What's Your Excuse?

We humans like to make excuses, and we tend to make them for a couple of key reasons. When it comes to managing our finances wisely, there's no exception...excuses abound for why we can't seem to move forward or why we don't have a plan.

1. We've done something wrong, made a mess of things, and now we feel the need to justify our action or inaction.

• "It's not my fault" (this is followed by the blame game...)
• "I deserve"..."I'm owed"..."I have a right"..."I need"

This is rooted in selfishness, and quickly leads to hopelessness, paralyzation, discontentment, ungratefulness, criticising and being judgemental. Ouch! Want to be know for those qualities?

2. We're trying to avoid doing something we don't want to do.

• "I'm not good at it"..."it's not my gift"
• "It's too time consuming"..."I'm too busy"...."I have more important things to do"
• "I'm doing fine financially so this is not for me"

This is rooted in fear and laziness, and quickly leads to bondage, distractions, and an inability to pursue all that God has for you.

Our excuses are like a boat anchor. As long as we're hanging on to them, they will pull us under and keep us from ever breaking the surface to grab hold of a life preserver.

What's your boat anchor? What practical steps can you take today to overcome and move forward?

Deanna Koffler, Nine36 Financial (936 Financial)

What Kind of Giver Are You?

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:37-38)

We often use this verse when we talk about giving of our finances. Give, and it will be given back to you. But this principle of giving doesn’t JUST apply to our finances, does it?
The word “it” in this verse is a pronoun that is acting as the direct object of the verb “give”. A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. Usually, pronouns refer to something that was already mentioned in a previous sentence. In this case, the pronoun is “it”. What is “it”? Go ahead, replace “it”!

Give judgement, and judgement will be given to you.

Give condemnation, and condemnation will be given to you.

Give forgiveness, and forgiveness will be given to you.

I believe what’s illustrated here is a spiritual law, not simply something that pertains to two or three acts of our will:

Give time, and time will be given to you.

Give respect, and respect will be given to you.

Give money, and money will be given to you.

Give food, clothing, honor, grace, mercy, truth, friendship, service.......are you getting it?

Let’s be people who give the kinds of things we want to receive ourselves.

Deanna Koffler, Nine36 Financial (936 Financial)

Squeezing the Turnip

Budget in place and working...check. Emergency fund in place...check. Debt snowball rolling...hmmm...can't seem to get enough dry, crumbly snow together to actually make a snowball to get it rolling!

This seems to be a typical story these days. Loss of income is causing a lot of people - including responsible, budget-weilding, non-credit using families - to stumble on their get-out-of-debt plan. If you can't seem to get enough snow to stick together to even make a snowball, how do you ever get it rolling?

The initial (and obvious) response, especially from Dave Ramsey fans, is to look at the budget and try to figure out how to get more out of your money each month. Cut expenses here, slash activities there, try to sell a car or a house - as I see it, trying to squeeze blood from a turnip!

Instead of expending so much energy on how much you can save, cut, slash, sell...start focusing your attention and energies on creative ways to bring more in! Most of you aren't in a debt crisis...you're in an INCOME crisis! Quit blaming the debt or the expenses for your financial problems, and focus on the income side of the house.

Deanna Koffler, Nine36 Financial (936 Financial)

BudgetBuilder Workshop

We had a fantastic workshop last night at Cascadia Community College - if you missed it, you missed out! The good news is that you can always get in on the next one!

We will host the next BudgetBuilder Workshop on Tuesday, September 29th from 6-9pm. Registration deadline is September 16th - contact us today to reserve your seat...and invite a friend to join you!

Listen to what people are saying about their experience!

"Josh & Deanna are great communicators and teach well as a team. We now have better tools and understanding to improve our budget! The budgeting tool is user friendly, and we like the ability to compound savings each month." - Rachel & Diony, Kent

"The budgeting tool is very user friendly for a person like me who doesn't like computer entry!" - Jacoline

"This workshop is helpful especially accompanied with FPU. Walking away with new software so we can have a 'real budget' is great! - Brent & Joanne, Bellevue

"The most important thing I learned is having the Biblical foundation and how that is connected to my budgeting. I love how everything was helpful and presented in a way that was applicable to my life. I have tried different methods of budgeting on my own but it never worked for me. From this class, I feel I have learned how to write it and also how to follow up and continue with the plan I've created." - Betelihem, Kent

"The assessment worksheets are so clear and manageable. It makes me feel like I can DO this! The workshop was interactive, so it never lost my attention. I really had no clue even how to start a budget before this workshop, now I feel I have a wonderful start and am motivated to keep on this road. This is going to change my life. Thank you so much!" - Emnet, Bellevue

"I found the section on understanding your priorities and then setting financial goals to be most helpful. I love the budget tool, and will absolutely use it; it's incredibly well organized and does so much of the work and calculations for you! Josh & Deanna compliment each other well in presentation. They inspire!" - Naomi, Seattle

"I am reinvigorated to dive deeper and focus on our budget more regularly. I think the budgeting tool will increase my budgeting ability and help my husband to. Thank you for your time, knowledge and passion. This will change lives!" - Lesa, Mukilteo

Deanna Koffler, Nine36 Financial (936 Financial)

The BudgetBuilder™ Workshop is Launching!

We are excited to announce the public launch this month of the BudgetBuilder™ Workshop! The workshop, previously offered exclusively to members of The City Church, is now going to be available to the public beginning this month!

Workshop dates are Thursday, August 27th (registration deadline August 19th) and Tuesday, September 29th (registration deadline September 16th). Both workshops will be held at Cascadia Community College in Bothell.

The BudgetBuilder™ Workshop helps individuals and couples get traction for their financial situation by walking them through the process of creating a household specific budget. The three-hour Workshop provides classroom and one-on-one instruction in

· Biblical foundations for financial stewardship
· Personal financial assessment
· Understanding financial priorities
· Financial goal setting
· Real time, hands on budget development specific to each individual families’ priorities, goals, and current financial situation

Attendees will receive an instructional workbook along with MoneyBoss™, Microsoft Excel-based budgeting software that will allow them to manage their newly created budget on a month-to-month basis.

Workshop Requirements:
· Pre-registration – course size is limited so register early (see registration deadlines above)!
· A Windows capable at-home computer with Microsoft Excel installed (computer access for workshop will be provided)
· Pre-workshop assessment homework completed (this paperwork will be sent following registration)
· Registration fee of $109/couple or $89/individual

Maybe this workshop isn’t a good fit for your personal needs right now, but I’ll bet you can name at least one person you know that could benefit greatly from this kind of instruction. If so, please pass this information on to them so they can attend!

Contact us today at 425-931-4167 or kofflers@nine36financial.com for more information or to register for an upcoming workshop!

Deanna Koffler, Nine36 Financial (936 Financial)

June Real Estate Update for Snohomish County

Increased number of pendings and solds for four consective months now. Yes, we are experiencing an increase in buyer activity and a constant number of listings remaining, but the acitivity is not equal in all price ranges. Where is the majority of this activity? In June the NWMLS recorded 522 sold properties, of those properties, 430 were below the FHA limit of $417K and 243 were below the price of $300K. So, roughly 82% of all the sold properties in Snohomish county for the month of June were below the price of $417K. This is the first time home buyer taking advantage of today's market. In the month of June I was involved in 3 different sales (two listings, one buyer) in the price range under $417K that were multiple offer situations! There is a large group of first time home buyer's in the market right now, waiting for a quality home to come on the market that is well price!

Current interest rates have climbed to around 5.675%.

Courtesy of Joshua Koffler, Associate Broker, Windermere Lake Stevens Inc

Real Estate Trends & Opportunities

Current Real Estate Market -
The real estate market today is seeing a surge of buyers, but the surge is limited to the first-time home buyer’s market, with FHA and USDA financing as the loans of choice. The price range for this market is anything below the $417,000 price. With this surge of late, I am seeing many short sales and bank owned properties being purchased. Why the surge? Very low interest rates that are beginning to creep back up, the $8,000 dollar tax credit, lower home values, and overall affordability.

What is missing in today’s real estate market?
What’s missing in the market right now is the move-up buyer. Typical buyers in this class will be selling a “first-time home buyer” home and using the equity to move up to a larger home. But as I mentioned earlier, many of the homes that are selling now are either vacant (bank owned) or distressed sellers (short sales), meaning there’s no one to move to their next home. As I see it, this unique dilemma brings opportunity!

Why the opportunity?
Home values have dropped in the last two years to near 2005 price ranges in most areas. This means that homes have lost a total of 15% to 18% of their value in the last two years (this varies from neighborhood to neighborhood). For example, a home that was valued at $350,000 in 2007 has a market value of $287,000 (18%) and a home valued at $550,000 is now worth $440,000. The $350,000 home lost $63,000 while the $550,000 lost $99,000. This is the ideal situation for the “move up buyer”! Why? Because while the home you are selling may not be worth as much as it was last year, the home you are buying is an even bigger deal…in our example above, your net savings is $36,000! In addition, the homes in the $550,000+ price range are not moving, making sellers more motivated to make you a deal!

Conclusion -
This is a great time for first time home buyers to get into an affordable home, but even a greater opportunity for move up buyers to purchase their next home. Interest rates are very volatile right now with the expectation of inflation on the horizon, so if you or someone you know is contemplating a change in real estate (buy, sell, or refinance) have them give me a call to see if now is the right time for them!

Joshua Koffler, Nine36 Financial (936 Financial)