Home Buying and Home Selling News Archive of March 2008

As homeowners default, lenders move in
Chicago Tribune - United States
"So we do hold onto them on the balance sheet longer because we do go through a longer selling process, just as if it were anyone selling a house. ...

Renting home an option if selling isn't
Long Beach Press-Telegram - Long Beach,CA,USA
By Jessie Milligan McClatchy Newspapers Time to sell the house, but the market is sluggish. Should you rent it instead? Real estate agents and property ...

Location key for a home's selling time, price
Utica Observer Dispatch - Utica,NY,USA
A six-family house she just closed the deal on took a long time to sell, Longo said. She might even have to ask some sellers to lower their prices. ...

Reasons to Use a Realtor When Selling Your Home
American Chronicle - Beverly Hills,CA,USA
When the time comes to sell your home, it seems like your To Do list is a mile long. The house has to be immaculate inside and out, the hoards of potential ...

Senate tries to boost home sales with tax changes
MLive.com - MI,USA
People would have to buy a house in the next 33 months to qualify, though the credit could be taken for as long as they own the new home — in some cases ...

3 mistakes to avoid in selling house
Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ,USA
The right price shows buyers you're motivated to sell the home. No, I'm not talking about a "fire sale" price. I'm talking about the "right price. ...

Home Buying & Selling Remains Strong in Idaho
LocalNews8.com - Idaho Falls,ID,USA
Steve Taggart, a broker for Century 21 Advantage, says home buying and selling remains strong. He said, "You can only hold back so long if you have a family ...

Ray Of Light In US Home Sales
Forbes - NY,USA
Single-family home sales saw a boost of about 2.8%, to 4.47 million, with a median selling price of $193900. "Today's rising sales data is encouraging in at ...

Signs of a bottom? Home sales jump, but prices slip
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
Please remind me, what happened the cost of a house in our area since 2000... I believe we are beginning to see a bull trap, watch out!

20-somethings get creative to buy first home
Canada.com - Hamilton,Ontario,Canada
Some buy their first home jointly with a friend or sibling. Others become small-scale landlords, renting out basements or extra bedrooms to tenants whose ...

Shouldering a slump by renting instead of selling
Trading Markets (press release) - Los Angeles,CA,USA
news | PowerRating | PR Charts -- Time to sell the house, but the market is sluggish. Real estate agents and property managers say more and more people in ...

Paying a Broker to Sell Your Home Faster
BusinessWeek - USA
But more and more agents, especially successful ones, have started charging more than 6%, in part because selling a house is more time-consuming and ...

Some Houses Still Sell Well
Virginia Connection Newspapers - VA,USA
Gundlach estimates the couple spent $12000 getting house ready for sale. "You’re not selling your personal life, you’re selling the home, so you don’t want ...

How to Make the Most of the Spring Home-Buying Season
RisMedia.com (press release) - Norwalk,CT,USA
“Bring your questions and our professionals, who know the local market, can offer useful solutions to help you buy your dream home or sell your house. ...

Owners go to extremes to sell houses
BusinessWeek - USA
The couple, who have five children, decided to sell the Red Feather Lakes home, their second house, to free up money to pay for college. ...

First step to home ownership is saving
DetNews.com - Detroit,MI,USA
Create a spending plan with your home-buying intentions in mind. Once you know where your money is going, it's time to create a new budget that allows you ...

Some buyers win with short sale bets
OCRegister - Santa Ana,CA,USA
A spike in foreclosures is fueling interest in more of these types of home buying deals, agents say. Foreclosures in Orange County hit a record of more than ...

Improve chances of selling your home
Chicago Daily Herald - Chicago,IL,USA
The front of your home can steal the show for buyers passing by on the street or searching online. Before making any alterations, look at your home as a ...

Buying a Home: 12 Tips for Cruising From Contract to Closing
American Chronicle - Beverly Hills,CA,USA
The spring home buying season is fast approaching and many people are preparing to take advantage of low interest rates and a great selection of well-priced ...

Real estate transfer tax adds to housing woes
Chicago Sun-Times - United States
The City Council’s Finance Committee voted today to shift the increase from buyer to seller, taking $900 out of the pocket of the seller of a $300000 home ...

Real Estate Listing Agreements
TransWorldNews (press release) - Monroe,GA,USA
Open Listing: An open listing lets an owner sell the home independently. It is a non-exclusive agreement, meaning the owner may execute open listings with ...

First-time homeowners can learn valuable facts
Las Vegas Review - Journal - Las Vegas,NV,USA
The buying process may seem daunting to someone who has never purchased a home before. But, through home buying educational seminars offered in your ...

Home Buying Process
NewHampshire.com - Manchester,NH,USA
Home Buying Process Start to finish. 5 companies that are involved in the day to day home buying process will be here to discuss all the information you ...

Houses for Sale: By owner
Joplin Independent - Joplin,MO,USA
Selling a home by owner has many advantages including the opportunity to be more competitive on pricing. All it takes is superior advertising, ...

Lease to buy
Mother Earth News - Topeka,KS,USA
One obvious advantage of the lease-to-buy arrangement is that it gives the prospective owner the opportunity to actually live in the house in question ...

Green Your Home to Sell
Emediawire (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
"Tara and Daniel Biller are in the same situation as millions of American's with a home to sell," said Torm Martinson, broker/agent for Campbell & Rosemurgy ...

Realtors' spring marketing reflects market realities
USA Today - USA
The TV ads promote home buying as a long-term investment. They also urge people to focus on their area, not the national market. "The market really started ...

Don't purchase retirement home too early
Chicago Daily Herald - Chicago,IL,USA
Q. We are selling our home ourselves. What time deadline should we allow for each thing to be done ... loan approval, inspection, appraisal, closing? ...

'Rent or buy' decision even more complex than in recent years ...
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
Now she will try to rent the house until prices rise. It remains to be seen, of course, whether inexperienced real estate investors can graduate into ...

'Rent or buy' decision even more complex than in recent years ...
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
Now she will try to rent the house until prices rise. It remains to be seen, of course, whether inexperienced real estate investors can graduate into ...

Update your house to sell in slow market
Seattle Times - United States
If you're planning on selling, which the Hamacks will some day, real-estate agents say it's important to make sure your house is appealing, especially with ...

First-time home buyers out in cold
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
During the run-up in real estate prices over the past decade, members of the millennial generation were either in college or in entry-level jobs, watching helplessly as they were priced out of the market while aging boomers gleefully cashed in their newfound equity and used excess money for real estate speculation, driving prices even higher. But now, as the real estate bubble deflates, is this a good time for frustrated millennials to finally buy a home? The answer, unfortunately, may be no...

Fannie and Freddie Can Buy More Loans
Entrepreneur - USA
Federal Regulators for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the biggest buyers of home mortgages, are going to remove limits on the amount of loans and securities that they can own. This could help the housing market (Source: The New York Times). It could also help relieve the credit crunch in the long term, though it is a risky move for the two mortgage giants ...