Coldwell Banker Country Estates

Wyomings seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 3.2 percent in December to 3.7 percent in January, rising a full percentage point from January of last year, but remaining well below the national rate of 7.6 percent. This is bound to affect real estate in Wyoming. real estate for sale in wyoming and everywhere is driven by jobs to be able the qualify for loans.

Wyoming has the nations lowest unemployment rate according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. For real estate in Wyoming, as the rate increases, or real estate for sale in wyoming will continue to slow.

The largest increases were in Lincoln County , star valley, up from 3.5 percent in January 2008 to 7 percent in January 2009. This will dramitcally affect real estate in star valley. Real estate in Wyoming is traditionally “affordable” for most people. But as unemployment continues to rise our value in homes for sale in wyoming and land for sale in wyoming will drop.

 ”Val D. Pendleton is the premier real estate broker in Star Valley Wyoming. Val’s family has a deep and respected heritage going back several generations in the Star Valley area. Specializing in Thayne, Afton, Bedford, Alpine and surrounding communities please visit the Coldwell Banker  Country Estates website at  http://www.cbcountry.comfor a complete list of inventory offered by Coldwell Banker Country Estates or email us at val@cbcountry.com If we can assist you in any way, feel free to contact us directly 307-883-7000″

Historically high housing affordability and low mortgage interest rates, combined with buyer opportunities in the distressed sales market, have increased home sales in many areas of the country including Star Valley Wyoming. “There has never been a better time to buy,” said National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, who presented NAR’s economic outlook at the Economic Issues and Residential Real Estate Business Trends Forum that took place during the Realtors Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo that took place in Washington, D.C. last week. Yun commented on a convergence of favorable buying conditions while emphasizing how important it is for home buyers to stay within their budgets. “Housing affordability is at an all-time high, mortgage rates are historically low, and interest rates are the lowest they’ve been since the days of Eisenhower,” said Yun.

During a national real estate summit held in D.C. last week, Shaun Donovan, U.S. Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow qualified home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a downpayment.  This will help tons with affordability for homes for sale in wyoming. “Now that buyers will be able to use the $8,000 tax credit as a downpayment on a home, we should see additional buyers enter the market,” said Yun.

While he doesn’t anticipate an immediate pickup in the coming months, Yun believes early summer will be a critical indicator of how home buyers are responding to the $8,000 tax credit. “The home buying process takes time,” said Yun. “This summer will gauge the success of the first-time home buyer tax credit.” We have seen activity in Star Valley Wyoming this last month.

Evidence of recovery is already demonstrated in California, where home sales are rising much faster than anticipated; some areas in the state are seeing a 70% to 80% increase in sales. Yun attributes this surge to buyers who may have been sitting on the fence but are now taking advantage of the great opportunities for fear of being left out of current deals in the market. When markets like California pick up we see ripple effect in wyoming real estaste.

According to Yun, many first-time buyers are attracted to deeply discounted and distressed home prices. Nationally, about half of all recent transactions have been distressed sales. Fifteen to 20% have been short sales and 30% to 35% have been foreclosures. Yun says while these statistics are unfortunate, the situation, along with current home buying incentives, has created an impressive window of opportunity for potential home buyers.  Real estate in Wyoming hasn’t lost much value but we have seen buyers waiting for the bottom of the market.

“The stimulus and falling inventory levels will help stabilize prices,” said Yun. “My projection is home sales will be 10 to 20 percent higher the second half of this year than last year and we will come out of this recession in 2010.”

“Val D. Pendleton is the premier real estate broker in Star Valley Wyoming. Val’s family has a deep and respected heritage going back several generations in the Star Valley area. Specializing in Thayne, Afton, Bedford, Alpine and surrounding communities please visit the Coldwell Banker Country Estates website at  http://www.cbcountry.com for a complete list of inventory offered by Coldwell Banker Country Estates or email us at val@cbcountry.com If we can assist you in any way, feel free to contact us directly 307-883-7000″

Check on the recording of lien and mortgage releases if you are thinking about selling your real estate in wyoming.
 
You purchase a home and live in it for years.  Now, you’re ready to sell star valley real estate and you are told that the mortgage held by the previous owners was never released.  What do you do?
 
First, it’s very important to always confirm that releases for liens and mortgages are recorded promptly following your closing.  In star valley Wyoming lenders are required to record a release within 30 days of the loan payoff or face some pretty stiff penalties.   For your own piece of mind, you can check the county clerk’s web site to confirm that releases have been processed in a timely fashion.  Remember, you will probably not be able to sell or refinance a property if you have outstanding liens.
 
With all the recent mergers and closures of banks and lenders, resolving an unreleased lien can be both time consuming and frustrating.  This is something that your title company can help you with. Star valley Title and Escrow people know the lingo and the players.  They can often find just the right button to push to get the problem resolved.

This information should help with real estate in wyoming for transactions to go smoothly and timely.

“Val D. Pendleton is the premier real estate broker in Star Valley Wyoming. Val’s family has a deep and respected heritage going back several generations in the Star Valley area. Specializing in Thayne, Afton, Bedford, Alpine and surrounding communities please visit the Coldwell Banker Country Estates website at  http://www.cbcountry.com for a complete list of inventory offered by Coldwell Banker Country Estates or email us at val@cbcountry.com If we can assist you in any way, feel free to contact us directly 307-883-7000″

Here in Star Valley Wyoming we get comments periodically about green housing, so when we came across this information we thought it might interest the greenies of Star Valley Wyoming.

Did you know? According to several studies including the U.S. Department of Energy, homes and buildings account for 40-50 percent of total U.S. energy consumption and at least 20-40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.

In addition, construction of homes and other buildings use more than 30 percent of all raw materials and produce at least 30 percent of waste generation in the U.S. each year. Wow!

Committed followers of green subscribe to sustainable growth principles which reject “false choices” of economic growth versus environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Proponents believe these goals can and should occur simultaneously, an item important to those involved in Star Valley Real Estate.

The study and goal of sustainable growth is a topic which I encourage you to research. As it pertains to green homes and development, sustainability focuses on the concept of “smart” growth — growth without compromising the well being of future generations and their ability to satisfy their needs and desire for happiness.

All stakeholders—such as planners, developers, builders and owners—must consider the “triple bottom line” of prosperity (profit), people (community) and their planet (environment). We all share one big home after all—our planet Earth.  And so it should be with homes for sale in Star Valley Wyoming.

“Val D. Pendleton is the premier real estate broker in Star Valley Wyoming. Val’s family has a deep and respected heritage going back several generations in the Star Valley area. Specializing in Thayne, Afton, Bedford, Alpine and surrounding communities please visit the Coldwell Banker Country Estates website at  http://www.cbcountry.comfor a complete list of inventory offered by Coldwell Banker Country Estates or email us at val@cbcountry.com If we can assist you in any way, feel free to contact us directly 307-883-7000″

 Ask homeowners in star valley wyoming about their DTI, (debit to income) ratios, and they’re likely to respond with something like, “My what ratios?!” However, when distressed homeowners in star valley are sizing up their foreclosure options, they need to brush up on DTI ratios. Lenders will be scrutinizing these ratios to determine homeowner eligibility for loan modification and other debt relief.

Homeowners  in star valley wyoming need to know that their DTI ratios are crucial to determining an affordable house payment. The current government plan defines an affordable house payment as one that is no higher than 31% of the homeowner’s front-end DTI. In other words, the house payment or PITIA (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and any association fees) on the first mortgage cannot exceed 31% of the household’s gross monthly income.

In Star Valley Wyoming, Encourage homeowners to examine both their front-end and back-end DTI ratios:

Front-end DTI ratio is based solely on the house payment. (Under the current government plan, the front-end DTI target of 31% accounts only for the first mortgage. If the home has other liens against it, such as a second mortgage or home equity line of credit, those are accounted for separately as part of the back-end DTI.)

Back-end DTI ratio is based on all monthly debt payments combined, including the house payment, credit card payments, payments on auto loans, and other loan payments.

Calculating the Front-End DTI Ratio

Although the formulas for calculating DTI ratios are simple, homeowners are unlikely to have encountered them in the past. To calculate their front-end DTI, instruct homeowners to divide their house payment by their monthly household income (gross income):

House Payment / Gross Monthly Household Income = Front-End DTI Ratio

This is easy, assuming the monthly house payment includes an amount held in escrow to pay the property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and any association fees. Such a payment is often referred to as PITIA (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and association fees).

If they pay property taxes, insurance, and association fees separately, then they have to perform an extra step. Instruct them to total these additional annual expenses, divide by 12 months, and add the result to their monthly house payment (principal and interest). They can then divide the resulting house payment by their monthly household income to determine their front-end DTI ratio.

Private mortgage insurance (PMI) payments fall outside this calculation under the current government plan. 

Calculating the Back-End DTI Ratio

To calculate the back-end DTI ratio, instruct homeowners to total their monthly debt payments, including: House payment or PITIA, as discussed in the previous section; Any payments on second mortgages, home-equity loans, or home-equity lines of credit; credit card payments; auto loan or lease payments; alimony and other payments on credit accounts or loans.

Now, they should divide their total monthly debt payments by their total gross monthly household income:

Monthly Debt Payments / Gross Monthly Household Income = Back-End DTI Ratio

Exploring DTI Ratios under Obama’s Foreclosure Prevention Plan

The Home Affordable Modification Program accounts for both front-end and back-end DTI ratios. When attempting to reach the 31% target for the front-end DTI, the focus is only on the first mortgage:

For qualifying homeowners, in Star Valley, the lender will have to first reduce payments on the first mortgage to no greater than a 38% front-end DTI ratio. Treasury will match further reductions in monthly payments dollar-for-dollar with the lender/investor, down to a 31% front-end DTI ratio.

Borrowers who qualify for a modification but would have a post-modification back-end DTI ratio greater than or equal to 55%, will be provided with a letter stating that they are required to work with a HUD-approved counselor. The modification will not take effect until they provide a signed statement indicating that they will obtain counseling.

Keep in mind that only lenders, investors, and servicers who choose to participate in this program are bound by its guidelines and that the guidelines may change over time. Different lenders may have their own DTI ratio targets and limitations, so when checking out star valley real estate, make sure what system your lender is using.

When homeowners in your market are in default or in danger of default, encourage them to explore their options. Now that they can calculate their DTI ratios, they have one more tool that will empower them to assess their options, keep their house, and preserve their American Dream of homeownership.

“Val D. Pendleton is the premier real estate broker in Star Valley Wyoming. Val’s family has a deep and respected heritage going back several generations in the Star Valley area. Specializing in Thayne, Afton, Bedford, Alpine and surrounding communities please visit the Coldwell Banker Country Estates website at  http://www.cbcountry.com for a complete list of inventory offered by Coldwell Banker Country Estates or email us at val@cbcountry.com If we can assist you in any way, feel free to contact us directly 307-883-7000″

Pending home sales rose a seasonally adjusted 2.1% in February to a reading of 82.1 from 80.4 in January, the National Association of Realtors reported today. Economists had expected pending sales to remain unchanged, so hopefully this helps us out in Wyoming real estate too.”Pending-home sales have a way to go for there to be a meaningful increase, but recent increases in shopping activity, which we are seeing in Wyoming real estate too, are hopeful indicators that we’ll see additional sales gains,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a statement.

With this optomistic news given to us from National Association Of Realtors, It helps us in Wyoming real estate to guage our selling season based not only on what we notice in Star Valley wyoming, but realty in the rest of the united states.

“Val D. Pendleton is the premier real estate broker in Star Valley Wyoming. Val’s family has a deep and respected heritage going back several generations in the Star Valley area. Specializing in Thayne, Afton, Bedford, Alpine and surrounding communities please visit the Coldwell Banker Country Estates website at  http://www.cbcountry.com for a complete list of inventory offered by Coldwell Banker Country Estates or email us at val@cbcountry.com If we can assist you in any way, feel free to contact us directly 307-883-7000″

1.  Consensus on Star Valley real estate:  raw land coming down drastically.  Finished homes are not.  Opportunity and demand for buyers who have down-payment.  Some key employers:  local hospital, phosphate mine JR Simplot who has people turning down jobs due to lack of housing (Smokey Cyn in Carribou County, Idaho – HR Dept.), Lincoln County School District (#1 employer), local Silver Star Communications (telecom), Lower Valley Energy, 1st National Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of Star Valley, Maverick Country Stores, and Aviat Aircraft Plant all have high need of affordable housing for employees.

2.  Bank of Star Valley puts together an annual economic forecast, which just came out and can help with the feel of furture activity & trends in homes for sale and real estate locally.

3.  Good news, folks aren’t getting desperate on finished housing.  Folks that have existing homes are too high-end for the worker market.  Downside, loans from banks vary by region.  Hoping some of these employers will back a silent second mortgage for a key-position employees …. i.e. amortize a 5-year second mortgage to keep employee retention, especially the hospital, which doing creative things for nurses, (i.e. scholarships, etc.).  Also, the hospital is moving forward with expansion plans this year. This could be positive stimulation for homes for sale in Star Valley Wyoming.

4.  In Jackson and surrounding areas, resorts are cautiously optimistic. Tourism is expected to come down, but Teton County is still issuing building permits and is just below normal for this time of year – which is soft-season anyway. Sales taxes off 12% in Teton County, not too bad.  With aging population (teachers, cops, etc.) they have to be able to lure people into moving there.  There will likely be a die off of young teachers in the next year or two due to a vested retirement program installed.

5. All this tells us that affordable housing should be very viable.

“Val D. Pendleton is the premier real estate broker in Star Valley Wyoming. Val’s family has a deep and respected heritage going back several generations in the Star Valley area. Specializing in Thayne, Afton, Bedford, Alpine, Star Valley Ranch, and surrounding communities please visit the Coldwell Banker Country Estates website at  http://www.cbcountry.comfor a complete list of inventory offered by Coldwell Banker Country Estates or email us at val@cbcountry.com If we can assist you in any way, feel free to contact us directly 307-883-7000″

As we get information through the real estate in Wyoming sources, we would like to pass it on to our clients and customers in Wyoming Real Estate, as to give them them tools to plan and prepare for the future of investing in land or homes in Star Valley. 

President Barack Obama rolled out a bold $75 billion, three-part plan to halt the soaring rate of mortgage foreclosures nationwide, one that seeks to encourage refinancing of homes now worth less than their mortgages and provides incentives for lenders to lower the debt load on struggling homeowners. This should help real estate in wyoming, right?

President Barack Obama’s new effort to use Wall Street rescue money to halt the soaring rate of mortgage foreclosures nationwide encourages refinancing of homes that are now worth less than their mortgages and provides incentives for lenders to lower the debt load on struggling homeowners.Some things seem so obvious that simple folks like me have started to question our own common sense. Like the idea that the best way to help the average American, who has lost 40% of the value of his retirement nest-egg and half the equity in his real estate, is to GIVE billions of our dollars to the people who caused this fleecing of America. Huh?

By last report, none of the money had made its way to where it is needed and where it was supposed to be headed. Banks gobbled up the money and refuse to disclose what they did with it; but, they, apparently, haven’t been lending it. They won’t say where it went and tell us they don’t have to. They concluded with the statement that they really couldn’t track it anyway because all revenue goes together and its source is unaccounted for.

Again, huh? If I got even just a single billion from somewhere, I’m sure the IRS would make me account for its source. But, a statement like that raises the even larger question-do these people know even the basics of business? You track where your money comes from so that you can do more of what is profitable and less of what is not. No wonder some are already coming back for more. And, one exec at Bank of America, John Thain, spent $1.2 million on drapes for his office. Drapes! Why aren’t we marching in the streets? Luckily real estate in Wyoiming and our agents are well accounted for!

“Val D. Pendleton is the premier real estate broker in Star Valley Wyoming. Val’s family has a deep and respected heritage going back several generations in the Star Valley area. Specializing in Thayne, Afton, Bedford, Alpine and surrounding communities please visit the Coldwell Banker Country Estates website at  http://www.cbcountry.comfor a complete list of inventory offered by Coldwell Banker Country Estates or email us at val@cbcountry.com If we can assist you in any way, feel free to contact us directly 307-883-7000″

What a great opportunity to invest in real estate in Wyoming.  Interest rates are at an all time low, and our market in Star Valley Wyoming is looking very optimistic. Read our blogs for tips on investing in real estate for sale in wyoming.

     During our monthly tracking, we have noticed that, generally speaking, real estate for sale in Wyoming is still holding strong.

Homes for sale in Wyoming Star Valley

June, 2008-346 homes for sale with an average list price of $475,000

February, 2009-272 homes for sale with an average list price of $466,500

Land for sale in Wyoming Star Valley

June, 2008-611 parcels of land for sale with an average list price of $245,000

February, 2009-527 parcels of land for sale with an average list price of $262,000

     These numbers representing real estate for sale in Wyoming were gathered from our local MLS data and show that contrary to the National media portrayal of the real estate industry, confidence should still be strong in Wyoming Real Estate.

     “Val D. Pendleton is the premier real estate broker in Star Valley Wyoming. Val’s family has a deep and respected heritage going back several generations in the Star Valley area. Specializing in Thayne, Afton, Bedford, Alpine and surrounding communities please visit the Coldwell Banker Country Estates website at  http://www.cbcountry.com for a complete list of inventory offered by Coldwell Banker Country Estates or email us at val@cbcountry.com If we can assist you in any way, feel free to contact us directly 307-883-7000″

As Real Estate Professionals in Star Valley Wyoming were hoping this would pass-we all need to pull together and let our government know how we feel.

Unfortunately, Amendment #353 to the Economic Stimulus Plan, which contained a provision for the Federal Government to buy-down mortgage rates to 4.5% or less for a 30-year fixed rate loan for the purchase of a primary residence, was not passed at this time.  However, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, the Senate will vote on their version of the Economic Stimulus Plan. We need to ensure the following three provisions that have a direct impact on housing will be included in the Plan:
$15,000 home-buyer tax credit that was proposed by Senators Isakson, Lieberman and Dodd
Permanent FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits that match the levels enacted in 2008
Increased resources for foreclosure mitigation efforts to stem the flood of foreclosures
I strongly encourage you to follow the link below, provided by the National Association of Realtors, to learn more about the provisions and voice your support. Please click on the link and follow the site’s instructions, which allow you to create and immediately post a letter via e-mail through the site to your U.S. Senators and Representatives.
http://takeaction.realtoractioncenter.com/campaign/2009stimulus

Foreclosures in Star Valley Wyoming aren’t flooding our market, yet.  Real Estate in Star Valley and Land in Star Valley are holding their value and seem to still be in demand. The Star Valley Real Estate market hasn’t been driven by our local economy for some time, we do rely on outside buyers, so what happens in the rest of the world will eventually trickle down to effect us in time.

“Val D. Pendleton is the premier real estate broker in Star Valley Wyoming. Val’s family has a deep and respected heritage going back several generations in the Star Valley area. Specializing in Thayne, Afton, Bedford, Alpine and surrounding communities please visit the Coldwell Banker Country Estates website at  http://www.cbcountry.comfor a complete list of inventory offered by Coldwell Banker Country Estates or email us at val@cbcountry.com If we can assist you in any way, feel free to contact us directly 307-883-7000″