WVHomesBlog.com

Well, as I am sure many of you will agree, moving is never an easy decision or endeavor. When we opened our satellite office several years ago, we knew that it would be temporary until we took off in the shadow of our well established sister office.

Thanks to our success and the support of our corporate office, we have been able to make a strategic move despite the current economic times.
This speaks volumes of Long & Foster's confidence in its agents.

For the record: 

• Founded 1968
• Over 200 offices
• 13,700 Sales Associates
• Largest independently owned brokerage firm in the Mid-Atlantic region
• #1 Privately owned real estate company in the nation
• Offers their sales associates a pertinent cutting edge education on changing trends

Need I say more as to why I have been with this company for over 15 years!
Location, location, location has long been the touted adage regarding real estate and now I'm pleased to say we have the best of all worlds. Stop by and see me for all your real estate needs.

On the heels of Monday's announcement with Citigroup receiving an additional $20 billion through the Trouble Assets Relief Program, it's been yet another busy day.

The Federal Reserve announced today that it will purchase up to $600 billion in mortgage backed assets from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Banks. In an added effort to stabilize the economy, the central bank also announced the backing of consumer debt securities up to $200 billion that will include student, auto and credit card loans as well as loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

• Question: So how does this affect you?
• Answer: Lower mortgage interest rates!

Shortly after today's news, I began receiving emails regarding the lowering of mortgage interest rates. I decided to be proactive and send emails requesting rates from my lender contacts. As of this post, the best deal received for a 30 year fixed conventional loan was 5.50% with zero points and origination fees.

The trickle down to the consumer was immediate today. The DOW closed at 8,479.47, +36.08 from yesterday. I hope Wall Street gets a little more excited tomorrow before stuffing their bird.

©2008 Debbie Small, Long & Foster. All Rights Reserved - "It's been a busy week so far, and it's only Tuesday!"

Press Release: Housing Forum will be held Monday

The first of many anticipated public housing forums will be held tomorrow, November 24, between 6 and 8pm at The Living Room in Martinsburg.

The evening's event is sponsored by Marc Savitt, owner of The Mortgage Center. The guest speakers for the evening include David Hartley of the Eastern Panhandle Homebuilders Association, Stacy Lawing affiliated with Keller Williams Realty and yours truly.

The focus will be on the micro market of the Eastern Panhandle and our current economic state during these uncertain times. Is our housing market as bad as the national media portrays it? Come find out for yourself from local experts who really have a pulse on the local market.

When: Monday, November 24, 6-8pm

Where: 50 Monroe St, Martinsburg WV

Cost: It's FREE!

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development just released 2009 Federal Housing Administration loan limit guidelines for single-family residences. The new loan limits will take effect January 1, 2009.

• Berkeley and Morgan County
  Current loan limit $377,500 = $393,191 Sales price
  2009 loan limit $271,050 = $280,880 Sales price
• Jefferson County
  Current loan limit $729,750 = $756,217 Sales price
  2009 loan limit $625,500 = $648,186 Sales price

Click here for more information>

 
©2008 Debbie Small, Long & Foster. All Rights Reserved - "2009 FHA Loan Limits"

I recently attended a class emphasizing blogging and social networking, so when Brad Andersohn posted "You're Social Media User Name - Is It Too Late?", I was really curious.

The website usernamecheck.com worked seamlessly in finding my web presence, but there were so many other services that made me curious, I had to do some further exploring. Hey, I've only just started using Twitter and now there's StumbleUpon. This is a great way to randomly discover sites that are informative, beautiful, weird, useless or just plain stupid.

Here's a few for starters:

 Check it out and see what you StumbleUpon.

©2008 Debbie Small, Long & Foster. All Rights Reserved - "It's All Brad's Fault"