2010 SOS Award Winners

Simply Outrageous Service

Our 2010 S.O.S. Award winners are:

1) Bridget Franklin
2) Diego Vitelli
3) Melissa Hughes Wilson
4) Erica Kahler
5) Tonya Eliason
6) Danielle Koval
7) Matt Jensen
8) Stan Hartman

The S.O.S. designation is the highest honor a member of The Cascade Team Real Estate can earn. S.O.S. encompasses not only the strive and achievement of being among the top producing agents in sales, but also the commitment to the communities we serve and work in.

The S.O.S designation is awarded to agents and brokers who ranked in the top 10% for sales company wide, “And” who also demonstrated exceptional commitment to community. Holders of the s.o.s. designation are the corner stone’s of The Cascade Team Real Estate. They continually give back through community programs like project crayon drive to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Seattle, during the free holiday sleigh rides events, and within their local schools, charities, and coaching local youth team sports.

By giving more than just the time it takes to be a top sales person and performer these fine agents and brokers have also reached deep to find the time to give more of themselves to the community as a whole…. We proudly call it!

Simply outrageous service!

Sunday Funny - Ahhhh Christmas Lights!

Bridget Franklin 5 Star Real Estate Agent Award - Snoquamlie

Congratulations to Bridget Franklin of The Cascade Team Real Estate. Bridget is a 2010 winner of the Prestigious 5 Star Award for Real Estate Professionals for the greater Seattle area representing the Snoqualmie Valley. Below are the qualifications Bridget had to meet for this award.

FIVE STAR Real Estate Agents scored highest in overall satisfaction

The FIVE STAR Real Estate Agent Program is designed to identify and showcase real estate agents in a local market that score highest in overall satisfaction.

As part of an in-depth research process real estate agents are evaluated by their customers and real estate industry professionals based on customer service, integrity, market knowledge, communication and negotiation skills, closing preparation, helping you find the right home, marketing the home being sold, and overall satisfaction.

10,000 to 50,000 recent homebuyers (all area residents who purchased a home over $100,000 - $200,000 within a 12-36 month period depending on the market size), readers of the area magazine, and 250 mortgage and title companies are asked to name and evaluate real estate agents with whom they have had direct/personal experience with. Recent homebuyers and subscribers can evaluate up to two agents, while mortgage and title companies can evaluate up to three agents. Both positive and negative responses regarding each agent are accepted. In addition to the survey results, other criteria such as acceptable disciplinary action and review by a panel of local industry experts are incorporated into the overall evaluation process.

The final list of FIVE STAR Real Estate Agents includes the real estate agents, of those evaluated, in the local market that scored highest in overall satisfaction; representing less than 7% of the real estate agents in the local market. See the Research Methodology Summary for more information on the research process.

Bridget is also a winner of The Cascade Team Real Estate's Highest Designation. The SOS (Simply Outrageous Service) award.

Snoqualmie Ridge Home for Sale

Offered at $515,000 7251fairwayavese.TheCascadeTeam.info


Beautiful five bedroom home in the heart of Snoqualmie Ridge! Gorgeous slate entryway leads to the office, formal living and dining rooms. The kitchen is remodeled with an extended slab granite island, stainless steel appliances, tile backsplash, eat-in nook, and opens up to the family room with new hardwood floors. Upstairs you will find a large bonus room and the bedrooms, all with new carpet. The Master Suite is large with a remodeled bathroom that is top notch! This home is meticulously maintained and has a professionally landscaped, fully fenced in corner-lot yard. The garage has three full bays, with room for storage and additional attic storage that will please any home owner. Buyers will love the easy location, just miinutes away from the retail center and parks!

Danielle Koval
Melissa Hughs Wilson

Office: 425.396.4569
Mobile: 206.999.0890
cary@thecascadeteam.com
www.danielleandmelissa.com


Broker

5 Predictions for 2011

Freddie Mac analysts point to five features that they believe will likely characterize the 2011 housing and mortgage markets:

1. Low mortgage rates. With Fed observers expecting the central bank to keep the federal funds rate at its current target range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent for most (or all) of 2011, relatively low mortgage rates will be a feature of the 2011 mortgage market. Thirty-year fixed-rate loans are likely to remain below 5 percent throughout the year, and initial rates of 5/1 hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages will likely remain below 4 percent in 2011.

2. Prices have hit bottom. House prices are likely to begin a gradual, but sustained recovery in the second half of 2011.

3. Housing will remain affordable. With affordability high, many first-time buyers will be attracted to the housing market in the New Year, likely translating into more home sales in 2011 than in 2010.

4. Refinances will dwindle. Many eligible borrowers have already refinanced and the federal Making Home Affordable refinance program is expiring on June 30. While fixed-rate loans are likely to remain low, they will move up gradually, making it even less likely that refinances will be attractive to most home owners.

5. Delinquency rates will decline. Based on the last several business cycles, the share of loans that are 90 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure proceedings — known as the "seriously delinquent rate" — generally crests within a year of the start of the recovery in payroll employment, and this economic recovery appears to fit within that pattern. Payrolls began to rise last January, and by the spring the seriously delinquent rate had begun to fall.

Source: Freddie Mac (12/09/2010)

Mortgage rates hit 4.61 pct

The time to buy is now! Home prices have dropped by nearly 30% to at or near 2003 levels and rates are still historically low..... BUT CLIMBING!

By JANNA HERRON, AP Real Estate Writer Janna Herron, Ap Real Estate Writer –

NEW YORK – Rates on fixed mortgages rose for the fourth straight week this week. The surge could slow refinancings and further hamper the housing market.

Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rates on 15- and 30-year fixed loans increased sharply from last week. Mortgage rates tend to track the yields on 10-year Treasury bonds. Those yields have been rising as investors anticipate Congress will extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years and long-term unemployment benefits for 13 months.

The 30-year rate rose to 4.61 percent from 4.46 percent last week. That is well above the 4.17 percent rate hit a month ago — the lowest level on records dating back to 1971.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed loan, a popular refinance option, rose to 3.96 percent. Rates hit 3.57 percent last month — the lowest level since 1991.

Rates are rising after plummeting for seven months. Investors are selling Treasury bonds in anticipation of the tax deal President Barack Obama and Republicans forged that could boost the economy next year if passed. A stronger economy would make the stock market a more attractive place to invest money. That's a big reason why many investors are selling their safer Treasurys bonds.

The sell-off is adding more Treasury bonds to market, which depresses prices and raises yields. Prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Rising mortgage rates are chilling the market for refinancing, especially among those who were seeing rates fall a few weeks ago and thought they might get a better deal. Refinance activity fell for the fourth straight week last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

"Our business has been cut by 30 percent in four weeks," said Michael Moskowitz, president of Equity Now, a direct mortgage lender in New York.

Low mortgage rates did little to boost the struggling housing market. However, the increase in rates may have convinced some homebuyers who were waffling to go ahead and make a move. Applications for home purchases rose for the third consecutive week and are at their highest point since the beginning of May. Mortgage brokers and real estate agents agree that a sustained rise in mortgage rates eventually will sideline potential buyers who started to think of historically low rates as a given.

"It's all about negative psychology," said Julie Longtin, a real estate agent with RE/MAX Cityside in Providence, R.I. "Already my buyers are thinking about withdrawing until rates dip again."

That would weigh on home prices, which have started to fall again. The ranks of homeowners who owe more than their homes are worth would grow and more won't be able to refinance to shore up their finances. Americans, feeling less wealthy, could hunker down again and curb their spending. That would slow economic growth.

"If rates stay south of 5 percent, I don't think we go back into a tailspin," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "Above 5 percent, it gets dicey for housing and the economy."

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac collects rates from lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a single day.

Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.60 percent, up from 3.49 percent. The five-year hit 3.25 percent last month, the lowest rate on records dating back to January 2005.

Rates on one-year adjustable-rate home loans slipped to 3.27 percent from 3.25 percent.

The rates do not include add-on fees, known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount.

The average fee for 30-year and 15-year mortgages in Freddie Mac's survey was 0.7 point. It was 0.6 point for five-year and one-year mortgages.

Richmond Beach Rambler

Offered at $475,000 1825nw198thst.TheCascadeTeam.info

Richmond Beach daylight rambler. Kitchen with stainless Jenn-aire cooktop and double oven, granite and butcher block countertops. Dining room, living room with fireplace. Master, 2 bedrooms and full bath on main floor, 4th bedroom and full bath on lower level. Den/office, access to backyard and entrance from garage on lower level.