San Diego County home builders, who downsized and scraped by in 2009, are coming back in the opening weeks of 2010 with more than a dozen new projects that feature smaller and simpler floor plans, lower prices, more use of sustainable “green” technology, and less frills and waste than was common in the oversize “McMansions” of the past decade.

Buyers seem eager see what’s new, judging by the 2,500 people who showed up at Pardee Homes’ 108-home Terramar project, which opened Jan. 16 east of Carmel Valley, and the 11 buyers at the ColRich Group’s 38-unit Solterra, who are in escrow even before the grand opening Feb. 20 in La Costa.

Full story is available on Sign On San Diego

Nineteen years ago a Corvallis family sold a house to Kip Schoning — and their affairs have been tangled up with his ever since.

The house in question is a compact four-bedroom at 223 N.W. 15th St., just off the Oregon State University campus. The Tevlin family — James and Eunice Tevlin; their son, James Jr.; and his wife, Beth — bought the old wood-frame house for $49,000 in 1979 to use as a rental.

Full story is available on Gazzatte Times

Dennis and April Newton are members of the e-commerce generation.

When they decided it was time to buy a house, they searched for one on a Saturday evening on Coldwell Banker Real Estate Co.’s PittsburghMove.com Web site.

Finding a home on the Internet is common practice today, according to the National Association of Realtors. It claims 90 percent of today’s buyers — both repeat and first-time buyers — first shop on the Internet to locate a home.

Ten years ago, only 2 percent of home buyers used the Internet, said spokesman Walter Molony.

Full story is available on Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Peter Thompson, senior loan officer with the PT Mortgage Group at Wintrust Mortgage (www.ptmortgage.com), will be presenting a free, educational webinar: How to Buy Your First Home with a Low Down Payment – in Today’s Market for Chicago-areafirst time home buyers on February 18th at 6:00 pm CST. This webinar will highlight ways first time home buyers can take advantage of limited-time opportunities such as historically-low interest rates, competitive pricing, and large inventory of today’s buyer’s market.

Full story is available on The First Reporter

Kelly Hess and her husband, David, spent $8,000 in April remodeling the outside of their Dallas house, and they paid for it without a home-equity loan.

They tapped their “house savings account” to replace the roof and install an 8-foot-high wooden fence in the backyard of the four-bedroom brick ranch house they bought in 2006.

The Hesses prove there are other ways to pay for home improvements besides borrowing against the equity in your property.

Home-equity loans and lines of credit have provided homeowners with a reliable, usually tax-deductible, cash stream for many years. However, home equity has dried up during the nation’s four-year housing slump.

Full story is available on Contra Costa Times

If you bought a home in 2009, you could be eligible for a tax credit. Figuring out which one can be confusing.

There’s one credit for first-time homebuyers and another that primarly benefits homebuyers who owned a home before. But don’t mix it up with the first-time homebuyer credit in 2008, which actually was a long-term loan.

There are maximum income levels and maximum sales prices. And vacation homes or rental property don’t qualify.

Full story is available on macon.com

Sales of area homes are expected to remain slow throughout most of this year as historically high unemployment, fear of future layoffs and lack of new job creation continue to affect sales.

Nationwide new home sales fell last year to 374,000 homes sold, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It was the lowest number of homes sold in one year since 1963. There were nearly 5.2 million existing homes sold in 2009.

Sales of new and existing homes in Jackson also fell last year. A total of 792 Jackson homes were sold in 2009, down 12 percent from 2008, according to the Central West Tennessee Multiple Listing Service. The city’s home sales have fallen each year since 2005.

Full story is available on JacksonSun

Question: We are looking to buy a bigger home and we have heard that there is now a tax credit program for move-up homebuyers in addition to the one for first-time buyers. How does that work?

Answer: You are correct, the popular first-time home buyer tax credit from last year has been extended into this spring and the good news is that even people like you who already own a home can now qualify for a tax credit if you buy.

Full story is available on Heraldnet

Behind the drywall tours: Meadowlark Builders and Architectural Resource features the inner workings of the Phoenix House, 4675 Arkona Rd. in Saline. The house has near-zero energy consumption and features solar panels, geothermal heating and cooling and many other advanced elements. Guided tours every hour from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Free. 734-332-1500; www.behindthedrywall.com.

How to Buy a Home: Determine your price range and what factors to consider in choosing the right house. 7-9 p.m. Tue. and Feb. 16 at Pioneer High School, 601 W. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor. $29 for residents; $35 for nonresidents. 734-994-2300, Ext. 53203; www.aareced.com

More details available on Freep

Today’s mortgage interest rates are hovering just above 5.00 percent. Mortgage interest rates are expected to head higher in the first quarter of 2010. Right now, 30 year mortgage interest rates are averaging 5.01 percent.

15 year mortgage rates have been under 4.50 percent for several weeks now, current 15 year mortgage rates are averaging 4.38 percent.  Jumbo mortgage interest rates are about 75 basis points higher

Full story is available on Monitor Bank Rates