Home Buying and Home Selling Tips » Real Estate Investment

Owning a Home and the American Dream Go Hand in Hand

varac — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:50:59 +0000

Due to the housing market downturn that began in 2007, current and future homeowners are facing many obstacles. The thought of homeownership seems to have left many wondering if the American Dream still exists. Proposed new rules may require eligible borrowers to put down 20% before a mortgage lender qualifies their home loan, and limit them to mortgage payments that are no more than 28% of their gross income. Current homeowners may also face a new hurdle, as some lawmakers are proposing to remove the mortgage interest tax deduction. These and other proposals could jeopardize not only a consumer’s ability to purchase a home, but also a homeowner’s ability to stay in their home, both of which would negatively impact a housing recovery.

Full story is available on Market Watch

Lack of first-time sellers

varac — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:49:00 +0000

Rightmove’s latest First-Time Buyer Report forecasts a marginal rise in prospective first-time buyer levels for the year ahead, but also finds evidence of a new hurdle on the path to home-ownership as a lack of choice increases the difficulty in finding a suitable property to buy.

The proportion of buyers who intend to purchase their first home over the next year has edged up to 24.3%, up 1.4% on last quarter and 1.5% year-on-year.

Full story is available on mortgagefinancegazette.com

Las Vegas Real Estate Sales Increase

varac — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:59:27 +0000

Las Vegas-area home sales rose year-over-year for the sixth consecutive month in December as increased activity below $200,000 continued to compensate for a decline in sales in higher price ranges. Home prices remained flat, with the overall median sale price parked at $115,000 for the fourth month in a row, a real estate information service reported.

In December, 4,823 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). That was up 8.1% from November and up 3% from December 2010, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

Full story is available on NuWire Investor

Select Your Real Estate Agent Carefully in Today’s Market

varac — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:45:02 +0000

In a difficult housing market, buyers and sellers rely upon good, solid real estate counsel to close deals. Many properties in the Virginia real estate market have lost value over the last two years, and sellers are faced with the prospect of short sale or foreclosure.

Elaine VonCannon, a REALTOR with Coldwell Banker Traditions in Williamsburg, is providing buyers and sellers solid solutions and additional help in the sale or purchase of a home to make the transition easier in this climate. VonCannon says, “In the current market, in most cases I have provided a free one-year home warranty to home buyers and home sellers.”

Full story is available on Market Watch

How do we fix the housing problem?

varac — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:51:09 +0000

How do we fix the housing problem? There will be no true recovery until the housing market stabilizes and begins to rebound.

With millions of homeowners “underwater” with their mortgages, they cannot refinance to the lower rates, cannot borrow for home improvements, and cannot sell to move and buy another home.

The large number of foreclosed properties depresses the market, and there continue to be more foreclosures every day.

Full story is available on fredericksburg.com

New home market may be on upturn

varac — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:46:14 +0000

If it’s early February, Charlie Hamilton is giving Lubbock’s homebuilders and residential developers the lay of the land — literally and figuratively.

It’s about this time every year, Charlie cranks up his statistical wayback machine and walks the builders and developers through the year that was, and offers some thoughts on how the trends might break in the year that’s coming.

Full story is available on lubbockonline.com

Biggest homebuying slumps? Middle of O.C.

varac — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:38:18 +0000

Orange County housing hot spots are near the beach.

For the 22 business days ending Jan. 19 – freshest numbers from DataQuick — our region-by-region analysis of local real estate trends finds Orange County homebuying slicing up by geography this way …

Full story is available on OCRegister

Real-estate experts in Arizona are guarded but hopeful

varac — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:21:46 +0000

No one at this year’s Urban Land Institute conference predicted when metro Phoenix’s housing market will rebound.

The annual Arizona conference, where real-estate industry leaders convene and predict the market’s movements, has been the most important summit on Valley real estate since the beginning of the housing boom nearly a decade ago. But this year, the conversations and atmosphere were different.

Full story is available on Tucson Citizen

Insider among many who experts say played roles in housing crisis

varac — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:20:10 +0000

Tino Martinez admits he helped approve billions of dollars in questionable home loans even when he thought they “would result in default and foreclosure.”

After Martinez was hired as his company’s top Midwest executive, its Chicago metro operation went from 6,000 loan applications in 2003 to more than 100,000 three years later. Another company’s Midwest operations he oversaw loaned $130 million a month to risky borrowers.

Full story is available on Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Obama: The ‘housing crisis’ is a drag – my plan will fix it

varac — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:53:49 +0000

President Obama pushed Saturday for mortgage reform — an issue central to his election-year focus on the middle class.

The President, utilizing the populist rhetoric that has become his trademark on the campaign trail, slammed lenders and banks who sold loans to families who couldn’t afford them.

Full story is available on NYDailyNews