HAMP

You may be eligible for HAMP if you meet all of the following criteria: Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)
•• You occupy the house as your primary residence.
• You obtained your mortgage on or before January 1, 2009.
• You have a mortgage payment that is more than 31 percent of your monthly gross (pre-tax) income.
• You owe up to $729,750 on your home.
• You have a financial hardship and are either delinquent or in danger of falling behind.
• You have sufficient, documented income to support the modified payment.
• You must not have been convicted within the last 10 years of felony larceny, theft, fraud or forgery, money laundering or tax evasion, in connection with a mortgage or real estate transaction

Your lender and investor must participate. The investor is the entity that supplied the funds for securing your loan. the servicer is the bank that services your loan. FHA, VA, USDA among others DO NOT participate in HAMP.

Thinking About Buying Your First Home?

Thinking about purchasing a home of your own? Keep these critical considerations in mind:

How long you plan to live in the home.
If you purchase a home and get a job transfer or decide to move after only a short time, you may end up paying money in order to sell it. The value of your home may not have appreciated enough to cover the costs that you paid to buy the home and the costs that it would take you to sell your home.

The length of time that it will take to cover those costs depends on various economic factors in the area of the home. Most parts of the country have an average of 5% appreciation per year. In this case, you should plan to stay in your home at least 3-4 years to cover buying and selling costs. If the area you buy your home in experiences an economic up turn, the length of the time to cover these costs could be shortened, and the opposite is also true.

How long the home will meet your needs.
What features do you require in a home to satisfy your lifestyle now? Five years from now? Depending on how long you plan to stay in your home, you'll need to ensure that the home has the amenities that you'll need. For example, a two-bedroom dwelling may be perfect for a young couple with no children. However, if they start a family, they could quickly outgrow the space. Therefore, they should consider a home with room to grow. Could the basement be turned into a den and extra bedrooms? Could the attic be turned into a master suite? Having an idea of what you'll need will help you find a home that will satisfy you for years to come.

Your financial health - your credit and home affordability.
Is now the right time financially for you to buy a home? Would you rate your financial picture as healthy? Is your credit good? While you can always find a lender to lend you money, solid lenders are more skeptical if your credit history is not good. Generally, a couple of blemishes on a credit report will make you a good credit risk and could qualify you for the lowest interest rates. If you have more than a couple of blemishes on your report, lenders like Quicken Loans may still provide you with a loan, but you may just have to pay a higher interest rate and fees.

Some say that you should refrain from borrowing as much as you qualify for because it is wiser not to stretch your financial boundaries. The other school of thought says you should stretch to buy as much home as you can afford, because with regular pay raises and increased earning potential, the big payment today will seem like less of a payment tomorrow. This is a decision only you can make. Are you in a position where you expect to make more money soon? Would you rather be conservative and fairly certain that you can make your payment without stretching financially? Make sure that whatever you do, it's within your comfort zone.

simple steps to avoid making mistakes

Buying a home can be an emotional, time-consuming, and complex process. There are a few things that you can do to help make the process go as smooth as possible:

Get approved before you buy.
An approval means that a lender has reviewed your credit history, verified your assets and employment, and has approved your loan before you have found a home to purchase. As long as the home appraises for at least the purchase price, the loan should close.

Avoid The Most Common Buyer Errors

Avoid The Most Common Buyer Errors

•Paying too much
•Losing a dream home to another buyer
•Buying the wrong home

Buying a Home in Utah

Congratulations!  You have decided to purchase a home, or are thinking about buying one.  You'll be joining the ranks of hundreds of families who realize that home ownership offers a number of benefits including building equity, saving for the future, and creating an environment for your family.  When you own your own home, your hard-earned dollars contribute to your mortgage. The equity you earn is yours.  Over time, your home will increase in value.

Please contact me if you have any questions about buying a home in Utah.

Selling a Home in Utah

Selling your home is an involved process that affects your family and your future.  Before you begin this process, you'll want to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information.  When should you sell?  How do you get the best price? What kinds of renovations should be made prior to the sale? 

     Please contact me if you have any questions about selling your home. 

How to Not Pay Too Much for Your Home

Whether you are buying your first home, or your fifth, the process of buying a home is a detailed, time-consuming venture. At the same time, it’s an emotional period laden with difficult choices. You want to ensure that the home you purchase meets your family’s needs now, and in the future.

Each of these decisions often involves money. When you consider all that money represents, you’ll want to ensure that you don’t pay too much. This article helps you become a savvy buyer, by pointing out some of the pitfalls inherent in the home-buying process. These include such things as knowing what you want before you begin shopping, taking your time to shop, choosing the right realtor, and remaining objective while viewing potential homes. With this information, you’ll be closer to finding your ideal home.

Do you have the right agent on your side?

The short sale market and process is constantly changing and can be a long process. Making sure you have an experienced and knowledgeable agent handing your short sale will make all the difference. And this is where Jennifer comes in. She works with many banks and is up to date with every process and new short sale program that comes out. Having the right agent can determine the outcome and your overall experience.

Free Home Valuation

Get a truthful and honest value. INCLUDING the costs associated with a standard sale. Get a truthful picture of what a short sale will be like based on the sepcific facts of your situation. SOme realtors may not know how to handle a listing in this market, let alone a short sale. This is a VERY big decision. I WILL NOT stalk you and force myslef on you. The decision to sell is a BIG one. Sellers just need the honest facts so they they can decide what to do.

SHORT SALE EXPERT

How You Can Avoid Foreclosure Scams
How You Can Avoid Foreclosure Scams. Please visit.

I am a real estate broker, realtor and short sale expert for the state of Utah.
I practice under the WFRMLS board.

• I need to know who your servicer(s) are. that the bank you make your payments to.
• I need to know if you have a first mortgage only or more than one mortgagor.
• I need to know if you have an HOA, any pending assessments or any other liens or judgements against you or the property.
• If you are UT Housing, FHA or VA or USDA (rural housing loan) I need to know that.
• I need to know if you are current or behind.
• I need to know if you live in the property, if its vacant or tenant occupied. I need to know the overall condition of the property.
• If its listed with a Realtor I need to know that, I also need you to know I cannot solicit that listing and am not intending to.
• I need to know if you have applied for HAMP, HAFA or a loan modification before or currently.

bythewayjenngray@live.com

Jennifer Gray

 Jennifer Gray’s experience in Utah’s real estate market is apparent the first time you talk with her. Having won the prestigious Diamond Award in consecutive years, she has established herself as one of Utah's best real estate agents. 

Through the use of several resources, Jennifer is able to leverage her experience to help you achieve your real estate goals. Her strong negotiating skills and dedication to you, her client, will ensure a smooth transaction.

Put Jennifer’s experience to work for you.

The Sweet Smell of a Successful Sale

Scents and aromas can have a dramatic impact on people’s emotions, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a multi-billion-dollar fragrance industry! Don’t ignore the power of fragrance when showing your home. Smoke, pet odors, and cooking smells can each dramatically impact how potential buyers feel about your house. If your potential buyers never form an emotional connection to your home, chances are that they will remain just that – potential buyers. Don’t allow smoking in your house for weeks leading up to showing it, find a pet-sitter for a few days, and clean, clean, clean! Once you’ve removed any aromas that might be off-putting and freshened the air in your home, you can actually use scent to your advantage. Consider doing some baking prior to showings. The scent of fresh apple pie is hard to beat when it comes to creating the atmosphere of a welcoming home! TIP: In a pinch, a mixture of water, vanilla extract, and brown sugar in an oven on low heat can be used to create the pleasing aroma of fresh baking. To a certain extent, buyers make purchase decisions based on their emotional response, so it’s important to make it easy for them to fall in love with your home. Pleasant smells are one more way to do so.

Do you have the right agent on your side?

The short sale market and process is constantly changing and can be a long process. Making sure you have an experienced and knowledgeable agent handing your short sale will make all the difference. And this is where Jennifer comes in. She works with many banks and is up to date with every process and new short sale program that comes out. Having the right agent can determine the outcome and your overall experience.

Kind words from a few clients

John & Amy Birch “We put our home up for sale a long while back by owner and never really gave it any thought about the work and effort that needs to be done in order to sell a home.    After a little disappointment we finally made the right decision to list with Jennifer Gray and wow were we impressed.   She sold our home in 3 weeks!!!   Not to mention they worked around our busy schedule and had all the answers for any questions that we have.  They also found us the right home in a very short time period too and worked out any details that we were concerned with.   If anyone wants the best for the job, she has what you need!!!  We have been extremely impressed with her work ethic and knowledge.  Thanks Jenn!!!!  We appreciate all that you have done for our family.” Charles & Marilyn Gipson “Jenifer has endless knowledge, energy and honesty.  Marilyn and I are still in awe that she was able to find the home of our dreams.  She is very efficient in understanding how to sell homes to the buyer with minimal stress that often comes with purchasing your new home.   We highly recommend her for others.” Esther Manning “I'm not sure about how to proceed with this 'recommendation'. All I can say is I am very happy with the way my Realtor (Jennifer ) handled my house buying experience. I am definitely impressed that she did everything she could to insure I was properly dealt with; even to the extent of making sure I knew how to turn the outside water on. She has also kept in contact, which had never happened with any other Realtor. Once a Realtor was done selling, he was gone. Not so, with Jennifer. She has followed up on the progress of my home and how I am doing. That makes me want to use her services, again, and also feel like we are friends that I can keep in touch with when I have a house issue. Jennifer is an energetic force” Tom Bowler “I have always been impressed by the hard work and attitude you have shown me.  You have assisted me through the purchase and sale of one of my homes, as well as have been especially helpful and patient as I look for my next one.  You have always been accurate in the information you have given me and have always been true to your word.  I also have referred you to a friend of mine and he also was very pleased with the services you provided as his real estate agent.  I would recommend you to anyone I know.  You are a fantastic agent!” Jennifer & Ben Spencer “Where to begin...we love Jennifer!  My husband and I are so glad that we chose to work with her.  We had a difficult situation to handle, and she was more than willing to try and help us out!  She is awesome at what she does, and knows the business inside and out.  She is such a wonderful, energetic, caring person who we can call our friend. She'll never know how much we truly appreciate everything she did for our family!”