October 2009 Entries
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Home prices in major cities rose for a third consecutive month, but declining consumer confidence and a soon-to-expire tax credit for first-time home buyers could reverse the improving trend, economists said Tuesday.
Seasonally adjusted home prices increased in August, following increases in July and June, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index released Tuesday. Prices rose in 17 of the 20 metro areas, and 14 saw prices jump for the third month in a row.
Overall, prices are up 3% from May. But in most areas, prices are still well below where...
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For many people, the most important financial decisions often involve buying, selling or refinancing a home. Before making any decisions, it's important to seek the advice of trained professionals. While your financial institution can let you know how much you can afford, a Realtor has the training and in-depth knowledge of the local housing market to guide you through either the purchase or sale of your home.
How much can you afford?
Almost everyone who buys a home borrows some of the money to pay for it. The easiest way to determine how much money...
Check out these buyer and seller videos!!! They really work!
http://www.freegeorgiaandcaliforniahomevideos.com/buyers.html
http://www.freegeorgiaandcaliforniahomevideos.com/sellers.html
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Home prices declined on a year-over-year basis by 11.6% and 10.1% in July and August, respectively, according to a new house price index compiled by First American CoreLogic.
Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices declined 6.8% in July and 6.2% in August.
Despite the year-over-year declines, the index has continued to show increased home prices on a month-over-month basis since March, although First American CoreLogic said some of the increases may be contributed to seasonal patterns.
The new index is calculated from a revised methodology and is drawn from an expanded transaction database. New features also include...
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Despite having one of the better unemployment rates in the nation, Minnesota isn't out of the housing crisis yet. The chief indicator of the economy in the current economic downturn is the unemployment rate since an economic recession has never been experienced in the U.S. through downward pressure by consumers, who make up 70% of the nation's economy with their purchases. When consumers are out of work they buy less and don't qualify for home mortgages.
Some of the most affordable homes in the country are for sale in Minnesota, and many are now...
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The first time home buyer tax credit extension is definitely the talk of the real estate and mortgage industry at the present time. With the expiration on the tax credit looming, November 30th, many real estate agents, mortgage brokers and homebuilders are pushing lawmakers to send the credit before it expires on November 30th. The expiration date of November 30th is on the closing of a home so those first time home buyers starting the process now will not benefit from the tax credit.
Senator Bill Nelson of Florida feels that the tax credit...
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The U.S. Senate is expected to act later this week to extend a popular tax credit for first-time homebuyers that is scheduled to expire at the end of next month, Sen. Bill Nelson said on Monday.
"We should be able to extend that later this week," Nelson, a Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters before joining President Barack Obama on an Air Force One flight to Florida.
A number of proposals to extend the $8,000 tax credit are being considered in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid floated a proposal last Friday...
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According to the report, only 130,000 homeowners have participated in the refinancing portion of the program. When the Obama administration announced this program in March, it estimated that up to 5 million homeowners were potentially eligible for refinancing. So far the program has achieved a paltry 3 percent share of the total eligible homeowners.
There are reasons why homeowners with underwater mortgages have not yet participated in the Making Home Affordable program. Some homeowners do not want to pay or cannot afford to pay, the closing costs associated with the transaction. Others avoid...
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America's commercial real estate market continues to look sick. The latest indication comes Sunday, following the abrupt bankruptcy filing of Capmark Financial Group, the massive commercial real estate financier that formed in 2006 when GMAC agreed to sell the majority of its commercial real estate business to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and others. The firm has been one of the country's biggest investors in strip malls, office buildings, and hotels. According to the New York Times, "Capmark is only the latest to fall victim to continued trouble in the commercial real estate market, which...
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U.S. bankers need to prepare for sweeping financial regulation changes that are gaining momentum in Congress, Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan said on Monday.
"I think the momentum for fundamental change is building," Dugan said during the American Bankers Association annual convention.
The House Financial Services Committee in recent weeks has picked up its pace on moving financial reform legislation forward. The committee has approved language on executive pay, on regulating over-the-counter derivatives and on creating a new consumer agency to police financial products.
While the Senate's time has been consumed by healthcare reform and...
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The U.S. Treasury is poised to announce a finalized plan to expand mortgage relief efforts to include short sales.
A short sale occurs when the bank allows the sale of a home for less than the existing mortgage balance.
It's a strategy to avoid foreclosure, but banks have been more likely to let a home go into foreclosure, rather than short sell it, even if it means holding the property during moratoriums set by some jurisdictions.
That's because short sale bids often come in well below the last appraisal, real estate agents don't...
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Everyone knows that it takes a little sprucing up to make your house sale ready. The most recent evidence of this is the surge in staging companies, and courses for consumers on how to do staging themselves. But can you do it yourself without a lot of cash outlay? Absolutely!
If you were to drive by your home for the first time, does it look enticing? Can you "see yourself" in this house as a potential buyer?
Here are a few cost-effective ideas to get your home looking its best for a quick sale:
1. Tackle...
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It can be a hard and draining task trying to get your house sold. Your house is on the market, and you've got a real estate agent in place that you can trust. Potential buyers show up, but no offers. Now what? To help aid in the selling of your home, I will outline some tips that I personally believe will benefit in the marketability and potential selling of your home. The goal here is to obtain that all important "stamp of approval" in which the red imprint reads: "SOLD."
Usually, the first place...
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If you want to know what makes people successful, the best way to find out is to ask them. So when a broker raised the question of what makes real estate agents successful, I suggested that we ask them. This suggestion led to my surveying high producing real estate agents to identify their best marketing practices.
Marketing Strategies Are…
It’s important to clarify what the survey addressed. It focused on marketing strategies, not sales tactics. Marketing strategies are marketing-related activities, such as door-knocking, networking and advertising, undertaken to achieve overall business goals.
Different From Sales...
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Pending home sales are showing promising numbers, as recent index reports show that sales have increased for the last seven months.
Regionally the largest increase was seen in the West, up 16 percent. The smallest increase was seen in the South, up only .8 percent.
Some analysts believe this increase in pending sales is at least partially related to the first time home buyer tax credit.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, notes, "The rise in pending home sales shows buyers are returning to the market and signing contracts, but deals are not necessarily...
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A government index shows U.S. home prices dipped slightly in August from the previous month, but remained above a low point reached in May.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency says prices fell 0.3 percent in August from July. The agency's index, based on loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is 3.6 percent below last year's levels and 10.7 percent off its peak in April 2007.
The index declined less than other housing market measurements during the housing bust because it excludes the most expensive homes and some of the risky loans...
Push on to expand $8,000 tax credit
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Congress is considering proposals to greatly expand a soon-to-expire $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers -- potentially applying it to all but the wealthiest homebuyers.
Supporters say doing so would further boost home sales, stabilize housing prices and generate jobs. Opponents say extending and expanding the credit would be a waste of money and only temporarily stave off further price declines.
The credit now can be claimed by anyone buying a home who has not owned one for three years and who closes the deal by Nov. 30.
Beyond extending that deadline, some...
Buying foreclosed houses as the market is rebounding needs quick and sound decision making on your part. Consider also price and sales trends as the market shows signs of starting its recovery.
Currently, there are at least four major trends characterizing the market: foreclosures are still increasing, foreclosures are still driving down home prices to affordable levels, investors and home buyers are snapping up lower-priced homes, and the inventory of unsold higher-priced homes is still growing.
According to real estate analysts, majority of the approximately 1.9 million homes foreclosed since the start of the housing meltdown have been among the lowest-priced homes...
The growing inventory of distressed homes on the market may be sending shock waves through the economy, but it’s also giving investors a wider window of opportunity.
Despite federal initiatives to stem the rising tide of foreclosures, some 291,000 foreclosure filings were reported in February, the third highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began following the data in 2005. Such filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.
Over the last three years, more than 4 million U.S. homes have been sent into foreclosure.
“Whether you’re an investor looking to purchase a rental property, or a homeowner who’s ready to retire and...