Simmons Homes

Redecorating for the spring? Don’t miss out on this opportunity for some awesome new décor! Vintage Market Days is coming to Tulsa this weekend! Vintage Market Days is an indoor/outdoor upscale market, focused on vintage items.

At the event, you can expect a wide array of original art, antiques, clothing, jewelry, home décor, seasonal plantings, homemade pleasures, and even consumable yummies! multiple vendors. The event will run May 17-19, and is located at 408 N. Boulder Ave in downtown Tulsa.

Event Hours

Friday’s Early Buying Event* 6pm – 9pm
Saturday 9am – 6pm
Sunday 1pm – 4pm

*Have the first opportunity to find the treasure
you simply must have during the Early Buying Event

Admission

Friday’s Early Buying Event – $10
Saturday & Sunday – $5

Admission for children under 12 is free.
Cash only at the gate please.

Your ticket may be used all weekend.

Learn more about this event and buy tickets here.

The time is here!!! Once a year the people of Tulsa, Oklahoma have the opportunity to vote for Tulsa’s A-List! As in the past, the A-LIST will recognize Tulsa’s best businesses as selected by the magazine’s readers and others who complete the online ballot.  The voting results will be featured in the magazine’s June issue.

Be sure to take the time to vote Simmons Homes your favorite homebuilder! Not only does this help Simmons make the A-List, it also gives YOU the opportunity to win a few awesome prizes (see below)!

How to vote

Visit TulsaPeople.com/A-List/ , and select “Services” from the four categories at the bottom of the page.

Vote for Simmons Homes when voting on the “Remodeler/Builder” category (page 2), then be sure to enter your name and email address at the bottom of the page. Select “done” and there you have it! You should have see a screen that says your vote has been submitted (see below).

Perks of Voting

More than $1,500 in prizes will be awarded, simply for casting votes! Visit TulsaPeople.Com between March 1-31 to vote for your favorite business and you will be automatically entered into a drawing to win one of the weekly prize packages. If you vote in all four categories, you will be registered for the Grand Prize: A $500 Moody’s Jewelry gift card AND $500 Castleberry’s Ethan Allen gift card!

**You must vote for at least 50% of the categories in the “Services” section in order to be eligible for prizes. This is not necessary for your vote for Simmons to count, only to be entered into the drawing for prizes.

Remember: The ballots are only open March 1-31^st, so be sure to get your vote in today!

Click here to vote!

If you’ve been holding out on the PERFECT reason to move to Tulsa, Okalahoma….your time has come!!! Mayor Dewey Bartlett and Tulsa City Council members announced a new entrepreneurial program partnership that will connect the Tulsa-based StartUp Cup business model with Tulsa’s sister cities! (Read the full article here).

This program is a major plus for entrepreneurs in Tulsa and the surrounding areas. The program will create competitions that are locally run. According to Mayor Bartlett, the purpose of these StartUp Competitions will be to create jobs and business while strengthening Tulsa’s economic relationships with it’s surrounding cites.

Also a plus for major cities pariticipating, as they will receive access to websites, online support, marketing templates and coaching from local entrepreneurs. All of this will be provided, at no cost to the participating city’s!

If you are wondering what these sister cites are, you may just be surprised! Tulsa’s eight sister cities are Tiberias, Israel; Beihai, China; Amiens, France; Zelenograd, Russia; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Utsunomiya, Japan and Celle, Germany.

Currently, there have been 361 startups that have participated in nine StartUp Cups around the world. This has led to an estimated 474 jobs created!!!  The StartUp Cups welcome any business idea and target new businesses that lack extensive resources and experience.

This is a major honor to Tulsa, to be a part of this program. We look forward to watching the many opportunities it will bring to our community in the near future!

We have it good in Tulsa!

We’ve heard it on the news, the radio, and read about it the newspaper so it isn’t any secret that a portion of America is looking for employment.  The unemployment rate in the United States has decreased to 8.1 percent in August of 2012. While this is an improvement from a few years prior, it still leaves many searching for a means to bring income into their home.

What does this mean for young people? A short supply in jobs usually means that it’s that much harder for young people to get their foot in the door at an entry-level job. Because there are more people, usually more qualified, all aiming at the same positions, the stakes have been raised much higher.

This can be frustrating. It also leaves homebuyers to put even more research into their quest to find a home that is perfect for their families. Luckily, for homebuyers searching for a new home in Tulsa, their worries of job shortages can be put to rest!

In an article recently released from the Fiscal Times, Tulsa, Oklahoma was rated the Second best city in America for Young People to find jobs!

This article boasts:

• Tulsa reported an unemployment rate of only 4.5 percent for people ages 25-34 years of age.
• Tulsa added over 10,000 jobs in 2011 alone, with 4,000 of these jobs paying salaries of $50,000 a year or more!!!

If the low home-ownership cost didn’t get you amped about living in Tulsa, this news should certainly get you excited.

We have often heard from homebuyers “I just need to save up a little for my down payment”. This is a reality, and many now are trying to buy a new home to take advantage of these record low interest rates. It’s almost a race against time.

Saving for a down payment can be hard work. It’s difficult to turn down a weekend getaway or a night out with friends, but pinching pennies is the best way to start saving. If you have a definite goal in mind, making small sacrifices shouldn’t be much of a challenge.

Knowing how much you need to purchase a home is a great place to start. Talk to your local mortgage consultant to learn how much you will need to put down. Down payments can range from as little as 3.5 percent on an FHA mortgage. On a conventional mortgage, the minimum down payment often is 20 percent.

Here are some other ways to help you come up with the extra money:

Pay off your plastic. When you carry a credit card balance, interest is constantly accruing and that means more of your money goes to the card companies. Free up more of your income by paying off the most money-sucking credit cards.

Set up an automatic withdrawal from your paycheck to a savings account. Many people find that if money is taken out of their salaries, they don’t miss it. This will also help you avoid tapping into it for other expenses.

Tap into your IRA. Tax laws will allow first-time homebuyers use up to $10,000 in funds towards a down payment. If you’ve never owned a home before, the government waives the penalty for early withdrawal. Talk to your tax advisor to see if this option makes sense for you.

Family gifts. Many times, grandparents, parents, in-laws or even siblings may be willing to give you money to help you get that first home. Most lenders are okay with a gift from family as long as it doesn’t have to be repaid. A gift letter from that person will verify this.

Check into special programs. Because buyers struggling to come up with a down payment have varying range of incomes, many government and local agencies offer down payment assistance. Are you a teacher, a fire fighter, a police officer or a medical professional? Some states have financing assistance for people who work in these essential fields.

Eliminate unnecessary expenses. Make a list of your monthly expenses and see what you can do without, or cut back on. Do you really need all the movie channels on your cable TV? If you have two cars, could you get by with one? Are you paying for a gym membership you never use? Taking your lunch to work every day instead of eating out could save you hundreds of dollars a month that could go toward a down payment.

Sell unwanted items. There could be some forgotten items or things you wouldn’t mind giving up. Go ahead, clean out your closet, attic or garage. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Websites such as Craigslist and eBay make it easy for you to sell these things.

Moonlight. Plenty of folks have financed a down payment by taking on an extra job, or asking for extra hours at work. The key is to keep living as if you didn’t have the extra income, and sock that money away for your down payment.

Top 100 Metro Areas

We rank 4^th out of the Top 100 Metros in terms of Economic Security according to a study by the Urban Institute.  Tulsa was praised for its low unemployment, steady housing prices, average earnings that afford a median standard of living, and our ability to keep foreclosures to a minimum.

Oklahoma is recognized for its diverse economy.  Such things as government, universities, energy, and high tech firms have held up well in the Great Recession.  We didn’t fall victim to the vast swells of the housing boom and then bust, so mortgage prices today are remarkably affordable.  Especially when you couple that with the all time low mortgage loan rate of 3.93% (30 year fixed) just reported by Yahoo today!

Our region continues to rank high on multiple “top ten” lists – most affordable (Forbes), most recession-proof (Forbes), and best place to start a small business (Fortune Small Business).  We, at Simmons Homes, would agree that Tulsa is a “top ten” place to be a homeowner and we strive to make that an affordable luxury with amazing quality.

Source: Urban Institute analysis of LAUS, HPI, NUHC, OES, and LPS datahttp://datatools.metrotrends.org/charts/metrodata/rankMap_files/rankMap.cfm

If you’ve been searching for a new home you’ve probably heard someone say, “There’s never been a better time to buy a new home, interest rates are at an all time low.” But what does that really mean to you?

Here’s a little history on interest rates. Do you know what a high mortgage rate would look like? December of 1980 the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 14.79%. By January of 1990 it dropped to 9.67%. Over a 10-year period, rates inched down by about 5%. But by May 2000 the rates were only down to 8.52%, barely a 1% change in 10 years. So, when you hear reports that mortgage rates are at an historic low, this gives you more context.

Several years ago people were happy to purchase at a 6.5% interest rate, but now, with mortgages available from the high 4% to low 5% range there truly has never been a better time to purchase a home. Especially as rates slowly creep up again.

So what can you get for your money with lower interest rates?

Low rates mean lower payments: If you can afford a mortgage of $150,000 at a rate of 4.9% your monthly payments will be around $796 per month (not including taxes and insurance). A rate of 6.5% would cost about $948 per month. By purchasing a home while the rates are low, you free up over $150 per month.

Low interest rates mean you can get more house for your money: If you can afford a payment of about $790 per month (not including taxes and insurance) that means at a rate of 6.5% your mortgage would be approximately $125,000. Yet at a rate of 4.9% you can afford a home loan of almost $150,000 this gives you nearly $25,000 more house for the same payment of approximately $790 per month.

This difference in price could be the space you need and the options you want. Rolling $25,000 more into a mortgage could get you a lot more house for your money in a new home.

It’s important to understand rates so that you can make an informed decision about purchasing your new home. Many people keep waiting for the lowest rates. But how will you know when the rates hit bottom? Usually when standing at a higher point looking down.

By assessing your situation and looking for the right loan to fit your current lifestyle, you can look at the historic rates and see how much more home you will get for your money now verses just a few years ago.

Written By Kevin Swift:
Kevin Swift and Swift Home Loans is one of the top home loan originators in Oklahoma and the preferred lender for Simmons Homes. Learn more at www.swifthomeloans.net or fill out their online application here.  You can also call 918-528-6404 for your personal consultation.

*Rates and payments are approximate for the purposes of this article and do not include taxes and insurance.