Who do you know?

The interest rates are still good, and there's a good selection of houses, who do you know that might be interested in buying or selling in the near future? Help them out and give them a call and let them know I'm helping people in our Moses Lake area to buy and sell their homes. My number is 509-431-5804, and you can email me at homes@iglide.net.

I look forward to visiting with you and helping out!

Connie Suehiro, Realtor

509-431-5804 DIRECT

Public Searches of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service

The public has a back door to our Northwest Multiple Listing Service, so you can start searching through the portal, and when your real estate agent gives you a listing number, you can go to this search portal to look it up. OR, you can give your real estate agent the listing number (which will make you look very up-to-date!) and they can look it up in the Realtor section of the Northwest MLS to give you more information about your dream home or land. Isn't that awesome?? Give it a try right now. Go to the website below and start your search for your dream home!

www.nwrealestate.com then click on Grant County for towns like Moses Lake, Ephrata, Wilson Creek, Ephrata, and Othello homes and land.

As you will find out in the Real Estate News section (in the little green box on the left hand side of the NWMLS page, "Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member brokers, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest. Its membership includes approximately 28,000 brokers and agents. The organization, based in Kirkland, currently serves 19 counties, mostly in western Washington, plus Grant, Kittitas and Okanogan counties in the central part of the state." So, you have a LOT of homes to choose from.

If you would like some help with your search, or you would like to start previewing homes, call me up and I'll set up some appointments to go see those homes. Make sure you have talked with a lender to find out how much of a loan you qualify for so that you are looking at homes that are in your price range.

Today's interest rate quoted to me today is 4.75%. That's around $716 a month for a $100,000 home if you qualify for that rate. Cheaper than rent! For a home around $150,000, that's a monthly payment of approximately $1,037.00. (Did you know you can buy a new home for $135,000.00 AND choose your flooring, cabinets, and paint colors? Call me today at 509-431-5804. Let's get you into your own home and stop paying your landlord's mortgage.)

(Here's the information for a brand new $135,000 home: landscaped front yard with underground sprinkler system, covered front entry, vaulted ceilings, oak cabinets, rounded drywall corners, tile entry, central heat & air, 30 year roof, etc. Doesn't that sound beautiful??)

I'll talk with you soon!

Connie Suehiro, Realtor
Gary Mann Real Estate
305 E. Third Ave.
Moses Lake, WA 98837
509-431-5804 direct

Selling Your Home in a Declining Market

Mike Bess is a mortgage broker on the west side of Washington, and I get his newsletter updates frequently. He has a lot of great information to share.

Here is a link to his
January 7, 2009 Economic Update:

http://realtytimes.com/ncmeu/53/1.MikeBess

This Newsletter is full of interesting and useful information that I think you will enjoy whether you are a buyer, seller, homeowner, or renter.This month's issue includes the following topics:

"Selling Your Home in a Declining Market"
"Good Time To Buy A Vacation Home"

Plus a Calendar showing the most important economic indicators and their upcoming release dates. I hope you enjoy this bi-weekly Newsletter. If you have any comments, please e-mail them to Mike. Or, if you would like to see a certain topic covered in future months, let him know that too!

Michael Bess
Mortgage Banker
National City Mortgage,
a division of National City Bank
31620 23rd Ave S #200
Federal Way, WA 98003
Office: 253-839-6500
Mobile: 253-632-0105
Fax: 253-839-6520
Email: mike.bess@ncmc.com

Here's a tip that might save you thousands of dollars

If you have owned your home for more than five years, you could save thousands of dollars. Homes purchased with a loan greater than 80% require PMI, or Private Mortgage Insurance. This insurance pays the mortgage company off if you don't pay off your loan. But when your equity, the difference between your loan and the current value of your home, reaches 20% or more, you are no longer required to pay PMI. If you have paid enough on your home in just a few years that the loan is less than 80% of what you originally paid for it, you should be able to qualify for a removal of your PMI payments. PMI is generally half or less of 1%, but it is still money going out of your pocket.

You may be one of thousands of people who are considering refinancing your home so you can lower your payments. Make sure you and your lender take into account the difference of the appraised value of your home and the amount of your loan. If the difference is 20% or more, you can remove the PMI payment.

Another thought on refinancing is that usually a lender will require you to get an appraisal to prove the value of your home. Before you spend the $400+ for an appraisal, ask the lending company if they would be willing to accept the assessed value. You will know what your assessed value is if you recently received your tax statement from the county to let you know what their new assessment is on your home. We all know that Grant County has considerably raised our assessed values since Moses Lake and other Grant County homes have consistently increased in value for the most part.

If you are just curious about the market value (similar, but not the same as appraised value) of your home, just give me a call at 509-431-5804 and I'll supply you with the sales of comparable homes in your area to give you an idea of what your home's value is.

New Jobs in Moses Lake

With all of the new jobs coming up in the Moses Lake area, people will need places to either rent or buy.

Here are the new jobs we are foreseeing for 2009 because of the businesses who have begun to build in Moses Lake, Ephrata and Quincy.

Guardian, Moses Lake - 120-150 new jobs
Intuit Corp, Quincy - 40-60 new jobs
Sabey, Quincy - 40-60 new jobs
R.E.C. Silicon Moses Lake - 280-300 new jobs
Specialty Chemical, Moses Lake - 50-60 new jobs
Norco, Moses Lake - 15-20 new jobs
New School (Sage Elementary), Moses Lake - 50-70 new jobs
Tire Co, Ephrata - 600-800 new jobs (this is not a typo)
Katana, Ephrata - 25-30 new jobs
Walgreens, Moses Lake - 30-40 new jobs
Vocational School (being built by the high school), Moses Lake - 20 new jobs
Aaron's Furniture, Moses Lake - 10 new jobs
Million Aire, Moses Lake - 30 new jobs

As growth comes, each job will create 3 service jobs. The more people who move to Moses Lake, the more people will need to have their oil changed, hair cut, fingernails filled, new shoes, and lawns landscaped. Let's welcome these new folks with a smile, a job, and a home!

Naturally, these numbers are approximate. Please consider calling these businesses if you are interested in a job, and be sure to call me for a home to buy, especially with those interest rates down around 5.5%! If you were to buy a home for $100,000, that's approximately a $700 monthly payment. Better than rent! If you were to buy a home for $130,000, you'll be paying approximately $800 a month. Again, better than rent!

Call me at 509-431-5804. I look forward to talking with you!

Sincerely,
Connie

Homes for Sale in Moses Lake - 113 under $180,000

Hello! I have great news for you! If you would like the list of homes for $180,000 and less in Moses Lake, Warden, Ephrata, and Othello, call me at 509-431-5804 right away, and I'll email it to you. There are 113 of these homes in Moses Lake, and a total of 91 in the Warden, Ephrata, and Othello area. If you'd like to email your request, my email is homes@iglide.net, and I'll get to you as soon as I see your message.

I also have lists of homes in other price ranges. If you would like one of them, let me know your price range and your email address, and I'll email it to you. Your privacy is important to me, so I will not use it for spam or sell it.

God bless you and Merry Christmas!

Sincerely,

Connie Suehiro

Gary Mann Real Estate

305 E. Third Ave.

Moses Lake, WA 98837

509-431-5804 direct

Some encouragement for hard times.

I usually write mostly about real estate in my blog, and I know there are many, many people locally and around our world that are going through various kinds of pain and suffering, which includes real estate and/or emotional or physical pain. I have been through a couple of funerals and some physical pain lately myself, and I remember watching in a video lately that when we are going through pain or have gone through pain, that that is a time when others around us could use our experience and strength that we receive from our suffering. So, with that being said, I would like to give you some encouragement that I heard from Wintley Phipps when he sang, "It Is Well With My Soul" for a gathering of people. Here is what he said:

“It is in the quiet crucible...
of your personal, private sufferings....
that your noblest dreams are born, ...
and God’s greatest gifts are given, ...
in compensation for what you’ve been through.”
–Wintley Phipps

If you would like to view the six-minute video on YouTube, go to this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYFjikyp7mQ

Have a great day!

Connie