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| July 5, 2010 |
Happy July 4th weekend! I hope
you are all having a wonderful long holiday weekend. I'm still in
Hawaii until tomorrow on my adventure tracing my family roots on my
mother's side and how my mother and father came together. It has been a
profound and exhilarating experience.
There are still a couple of holes to fill in the history (I could use a
few more days...), however it's time to come back to the mainland and
sell some houses so I can pay for the next trip to trace my father's
side back east!!!
I thought this would be the
perfect weekend to share the success story
of my friends and clients Karen and Jay because we met at the Bluff
Heights 4th of July party one year ago and started our adventure
finding them their summer ocean view home. I hear they are enjoying it
right now! —Much aloha, Ren
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THE VERY LONG "SHORT" SALE
Karen Fowler and Jay Flowers Ocean
View by Karen Fowler
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 "Jay and I had
been looking for a condo with an ocean view for about a year before we
met Ren. Other agents kept showing us properties that were not even
close to our specifications. We had just about given up our dream of
ocean living when we met Ren at a 4th of July block party in Long
Beach. Ren was introduced to me by my best friend Terry and we hit it
off immediately. When I found out she was a real estate agent in Long
Beach I asked her if she would help me look for a place. Ren got
started on it right away and off we were on our search. I found Ren to
be not only a very competent and professional agent, but a real
pleasure to spend time with. How refreshing it was to find an agent
that you wanted to spend time with, this was a real bonus.
We looked and looked which was a challenge for Ren as I lived in Palm
Springs and was not always available when something hot came on the
market. After looking a couple of times Ren knew what I wanted and what
I didn't. After that, since Ren knew that my time was limited, she
would preview properties ahead of time and only show me the ones that
fit my criteria. I thought we were close on a couple of condo's; one
particular in Laguna Beach, and another that was actually out of our
price range in Long Beach. Then we finally found the one we wanted. The
price was right. It was in the building we always wanted to be in,
however, it was a short sale. I know that a lot of agents will shy away
from a short sale and now I understand why. Ren was not intimidated.
She helped us make the best offer for us. I believe there were 8 other
offers on this place, and I truly believe that we were chosen out of
these 8 offers because of Ren, her sound advice and positive
attitude.
Our offer was chosen and off to the bank... then came 6 months of
waiting. Ren kept us updated periodically and explained the process
along the way. I felt like Ren had to do the work of both the Buyers
agent and the sellers agent. Ren introduced us to Susan VanWagenen of
Terra Mortgage to help us with our loan. The process with Susan was as
smooth as can be. She was very pleasant and an absolute pleasure to
work with. Susan really seemed to care that we got this place. We are
in our condo now and it was all worth the agony of the "Short" sale. We
love the condo and most importantly we got an amazing deal. I could not
be happier and I have a friend for life in Ren." |
Celebrating on Karen and Jay's balcony with
city and ocean views...
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Rates
continue at historical lows with Conforming 30 Year Fixed
(under $417,000) at 4.375% and High Balance ($417,000 to $729,750) at
4.5% and Jumbo (over $729,750) at 5.75%.
Note the 15 Year Fixed rates at
3.75% for Conforming and 4% for High Balance.
Our buyers have to come out to take advantage of these fantastic rates
even without tax credit incentives!
By the way, the $100 Million that the State of California allocated for
the $10,000 First Time Buyer Tax Credit is almost out of funds.
Buyers can apply for an allocation of these funds within two weeks of
their escrow closing. If they are not in escrow already, it may
be too late.
Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!
Susan
(Information courtesy of Susan Van Wagenen of Terra
Mortgage. 714-323-5559)
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