts since 1944. The tally peaked at 4,530 in 1981, during the height of the oil boom. The industry posted several record lows in 1999, bottoming out at 488.

Published August 1, 2008 @ 1:40 pm by The Associated Press

The 2008 CSAP Results Are In

As a Realtor, on a regular basis, I'm asked about how well certain schools are performing. This is a tough question to answer as every school has good and bad points. However, there is a state-wide test (CSAP) and the results were recently released. I will include a link to the results below along with a link to the school accountability report. Please note that private school results aren't included.

2008 School District #51, Mesa County, CSAP results - Broken down by school and subject

School Accountability Report for School District #51, Mesa County

Charter School Exceeds State Averages - This charter school isn't part of school district #51, but is sponsored by the state.

What is Happening In Grand Junction Area Real Estate - 07/20/08-7/26/08

Market Statistics for July 20, 2008 - July 26, 2008-

According to our local MLS, there are currently 1,748 active residential listings in Grand Junction, 356 homes are under contract, and 59 homes sold last week. They are broken into areas below-

• City Area - 194 active / 6 sold
• North Area - 278 active / 8 sold
• Northeast Area - 184 active / 7 sold
• Southeast Area - 168 active / 10 sold
• Clifton Area - 95 active / 7 sold
• Orchard Mesa Area - 179 active / 9 sold
• Redlands Area - 226 active / 2 sold
• Fruita Area - 282 active / 9 sold
• Palisade/East Orchard Mesa Area - 64 active / 1 sold
• Northwest Area - 31 active / 0 sold
• West Area - 47 active / 0 sold
• Whitewater - 38 active / 0 sold
• Mesa/Collbran - 41 active / 1 sold

The Different Neighborhoods in Mesa County - This is a general guide to the different areas

New Home Building Down From Last Year in Mesa County

In my last post I mentioned building permits were down and a brief reason as to why. A huge reason is the lenders have more stringent lending practices. There was an article in the local paper that goes into more detail and explains how and why the smaller builders are struggling. One of the reasons for higher lot prices has to do with the cost of subdividing, development, and the amount of time it takes to do both of these in Mesa County. Also, notice that the statistics at the end of the article aren't for our local market except for one concerning foreclosures and I am questioning how accurate that statistic is. If you go to my previous post on foreclosures you will find a link that will take you to a list of current foreclosures.

Loans Hard To Get For Some Grand Valley Developers- This is the article from the local paper.

Real Estate Softens

That was the headline of The Daily Sentinel, one of our local newspapers on Sunday. The first question just about everyone asked me the next couple of days was "Did you see the article in the paper on Sunday?" and that question was followed by "So what is your take?" My response was and still is - "Home sales are down, but homes are still appreciating and earning equity. We've had a couple of remarkable years (one year homes appreciated over 20%), but there was a need for a correction." I would then explain that young people just starting out were starting to have trouble finding a starter home they could afford. If you look at the graphs in some of my previous posts you will see there aren't a lot of homes priced under $200,000.

You can read the article here - The Daily Sentinel article


Some of the key points from the article:

• Residential & Commercial real estate is down 28%
• Decline is due to higher lending standards
• Inventory is up
• New construction is down 50% (The higher lending standards are, also, affecting the builders and their construction loans. Some builders are unable to build more than one house at a time.)
• Poor weather contributed to the decline (We had a long, cold winter)
• Median house price is $229,000 (down 0.4%)
• House values are up 3.7% in the past 12 months
• Residential home sales will increase, indicated by an upward trend for the month of June
• This just means that we are undergoing a transition from a record-breaking market to a
  “normal” market.

What is a “Normal” Market?

Well in a "normal" market -
It takes years to build equity in a home, not months. Buyers have to have a good credit score in order to qualify for a mortgage. The lending practices have definitely tightened.

I think it is important to remember that things have slowed down, but our homes are still earning equity. Also, it is getting increasingly difficult to find a place to rent, especially for a family. Therefore the individuals and families, that are either continuing to have trouble finding a place to rent or are improving their credit, will soon be deciding to buy a home.