What are Caroline's Clients Saying?

Caroline has been patient and a joy to work with. She is extremly sharp, helpful and informative. She is great with people and we respect her professionalism.
Dave and Barb Tompkins April 2009 Snohomish

Caroline is excellent to work with. She is self-motivated, responds timely to questions or inquires, and goes above and beyond to find different incentives to keep your house sale competitive and unique from all the others. We highly recommend Caroline to sell your home.
Mr. and Mrs. Whiting Lake Stevens Area March 2009.

We will never use any other Realtor again.

We had our home listed for almost a year when we were referred to Caroline by another one of her happy customers. Caroline did more than put a sign in our yard. With her down payment assistanace program, air mile program, connections in Biznik and other networking groups, Caroline had our home sold in less than 2 weeks. We were extatic. Caroline was very knowledgeable and a lot of fun to work with all at the same time. Whether you are a buyer or a seller Caroline will give you top knotch service!

Air Miles For Real Estate

Great News!! I have just signed up with a service that will allow clients earn air miles from Alaska Air and Hawaiian Air through real estate transactions. Go to http://www.miles4realestate.com/ for more information.

Here is how it works. Sellers sign a contract and pay $195 to enroll in the air mile program. I will attach a air mile rider to the for sale sign on your property. Any participating buyer will recieve 10,000 air miles per $100,000 of the sales price. A home selling for $300,000 will recieve 30,000 air miles. The cost to the seller is $750 ( 2.5 cents per mile) for the air miles, paid at closing! As a buyer, if you were trying to decide between one or two homes, which one would you pick!

This program will be advertised in Alaska Air inflight magazines, participaing agents will have sign riders, Seattle Mariners, Home and Land publications and everybody that receives an air mile monthly statement will be notified. That is bang for your buck!

If you are thinking of buying or selling your home, give me a call and lets get flying.

Down Payment Assistance In The News

I have received many phone calls and e mails from people warning me that the down payment assistance program, Nehemiah will be going away. Fortunately for you and me, that is not the program that affords buyers $35,000 in down payment assistance in Snohomish County.

The Nehemiah program is where the sellers contribute up to 6% towards down payment and closing costs to home buyers. The $35,000 down payment assistnace program is money from local government and business that is loaned at a low rate and deferred for 30 years or until you sell the house.

We are seeing homes selling for $50,000 - 60,000 under the tax assessed value. If you were ever thinking of buying a home and finding a great deal. This is it. Scroll down to see how you can get $35,000 in down payment assistnace.

What is Down Payment Assistance and How Do I Get It?

Families earning under the median income can qualify for down payment assistance in Snohomish County. A family of one earning under $$43,050 can qualify, a family of two earning under $49,200 can qualify, a family of three earning under $55,350 can qualify and a family of four earning under$61,500 can qualify. Call me if you have more family members. Income qualification is not the only requirement. The buyers must attend two classes, one class is an hour and a half and introduces you to the program. The other class is an all day Saturday class. There are no exceptions.... don't shoot the messenger, I am just telling you the requirements. After the classes you will meet one on one with a financial counselor. You will be asked for all of the documentation that is required for a loan.

Here are some frequently asked questions:
1. How long does it take.
The classes are held every other month. I suggest you sign up for them as soon as possible. Then make your appointment with their counselor so that you don't have to wait for one, class, then wait for another class, then wait for an appointment. Make all three appointments on the same day.

If your credit is shaky (call me I have some great credit fixers) it will take time to clear those up, but once again it depends on you.

2. What are you not telling me? The program will require you to have $2500 in a savings account to pay for closing costs, inspection and earnest money.

3. What kind of homes can I buy. There are two restrictions, you cannot purchase a home that is currently a rental, they will not displace a family and you cannot buy a fixer.

4. Why is this not advertised and publicized? The down payment assistance program will loose their non profit status if they advertise. I don't know why that is, it is a weird law on the books.

5. Why doesn't my agent know about this program? I don't know. I have been doing it 13 years.

6. Can I use my own agent? Yes, the program does prefer that you use a trained agent because there are additional forms and extra hoops to jump through. After 13 years I know how it is done and besides that I need to support my family too!

7. Does my spouse have to come to the classes? Yes, everybody that is on the loan, needs to attend the class.

If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me. Caroline@premier1.net or call anytime 425 359 7604