Sean Dixon, a good friend of mine since I was 5 is a very talented muscian. I remember being jealous of him when I was young that his parents let him play the guitar while mine made me take piano. lol

Heres a note he sent to me....I have been voting for him...and he is almost there but wants your vote to cap off the contest!

Heres what Sean said to me:

I would love to put some of my new music on CD and this contest would give me the chance to do that. Winner gets $5000 and all you have to do is vote every day and get your friends to do the same. Follow the instructions below:

- Go to Mormontimes.com
- Select the Showcase ICON on the left hand side
- Click the Need an account ? Sign up here button near the top right
- Fill out the sign up sheet
- Login

Are we going up or down in Utah Real Estate?

Lets look at the numbers for Salt Lake County.

Sales in 2007

Oct 1033 November 927 December 803 Jan 2008 645 Feb 2008 766

Sales in 2008

Oct 846 November 592 December 687 Jan 2009 Predicted: 575 Feb 2009 Predicted: 700

So what happened year over year?

Oct 18% decrease November 36% decrease December 14% decrease Jan Predicted decrease 10% Feb Predicted decrease 8% Decrease.

What can we look forward too?

Our sales numbers have hit bottom. We had huge decreases and there isnt a way for it to decrease anymore. And actually we are receiving multiple offers on many homes. Our number of actives in Salt Lake have decreased to 7500. Last year there were 10,500 homes sold. So at the current rate

Its a new year and there will be a new road in South Jordan!

UDOT is having a public open house at South Jordan Elementary School on Jan 28th from 6pm to 8pm. Its located at 11205 S Black Cherry Way (1375 W).

You will be able to find out when and where construction will take place, see the additions and improvements that will be occurring and sign up for construction updates.

This will be a 2 year project. For more info go to udot.utah.gov/11400south

Utah was rated by Forbes to be #1 for population growth!

Utah grew by 68,000 people but has grown at 2.5% year over year.

There were over 40,000 new babies in the state. Utah's own growth accounts for the majority of the growth but we do have in migration.

What it means to Utah Real Estate

What is amazing....Utah has grown while sales of real estate declined to the lowest levels in 13 years. What does this mean? It means a majority of our population was scared to buy a home and are planning on it soon. Our sales can only do one thing...that is increase. We are basically like a 5 year old still living in a 2 year old shoes. We have hit bottom in number in transactions. Many prices will continue to decline especially if interest rates go back

Tricks to Refinancing your home…even if you don't qualify!

Many people are taking advantage of refinancing! I mean this is history right now with lowest rates in decades! But what about those who are in their home and aren’t sure if they qualify? Here are the tricks to refinancing.

1. Where do I get the best rates?

You can shop around! However, it is confusing as some people say they will give you no costs. I know one person that told me, I got the greatest deal with no costs but his interest rate was pretty high. Don’t fall for no costs. Be sure to compare APR’s as those will include costs. The best place we have found closing costs and rates have been local mortgage broker. Tim Peterson tim@rightsidelending.com or Sandy Lowe sandy@silverrm.com

Top Places in Utah to Sell a Home! (Salt Lake County Top Spots)

If you live in one of these areas, you are in a hot spot! While most of the country is doing anything including giving away cars with their home....you can get top dollar for your home! If you are a buyer looking to buy in these areas, yes you may be paying more as you won't have as much negotiation room. But you can count on being able to sell your home if you ever needed to. These areas are Utah's Hot Spots for selling homes right now.

It is possible in any area to sell a home within a month. We have been doing that all year. The timeframe on the areas below represent with the current demand how fast it would take to deplete all the inventory on the market. 4-6 months of inventory

Home not selling? You are thinking of renting it out and moving? Think Again!

The way loans used to work don’t work that way. That’s what I did back in 2001 or so when the market in Utah was depreciating. I just moved out of my home, leased it out and bought a new one.

FannieMae changed their rules though. You can't do that anymore. Why the change? There was something mysterious going on with many buyers this past year. They were upside down in their home, so they moved out, bought a home and left their home behind them. So FNMA changed the rules.

Heres the new rules:

If you move out of your current home and into another, you have to qualify for both payments. (Old days they would let you count the rent..but not anymore.

Not only would you

Home not selling? You are thinking of renting it out and moving? Think Again!

The way loans used to work don't work that way. That's what I did back in 2001 or so when the market in Utah was depreciating. I just moved out of my home, leased it out and bought a new one.

FannieMae changed their rules though. Cant do that anymore. Why the change? There was something mysterious going on with many buyers this past year. They were upside down in their home, so they moved out, bought a home and left their home behind them. So FNMA changed the rules.

Heres the new rules:

If you move out of your current home and into another, you have to qualify for both payments. (Old days they would let you count the rent..but not anymore.

Not only would you have