The Home Loan Workshop Has a New Time

We’ve been testing the public’s interest and availability for the Home Loan Workshop.  We’ve found that 6pm on a Thursday afternoon is a little difficult for some folks.  We’ve changed the times to 5pm and 6pm on Saturday to accommodate people’s busy schedules.  We’ve also increased the regularity of the popular classes.  Send your buyers to the website if they want more information – http:homeloanworkshop.org.

The Easterbrook Team
916.850.6050
EasterbrookTeam@spmc.com

Direct Access

There’s another little tidbit that could benefit your buyers.  VA will allow cash out refinances (not all lenders do though) of up to 100%!  This is, to our knowledge, the only product on the market that allows this. 

We also have a unique advantage when it comes to VA and other loans – Patty Aguon.  She had (until she became a retail loan officer) been underwriting VA, FHA, conventional, and jumbo loans for the last 15 years.   She also was the Operations Manager and Underwriting Manager for two of the area’s largest loan companies.  Imagine – having direct access to the underwriting manager – now you do!

Check out OUR rates, we’ve got some of the best in town!

Based in Folsom, California, Sierra Pacific Mortgage has 144 offices nationwide. The Easterbrook Team at Sierra Pacific is associated with the #1 office in the nation for SPMC for 2015.  We want to thank you so much for the support.  Come by and visit our office at 806 Bidwell Street in Folsom.  Keep the loans coming and we’ll keep closing them at lightning speed with a positive, smooth, and transparent experience.  Call us at (916) 850-6050.    

First Impressions!

A Few Suggestions on How to Impress Your Buyers

Here’s the thing…almost everything anyone would want to know about real estate is available for free.

So, what can you do to provide “value” when the buyers that you are working with are searching for properties online? Learning how many times it has sold and for how much? Researching public records? Using Google maps?

The one advantage that YOU have is knowledge of the local market. Guidance that will save your clients money. Helping them understand the positives and negatives when showing them homes. While they may be able to find information pretty much everywhere, the other advantage you have is your ability to “interpret” what it really means in terms they can understand.

Here’s are some suggestions on how to impress your buyers:

• Preview the homes you plan to show them – Contact the listing agent for additional property information that you can provide to them when showing them the home.
• Ask them about their “Home Wish List” – Pay attention to make sure that the homes they want to view meet some of the items on their wish list. Share information about the homes you previewed that don’t meet some of their requirements.
• Pay attention to their “hot buttons” – During the showings, read their body language, pay attention to how they react to certain features of the home. You may discover that some of the items that were on their wish list are not as important as they thought they were.
• Provide detailed information – This includes local MLS stats, average days on the market, price range of sold homes, property taxes of other homes in the neighborhood, etc. This would be like a mini-CMA to help buyers evaluate each home you show them.
• Google is your friend – Search what’s going on in the neighborhood. Check with local government to see if there are any proposed projects or new developments planned. Map out all the homes you plan to show them so they have a good idea of their location to each other.
• Personalize your information – Take the time to put together a packet of information. Include their name and maybe the “wish list” they shared with you.

By providing MORE information than buyers can find on their own, you are showcasing your expertise and setting yourself apart from other agents who just put buyers in their car (or meet them at a home) to view the homes THEY request to see.

 

The Easterbrook Team 916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com

Dreams of Champions

Get More Out of Coffee

Mike Ditka is quoted as saying that “coffee is the lifeblood that drives the dreams of champions”.  It is the favored drink in our industry.  Here’s how to get them most out of coffee – (CLICK HERE).

Here’s another reason to hang out at your local Starbucks (or post your homebuyer seminar on the wall there) – coffee shop patrons are 65% likely to have an income over $100K.  Want the study?  Here you go – (CLICK HERE).

To make your dreams come true, Call The Easterbrook Team for your refinance and purchase needs.

916.850.6050 easterbrookteam@spmc.com 

John Easterbrook NMLS#226555

Patty Aguon NMLS#994635 

10 Reasons You Should Smile More

Hint – want to attract more people? (CLICK HERE).

Check out OUR rates, we’ve got some of the best in town!

Based in Folsom, California, Sierra Pacific Mortgage has 112 offices nationwide. The Easterbrook Team at Sierra Pacific is associated with the #1 office in the nation for SPMC for 2015.  We want to thank you so much for the support.  Come by and visit our office at 806 Bidwell Street in Folsom.  Keep the loans coming and we’ll keep closing them at lightning speed with a positive, smooth, and transparent experience.  Call us at (916) 850-6050.    

Best of Both Worlds!

We have a growing economy and rates really should be higher.  Let me repeat that – rates really should be higher, but, due to the Chinese economy and low inflation (mainly due to low gas prices), our rates are smokin’ hot right now – mid 3’s on government and high 3’s / low 4’s on conventional.

We could go on about the economy shifting from equity to earnings and a “stealth bear market”, but that would be boring.  Let’s sell some homes – that’s more fun!

So many buyers (1.7 million nationally in 2015 and 2016) that weren’t able to buy have now exceeded their minimum timeframes for a significant derogatory event (foreclosure, BK, etc.). 

Higher demand usually translates to high rates, but not right now – we have the best of both worlds.  Let US help YOU sell as much real estate before the Fed and Wall Street figure this economy out. 

Call the Easterbrook Team

For Purchase, Refinance, and Pre-Purchase Loan Counseling

916.850.6050 EasterbrookTeam@spmc.com

John Easterbrook 916.224.7653

Patty Aguon 916.833.5063

#Openhouse

Instagram Can Net You Tons of Buyers

Many real estate agents are turning to one of the hottest FREE marketing tools around – Instagram.  In fact, it has grown 23% in the last 6 months.  Once reserved only for non-adults (but so was Facebook, right?), Instagram allows you to target your audience by strategic tagging.  Instagram is a smart phone or device app that allows you to share on multiple social media platforms at the same time.  With the limitless hashtag capability and fun photo editing, real estate agents are changing the way homes are marketed to potential buyers and reaching the new age Millennials!

Some real estate agents are using Instagram to market their open houses – CLICK HERE.  In another article, the author describes 5 unique ways to increase traffic to you through Instagram – CLICK HERE.  Who knows, you might have some fun doing it too! 

Throw in a #EasterbrookTeam on your listings and we will help market your listing too! 

Call The Easterbrook Team Today For Your Home Loan Needs!

We Make The Loan Process Easy!

916.850.6050 EasterbrookTeam@spmc.com

John Easterbrook, Patty Aguon & Lorae Oliver

Any Benefit of Weekly Home Mortgage Payments?

A bi-weekly schedule beats a monthly one in terms of shortening the term of a home mortgage. Weekly payments, however, make little difference.


Typical borrowers make their mortgage payments monthly. Some, however, make bi-weekly payments to reduce the term of their loans. Could weekly mortgage payments speed the payoff even further?
The answer in some cases is yes—but usually not much more than with bi-weekly plans.
Converting to any schedule that increases payment frequency reduces the principal loan amount faster, resulting in less interest owed and a shorter mortgage term, says Jack Guttentag, professor emeritus of finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The biggest benefit of weekly payments, however, is not cost savings, but convenience for people who are paid weekly and like to handle bills accordingly, he adds.


To View This Entire Article Please Click Here




To discuss your monthly payments and how you can reduce your monthly payment through refinancing and be able to afford increased payments call us today. 









The Easterbrook Team with Sierra Pacific Mortgage
806 Bidwell Street
Folsom, CA 95630
916-850-6050
EasterbrookTeam@spmc.com


John Easterbrook
NMLS# 226555
916-224-7653
John.Easterbrook@spmc.com


Patty Aguon
NMLS# 994635
916-833-5063
Patty.Aguon@spmc.com

More millennials stuck renting for years before buying home

WASHINGTON

Home ownership, that celebrated hallmark of the American dream, is increasingly on hold for younger Americans.
Short of cash, burdened by student debt and unsettled in their careers, young adults are biding time in apartments for longer periods and buying their first homes later in life.

The typical first-timer now rents for six years before buying, up from 2.6 years in the early 1970s, according to a new analysis by the real estate data firm Zillow. The median first-time buyer is age 33 — in the upper range of the millennial generation, which roughly spans ages 18 to 34. A generation ago, the median first-timer was about three years younger.
The delay reflects a trend that cuts to the heart of the financial challenges facing millennials: Renters are struggling to save for down payments as wages have largely stagnated. Increasingly, too, they're facing delays in some key landmarks of adulthood, from marriage and children to a stable career, according to industry and government reports.

These shifts help explain why homeownership, long a source of middle class identity and economic opportunity, has started to decline. The share of the U.S. population who own homes has slid to 63.4 percent, a 48-year low, according to the Census Bureau.




To Read This Entire Article Click Here!






To Discuss How You Can Become A Home Owner Call The Easterbrook Team
916-850-6050 or E-Mail: Easterbrookteam@spmc.com

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article31283318.html#storylink=cpy

3 Home Improvement Projects that Last a Lifetime

Thinking of remodeling your home? Before you splurge on a finished basement or a new kitchen, make sure you choose a home improvement project that will add to your home's lifetime value. Check out Remodeling Magazine's 2015 Cost vs. Value report for projects with the highest ROI. Three home improvement projects we like:

To Read This Article Please Click Here!

To Discuss Purchasing a Home Give Team Easterbrook a Call or Email!

916-850-6050

easterbrookteam@spmc.com

Ask for John or Patty!

John Easterbrook

NMLS#226555

916-224-7653

Patty Aguon

NMLS#994635

916-833-5063

Why You Should Lock Your Loan Today!

Average interest rates above 4 percent choke off mortgage refinancing boom

Homeowners who didn't refinance their mortgages when interest rates were below 4 percent may be out of luck for quite a while.

Banks had been processing big batches of refis earlier this year when the average rate fell below 3.6 percent. But they'll be writing fewer home loans now as rates above 4 percent choke off the refi business.  

To read more on this topic please click here.

There is still time for homeowners to refinance. 

Contact The Easterbrook Team Today!

Patty Aguon

(916) 833-5063

Patty.Aguon@spmc.com

Licensed- NMLS # 994635

John Easterbrook
(916) 224-7653
John.Easterbrook@spmc.com
Licensed – NMLS # 226555

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article28493770.html#storylink=cpy