Washington Home Solutions

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With all the speculation of where the real estate market is going to head in the near term, it appears that the folks at Moody’s Economy.com have projected that Bremerton and Tacoma will be among the top cities in the country for some modest appreciation over the next year.  Bremerton, which saw an 18% dip in prices since the peak is projected to show a 4.2% increase in home values in the next year, thanks to a relatively strong employment outlook.  Bremerton ranks 5th in the country in terms of market outlook according to Moody’s report.

Tacoma took the 8th ranking in the country with a projected 3.9% appreciation through 2011.  The downtown area has gone through a revival over the past few decades, and although prices took a big hit when the bubble burst, values are starting to stabilize.

You can see the full report at http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/where-homes-prices-are-rising

I remain ‘cautiously optimistic’ about a market turnaround but I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet.  Foreclosures are still a problem, the tax credit deadline is approaching and the Fed plans to stop buying mortgage backed securities later this week, which will likely mean higher interest rates and some more uncertainty.

Nevertheless, I’m still a buyer in this market but the key is to buy right.  If you’re buying a house, make sure you get a great deal, and if you’re moving into a lease to own home, find one where you’ll be safe if the market goes down.  All of Washington Home Solutions lease to own homes are protected by the Never Lose Guarantee which insulates you from a potential market drop while giving you 100% of any appreciation.  Click the link to learn more about this and our Lease to Own Program.

What’s your opinion of where the real estate market is heading?  Feel free to comment below.

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Not sure where you stand with your credit?  You may have seen tv or radio ads advertising a website where you can pull a ‘free’ credit report.  (you know, the one with the catchy jingle and the guy playing the guitar)  What they don’t tell you is that in order to get a free report, you need to sign up for a trial credit monitoring service which could ding you about $15/mo if you don’t cancel during before the end of the free trial.

If you want a true FREE credit report without having to sign up for a credit monitoring service, you can go to AnnualCreditReport.com.  It’s the ONLY authorized source of a free credit report that is guaranteed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  You’re entitled to a free report from each of the three credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion once every 12 months.

If you’re interested in buying a home on a lease option, it’s important to know what’s on your credit, so pull your report before you go home shopping so you can see what you need to clean up in order to get qualified for a mortgage down the road.  Doing a self-inquiry on your credit will not negatively affect your credit score.

You can request your free report online, by phone or by mail. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or fill out the Annual Credit Report Request form and mail it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

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I get asked on a regular basis what it takes to qualify for a lease option.  I know for many of you, the thought of throwing away money towards rent and abiding by the ‘rules’ of your landlord is painful.  ”Don’t paint the walls or have a bbq grill on your porch!”  So I’m sure you’re anxious to take the next step towards home ownership and are interested in jumping into a lease to own.  Great, I want to help you get there, but first I want you to ask yourself a few questions to see if you’re ready.

Do I have a STRONG DESIRE to WORK on becoming a homeowner?

Cleaning up credit dings, or saving up for a down payment is hard work, make no mistake about it.  You have to be so fed up with renting that you’re willing to work on the things that are preventing you from getting a loan.  It will require sacrifice to stick to a budget, pay down debt and build up a savings.  You may have to revisit some credit demons of the past to clear them from your credit report, and you may have to work some overtime or get a second job to make it happen.  There are ways that we can help with this, but it takes commitment.

Can you show income that is 3x the monthly payment amount?

As a rule of thumb, most lenders will want to see that your gross income is at least 3x what the monthly payment on the house is.  Also, they want to see a track record of you making the payment on-time during your lease.  So, we need to follow the same guideline for the lease option.  You may be able to afford the $1200/mo payment on an income of $2600/mo, but a lender would only qualify you for about an $866/mo payment in the future when you go to get a loan.  That would be an unpleasant surprise and we don’t want to see that happen.  Our entire goal is to set you up for success, plus, having the extra income is what you’ll need to pay down extra debt and save up additional money for a down payment.  The average monthly payment on most of our lease option homes is between $1000-1500/mo.  Therefore a total gross household income (before taxes) of $3000/mo or more puts you in good position to qualify for our program.

Do you have money available for to pay the upfront option consideration?

To ultimately qualify for an FHA loan, you’ll have to accumulate a 3.5% down payment on the house.  We want  you to get started with about 1 or 2% upfront when you start the lease and we help you to accumulate the rest through the monthly purchase credits that we offer.  With our ’sweat equity’ homes, you can expect the lower end of that range, and on the move-in ready homes, expect the higher end of that range.  If you don’t have money for an upfront payment, start saving now.  We even give you the ability to earn cash (up to $2500) by referring buyers to the properties that we advertise, so you can save up even faster.

Have you started the process towards building good credit history?

Credit is one of those things that can be hurt in an instant, and can take months (or years) to clean up.  Having derogatory marks on your credit does not disqualify you from a lease option (that’s what lease options are for), but we would like to see that you’ve already started to show a recent history of turning things around.  In other words, if you are currently 30,60 or 90 days late with any of your debts, we’d want to see you catch up the payments on those obligations and start making on-time payments again before asking you to put down money on one of our homes.  If you haven’t had your credit pulled in a while, I’m in the process of creating a video that I’ll post which will show you had to pull your own free report online without having to sign up for a paid credit monitoring service, and without the inquiry showing up on your credit history.  Stay tuned.

So, what happens if you’ve gone through the questions and you’re not quite ready?  That’s ok, there’s not a big rush.  Just make the commitment to yourself that you’ll start chipping away at the challenges that you have and by all means, let me know if you need some guidance on where to start.  That’s what I’m here for.  Also, keep an eye on this blog and our Facebook fan page for tips on preparing for home ownership.

If you’re ready to go right now then let’s make it happen.  You can see our current homes available on lease option at our website or tell us what you want if you haven’t already done so.   If you have any other questions or comments about qualifying for a lease option, feel free to submit a comment below.

Mike

P.S. – I have lots of big things in store for you in the future, so to stay in touch, make sure you add us to Facebook (scroll up and check the sidebar on the right).

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Another lease to own opportunity in Port Orchard. This 3 bed, 1.75 bath rambler sits on a large, 0.86 acre lot surrounded by trees and nature, yet it’s only a two minute drive to highway 16.

There have been several custom additions including a 3-stall detached carport, storage shed as well as a covered hot tub to relax.

Here’s a home with incentives just in time for the holidays, lower price, lower monthly payment, bigger purchase credit and we will even help with the cost of the move and allow you to spend the holidays in the home RENT FREE!!

To qualify, you need;

$5,000 down payment
$1395/mo payments ($300/mo,the portion each month’s $1395 payment that’s applied to the purchase)
$249,950 purchase price at end of lease option term.

Click the video below to see the video tour, or go to:
http://www.wahomesolutions.com/9356Ramiller

If you are interested in this property give us a call at 360-874-1560

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SOLD

Looking for a Port Orchard lease option? Here’s your chance to move into this beautiful 3 bed, 2 bath 1750 sq. ft. home on over 1/2 acre. Don’t let less than perfect credit or the lack of a large down payment keep you from living in a home of your own.

With a reasonable down payment and monthly payments of just $1497, this home is yours. Purchase price on a 12-24 month lease option is just $283,000.

7795 Cabrini Dr. SE
Port Orchard, WA 98367

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Ok, I haven’t actually fallen off my rocker, but I have decided to offer something that can be a HUGE incentive to you if you get into one of our lease to own properties. With all the other bills that we all have to pay, wouldn’t it be nice if you could skip a house payment?

That’s exactly what you can do when you move into one of our lease to own properties. We’re so confident that you’ll love our lease to own program, we know that you’ll have friends, family and co-workers that you’ll want to refer.

If someone you refer moves into one of our properties, you can get the next months rent for FREE!

Think about how nice it will feel to be able to skip a payment. You can use that money for whatever you want. Put it into savings, pay off debt, take that long awaited vacation, or just spend it on whatever you want, it’s your choice!

The best part is that you can get free rent as many times as you want. We can even give you tools to help you find other tenant-buyers for us.

Like I said, I haven’t fallen off my rocker because we benefit as well. It’s a win-win solution and another reason that Washington Home Solutions has the best lease to own program in the area.

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SOLD

Anyone looking for a completely remodeled rambler on a large lot in Gig Harbor? This is your house. It’s on a quiet cul-de-sac yet only a two minute drive to Highway 16.

Interested?? Great!

I’ve made a video (below) that gives you a complete walkthrough.

We have the best lease to own program in the Puget Sound, and this home is protected by our NEVER LOSE GUARANTEE which gives you 100% of any future appreciation but protects you from loss if the market drops before you buy.

6101 44th Ave NW
Gig Harbor, WA 98335

3 Bed + Bonus Room
2 Full Baths

The house is on 0.60 acres and has about 1600 sq. ft. of living space.

We’re asking for $5000 down and a monthly payment of $1597. If you have more to put down, you can lower your monthly payment. All down payment monies and a portion of each monthly payment goes towards the option to buy.

We can also finance your down payment if you’re a little short. Buy it in 12 months for $259,000.

If you like the video tour or have someone to refer, contact mike@wahomesolutions.com to reserve this opportunity.

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We truly appreciate all that the program has to offer

Our experience with the lease to own option has been great. Seeing how my wife and I both had some credit issues from past relationships, this program was the best fit for our circumstances. Utilizing this program has given my wife and I the option to finally stop wasting our money on renting, and to invest in our own home and in our future. The lease to own program was extremely easy to get involved in, just a few papers, and we were off and rolling, as far as if its going well, its great like I stated before. We would definitely recommend this option to people out there that have ever had any difficulties purchasing your own home, for whatever the reason. This program allowed us to get into a house that we wanted. not just “what we could get” and with little money down. If given the chance to do it all over again, we would in a heartbeat!! We truly appreciate all that the program has offered!

Mark and Lisa C.
Gig Harbor, WA

Beyond Satisfied!

In August of 2007 the military transferred my husband and I from CT to WA state. We arrived in WA and rented a home much too small for our family for awhile. While looking through craigslist real estate ads in April of 2008 we came across a beautiful home we loved we called an spoke with Mike Sumsky of Washington Home Solutions and we thought it was too good to be true. With only 10,000 down we were able to lease to own a beautiful 3 bedroom 3 bath Illahee area home. Mike was able to work with us on the down payment allowing us to give him half up front and half when we moved in our current payment is less than the rent of our very small townhome. In addition we called him in April and were moved in within two weeks the process was smooth, honest and quick.

Working with Mike and the staff of Washington Home Solutions has always been a pleasure they feel more like extended family who know truly what empathy is. I would recommend anyone to see what Washington Home Solutions can do for you. They have made it possible in economic crisis for us own a home we otherwise never would have had access too.

Beyond Satisfied!
Joseph and Tiffany B.

Making all of Our Dreams Come True

We were frustrated and worn out with rental denials, than Mike and Janet came along. You were like our knights in shining armor. We found a house, a couple pieces of paper later and we were in. No stress, no unbearable commitments, and we were relaxed through the whole experience. Mike and Janet are some of the sweetest people and most down to earth.

Thank you for finding us a home and making all of our dreams come true.

Sincerely,

Sarina & Jacob B.
Gig Harbor, WA

Found the Whole Experience Painless

Thank you for letting me tell my story. My wife and I found the whole experience painless, and the other realtors that I had talked to said that they couldn’t beat the deal that we were getting. The whole thing was a win-win situation for the buyer.

The awesome thing is that you handled everything, considering we were coming all the way from Texas and the house was ready when we got here.

Brian and Shannon S.
Tacoma, WA

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SOLD

The house is just under 2400 sq. ft. and sits on a double lot totalling 1 acre. It also has a bonus one bed, one bath mother in law unit that you can use for guests, a home office or your actual in-laws.

We’re asking for $5000 down and a monthly payment of $1597. If you have more to put down, you can lower your monthly payment. All down payment monies and a portion of each monthly payment goes towards the option to buy.

We can also finance your down payment if you’re a little short. Buy it in 12 months for only $279,000 which is below tax assessed value.

12873 NW Holly Rd.
Bremerton, WA 98312

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