Another great reason to live in Idaho. Boise State Broncos 2010 BSC Champions.. Today our beloved Broncos start their march towards the top-BSU 20 VT 17. As a native Idahoan I have had the opportunity to grow up with what used to be a state college with blue turf and tail gaiters. Over the years that team has become bigger than that blue turf and the tail gaiters have become BRONCO NATION! Enjoy the video highlights.
Another Home Buyer Tax Credit
August 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
That’s right rumor on the street is there may be another tax credit for Home Buyer’s- Could consist of money for First Time Home Buyer’s, Move Up Home Buyer’s and the new twist could be incentive to purchase REO (Bank Owned) and Short Sale properties. If this happens we will be combining low, low, low I mean lowest interest rates on record with homes being sold crazy low prices. Idaho has long been ranked high for best places to live and work and I expect that the Boise Valley will rank high again when this economy turns around. Let’s see what happens but maybe the 3rd time is the charm! Josh Groesbeck 208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com and www.homeswithjosh.com
Owning Your Idaho Home
August 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Everyday we here more bad news about the housing fallout and while that cannot be ignored there are some major benefits of home ownership. A lot of the times home ownership are more than the financial dividends. The best things about owning a home have a lot more to do with personal comfort and satisfaction. I was golfing with a retired professor from Notre Dame. He followed his wife and kids over to Idaho and told me if it weren’t for his job at the University of Notre Dame he would have been here years ago. He had been coming to Boise, Idaho since the late 1960′s telling me that he always knew that he would end up owning a home here. In closing “I love Idaho” and good game 
Here are five of them:
· Be your own landlord. The bank can only kick you out if you don’t pay; a landlord can be much less dependable – deciding to sell the property or choosing to live there themselves.
· Paying the principal is forced savings. Yes, it’s possible that home prices will fall further. It is also possible that your 401k will go down, but in the end both should provide you with an upside.
· Fixed-rate mortgages never rise – and eventually you pay them off. With mortgage rates at record lows, people who buy now are locking in real bargains.
· Good schools. Family-sized rentals are harder to come by in areas with excellent public schools.
· Spacious properties in pleasant neighborhoods. Sizable homes in attractive communities are almost always owned – not rented.
Source New York Times: Ron Lieber
Mortgage Bailout Statistics
August 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Josh and his First Response Team are helping Idaho home owners now.. call Josh 208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com
Idaho Short Sale Agent For You
August 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Our First Response Team Is Here For You. New programs are being implemented Now! Advocate that is specially trained to help you sell your home for short of what is owed. Stop Foreclosure and stay in your home longer at no cost to you. Hardship comes in many different forms.. Divorce, loss of income, untimely death and oh by the way HOME WORTH LESS THAN OWED. Our goal is to help you find the best solution whether that is a modification, short sale or died in lieu…
Goal: Avoiding Foreclosure
The following are the steps that you as a homeowner can anticipate in the short sale process. This is a general outline of how the process occurs, however please note that lien holders can change the order of some of the steps. Detailed below is the process our team uses to process a short sale. For a brief overview please see. www.homeswithjosh.com and look under Short Sales or Call 1-800-290-1076 Ext#3000
Pre-Listing
1.
Please contact Josh’s office for a brief consultation about short sales. Josh or one of his team members will collect some basic information about your situation.
2.
A tentative appointment will be scheduled to answer questions and/or list the home for sale in the short sale process.
3.
Josh and his team will prepare a short sale packet which will be sent to you either via FEDEX, regular mail or email. We provide a thorough packet of information in advance of the appointment so you have the opportunity to evaluate our process and have your questions answered in advance. If what we send you and what we discuss prior to the appointment makes sense and you feel comfortable and confident to go forward with the short sale process, our appointment will be confirmed. The packet will include:
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Information about the short sale process.
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Market data on the value of your home in today’s market.
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Recommended short sale pricing.
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Listing contract and related forms.
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Property detail report from the county assessor’s office.
4.
The appointment. Josh will either come to your house to receive the documents or they can be returned via fax or email. We can do listing appointments via telephone or email if necessary.
5.
Once we receive a signed listing agreement we will begin the short sale process.
6.
An authorization form will be submitted to your lien holder(s) enabling us to speak to them on your behalf. Unless previously provided, the lien holder(s) will provide their short sale requirements when the authorization is received.
Marketing
1.
Your home will be listed immediately on the Multiple Listing Service.
2.
We will market your home through various affiliated web sites and all other applicable marketing strategies.
3.
During the marketing period we will receive offers and present them to you as they are received.
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Offers will be presented to you on an offers spread sheet.
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You will be able to see the net offers as they come in. We highlight, in yellow, the current highest net offer.
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You will sign the purchase offer of your choosing. We will advise you as to what appears to be the strongest offer. We will encourage you to consider two important factors; price and the willingness of the buyer to wait for the short sale process to complete rather than back out in the middle of the process.
4.
You will select and sign the offer that is most likely to meet the lien holder(s) criteria for a short pay off of your loan.
Short Sale Processing
1.
After you select an offer it will be signed by you and presented to your lien holder(s). This is the official beginning of the short sale processing phase.
2.
You can track your short sale offer, as it is processed, online at Short Sale Status.
3.
The offer and all documentation required by the lien holder(s) is submitted by our office to the lien holder(s).
4.
Documents go through a processing period and are assigned to a negotiator. The lien holder(s) assign a negotiator to your file. The negotiator will ultimately make the final decision about your case. The negotiator will review your offer and present the offer to any investors into your loan.
5.
A BPO (Broker’s Price Opinion) or appraisal will be ordered by the negotiator. This BPO is used to determine the value of your home and whether or not the net proceeds of the offer are sufficient to satisfy the investors and thus provide a short pay off of the loan(s).
6.
The negotiator will evaluate your financial situation to determine whether or not you qualify for a short sale. The offer will be presented to the investors who are invested into your loan. They will decide if your short sale is approved or not.
7.
The negotiator will report the response of the investors. There will be one of three options: Short Sale Approval, Short Sale Approval with Conditions or Denial. If any other answer then Short Sale Approval is provided we will negotiate further on your behalf.
8.
After all negotiations are complete you will either accept or reject the terms of the short sale.
9.
Written short sale notification is delivered to the buyer’s agent and Escrow begins.
Escrow
1.
Escrows in short sales generally follow the same process as a regular escrow. One difference is that the short sale approval has a “good through” date by which time the short sale must be finalized and escrow must be closed.
2. When escrow begins you will need to make plans to be moved out of the house by the close of escrow.
Josh Groesbeck
208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com
Housing Recovery and Idaho
July 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Take a look at this video to see what one major economist is saying about the housing recovery. Major cities such as New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Fransico will recover faster due to location, jobs and population let’s not forget about our own beautiful city Boise,Idaho. For years we were the undiscovered jewel in the northwest and then POW we were found like the rediscovering of America. Families came from all across the U.S. usually bringing the rest of their family and some friends. Boise, Eagle, Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Star, Middleton, Kuna are just a few of the wonderful cities and towns that offer their own identities. The Boise river flowing throught the middle of the city mountain ranges surrounding what’s not to love. Enjoy the Boise Music Festival , Alive After 5 with the Basque Festival going on right now and if we are lucky maybe the once very popular River Festival will come back. Idaho is our State and with smart growth and improving economy I can’t wait to see what the future brings. Epic growth and we still feel like a small town where it’s no uncommon to see your friends and family at the local parks and stores.
Money Saving Tips In Your Idaho Home
July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Whether it is your primary residence or your second home in Idaho you can always save a few bucks. These tips are just a few ways to save some money in all four seasons for your home here in Idaho. Living and working here in the Treasure Valley we all know in this crazy economy that your bank account can change much like the weather. When a storm is a brewing you wouldn’t leave your home without a jacket so compare that to the economic future (chance of rain) why wouldn’t you start saving some money. Joshua Groesbeck 208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com and www.homeswithjosh.com
1. Install a programmable thermostat: Installing one of these little guys can
really help your utility bills and the earlier you get it installed, the more it saves!
Estimates are that for every degree you lower the thermostat, that’s 5% off your bill
(in the winter). I like to think of it this way – why spend money to heat or cool
something that I’m not even going to be there (or awake) and enjoy? The power
company has enough of my money!
2. Lower the temperature on the thermostat: HVAC systems have two settings
- off and on. By lowering the temperature of the thermostat, you leave it in the off
state for longer periods and thus use less energy. Less energy, lower bill!
3. Wash your clothes in cold water: Detergent technology has gotten so good
that washing in hot water is no longer necessary, you can save lots of energy by
washing with cold water rather than hot water.
4. Line dry your clothes: Get a rack or clothesline and dry your clothes on that,
instead of in your dryer. If that idea isn’t entirely appealing, consider drying larger
items (towels, sheets) on the line and your regular clothes in the dryer to cut down
on the time.
5. Lower the temperature of your water heater: You can turn the temperature
of your water heater down to conserve some extra energy, there’s no sense in
making it really hot only to add cold water to it during showers. (the only caveat is
that you should check your dishwasher for a booster, it’ll need the temps that high
for cleaning purposes)
6. Wrap your water heater with a water heater blanket: One of your biggest
energy sucks in the house is your water heater, that tank that keeps your water nice
and hot for your showers. Wrapping a blanket reduces the amount of heat it loses
into the area around it.
7. Clean out your refrigerator coils: Dust off the coils on the refrigerator and
you can improve its efficiency, thus lowering the electricity bill of the one thing in
your house that’s always on.
8. Find and plug drafts: You don’t need the cold air from the outside to infiltrate
your home (or your warm air blowing out), so try to find all the drafty windows and
doors in your home and seal them up. Your energy bill will thank you.
9. Change your air filter: The more you run your HVAC system, the more that air
filter will catch. The more it catches, the more it clogs. Yep, you guessed it, the
dirtier it gets, the harder your HVAC needs to work to push air. Swap that baby out
and improve your system’s operating efficiency.
10. Get your furnace tuned: I had no idea but you’re supposed to get your furnaced
“tuned” every few years, it could increase your efficiency considerably.
11. Swap out regular light bulbs with CFLs: The technology in CFLs now is so
good that most people can’t even tell the difference (other than by looking at them).
Swapping them out reduces your energy use and are best used in areas where the
lights are on most often. They’re more expensive but they last longer and use less
power.
12. Institute a one light, one person rule: Leaving the lights on in your house is a
great way to spend money, so try reducing your electricity usage by instituting a
one light, one person rule. Each person in the house can only have one light on at a
time.
13. Reduce phantom electricity use: Phantom electricity is the electricity your
appliances use when they’re “off.” This happens because we love our instant on
appliances! To help reduce this, you can plug them all into a surge protector and
turn that off to ensure you aren’t losing power to something you’re not even using.
14. When buying appliances, reliability trumps price: When you’re buying new
appliances, be sure to read reliability reports because you don’t want to spend less
only to find out you bought an inferior product that won’t last.
15. Shop around for homeowner’s or renter’s insurance: Renter’s insurance is
already pretty cheap so you might not get much savings there but homeowner’s can
vary greatly.
16. Consider a home energy audit: These aren’t cheap but they can identify things
you can do to make your home more efficient and thus save you more money.
17. Remember to return those cans and bottles for deposits: If you live in a
state that collects a deposit on cans and bottles, remember to redeem them!
Unfortunately in Maryland we don’t do that (but that also means we don’t pay it),
but I’d love to see it instituted here so that we could entice more recycling.
By following some of these steps you just never know you could be on your way to an early retirement……..
Joshua Groesbeck or josh@homeswithjosh.com and www.homeswithjosh.com
Home Owners Leaving Government Hamp Program
July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Facts for the Idaho homeowners who are working towards a loan modification. Best case scenario is getting your payment lowered to no more than 31% of your gross income. IF your loan modification is not getting worked out do the next best thing and call Josh Groesbeck and you can stay in your home until it is sold while charging you nothing. Specially trained in the art of a Short Sale I can help you qualify for money back from the bank to you for your relocation. With the economic hardships and homes that are entirely upside down (worth less than is owed) it’s no surprise that well over 50% of american homeowners are choosing to Short Sale their homes and start fresh. More great information at WWW.HOMESWITHJOSH.COM or WWW.IDSHORTSALE.COM
Joshua Groesbeck 208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com
About 91,000 borrowers dropped out of the program in June, putting the total number of dropouts at 530,000.
At the same time, about 49,000 borrowers received a permanent modification in June, bringing the number of total active permanent modifications to 389,000.
That means more than 40 percent of the roughly 1.3 million borrowers who have started in the program since its March 2009 inception have since dropped out, while just over 30 percent have received permanent new terms for their loan.
Pre-Approved Short Sale In Eagle Idaho
March 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Pre-Approved Short Sale in Eagle, Idaho – Bring Offers! Gorgeous Custom Home in very desirable Senora Creek with huge water feature behind for privacy, granite counters, custom cabinets, stainless steel appliances including gas range, 9 foot ceilings, breakfast bar, birch wood floors in kitchen, dining, entry & hallway, large master bedroom with sitting area and access to private patio, separate vanities in master bath with garden tub and walk-in shower, tile in all baths, his & her walk-in closets, Jack & Jill bath, plumbed for central vac, huge laundry room w/sink, oversized 3 car garage, patio off kitchen area. Club House and Pool! Don’t Miss This Opportunity!
Simply go to www.homeswithjosh.com and put in Mls# 98423866 Call or email Josh to schedule your showing today! 208-353-7131 or josh@homeswithjosh.com
Of course if you would like more information on short sales in Eagle, Boise, Meridian,Garden City, Nampa, Caldwell, Star, Middleton or Kuna look on my accurate real estate website or give me a call. Don’t lose out on the $,8000 tax credit for first time home buyers and the $6,500 tax credit for home owners looking make the next move.
