Home Buying and Home Selling News Archive of September 2005

Despite Heavy Borrowing on Gains, Americans Deny Real Estate ...
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
In addition, 85 per cent of homeowners responding experienced real estate gains over the last three years and over 70 per cent experienced gains in excess of ...

Lorman Education Services Presents "Real Estate Investment ...
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
This "Real Estate Investment Analysis And 1031 Exchanges" seminar will tie together real estate investment techniques with like kind exchange information ...

Report says county is in housing 'crisis'
Hagerstown Morning Herald - Hagerstown,MD,USA
With a median home price of $240,000 in Washington County, many families earning local wages don't make nearly enough to buy a house, according to a task force ...

Speculative Home Buying Leads to Another Record Month
Black Enterprise - New York,NY,USA
Speculative buying of vacation and investment homes is at unprecedented levels and may be driving the surge in home prices, which hit another record last ...

Greenspan: Real estate could take slowdown
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (subscription) - Little Rock,AR,USA
BY JEANNINE AVERSA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. WASHINGTON -- While the high-flying housing market still holds risks, especially for the...

UnReal Estate: The Top?
San Jose Mercury News - United States
At the same time, banks began aggressively marketing new types of loans. Before long, the valley was caught up in a national home-buying and refinancing boom. ...

Will Katrina burst the housing bubble?
MSNBC - USA
Katrina's impact was so vast it's hard to see how it won't end up having a huge impact on many facets of the economy, including the housing market....

Take steps to protect yourself from a collapse in the red-hot real ...
Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel - Fort Lauderdale,FL,USA
"You miss one payment and you can't afford the house -- then you ... may not face a problem, but schoolteachers and waiters lining up to buy preconstruction units ...

Home-buying program helps 1,000th teacher
Sacramento Business Journal - Sacramento,CA,USA
A four-year-old state program says it has helped its 1,000th California educator buy his or her first home. The Extra Credit Teacher ...

Real Estate Flipping and Foreclosure Trends Continue to Rise ...
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
ANNAPOLIS, Md., Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The stigma regarding flipping real estate properties came about in the 1990's. According ...

Residential home selling cycle starting to slow
Barnstable Patriot - Barnstable,MA,USA
The trophy home market will remain strong, according to Poyant. ... "Condominiums are selling right away, as soon as they come on the market.". ...

Earthquake Boom? New Orleans has post-disaster real estate lessons ...
San Francisco Chronicle - United States
For all of you waiting for a major quake to bring the cost of housing down to a tolerable level -- to democratize this city of real estate haves and have-nots ...

Stake your claim
Cincinnati Enquirer - Cincinnati,OH,USA
Mortgage Bankers Association. "Mortgage rates won't be the impediment to home buying through the balance of 2005," McBride said.

Joining with friend or relative is 1 way to step into a home
Orlando Sentinel - Orlando,FL,USA
With housing prices at record highs across much of the nation, one of your best home-buying tools might be a friend or a relative with a good income or ready ...

Don't Bet on House Foreclosures
Bremerton Sun - WA, United States
For example, records show that the previous owner of the brick Montbello house had paid $165,000 in 2001 ... There are a variety of ways to buy foreclosed homes. ...

Some opt to sell their own home
Pioneer Press - St. Paul,MN,USA
Paul house was unusual enough to sell itself. ... They never brought in their own Realtor, and yet they were able to sell the house at 8233 S. Indian Blvd. ...

Sell house or become a landlord?
Pioneer Press - St. Paul,MN,USA
Should we sell our house and invest the profit? Or should we rent it for eight years and then decide whether to sell? ...

Buy A House For Under $200,000 In South Florida? Yes!
WPBFNews.com - West Palm Beach,FL,USA
Buying a home for under $200,000 and remain down south in Palm Beach County will have to scale back from a single-family house to a ... If you really want to buy, you can ...

Credit coaching can improve home-buying process M Power
Kansas City Star - MO,USA
The typical Realtor doesn't know how to read a HUD statement or anything about the mortgage side of home buying, so this gives them a better understanding of ...

Consumer Guidelines Offered in Home Selling Process
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
Consumer tips on avoiding conflict of interest in the home buying and selling process. The following are guidelines offered by Paul Yalnezian, president of ...

Real estate flips sometimes flop
Bremerton Sun - WA, United States
If you're looking to turn a quick buck on a real estate transaction, accountant Bill Rucci has some words of warning: "It may be quick, but it also may not be ...

Baton Rouge Real Estate Booms After Katrina's Mass Migration
Bloomberg - USA
So much office and retail space is being snapped up in the state capital that Sealy & Falgoust Real Estate now lists about 150 properties, half of what the ...

Searching for Real Estate - Using Location-Detecting Cell Phones ...
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
Smarter Agent's new patented technology can empower the 40 million consumers that search for real estate each year HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Sept. ...

Commercial real-estate database available online
Green Bay Press Gazette - Green Bay,WI,USA
Wisconsin Technology Council has teamed with PropertyDrive, an online commercial listing service, to provide a searchable database of commercial real estate. ...

Most real estate investors bearish on outlook-survey
Reuters - USA
NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A slight majority of real estate investors, 53 percent, described themselves as bearish about opportunities in the next 12 months ...

Will creative financing behind California housing boom last?
Rocklin and Roseville Today - Rocklin,CA,USA
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Until recently Michelle Hupton figured you had to have money in the bank to buy a house. Then a mortgage broker ...

When booms go bust
CNN - USA
... worth $266,700 in 1996 dollars, which means the actual loss for homeowners buying in 1990 and selling in 1996 ... In 1981, the average home there sold for $60,800. ...

The 6 percent solution: Who needs a real estate agent?
Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ,USA
As for stagings and showings, watch a few shows on the cable channel HGTV, like "Sell This House," to learn how decluttering or putting on a fresh coat of ...

Survey: Internet delivering 33% of real estate business
San Diego Daily Transcript (subscription) - San Diego,CA,USA
By ELIZABETH MALLOY, The Daily Transcript. The California Association of Realtors released its "2005 Use of Technology Survey" Tuesday ...

Land rush begins before waters clear
Orlando Sentinel - Orlando,FL,USA
Speculators are moving in to buy flooded properties in New Orleans, while demand in dry areas soars. BATON ROUGE, La. -- Brandy Farris is house hunting in New ...

Home sales double in area after storm
The Daily Advertiser - Lafayette,LA,USA
"A lot of people who were thinking of selling are selling now because ... she expects the demand for immediate housing to give way to additional home construction. ...

Home prices may hit roof
Gainesville Times - Gainesville,GA,USA
Emergency Management Agency has requested 100,000 to 200,000 manufactured homes to house hurricane evacuees ... "We declined, partly because we sell mostly double ...

More home sales hinge on 'I'll buy if I can sell'
Boston Globe - United States
A slowdown in home sales is forcing prospective home buyers to put a condition on their offers for residences in Boston's suburbs: I'll buy your house only if I can sell ...

Make a quick sale in a slow market
Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) - MN,USA
Try to think of the house not as your home but as a product to sell, and make it look appealing to people so they want to make it their home...

Ask some blunt questions when interviewing real estate agent
Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) - MN,USA
Most agents will tell you their "standard commission" rate is 6 or 7 percent. However, you should know that real estate commissions are negotiable. ...

Crazy loans: Is this how the boom ends?
CNN - USA
How can anyone afford to buy a house in this market? ... Face it, nobody needs to buy a 4,000-square-foot house or live in a particular neighborhood. ...

Home buying flurry easing
Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ,USA
Even in Johnson Ranch, east of Queen Creek, Realtor Ed Maddox said, "From March through July, if you had a home on the market for 30 days, there was something wrong with it. Now most of the homes are on the market more than 30 days."....

Home prices keep rising
Tahoe Daily Tribune - South Lake Tahoe,CA,USA
Selling agents are no longer looking at the house that sold down the street and adding 2 to 3 percent to determine a home's selling price. ...

On Personal Finance | Sell your house or rent it instead?
Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia,PA,USA
Should we sell our house and invest the profit? Or should we rent it for eight years and then decide whether to sell?...

$714,000 new median home price
San Jose Mercury News - United States
The median price of a single-family resale home in Santa Clara County reached a record $714,000 in ... Lower-priced homes are still selling briskly, agents said. ...

Slowdown? Real estate still going strong
CNN - USA
Real estate markets are off and running again after a slight slowdown earlier this summer. By Les Christie, CNN/Money staff writer. ...

Divers crowd at real estate school
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers - Casa Grande,AZ,USA
There are 150 approved real estate schools in Arizona, many of which prepare students for the state licensing test. Every month, almost ...

Lawsuit over fees for sale of real estate grows
IdahoStatesman.com - ID,USA
Educate yourself in the home-buying process beforehand. . Ask that contract terms be in clear-to-understandable language. ...

Learn about neighbors before you buy
Akron Beacon Journal - Akron,OH,USA
These are things you don't want to find out after you buy the house.". If you have young children, you'll most likely want a home near an elementary school. ...

August home sales up 8.4%
Pioneer Press - St. Paul,MN,USA
"Yes, the market seems slower than last year, but we are not seeing a significant drop-off in home buying as the closed sales tell us -- it is just taking ...

Home sales are fast, less furious
San Mateo County Times - San Mateo,CA,USA
Half the homes selling for more than the median figure and half selling for less ... has slowed some can be seen in the average number of days a home currently sits ...

Five tips to guide consumers through the home buying process
North Texas e-News - Texas,USA
The nation's leading privately funded provider of down payment assistance, unveiled five tips to guide consumers through the home buying process in ...

Gen X home buyers want plenty of amenities and redefined space
Orlando Sentinel - Orlando,FL,USA
The long run is a common home-buying vantage point for Gen Xers, who represented 49 percent of all buyers in 2003, new US Commerce Department research shows. ...

Secrets of selling in a buyers' market
Times Online - UK
If a home is messy, buyers will leave faster than you can say "best offer ... When television researcher Alan Rufaie had no luck selling his loft...

No simple yes or no on adjustable-rate mortgage
Chicago Tribune - United States
The house price index released earlier this month by the Office of Federal Housing ... debt and counting on price growth to turn a profit when they go to sell. ...

Bullish on housing?
Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) - MN,USAWhenever people sell one house, they immediately must pay to live elsewhere, meaning that they can never wholly cash out of the value that comes from using a ...

Taking stock of real estate bubble trouble
Outer Banks Sentinel - Nags Head,NC,USA
The real estate market is hot, hot, hot and everyone wants a piece of the action. The National Association of Realtors reported ...

Don't bet the house on foreclosures
Rocky Mountain News - Denver,CO,USA
The third, a house in Lakewood, he expects to sell for a $20,000 profit. But he preaches the slow-and- steady route. ...

Real estate flippers: Smarter than the average seller
Inman.com (subscription) - Emeryville,CA,USA
... earning greater profits on their short-term investments compared to the overall market performance, according to a study of three booming real estate markets. ...

Sold on selling your home?
DesMoinesRegister.com - Des Moines,IA,USA
Selling a home yourself costs as much as the marketing you choose. ... "The only way to build equity is to spend less selling your home," he said. ...

Low-income famillies affected by high sales in real estate market
NapaNet Daily News - Napa,CA,USA
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- A growing number of low-income families are being left behind by the region's booming real estate market and rising rents. ...

Free cash offered to buy a 1st house
Wilkes Barre Times-Leader - Wilkes Barre,PA,USA
How would you like to receive government money to help you buy your first home? Not a loan. Not a grant that has to be repaid. Luzerne ...

Report rates Boston most expensive city
Boston Globe - United States
Northeastern University. She and her husband, who owns a record store, would like to stay, but they've given up on trying to buy a house. ...

Get real before you buy
NEWS.com.au - Australia
It's fine to buy a house with 'potential', but it's important to make sure you can live with the cost if it. When planning ...

Pros and cons of selling real estate 'by-owner'
Mortage 101 - USA
The agents interviewed won't mind if you tell them you are considering selling your home without an agent. ...

Real estate is booming in older areas
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Fort Wayne,IN,USA
Shepherd just sold the home next to Murray's for $104,000 -- a home that sold. One at 4711 Old Mill sold for $207,500 last year after selling for $159,000 in ...

Agents warn against selling homes online
Belfast Telegraph - United Kingdom
And they warned that these home-owners could be missing out on vital back-up ... say they would feel comfortable saving on estate agent's fees by selling over the ...

Louisiana real estate booms after Katrina
Reuters - USA
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina has created a real estate boom in Louisiana's usually sedate state capital, now bursting at the seams as.

All Real Estate Owners Can Now Sell For Sale By Owner Effectively
Eworldwire (press release) - Succasunna,NJ,USA
When advertising on Notisim.com, any homeowner can reach their local, statewide and national potential home buying audience....

Home-buying seminar offered
Nashua Telegraph - Nashua,NH,USA
.The seminar presents comprehensive information about the home-buying process and the responsibilities of home ownership....

Real estate market continuing to attract attention
Bonner County Daily Bee - Sandpoint,ID,USA
Three years ago, a ""waterfront" home could have been picked up for a song at around $300,000, close to what a residential house in Sandpoint is now selling for ...

Real estate owner betting on New Orleans
CNN - USA
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Hurricane Katrina may have altered the face of New Orleans permanently but one real estate mogul says he's upbeat about the city's real estate ...

Signs of a slowing real estate market
Inman.com (subscription) - Emeryville,CA,USA
Not only did Fernandes and his wife find a new house in anticipation of the birth of their first child, but because of the large inventory of existing homes on ...

Attention to details helps homeowners sell fast in a buyers market
North Texas e-News - Texas,USA
With a little work and an active real estate agent, chances are good that your house will sell fast in today's buyer's market.

Some Homeowners decide to sell on their own
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT,USA
The 6 percent commission would have come off the top of the home's selling price of about $589,000. Instead, Meceli turned to the Internet to sell her Cove neighborhood home by herself, like ... tell them I'd rather try myself and give people more house for their ...

Real estate agents await renter wave
WFAA (subscription) - Dallas,TX,USA
Texas apartment owners and real estate agents say they are expecting a flood of residents from Louisiana to fill empty rental units and homes in the state. ...

Many Hispanics facing obstacles to home loans
Bradenton Herald - FL, United States
Studies show they face discrimination; on average they are more likely to have financial problems; and they are less knowledgeable about the home buying process ...

Economists eye bubble-prone cities
Contra Costa Times - CA,USA
One common technique is to compare the monthly costs of buying a house to rents. Because people can choose to buy or rent, the two costs shouldn't get too far ...

Greed can cost you money when setting a home price
Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) - MN,USA
If you truly want to sell your house, price it realistically for your market's emerging dynamics. Who knows? ...

Expect to be taxed if selling 2nd home
Charlotte Observer - Charlotte,NC,USA
Presuming you don't want to move in to make the home your full-time principal residence for at least 24 months before selling, the only way to defer tax would ...

Saturated market sees local home sales slow
Tracy Press - Tracy,CA,USA
Homes are still selling if they ... Real Estate Group on Grant Line Road, said part of the reason is that the spring, generally the best time for home sales, was ...

Pros and cons of selling your home alone
SouthCoastToday.com - New Bedford,MA,USA
he agents interviewed won't mind if you tell them you are considering selling your home without an agent. ...

When a seller decides not to sell after all
Boston Herald - United States
Q) I recently signed an agreement to sell my house, but my plans have changed and now I'd like to stay where I am. What happens if I back out of the deal? ...

Fed chief: right or wrong?
New York Daily News - New York,NY,USA
... boom that has pushed home sales to record highs as house prices have ... are investors - called "flippers" because they buy and quickly re-sell homes, strictly to ...

US real estate price growth hits 25-year high
Inman.com (subscription) - Emeryville,CA,USA
The average price for a US home increased 13.4 percent from the second quarter of 2004 through the second quarter of 2005, the Office of Federal Housing ...

'Bubble sitters' may not find the market fall they seek
Rocklin and Roseville Today - Rocklin,CA,USA
Should you rent and wait to buy a house after prices fall? Don't get your hopes up. If history is a reliable guide, home values ...

California luxury real estate values set records
Inman.com (subscription) - Emeryville,CA,USA
While prices have risen rapidly, real estate agents said sales are slowing, inventory is increasing, and sales are taking longer, according to the index. ...

Hurricane Katrina's long-term impact on real estate
Inman.com (subscription) - Emeryville,CA,USA
... devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina will likely have little long-term negative effect on the housing market in the affected states, real estate experts say ...