A note on Insurance by Eric Kossian of Leavenworth Insurance

Your Good Credit Score Can Save You Up To 50% Off Home Insurance I know a lot of people don't like this (the one's with bad credit) and I agree that it is not fair for those otherwise credit upstanding citizens who, due to no fault of their own, had a divorce or family medical situation that ruined their credit. Nevertheless, the truth is, from an actuarial standpoint, people with excellent to good credit can get huge discounts on home, auto and excess liability insurance because they are statistically much less likely to have a claim (and that's what insurance companies are ultimately concerned about - not your driving record, etc) So, if you have excellent to good credit I suggest you shop your insurance because while almost all preferred companies now give discounts for good credit, the amount of the discount varies widely. I literally had a customer with very good (not excellent or just good) that sold his home to a friend and retained the mortgage. The friend had terrible credit due to the wife's medical problems. The price of the insurance on the same exact home went from $400's to $970!!! If you have poor credit then do whatever you can to improve your credit score! You can get a FREE credit report annually (by law) by going to http://www.annualcreditreport.com/. And you can stop getting credit card mail (that tempted you to rack up bills you couldn't pay by calling 888-568-8688. While you are at it you can get on the national DO NOT CALL LIST to stop telemarketers from calling both land lines and cell phones - you have to dial this number from each phone! - 888-382-1222 and repeat this every 5 years or every time you get a new number. By the way, it is only for residential numbers; business numbers are exempt. Clean up your credit report by paying old bills off or calling the creditor to set up payments or negotiate a reduction, pay ALL your bills within 30 days (the people with the lowest credit scores pay all bills as soon as they arrive in the mail - you want good credit? - do what they do - that way you are never late.) Then shop your insurance. For that matter, you may save money by shopping your insurance now while your credit is poor too. If you have no idea how to get your finances in order, get the book, Your Money Or Your Life - it's a classic and it's the best (and you don't set up a budget!!!). It will tell you exactly how to go from wherever you are at to getting on the road to financial independence (say that 3 times slowly - doesn't' that have a nice sound to it?) Good work! (there is no luck involved - you can do it!) Posted by Eric Kossian – Leavenworth Insurance 509-548-5488

Low Inventory in Leavenworth Homes Market

Moderately priced home sales have really taken off in the Leavenworth Washington real estate market. Today there are only 16 homes under $300,000 and 26 under $400,000. Scarier yet, many of these are small (under 1000 square feet, some under 500) or have other issues that may make them difficult to get a loan for. (Lack of septic and electricity, half interest in property, leased land etc.) When we look at the list without these homes we see 9 under $300,000 and 19 under $400,000. If you are a home seller and thinking about waiting until spring to sell, maybe you should re-think your planning. If you are a buyer, you have a dilemma: Buy now despite the lack of choices or buy later and be prepared to pay a premium as prices continue to go up?

Leavenworth 3 bedroom home prices explode!

I was running some numbers today for a Windermere publication that comes out quarterly. It uses average prices of sold 3 bedroom homes as a gauge of the market. For the first half of 2006, the average 3 bedroom home in the Leavenworth area. (including Plain and Lake Wenatchee) was $375,000. For the second half it is up to $458,000. I double checked. Those numbers represent a 22% increase in a 6 month period! It looks like buyers in the Leavenworth market haven't been bothered or effected by negative press about either a "soft landing" or a "bubble bursting". Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee continue to remain popular as a destination for vacation homes.