Broker's edition- classes in Pierce County area to enhance your business.

Here is a market update for the NWMLS area.  Real Estate activity for Nov 2019. 

Want to see it larger? 
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Curious what your home may be worth in today's market?  

Click Here

Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum, Keller Williams Tacoma

www.teammomentumre.com

I'm Buying a Home....who pays the agent I hire?

How to win as a Home Buyer in a Seller's Market

2020 Buyer’s Edition

Find out if you qualify for our zero lending fee + $1000 closing costs lending

Hungry in New Orleans? Daisy Duke's for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner 24 hours a day!

From Anna and Karl Matsunaga, Team Momentum Keller Williams Tacoma
Team Momentum Keller Williams Tacoma
253 212 1252

Visiting New Orleans?  We came to visit for KW family reunion 2019 and since we came early, we got to check out lots of the city and their restaurants before classes started.

For inexpensive eats ( we got 2 full meals under $30 Plus drinks) Daisy Dukes is a great spot.  It's a true American Style diner.  The food was tasty and fast.  We got breakfast and were happy to find out we could order breakfast 24 hours a day.  Getting into town late?  Hungry?  Head to Daisy Dukes.

Get up late and still want breakfast?  They can fix you up.  The service was fast and happy and the food was really good.

I had the Greek omelet.  (which you can order with fruit instead of hash browns and so on) I had them add tomatoes and they added them with out complaint.

Karl had eggs "his way" and toast and pancakes & sausage.  The pancakes were extra good and fluffy.

So check it out and you'll be glad....other fun fact...they have several locations, so no matter where you are staying in New Orleans....they could be an option.

Need a realtor in any part of the country?  We've got a wonderful network of wonderful people, let us help you get connected.

253 212 1252
www.teammomentumrealestate.com

Great eats in New Orleans- Lukes

From Anna & Karl Matsunaga, Team Momentum Keller Williams Realty Tacoma- Areas serviced Pierce and Thurston Counties including Tacoma, Lakewood, University Place, Dupont, Olympia, and more.

253-212-1252

If you are attending Family reunion and just arrived or if it's years later and you're visiting New Orleans for the first time, we decided to help since we got here early and have had time to explore and play before work.....

So on our first night here ( actually our 2nd, we had a canceled flight that lost us a day here and got us in close to midnight) we had dinner at a great restaurant called Luke's

We did have a reservation, and we'd suggest one for you too.  Here is their menu

Karl had the Shrimp "Etouffee"  It's made with heirloom tomatoes and garlic and is amazing and wonderful.


I ordered the Salad Luke.  It was very fresh and made with a medley of wonderful and colorful ingredients all of which I liked except for the beets. ( no one can make those so I like them so I will not hold it against them)

The service was great & the restaurant was great for conversation, not too quiet or too loud.

Added bonus, they have amazing honey that tastes like berry honey to me and it was not delivered in packets, it was delivered in a little pouring pot  and I added it to my hot tea which was a real treat as well.

Karl was partial to the bread and I will have to take his word for it because I don't do gluten.....oh, and they have a nice selection of gluten free items too, which we've found harder to find here in New Orleans than we do at home in Tacoma.

Here is a link to their website


Have fun in New Orleans-  I hope we get to see you!

From Anna Matsunaga, Realtor, Team Momentum, Keller Williams Tacoma
253 212 1252

How to pay off your home early

So, you are a home owner and you are enjoying the tax write offs, the gaining equity and the freedom to do what you like with your house.  What's next?  Are there ways you can make owning a home even more valuable?





Firstly, if you are looking at long term stability and looking to the day where you no longer have a payment on your home it is important to do your best not only to maintain a good credit score.  ( in case lower rates make it make sense to refinance for a lower rate) Want to at some point be mortgage free?  Think twice about taking out home equity loans.  There are times where doing so is a sound investment strategy, but if it is just to buy depreciating items ( car, etc) or to take a vacation or to pay off debt only to wrack up more....stop and think first. 




Better yet, instead of just not adding to your debt, what if you could save tens of thousands of dollars in interest and be able to stop paying a mortgage completely years if not even a decade or more earlier?  How can you do this?  Well.....it's as simple as making extra payments to principle.  The earlier in your loan the better.  Not sure how it will impact your interest paid out or how long you pay on it?






Here is a link to a mortgage calculator to help you figure out what extra payments would do for you.
Use it to figure out how much extra to principle you'd need to add to meet your goals for when your home will be paid off.



What will extra mortgage payments do for me? 

If you budget won't allow you to pay the same extra every month or sometimes it won't allow any extra, don't despair, any extra does make a difference  and the sooner you start, the bigger difference it makes. Even if you only do extra when you have extra that will help too.  Maybe make a goal of always paying some extra.  During some very hard times economically when our family struggled to even pay our mortgage putting an extra $5 a month made me feel better.  Did it make a big difference?  No, but it kept me in the habit of always paying more than needed. 

How soon do you want your mortgage paid off?  Make a plan and stick with it.

Thinking you want the equity you have to help you get into a different home?  Call me for help planning your  transition and I can also help you find a lender with pay off options other than just a standard 30 year mortgage.

Anna Matsunaga,
Team Momentum, Keller Williams Tacoma
253 212 1252

I want to buy a home....but I don't have a down payment. Good news, you may not have to.

 For most, owning a home is far more desirable than being a renter.  However, there are obstacles that seem to make it either not a possibility for you, or keep the dream of your own home far in the future. 


One of the largest is a down payment.  Gone are the days of conventional loans with little documentation and no down payment.  ( and this might be a good thing)  However, for owner occupied homes, even FHA loans require about 3.5% down.  If you are buying a median priced home in our county ( Pierce County WA) you would be needing to come up with almost $8500.00, and that is if are not talking about covering your own closing costs, which could be close to the same amount.




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Many would be home owners just don't know where they will come up with that much money.

If you would make a good home owner,  ( you want to live in one place for at least a few years, you are willing to maintain your home, you have the income to cover mortgage payments and a few unexpected expenses) and you would like to purchase, but your have not figured out how to overcome the down payment issue yet....there is hope!

Good news is, there are still ways to purchase with zero down.  One of these methods is to get a USDA loan.  Now I know you are likely used to seeing USDA in association with this......   But believe me, the USDA does much more than regulate meat.  USDA also has a loan program where you can qualify for zero down.  You do not have to be low income.  You do not have to have, worked for the USDA or any other organization.  The trick is you have to purchase as home that is located with in chosen areas that are approved for USDA loans.  Since USDA stands or United States Department of Agriculture, you may assume that this would be for the purchase of farm land....or at least a home in a very rural setting.  Actually however, this is not true.  I actually sold a condominium town home in downtown Gig Harbor under this loan program a while ago.  Currently I am helping clients find the home they want under the program as well, and let me assure you they are not shopping in rural areas.  

If you want to find out more about this program and be referred to a lender who can help you with a USDA loan, please call me and I will help you get started on finding a great lender who can help you get qualified for this type of loan.  If you want to know how to know if a property is eligible, I will be happy to help with that too.  If you know someone who would benefit from this information, again, please contact me or pass on my information and I will be glad to help.

Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum, Keller Williams Realty Tacoma 253-212-1252

First time ( and not so first time) home owner series, What exactly is titlte insurance?

If you have bought a home or had a friend or family member buy a home, you likely have heard of title insurance.  However, even experienced home buyers and sellers often do not understand what exactly it is.

Knowing what it's for has become even more important now that, as of August 2015, regulations here in Washington as changing so that it is not REQUIRED that you have title insurance in order to close.  So....some may want to save money and not purchase it.  This however, could be even more financially dangerous than driving with out any insurance.

Here is a link to a video with a brief explanation of what title insurance is.  What IS title insurance?

Want to know more about all the steps to selling or buying a home?  Call me for a free consultation, I'd love to help!

Anna Matsunaga

Just want to just browse area homes on a site that updates data in real time?  Click here!

Pierce county prices jump.....real estate values update.

Prices are jumping and the good news is it is still a good time to buy ( interest rates are at an almost historic lows) and it is definitely also a good time to sell ( prices are up and interest rates are still low, while they are buyers can afford to pay a bit more for a house, where as when interest rates rise, well they will either not buy, or will buy for less.)

So....if you are thinking of buying or selling, now is really honestly the time. 

Here is a link to a news story I was blessed to be featured in on the subject which was featured on King 5 news.....


http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/tacoma/2015/01/08/pierce-county-home-prices-jump/21476147/

If you would like a free consultation on selling or buying a home or other property, please call me to schedule your time.

Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum, Keller Williams Realty Tacoma

253-212-1252

Want to know more about what the value of your Pierce county home is go to www.piercehomevalues.com for a free market analysis or any other information on selling your home.