Rain nor sleet nor Relocation??

No wonder stamps cost so much! The US postal service lost big bucks on relocating employees homes even the real big ones...over $1M!! Ouch...

Rainy Christmas Eve in Waukesha County

The Squirrels Never Had a Chance

My wife and I bought this squirrel feeder from Wild Birds Unlimited in Delafield for my parents back yard this Christmas. As you can see the Blue Jay is hogging all the peanuts. The squirrels never had a chance to get their little paws on the goods--poor guys. Dad said that the Blue Jays were lined up to take their respective turns on the wreath. As soon as one left the next flew in for some goodies. In less than 2 hours they had consumed half of this wreath. I hope you had a good Christmas and just enjoyed the fun with family or friends.

This is not Real Estate Related

From time to time it is nice to depart from all things Real Estate. A friend of mine recommended this book, "Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert. I checked our local bookstore Books & Company to obtain my copy. They are not paying me for this endorsement, but I prefer to shop locally, if I can and I really like brick and mortar business'. Besides I figured that if I had waited 3 months to get around to the purchase I could easily wait another day for the book to come in, so I placed my order. I know that is a bunch of useless information but oh well. The book has an interesting premise--What really makes us happy? Or conversely what makes us unhappy? The first chapter is engaging and I will report what I think about this book, not that anyone is really interested. Blogging is a fascinating thing. More Later...

One of the worries of professionals in my industry is that rates will go up forcing some potential home buyers from the market. The 30 year fixed rates averaged 4.81% as of December 10, 2009 up from last weeks average of 4.71%. While the rate is still low, compared to last year, the fear is that banks will have to raise rates since the Fed indicated that they will reduce the amount of mortgage paper they are buying by March 2010. This shift to the private sector has some worried that rates could climb at least 1% perhaps even 2% over the current low rates. That combined with tightening credit is giving everyone the jitters. Please see the Wall Street Journal Article.

Oconomowoc School District Links

As a parent I am very proud of our school system in Lake Country. I thought a few web-links would be helpful for those parents who have not found the OASD (Oconomowoc Area School District) site or for those of you who are thinking about moving into our area. Oconomowoc Schools Media presentation is a colorful look at the School District.

OAC Box Office is a great site to save to your favorites on your computer. From this site you can purchase tickets for events at the OAC (Oconomowoc Arts Center). Having attended quite a few of the "non-professional" presentations I honestly don't know why they are called non-professional, because the kids rock. The signing, dancing, choreography, set design are all professional! It is truly amazing to watch.

If your child desires to go beyond spanish as a language and comes home one day and says, "nǐ hǎo" or Good Morning in Mandarin Chinese, they can learn this exotic language right here at the Oconomowoc High School. Scroll down on the page and you will find more information about the International Baccalaureate program or IB for short.

Do you want to know a little more about your child's teacher? Well there is a link for that as well on the staff page . Here you can quickly save the email address for easy contact.

All the athletic information from schedules to opportunites are located on the easy-to-use site. As a parent you are connected to everything your child may want to involve themselves in.

Are you moving into the area and you would like to know what Elementary or Middle School area your new home is located in? The easy to locate district map will provide you with all the information you will need.

Here's hoping this helps!

In Real Estate

Headlines for Monday December 7, 2009

House Flippers Are Back!

House Of The Day

Fed NY Pres: "The recession now appears to be over"

Baltimore Lender gets boot from FHA

Naked Santa Causes Stir

Buying a Short Sale

In today's ever changing Real Estate market, as a buyer you will undoubtedly come across a "short sale". A short sale is a process that the seller's market value of the house will no longer satisfy the current indebtedness. The banks in some cases will forgive the debt. This process is called a short sale. As a buyer there are a few factors that you should be aware of before putting in an offer on a short sale. Here is a brief list of questions to consider:

1. How many mortgages are on the property? If the seller has more than two mortgages against this property then chances of you obtaining the property in a relatively short period of time are almost nill.
2. Are there any unpaid HOA (Home Owners Association) dues? If there are the listing agent should try and work with the seller to get those paid ASAP.
3. Has the seller sent in ALL of the information that the lender has requested? If the seller has not done this and included their hardship letter then move on to the next house. This is not going anywhere. You can determine much about the sellers cooperation if they have not submitted a complete packet. Partial packets to lenders are deal killers.
4. Find out who the lender or servicer is. Some lenders/servicers are slower than others. Your Realtor should be able to assist you with this.

Just because the property is in the short sale process does not mean you shouldn't think about submitting an offer, but a little extra information before the offer can make the process easier.

Good luck in your search for the perfect home. Feel free to check out my other blog at Lake Country Blog where I regularly comment on life in Lake Country.

In Real Estate

Wells Fargo to Lay of 26 in the Falls

Foreclosure Scams in AG sights

From Versace to Chainsaws

AM Trust Shut

Partents Give Downpayment money to kids

Rates pushed lower by low housing demand

Consumers on the hunt for personal loans

Short sales made easier

What Difference Do It Make?

I recently blogged about a book I had read "Same Kind of Different as Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, and how much I enjoyed the book. It is a moving story of friendship, redemption and healing. I was greatly moved by the book. The publisher saw my brief review and asked if I would be willing to read the new book that the authors penned, "What Difference Do It Make?"  I said yes. Well the book arrived today so now I need to do my part. Hopefully I can get through the book in the next few days and will post my review here. From the brief introduction it looks like it will be as good as the first book.  Developing...

Snow is Coming...Are you Ready for the Slush?

It snowed last night, not much but just enough to remind us that winter is on the way. With the snow comes slush and wet shoes. I always have a pack of shoe covers handy for each listing. Most home-owners appreciate the gesture. When buying the covers I generally like to get the universal shoe size, or one-size fits all type. These shoe covers I found to work great for the "snow season" . Most

30 Year Low for Mortgage Rates

With interest rates at a 30 year low down to 4.71% lower than last weeks reported low of 4.78% some buyers will sit on the sidelines and wonder if they will get even lower before they jump into the market. But before you hit the "snooze button" and check out remember that the market is changing quickly. If you are serious about buying your dream home, now is the time. Spring will bring other pressures to the market

Big Homes Still Hope For Buyers

I thought this was an interesting article. Click on the title to link to the MSNBC article. The Mega-Mansions those 9 figure homes, yeah you read it right, $150,000,000 asking price for Aaron Spelling's home-these big priced tag homes are feeling the pinch too in the real estate market.