Real Estate

Add Some Holiday Charm to Your Listings

2010-11-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

Nobody wants to be the Grinch who stole Christmas but when you’re trying to sell a home, too much holiday spirit can turnoff some potential buyers. Buyers are there to look at the house and all of its wonderful features, not tippy-toe over the giant blow-up Santa impeding the front door or squint to see the roof over the nine reindeer poised upon it.

But before you stick a needle in your seller’s inflatable Santa, some real estate and staging professionals say home owners can still add a few decorations for the holidays when selling a home and don’t assume buyers won’t appreciate it too. Holiday decor can lighten moods and warm up interiors, so you don’t have to swear it off completely because you’re afraid of offending those who don’t celebrate, they say.

6 Principles to Holiday Staging

1. Don’t overdo the holiday cheer.When Santas start to outnumber the rooms in the house, you may want to start being more selective in what you display.

“If it is ‘cute,’ it stays packed,” says Joanne O’Donnell, president and CEO of Chic Home Interiors, who offers holiday staging services. “Cute is not a universal concept and the surest way to avoid trouble is to keep it simple and elegant.”

The same staging principles apply during the holidays: Don’t overwhelm the space with clutter.

“For every holiday decor item put on display, temporarily pack something you keep out all the time. That way you can avoid over-decorating,” says staging and real estate pro Tori Lynn Wallitsch with Alliance Real Estate and Ross Designs LLC in Omaha, Neb.

Instead of a large Christmas tree dominating the living room, you might opt to have a smaller tree display on a table top -- particularly if the space is small, suggests Lizotte. Your decor doesn’t have to be super-sized or scattered everywhere: Mix in small centerpieces on dining room tables, bookcases, bathroom sinks or end tables -- simple touches such as pine cones or ornaments in a glass bowl. (See 11 Inexpensive, Simple Holiday Decor Ideas).

You also might want to have home owners rethink hanging those Christmas stockings from the fireplace too.

“Whatever the season, when you are selling a home, you want buyers to notice and appreciate the permanent features of the home and if your fireplace is almost impossible to see because your highly personalized stockings are blocking the view, then buyers will not appreciate this focal point for what it is,” Wallitsch says. Instead, ask your sellers to hang the stockings on Christmas eve and remove them Christmas day.

2. Add splashes of holiday colors.How about some holiday red? Psychology research on color responses has shown that warm colors, such as red, can increase excitement and energy in those viewing it. Pops of seasonal colors -- such as red or green -- add festive cheer to a home too and can be as simple as just adding a red everyday throw to the sofa or adding poinsettias throughout the home.

It doesn’t have to be bold holiday statements: Add greenery to fireplace mantels or as a base for the dining room table centerpieces, O’Donnell says. Or another holiday favorite: Bows and ribbons can add splashes of color -- tie them around candles, wreaths, and basket handles throughout the house for extra pops of color. Don’t underestimate the power of neutral palettes too in your holiday decor, such as silvers and classic whites.

Try repeating colors from room to room and using similar ribbons, ornaments, patterns or decorative items that can add to the consistency of your holiday look, according to holiday decorating tips by WorldofChristmas.net.

But when bringing in holiday colors, be careful not to clash with your home’s current color scheme, O’Donnell says. For example, if turquoise is the room’s dominant color, you might want to hold off on adding bold holiday reds; try silver instead.

3. Stage for the senses.Get buyers in the mood with some holiday music and the smell of Christmas filling the home. Christmas music -- mixed with holiday scents -- has been shown to boost people’s attitudes in retail stores and increase their likelihood of wanting to visit them, according to research conducted in 2005 by Eric R. Spangenberg, Blanca Grohmann and David E. Sprott Journal of Business Research (Vol. 58, Issue 11).

Cunningham usually gives a holiday CD to her clients to use for showings -- it features mostly instrumental and soft holiday music.

For scents, O’Donnell recommends adding a pot of mulling spices or cider. The Smell of Christmas by Aromatique (candles, potpourri or oil) is a favorite of Cunningham’s or candles that smell like pine or fresh-baked cookies can create holiday season scents too, adds Valerie Torelli with Torelli Realty in Costa Mesa, Ca.

But if you’re going to include a holiday scent just don’t forget the music. The 2005 study showed that the presence of Christmas scent (Enchanted Christmas by Greenleaf in this case) with non-christmas music lowered buyers’ perceptions of the store and its merchandise. But when the Enchanted Christmas scent filled the air with Amy Grant’s “Home for Christmas” music playing in the background, participants had a favorable response and were more eager to buy.

4. Keep the tree simple, yet elegant.The Christmas tree will likely be your biggest decor piece so it needs to make a statement. Use a string of 100 lights for every foot of tree, suggests Cunningham. In other words, if you have a 7-foot tree, use at least 700 lights (she prefers the white twinkling ones).

Other tips:
•If your tree is larger than six feet, consider removing a piece or two of furniture so the space doesn’t feel crowded, Wallitsch says.
•Use ornaments all in one basic color palette with “show piece” ornaments mixed in that add extra style, O’Donnell says. As a general rule of thumb, use about 20 filler ornaments (such as one or two tone bulb ornaments) for every two feet of Christmas tree and then mix in those special “show piece” ornaments between the filler ornaments, using about 10 for every two feet of tree, according to interior design writer Coral Nafie who wrote about holiday decorating tips at About.com.
•Hang ornaments on the tips of branches as well as inside the tree to add depth, and mix in various size of ornaments.
•Make sure ornaments that are overly personal -- such as those marking milestones like “Our First Christmas” or “Baby’s First Christmas” -- are not in prominent locations on the tree or keep them packed up for next year, Wallitsch suggests.

5. Give a holiday impression from the curb.You needn’t be able to view your outdoor holiday lights from space, Clark Griswold, to show your holiday spirit. Twinkling clear, white lights (preferably non-blinking) tend to be the favorite among staging and real estate professionals for classy holiday curb appeal that adds a glow to your listings at night.

“The winter months are usually less than attractive outdoors and some well-placed and tasteful holiday lights or yard ornaments can go a long way to adding a festive and welcoming touch,” Wallitsch says. “Just remember that many potential buyers may either cruise by your home for sale during the day or schedule a showing during the day when outdoor lights are more likely to be an unsightly bunch of wires (such as icicle lights) rather than a cheerful display of color or white lights. Do your best to make your home show its best during the day and night.”

Here some holiday curb appeal tips:

•Add poinsettias: Plant several poinsettias in groups of three or five close together in the garden. “They really set off the first impression,” says Torelli.
•Hang a wreath on the front door (and make sure it’s clean!), suggests Cunningham.
•Have battery-operated candle lamps in each of the windows for extra glow and to show off all of those windows at night.
•Make the deck sparkle. For example, a weather-proof, tip-proof tree with lights or a simple strings of lights along the deck’s railing can go a long way in adding charm to your showings after dark, says Judy Jensen, Edina Realty in Eagan, Minn.

Then, consider adding the holidays to your marketing: Take a photo of the home at night as it twinkles from the holiday lights and create a special holiday flyer with information about the house.

“This is a great marketing tool we often use in the months of November and December to help sell the home,” adds Torelli with Torelli Realty in Costa Mesa, Calif.

6. Remove decor after the holidays.Jolenta Averill, broker-owner of Lake & City Homes in Madison, Wis., once showed a home in the middle of summer that still had a huge Santa Claus on its front porch and a Christmas tree lit in the living room.

But Christmas in July isn’t for everyone, so in general, wait to decorate for the holidays until after Thanksgiving and be sure your home owners remove all holiday decor promptly by New Year’s.

As Wallitsch tells her clients: “If you are feeling a little cheated this holiday season by not putting all of your beloved holiday treasures around your house, focus on the reason that you placed your home on the market and keep your eyes on that goal. Next year when you are comfortably settled into your new home, you can go all out with the holiday cheer.”

Melissa Dittmann Tracey is a contributing editor for REALTOR® magazine. She can be reached at mtracey@realtors.org.

Best MA Top Public High Schools Ranking in 2010

2010-10-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

From the highest SAT scores to the top graduation rates, browse exclusive rankings of local districts in our expanded chart.

Check out the top public high schools chart for a look at student-teacher ratio, MCAS and SAT scores, and more.

Our rankings this year were computed by statistician George Recck, director of the Math Resource Center at Babson College. As in years past, we gathered the most recent available data on area schools by consulting school officials and websites, as well as the Massachusetts Department of Education. With this information, Recck calculated mean scores for each data category and then ranked schools based on their distance from the averages.

Boston Magazine, September 2010

Interested in properties in the North Shore Area of MA and/or want to know about the communities, feel free to contact me anytime.

Bring Out The Best in Basements

2010-08-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Basements are often dark and dingy or cluttered and chaotic. Find out how to brighten up that space and make it look livable.
By Kristine Hansen | September 2010

Basements can adopt a split personality. On the one hand, it’s a sweet storage space with minimal décor and a high tolerance for accumulating dust. Yet when it’s time to sell — especially in a competitive real estate market — or expand the home’s livable square footage, the basement needs a little dressing up. That’s when home owners and real estate pros can work together.

One approach is to think big and transform this below-ground level into higher-end living space, whether that's a family room, children’s play area, or guest bedroom. “I have seen people take a basement and turn it into a family room, put in nice carpeting, and even build a little room around the utilities,” says Chobee Hoy of Chobee Hoy Associates in Brookline, Mass. “Hanging pictures … anything that looks pretty.”

It might encourage a sale. Yet it might not up the asking price, says Hoy. Many times a basement is not included in a home’s total square footage of livable space. “The square-foot value is not as high as the second or third floors. Don't put in the fanciest bathroom you can, because you might not get your money back,” she says. “You might have trouble selling the house for what you think it will sell for.”

Still, buyers want more room for the asking price, and a basement provides that option.

“Sometimes if a buyer needs extra space, and that’s the only space that’s available, that’s attractive,” says Hoy. She’s seen photographers gravitate towards homes with sizeable basements simply because they make great darkrooms and studios.

A listing for a home that Steve St. Arnault, an associate with Newbury Properties in Quincy, Mass., is attempting to sell has a basement that could be a model for all the dark, damp basements out there. In fact, he says, “it’s a bright and sunny spot.” The home owners painted the exposed pipes a brilliant shade of copper. Travertine flooring is a step above concrete or cheap carpet. “They wanted to encourage resale,” he says. “They also added a master bedroom suite on the top floor and granite countertops in the kitchen.”

But for basements that need just a little decorating rescue, there's a lot of hope.

“Make the basement a place that you want to go to,” suggests Peter Jeswald, author of Basement Ideas That Work: Creative Design Solutions for Your Home (Taunton Press, 2007). “So often, basements are associated with low-quality, cheap hung ceilings, wood paneling, and inexpensive carpet on the floor. Treat it no differently than you would the first floor of your house.”

Home owners should start by upgrading the basement's entryway and gradually work their way through the space, with the end goal a lighter, brighter, and cleaner basement. If it’s down a dark, narrow stairwell, open up that stairwell or — at the very least — install brighter lighting. In lieu of opening up the staircase, which can be quite expensive, Jeswald suggests add a half wall or creating an open railing. “Make it so that you’re no longer traveling through a narrow door to this narrow, dim-lit stairway,” he says. “Long, narrow spaces accentuate the feeling of being depressed.”

But if the end goal isn't more square footage but simply a cleaner basement, there are many inexpensive approaches to consider, starting with a broom and dustpan.

“The best thing you can do is clean it up,” Hoy says. “Get rid of the cobwebs. Whitewash the walls. Do whatever you can to make sure it has a good smell.”

Eliminating moisture may require the installation of gutters or a French drain. “Vapor can migrate through the walls and come up through the floor,” says Jeswald. Installing a dehumidifier should eliminate this problem.

The No. 1 problem with basements is a lack of adequate lighting. While the natural-lighting flow can't be altered because the space is underground, plenty of lights will create a sense of open, airy space on a par with the rest of the house.

“You want to get light into the basement and then you want to spread it around, to penetrate the space,” Jeswald says. Adding a table lamp here and there is probably not going to be sufficient. Adding larger windows is the best bet.

Creating larger window wells adds light — and offers an additional safety feature. “Nowadays most window wells have a ladder,” Jeswald explains, “so not only are you adding light but you’re adding an element of safety, especially if it’s a bedroom or recreation space.”

If either or both of these fall outside of the budget — but increasing light remains a priority —there are other options that are more about cosmetic fix-ups. These include installing French doors, which help divide the space, or putting up opaque walls that allow sunlight to bounce around.

Artificial lighting should be a last resort, Jeswald says.

Even more inexpensive are these two tips he offers on how to deal with the infrastructure of piping and columns by integrating them into the design. Create a bookshelf by installing flat boards between two columns. Turn an awkward pole into a bistro table by featuring a flat surface that juts out from it.

“If your budget is limited,” says Jeswald, “integrate these two into the design.”

And don’t forget about any exterior entryway to the basement. Even if it's rarely used, it's still going to be examined by potential buyers. It also could discourage people from coming into the basement if it’s not attractive. “Sometimes the door leaving the basement isn’t very attractive and people don’t put a lot of thought into it, but they should,” says Hoy.

Join me for discussions on my Facebook Real Estate Page.

Five Real Estate Scams You Need to Know About

2010-07-21T14:22:00.001-07:00

Don't be duped by mortgage fraud. Here are a few common scams and the red flags you should look for in a transaction.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey | August 2010

Mortgage fraud is pervasive: An estimated $4 billion to $6 billion in annual losses result from mortgage fraud, according to FBI reports. “An entire community can be damaged by mortgage fraud,” says Rachel Dollar, a lawyer from Santa Rosa, Calif., and editor of the Mortgage Fraud Blog. Mortgage fraud can lead to a spike in foreclosures, home values plummeting, and lenders raising their rates and fees to recover losses.

The crimes are often complex, involving several parties and occurring over multiple transactions. To protect you and your clients, educate yourself about mortgage fraud and be on guard for any warning signs in a transaction.

1. The Foreclosure Rescue Scheme

The Scam: “Rescuers” promise cash-strapped home owners that they can save their home from foreclosure. The rescue, which involves paying upfront fees, can take multiple forms, such as the perpetrator obtaining a new loan on behalf of the owner or by having the owner sign over the home’s deed and then rent the home until they can repurchase it. Eventually, the home owner loses the home, either to foreclosure or the fictitious rescue company.

Red Flags: With foreclosure rescue programs, borrowers are often advised to sign over the title of their house to a third party, become renters of their home, not contact their lender, or send mortgage payments to a third party, according to Fannie Mae, which provides fact sheets on mortgage fraud.

2. Loan Documentation Fraud

The Scam: This fraud involves numerous schemes in which a borrower provides inaccurate financial information — such as about their income, assets, and liabilities — or employment status in order to qualify for a loan with lower rates and more favorable terms. Occupancy fraud is one growing area: Borrowers say they plan to live in the property when they actually intend to rent it.

Red Flags: Documentation may raise suspicion if the employer’s address is shown as a post office box, accumulation of assets compared to the person’s income appears too high or low, the new house is too small to accommodate occupants, the person has no credit history, or the application is unsigned or undated, according to Fannie Mae.

3. Appraisal Fraud

The Scam: A faulty appraisal — saying a property is worth more than what it really is — is connected to many types of mortgage fraud. It entails manipulating or overstating comparables, market values, or property characteristics in order to obtain a higher appraisal. The higher property appraisal, which generates false equity, is done by falsifying an appraisal document or using an appraiser accomplice to obtain the higher value.

Red Flags: Be skeptical of appraisals that are dated prior to the sales contract, list comparable sales that do not contain similarities to the property or are outside the neighborhood, the owner is not the seller listed on the contract or the title, or a third party participating in the transaction orders the appraisal, Freddie Mac warns.

4. Illegal Property Flipping

The Scam: This entails purchasing properties and reselling them at inflated prices. These scams usually involve faulty appraisals and inaccurate loan documents. The property is then refinanced or resold immediately after purchase for an inflated value. The home is purchased at a higher price, often by straw buyers working with the “flipper,” and eventually falls into foreclosure.

Red Flags: Some key things to look for are rapid refinancing of a property; the seller recently having acquired the title or acquiring the title concurrent with the transaction; an appraisal that comes in too high; a property that was recently in foreclosure being purchased at a much lower price than its sales price; or the owner listed on the appraisal and title not matching the seller on the sales contract, according to Fannie Mae.

5. Short Sales Schemes

The Scam: Borrowers owe more than the current value of their home so they fake financial hardship and no longer make their mortgage payments. An accomplice of the borrower then submits a low offer to purchase the property in a short sale agreement. The lender agrees to the short sale, unaware that it was premeditated. The property, after being purchased at the reduced price, is then often resold at the home’s actual value for profit.

Red Flags: The borrower suddenly defaults on the mortgage with no workout discussions with the lender, an immediate offer is made to a lender at a short sale price, the short sale offer is less than current market value, or a cash back is offered at closing to the delinquent borrower (disguised as “repairs” or other payouts, for example) and is not disclosed to the lender, according to Fannie Mae.

You can report instances of suspected mortgage fraud to Stopfraud.gov.

Most Affordable Popular Retirement Locations

2010-07-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

The real estate downturn has turned some very popular retirement destinations into bargains.

To determine where the prices are most attractive, U.S. News & World Report examined price-to-income data for 384 metropolitan statistical areas. This expresses the relationship between owner income and home values.

Here are 10 retirement havens where homes are most affordable by this measure:

1. Bend, Ore.
2. Napa, Calif.
3. Fort Meyers, Fla.
4. Fayetteville, Ark.
5. Las Vegas
6. Sante Fe, N.M.
7. Punta Gorda, Fla.
8. Phoenix
9. Santa Cruz, Calif.
10. Burlington, Vt.

Source: U.S. News & World Report, Luke Mullins (07/08/2010)

Would you like to know prices with locations in MA and NH? Log on to my website.

MA GOVERNOR PLEDGES $189.9 MILLION IN RESOURCES TO CREATE, PRESERVE 1,786 NEW RENTAL HOMES

2010-07-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

Funding to support 32 affordable developments in 19 communities will yield an estimated 2,400 construction jobs.

BOSTON – Monday, June 21, 2010 – As part of the Patrick-Murray Administration's ongoing commitment to boost affordable housing production, create jobs and foster economic growth, Governor Deval Patrick today pledged more than $189.9 million in resources leveraged from various affordable housing programs and private investment to support the construction of 32 rental developments in 19 communities across the state which will yield an estimated 2,400 construction jobs.
"By investing this targeted blend of public and private resources to spur housing development, we are creating jobs, boosting local businesses, strengthening communities and building a better, stronger Commonwealth," said Governor Patrick.

"Construction of these projects offers a solution for more affordable housing opportunities in communities across the state," said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, chair of the Interagency Council for Housing and Homelessness. "These new construction projects will also deliver options to a wide array of incomes, including those who earn modest wages and those who are transitioning from the perils of homelessness to permanent, sustainable living."

When completed, the developments will create or preserve 1,786 units of new rental housing including 1,737 affordable units for low-and moderate income families. 290 of the affordable units will be targeted for families earning less than 30%.of the area median income. The following communities will benefit from these new developments: Boston (10 projects), Bourne, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Concord, Fall River, Fitchburg, Gloucester, Great Barrington, Hamilton, Haverhill, Lawrence (2 projects), Malden (3 projects), New Bedford, Northbridge, Somerville, Springfield (2 projects), Wareham and Worcester (detailed award sheet attached).

"This substantial investment will help put people back to work and help provide quality, affordable housing for those who are hurting the most. I'm grateful to the Patrick-Murray Administration for its continued commitment to working families across Massachusetts," said Senator John Kerry.

"This federal assistance will be used to reduce the large number of backlogged public housing construction and renovation projects throughout our region," said Congressman William Delahunt. "These additional funds will not only improve the quality of our affordable housing, it will provide a much needed boost to local contractors, plumbers and builders that are important to our local economy."

"During these difficult economic times, affordable housing is essential," said Congressman James McGovern. "I'm pleased with the projects in Fall River and Worcester announced today."

“This mix of federal and state resources will help provide affordable and secure housing to families in Lawrence, Haverhill, Concord and Chelmsford,” said Congresswoman Niki Tsongas. “In turn, these projects create construction jobs that boost the local economy and help put people back to work, making them an excellent investment in our communities.”

"The redevelopment of Malden Mills and the rehabilitation of Windsor House are big wins for Lawrence and the entire region. Hundreds of trades people will be put back to work and an entire area of the city will be revitalized with new housing options, which Massachusetts needs," said Senator Sue Tucker, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing.

"The state remains committed to providing safe and affordable housing throughout the Commonwealth," said Representative Kevin G. Honan, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing. "This funding is essential to preserving and producing affordable units for working families, seniors and those with disabilities. The construction of these 1,786 rental units will also put people back to work and help stimulate economic activity at a time when it is really needed."

Funding commitments include $10 million in federal low-income housing tax credits and $16.3 million in state low-income housing tax credits, which will be sold to syndicators to leverage an estimated $123.4 million in private investment for project financing. Another $66.5 million in finance subsidies will be issued by the Patrick-Murray Administration's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) from state bond-funded affordable housing programs and federal HOME funds. DHCD administers funding from those programs to assist developers who produce housing for low- and moderate-income seniors, families, individuals and special needs residents across the state.

"Out of the 1,786 housing units supported through today's awards, 290 are targeted to low-income individuals and families," said DHCD Undersecretary Tina Brooks. "There is no better way to strengthen neighborhoods and put an end to homelessness than to create more permanent housing opportunities that are affordable to those on all income levels."

RENTAL AWARDS

•109 Mt. Pleasant (Boston): The Nuestra Communidad Development Corporation will use $898,000 in DHCD housing program subsidies to produce 7 units of supportive housing for formerly homeless families.
•Burbank Street Apartments (Boston): Fenway Community Development will use $879,019 from DHCD to preserve 36 rental units. 31 of those units will be affordable including 5 units targeted for low-income households.
•Cheriton Heights Senior Housing (Boston): AABA/The Community Builders will use $950,000 in federal low-income housing tax credits and another $2,430,824 in DHCD program subsidies to produce 70 rental units. 63 of those units will be affordable including 7 units set aside for low-income households.
•Hong Lok House (Boston): Rogerson Communities will receive $5,214,861 in DHCD program subsidies to produce 74 affordable rental units for the elderly with 36 units set aside for low-income households.
•Old Colony Phase I (Boston): Beacon Communities LLC will use $5,310,065 in state low-income housing tax credits and another $3,500,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 116 affordable rental units with 72 of those units set aside for low-income households.
•Olmstead Green Rental Phase III (Boston): Lena New Boston will use $1,068,750 in federal low-income housing tax credits, $605,000 in state low-income housing tax credits and $3,643,845 in DHCD program subsidies to produce 50 affordable rental units with 10 units set aside for low-income households.
•Quincy Commons (Boston): Nuestra Communidad will use $4,250,000 in DHCD program subsidies to produce 40 affordable rental units for the elderly with 4 units set aside for low-income households.
•Washington-Beech HOPE VI Phase 2A (Boston): Trinity Financial will use $1,822,500 in federal low-income housing tax credits and $1,750,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 50 affordable rental units including 5 units set aside for low-income households.
•Washington-Beech HOPE VI Phase 2B (Boston): Trinity Financial will use $1,900,000 in state low-income housing tax credits and $1,750,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 56 affordable rental units including 6 units set aside for low-income households.
•West Fenway Apartments (Boston): Fenway Community Development will use $433,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 48 units of affordable elderly rental housing including 4 units set aside for low-income households.
•Clay Pond Cove at Canal Bluffs (Bourne): The Housing Assistance Corporation will use $769,423 in federal low-income housing tax credits and $1,340,376 in state tax credits and $2,300,000 in DHCD programs subsidies to produce 45 affordable rental units including 5 units set aside for low-income households.
•Putnam Ave. Housing (Cambridge): Homeowners Rehab, Inc. will use $855,000 in federal low-income housing tax credits and $2,525,000 in DHCD program subsidies to produce 40 affordable rental units with 4 units set aside for low-income households.
•Residence at Highland Avenue (Chelmsford): CHOICE, Inc., will use $580,000 in DHCD program subsidies to produce 5 units of affordable housing with supportive services for formerly homeless families.
•Peter Bulkeley Terrace Renovation (Concord): The Concord Housing Authority will use $1,000,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 24 affordable rental units for low- and moderate-income households
•Eagle Street (Fall River): Community Care Services will use $2,490,760 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 17 affordable units for individual and family homelessness prevention. 8 of those units will be set aside for low-income households.
•Groop/Townveiw Assisted Living (Fitchburg): The Fitchburg Housing Authority and Winn Development will use $1,375,000 in state low-income housing tax credits and $4,850,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 96 affordable rental units including 10 units set aside for low-income households.
•Central Grammar Apartments (Gloucester): The Community Builders will use $2,695,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 80 rental units. 76 units of those units will be affordable including 9 units set aside for low-income households.
•Christian Hill Common (Great Barrington): Berkshire Housing Development Corporation will use $1,927,604 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 40 affordable rental units for low- and moderate-income households.
•Firehouse Place (Hamilton): Harborlight Community Partners will use $475,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 4 affordable units for low- and moderate-income households.
•Haverhill Safe Haven/Wadleigh House (Haverhill): The YMCA of the North Shore will use $2,000,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 22 affordable single-room occupancy units including 6 units set aside for low-income households.
•Malden Mills Phase I (Lawrence): CSM North and Winn Development will use $1,200,000 in federal low-income housing tax credits as well as $3,500,000 in state tax credits and $2,300,000 in DHCD program subsidies to produce 75 rental units. 72 of those units will be affordable including 8 units set aside for low-income households.
•Windsor House (Lawrence): Commonwealth Land Trust will use $2,537,192 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 70 affordable single-room occupancy units with supportive services.18 of those units will be set aside for low-income households.
•MM Homes (Malden): Housing Families, Inc. will use $1,607,200 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 15 units of transitional and permanent housing for formerly homeless families.
•Salem Towers (Malden): Salem Towers Development LLC will use $2,460,782 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 81 rental units. 80 of those units will be affordable for low- and moderate-income households.
•The Heritage (Malden): FCMH LLC and Peabody Properties will use $2,000,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 176 rental units. 156 of those units will be affordable including 18 set aside for low- and moderate-income households.
•Harborview Towers (New Bedford): OMP Harborview Towers, LLC will use $2,800,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 144 rental units. 140 of those units will be affordable for low- and moderate-income households.
•Linwood Mill Senior Housing (Northbridge): EA Fish Development will use $950,000 in federal low-income housing tax credits as well as $610,000 in state tax credits and $1,550,000 in DHCD program subsidies to produce 75 affordable rental units including 8 units set aside for low-income households.
•St. Polycarp Village Phase II (Somerville): The Somerville Community Development Corporation will use $619,875 in federal low-income housing tax credits and $2,072,658 in DHCD program subsidies to produce 29 affordable rental units including 3 units set aside for low-income households.
•City View Commons II (Springfield): First Resource Development Corporation will use $1,000,000 in federal low-income housing tax credits as well as $1,187,500 in state tax credits and $1,291,600 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 120 affordable rental units including 12 units set aside for low-income households.
•Cumberland Homes Apartments Phase I (Springfield): Beacon Communities LLC will use $372,363 in federal low-income housing tax credits as well as $513,262 in state tax credits and $500,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 38 rental units. 34 of those units will be affordable including 4 units set aside for low-income households.
•Depot Crossing (Wareham): South Shore Housing Development Corp will use $434,096 in federal low-income housing tax credits and $815,000 in DHCD program subsidies to preserve 32 affordable rental units for low-income households.
•Castle Hill Initiative (Worcester): Zu Development will use $1,000,000 in DHCD program subsidies to produce 10 rental units and make them all affordable for low- and moderate-income households.

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Ipswich, MA Short Sales - Buying a Home at Pre-Foreclosure

2010-05-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

How to Buy a Ipswich, MA Short Sale

As a home buyer looking for value in the purchase of real estate you may consider a "short sale" as a viable option. The process of finding and buying a Ipswich MA short sale is not a typical real estate transaction. To have success, you must work with qualified professionals and understand the process. Utilize the services of Realtors, attorneys, accountants, mortgage lenders and home inspectors as they all provide expert advice.

What is a Short Sale?

Homeowners that have financial hardships may pursue a short sale prior to foreclosure. This process may be a preferable option to preserve their credit and limit their debt exposure. In New Hampshire, the laws governing foreclosures provide incentives for lenders to work with homeowners that can no longer afford their homes. The foreclosure process takes time and money and may prove to be more costly to the lender. Under the Home Affordable Alternatives Program (HAFA) offered in 2010 by the Treasury Department, lenders and homeowners have additional incentives to consider a short sale.

The first step to a successful transaction requires the negotiation of an acceptable contract with the Seller subject to lender approval with no guarantees that your offer will be approved. In order to prevent foreclosure, the Seller is under a timeline to "sell short" and must have an offer that meets lender guidelines for lender approval. Go to Ipswich, MA real estate to obtain information about Pepperell property. Follow these guidelines to improve your chances of a buying and closing on a short sale listing:

Are You a Qualified Buyer?

As a home buyer you must provide evidence that you qualify to purchase the property. The Seller is not likely to accept your offer without a valid credit approval as the lender will not grant approval. Obtain a credit approval from a reputable lender or if a cash buyer provide proof of funds. The approval must not contain conditions such as selling an existing property.

Pre-Qualify the Listing

Sellers selling short typically have a time-line they must meet to avoid foreclosure. If they have not communicated with their lender(s) and started the process, there may not be sufficient time to affect a sale. As your Realtor, I can pre-qualify a listing on your behalf. Information I will obtain includes:

•Is the seller's short sale package prepared for submission to the lender?
•How many liens are on the property? If more than one, what are they? Is there a plan to satisfy all the lien-holders?
If you pursue a property that is not "short sale ready" you may be restricted from buying other properties of interest. To search short sales and foreclosures available go to Ipswich MA Foreclosed Homes for Sale and select Ipswich Foreclosures under the quick search options.

Negotiating the Offer

The first step is to have your offer accepted by the Seller and you will be competing against other buyers. Some real estate agents market the property substantially below market value to entice buyers. Others price the property at the low end of fair market value. Price, terms and your qualifications will be the deciding factors for Seller acceptance. Sellers and lenders prefer offers with fewer contingencies.

1.Earnest Money - Sellers may be hesitant to accept your offer with a low deposit. Buyers can easily "walk away" from a contract with low deposits.
2.Home Inspection - be prepared to invest the time and money in the home inspection prior to lender approval. A seller may not want to take the risk of allowing the inspection after lender approval. If they do, they risk losing the buyer on the inspection issues and will not have time to sell the property prior to foreclosure.
3.Flexible Closing Date - once the lender approves the offer, they may require a "quick" closing. You must be prepared to meet their conditions if you want to consummate the sale.
Subsequent offers - the listing agent must submit all offers to the Seller. A contract with a higher sales price may have a better chance at being approved by the lender. The lender will give the Seller direction as to submitting additional offers. Also, be prepared to lock your interest rate thru closing so that your mortgage commitment will be valid.

Lender Approval

Lenders will do their "due diligence" to substantiate the value of the property and have no set formula to determine an acceptable price for the property. However, Freddie Mac (one of the largest secondary market lenders) has a target sales price of 88% of one or more broker price opinions (BOP).

Have realistic expectations of the time-frame for approval as it may take between 30-180 days and property values can change. If the lender and the Seller are participating in the HAFA program, these timelines will be streamlined for a quicker response.

If you are interested in pursuing an Ipswich MA short sale or other listings currently on the market, please contact Virtual Homes Real Estate at 800-8562479. You may also visit MA Foreclosures and Bank Owned Real Estate for Sale to view short sales and foreclosed inventory for sale in other towns and cities.

Places to Live for 2010

2010-05-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

The “Top Places to Live” list features several breakout categories such as the Top 10 Recovery Cities, Retirement Cities, ‘Earth Friendly’ Cities, Recreation Cities and Small Towns.

New for this year, the Top 10 Recovery Cities focused on areas poised for swift economic recovery. Many of these communities did not see the massive real estate bubble that formed in other areas and have a more diverse economy.

To be considered for the list, a community is nominated at RelocateAmerica.com. From the thousands of submissions, RelocateAmerica.com’s editorial team reviews the nominations and selects the top places to live, as well as the Top 10 for each smaller category, based on interviews with local leaders; feedback from residents; and economic, environmental, education, crime, employment and housing data for the past year.

“Given the tough economic times our nation is facing, home buyers have re-evaluated their priorities and are looking to relocate to communities that offer plenty of perks, but minimal hassle and cost,” said Peter Meyers, Vice President, Research and Content Development, at RelocateAmerica.com. “While some cities are facing a road to recovery that could take years, others are poised for a quick rebound – and already have seen growth. We wanted to highlight those cities that are on the road back to economic health.”

Top 10 Overall Cities:
1.Huntsville, AL
2.Washington, DC
3.Austin, TX
4.San Diego, CA
5.San Antonio, TX
6.Tulsa, OK
7.Charlotte, NC
8.Raleigh, NC
9.Boulder, CO
10.Minneapolis, MN

Top 10 Recovery Cities:
1. Huntsville, AL
2.Austin, TX
3.Las Cruces, NM
4.Washington, DC
5.San Antonio, TX
6.McAllen, TX
7.Billings, MT
8.Albuquerque, NM
9.Everett, WA
10.Boulder, CO

Top 10 Retirement Cities:
1.Ashville, NC
2.Bella Vista, AR
3.Green Valley, AZ
4.Sarasota, FL
5.Prescott, AZ
6.Tampa, FL
7.Greenville, SC
8.San Antonio, TX
9.Hot Springs Village, AR
10.Colorado Springs, CO

Top 10 ‘Earth Friendly’ Cities:
1.Portland, OR
2.Boston, MA
3.Madison, WI
4.Boulder, CO
5.Austin, TX
6.Chicago, IL
7.Minneapolis, MN
8.Fort Worth, TX
9.Ann Arbor, MI
10.Huntsville, AL

Top 10 Recreation Cities:
1.Boulder, CO
2.Santa Cruz, CA
3.Flagstaff, AZ
4.St. George, UT
5.Ithaca, NY
6.Corvallis, OR
7.Salt Lake City, UT
8.Stevens Point, WI
9.Wilmington, NC
10.Portland, OR

Top 10 Small Towns (<40K pop.):
1.Grinnell, IA
2.St. Augustine, FL
3.Fairhope, AL
4.Stillwater, MN
5.Summit, NJ
6.Ashland, OR
7.Batavia, IL
8.Ithaca, NY
9.Peachtree City, GA
10.Trumbull, CT

For more information, visit www.RelocateAmerica.com

10 THINGS FIRST-TIME BUYERS SHOULD KNOW

2010-03-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

Buying a home for the first time can be complex. To avoid mistakes and make a smart purchase, do the homework and know what to expect. To help start the process, HGTV's FrontDoor.com identifies the top 10 important points every first-time buyer must know.

#1: Just because it's a buyer's market doesn't mean you should buy right now. Don't let the lucrative market dictate a buying decision if the time isn't absolutely right. Potential homebuyers need to ask themselves if they have a good credit score, if their job is secure and if they can stay in the home for a few years. If the answer to these questions is "no," it might make more sense to wait until life and finances are more stable.

#2: The cost of owning a home is more than just the purchase price. On top of a mortgage payment, there are several monthly fees and expenses any first-time buyer should consider when becoming a homeowner: insurance, property taxes, utilities and maintenance. Think about scaling back the home price in order to better budget for the entire package.

#3: Programs are out there to help first-time buyers. A sizeable down payment is great to have for a home purchase, but not everyone can afford to fork over 20 percent upfront. Fortunately, there are many federal, state and local programs geared toward helping first-time homebuyers with down payments, interest rates and loan terms sure to make the whole process and affordability a bit easier.

#4: Foreclosures and short sales present great deals, but proceed with caution. Buying a foreclosed or short sale home can be a risky proposition for a first-time buyer. Foreclosures are often sold "as-is," while a short sale transaction can be lengthier and more complicated than a typical home purchase. First-timers should consult an agent or attorney with specialization in these areas.

#5: Getting pre-approved for a loan gives you more buying power. Obtaining lender pre-approvals are important because it establishes a homebuyer's maximum purchase price, shows sellers that the buyer is serious about buying a home and lets the homebuyer compare interest rates and terms to find the best deal.

#6: Good school districts boost property value. One of the most important aspects of a home's value is the neighborhood where it's located. Even if the homebuyer does not have kids, buying a home near sought-after schools can help the resale value.

#7: You may be able to access your tax credit upfront. Buyers using FHA-insured mortgages can apply their tax credit toward their home purchase immediately, rather than waiting until they file their income taxes to receive a refund. Prospective buyers who believe they qualify for the credit are also allowed to reduce their income tax withholding, therefore increasing their take-home pay.

#8: Not all real estate agents represent buyers. There are three types of agents: listing agents, who represent sellers and help them get the best price; buyers' agents, who represent buyers and protect their interests; and agents who represent either (or both). Often, first-time buyers prefer to work exclusively with a buyer's agent so there are no possible conflicts of interest.

#9: Doing your homework can help you make a competitive offer. Before buying the home, determine the property's market value by having the realtor conduct a comparative market analysis. This report will show what buyers were willing to pay for similar homes in the area, giving a good idea of what will make a fair offer.

#10: It's important to have a back-out plan. Before signing on the dotted line, make sure to have a contingency plan in case things don't go as planned in the home inspection or appraisal. If the home has a major flaw or doesn't appraise for the purchase price, an escape plan allows the contract to be voided.

About FrontDoor.com

FrontDoor.com (http://www.frontdoor.com) is an online real estate information service powered by HGTV, the No.1 source for home-related media content. The site currently offers more than 4 million listings of homes for sale. In addition to providing users with the latest real estate listings, FrontDoor.com houses expert HGTV advice and videos along with original Web series and a comprehensive library of features, tools, guides and information. Users can also interact with FrontDoor through Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE: FrontDoor.com

2010-01-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

FORECLOSURES OR BANKRUPTCY: WHAT TO DO?

You can't afford the payments on your home. Your efforts to get your mortgage modified are going nowhere. You may even have tried to sell the home for less than what you owe, but the short sale fell through.

Now you face some grim options.

You can let the home slide into foreclosure, or you can try to prevent or at least delay the foreclosure with a bankruptcy filing.

Here's what you need to know to make the right decision:

Foreclosure takes a while. The amount of time between your first missed payment and the sheriff arriving to throw you out varies considerably by state, lender and even market conditions, but foreclosure doesn't happen overnight.

Although a lender can start foreclosure proceedings after a single missed payment, most wait until three or more monthly payments have been skipped. How long the process takes after that varies widely; some Southern states give lenders the power to oust borrowers from their homes in a matter of weeks, while in other areas foreclosures are now dragging on for 12 months or more, said attorney Stephen Elias, the author of "The Foreclosure Survival Guide" (also available for free on self-help legal publisher Nolo's Web site).

In general, foreclosures move faster in states that don't require lenders to go to court to get the process started ("nonjudicial" foreclosures) than in states that do ("judicial" foreclosures). To see which applies in your state, visit Nolo's "How foreclosure works" page.

Bankruptcy slows but often doesn't halt the foreclosure process. As soon as you file for bankruptcy, creditors must stop collection efforts. Your mortgage lender can ask that the so-called automatic stay be lifted so it can proceed with foreclosure, but the amount of time you typically have before the foreclosure process recommences varies by the type of bankruptcy you file:

A Chapter 13 repayment plan requires you to pay back at least some of your debts over five years.A Chapter 7 liquidation erases most of your consumer debt in a few months. "With a Chapter 7, you usually get two months" of breathing room from the foreclosure process, Elias said. "With Chapter 13, it's usually six months."

That is, unless you can demonstrate you're able to pay back what you owe. In that case:

Chapter 13 can help you catch up. If your financial setback was temporary and you now have the money to make your mortgage payments and get caught up on the payments you missed, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can save your home.

A Chapter 13 also can help you get rid of second and third mortgages, including home equity loans and lines of credit, if you no longer have the equity to secure those loans.

Unfortunately, few people are in a position to get caught up on their mortgages, Elias warns. Many who fall behind do so because their payments are too big or their income has dropped. They still can't afford their primary home loan payments, let alone pay back the arrears they owe, even if the extra payments are stretched out over five years.

Another problem with Chapter 13: It's expensive. Attorneys typically charge $3,000 and up to handle a repayment plan bankruptcy, which is about twice the going rate for the simpler Chapter 7 filing.

Weigh the costs and what filing buys you. Even if you can't save your home, you may want to consider Chapter 13 just to buy yourself more time, if you can afford to do so.

The longer foreclosure takes, the more time you have to stay in your home and save money. The cash you would have been applying to your mortgage can go to a savings account to help you make a security deposit on a rental, Elias said.

Elias strongly believes people should stay in their homes as long as they possibly can to strengthen their finances for life in a post-foreclosure world, when credit will be tough to get.

"I get really depressed when I heard people have left their house" before they have to, Elias said.

You may not feel comfortable staying in a house you can't pay for, of course. But if your goal is to buy more time, you can do the math to see if the extra months bankruptcy offers would allow you to save enough to make it worth the cost.

Chapter 7 may help -- or it may not. A Chapter 7 liquidation won't help you keep your home, since this type of bankruptcy erases unsecured debt, not the kind of debt that's secured by a house.

But it could allow you to erase consumer debt, such as credit card and medical bills, in addition to slowing the foreclosure process for a couple of months.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy isn't a good idea if:

You have "nonexempt" property you want to keep. A second car or truck, vacation property, expensive jewelry and family heirlooms are among the things that can be seized and sold to pay creditors in a Chapter 7 filing.
Your income is too high. If your family income exceeds the median for your area, your case might be rerouted to a Chapter 13 filing.
You don't want to stick a co-debtor with a debt. If you co-signed for a personal loan, for example, your obligation might be erased, but your co-signer is still responsible for the debt.
For more details, read Nolo's "When Chapter 7 bankruptcy isn't the right choice."

Consider the credit implications. Bankruptcy is the worst thing you can do to your credit scores, but it has an upside. Bankruptcy can help you erase debts and get a fresh start, putting an end to the continuing damage to your credit reports from late payments.

Foreclosure, while somewhat less damaging to your credit scores, doesn't offer relief from other debts. You also may spend longer in mortgage lenders' penalty box than someone who has just a bankruptcy on his records.

Currently, mortgage buyer Fannie Mae makes those with foreclosures wait five years until they can get another home loan, with extra restrictions on borrowing until seven years have passed, said Matt Hackett, the senior underwriter for mortgage lender Equity Now. People with Chapter 7 bankruptcies must wait four years from the date of their discharge. Those with Chapter 13s must wait two years after their plans have been successfully completed (which typically means a seven-year total penalty period, including the five-year repayment period) or four years if their case was dismissed rather than completed.

For Federal Housing Administration loans, the penalty period is three years for foreclosures, two years for Chapter 7s and a year after a Chapter 13 discharge.

If you have both foreclosure and bankruptcy on your record, the longer of the two applicable penalty periods will apply.

Not all lenders follow these guidelines, of course, and restrictions may loosen or tighten over time, but in general you can expect an extended wait before you buy your next home.

(A short sale, by the way, may or may not damage your credit scores as much as a foreclosure but typically gets more-lenient treatment from mortgage lenders. Fannie Mae, for example, makes short sellers wait just two years before they can get a new home loan.)

Get advice early. If bankruptcy is a possibility, consult with an experienced bankruptcy attorney as early as possible, Elias advised. It's easy to make mistakes that could endanger your filing or your ability to get your debt erased.

Transferring property or money to other people could cause problems or even get your case thrown out. So could paying a debt to a family member when you owe money to other lenders.

Also, once you file, you're committed. If you later decide you made a mistake, you can't just back out; a judge must approve a dismissal. If the judge doesn't, you could lose property to the trustee.

Elias recommended seeking out attorneys who are members of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. He also recommended the "Find a Lawyer" service on Nolo's site.

Although many attorneys offer free initial consultations, Elias warns that you may feel pressured to hire that attorney if you decide to go through with a bankruptcy filing.

"It's better to offer to pay for an hour of their time," Elias said. That way you can get a personalized assessment of your situation but still feel free to shop for another attorney if the chemistry isn't right.

Finally, keep in mind that you have plenty of company. Although this crisis may feel like the end of the world, it's not. You can rebuild both your finances and your credit. To start learning how, read "Bounce back fast after bankruptcy."

This article is by Liz Pulliam Weston who is the Web's most-read personal-finance writer. She is the author of several books, most recently "Your Credit Score: Your Money & What's at Stake." Weston's award-winning columns appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board and helps middle-class families cope at Building a Brighter Future.

10 Big-Impact, Low-Cost Remodeling Projects

2009-12-22T15:25:00.000-08:00

Working with sellers who have some—but not unlimited—cash for upgrades? Here are budget-minded enhancements you can suggest to make their home stand out.

1. Tidy up kitchen cabinets.

"Potential buyers do open kitchen cabinets and look inside," says Morrissey. "Home owners can add rollout organizing trays so when buyers peek in, they feel like there’s lots of room for their stuff."

2. Add or replace tile.

"By retiling very inexpensively, you make a room look way cleaner that it was," says Javier Zuluaga, owner of Home Repairs and Remodeling LLC in Tempe, Ariz. "Every city has stores that offer $1 to $2 tile, so home owners have to pay only for the low-cost tile and labor to replace a dated backsplash or add a new one. We also use inexpensive tile to upgrade bathrooms."

3. Add a breakfast bar.

When a wall separates a kitchen from a family room, suggest cutting out an opening to create a breakfast bar. "In one home, there was a cutout in the wall between the kitchen and living room," explains Matthew Quinn, a sales associate at Quinn’s Realty & Estate Services in Falls Church, Va., who handles estate and real estate sales for family members whose loved ones have passed away. "We left the structure of the cutout, added an oversized granite breakfast bar, and put chairs in front of it. That cost about $600."

4. Install granite tile instead of a slab.

"Everybody is hot for granite kitchen countertops, but that can be a $5,000 upgrade," says John Wilder, a general contractor and owner of Fence and Deck Doctor in New Castle, Ind. "Instead, home owners can put in 12-inch granite tiles for about $300 in materials and get very high impact for little money."

5. Freshen up a bathroom without retiling.

"With a dated bathroom, I recommend putting in a new medicine cabinet for $100 to $150, light fixtures for about $100, a faucet for $50 to $75, and a vanity for $200 to $300," says Wilder. "And instead of replacing the tile, the existing grout can be lightly scraped and regrouted, which leaves a haze that can be buffed out and will make the tile look brand new. Also install glass shower doors. A French door adds a lot of panache and elegance for $250, and people will notice the door, not the tile. With all that, you’ve done a bathroom remodel for $1,000 to $2,000."

6. Freshen up the basement.

"If home owners have cement block or poured concrete walls in the basement, suggest they have a contractor fill in cracks with hydraulic cement and then paint with waterproofing paint," recommends Wilder. "They can then add a top coat to add color. They can also paint the basement floor with a good floor paint, which spiffs it up. The basement may not be finished, but it’s no longer a damp dungeon."

7. Add a room.

Look for large spaces that can be enclosed to create a new bedroom for just the price of creating a wall. "One time, we closed off a half-wall to an office and added a door to the other side of the room, thus creating another bedroom," says Quinn. "That $400 procedure, which took a contractor one day, netted about $40,000 in the sales price." Zuluaga has also added bedrooms inexpensively. "In a two-bedroom house, there was an archway that led to a third room that was used as a den," he explains. "It had a dry bar where there would have been a closet, so we took out the dry bar and created a closet so the owners had a third bedroom."

8. Spruce up cabinet fronts.

Suggest home owners update tired-looking kitchen cabinets. Reconditioning is the least expensive move for under $1,000. "If the wood is starting to look shabby from use or contaminants in the air, we take out the nicks and scratches, recondition it with oil, and put new hardware on," explains Heidi Morrissey, vice president of marketing and sales at Kitchen Tune-Up in Aberdeen, S.D. For $1,500 to $4,000, owners can replace the cabinet doors and drawer fronts, and for $4,000 to $12,000, they can have all the cabinets refaced. "With refacing, owners can change the color of the cabinets by replacing the door and having a new skin put on the boxes," says Morrissey. "If they have oak cabinets today, they can have cherry the next day."

9. Replace light fixtures.

"In a foyer and in bathrooms and kitchens," says Wilder, "replacing overhead light fixtures provides a lot of pop for a little money." If the kitchen has track lighting, Zuluaga suggests the home owner spend $450 to $600 to have an electrician replace it with recessed canned lights on a dimmer switch to add ambience. For about $700, Zuluaga also suggests installing pendant lights over a kitchen island or peninsula.

10. Tech-up the garage.

"Sometimes we replace the garage door opener with a remote touchpad entry system," says Zuluaga. "That costs about $425 and makes it look like a high-end system."

Small Project, Big Banks

2009-12-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

Judicious home remodeling is still worth the investment, according to Remodeling magazine's annual "Cost vs. Value Report."
By G.M. Filisko

Uncertainty and restraint are the order of the day in this economy, and that sense of caution is reflected in home owners’ return on their investment in remodeling projects, according to REALTORS® in 80 metropolitan markets surveyed by Remodeling magazine for this year’s Cost vs. Value Report.

The majority of the 10 remodeling projects with the best return on investment nationally are a testament to pragmatism. Six of the 10 projects—siding and window replacement using a variety of materials—involve home maintenance that costs less than $14,000.

Two more—adding an attic bedroom or a wood deck—reinforce the notion that boosting the amount of livable space in and around your home will attract buyers who are increasingly looking for more room for their buck. In past years, converting an attic into a bedroom was a project that landed squarely in the middle of the rankings, but this year it leapfrogged over other categories into third place. It’s an admittedly pricey project, with an average national cost of nearly $50,000, but it generates an average national return of 83.1 percent and a better-than-100 percent return on investment, according to REALTORS® in 14 of the 80 cities surveyed. Adding a wood deck is much more economical, with an average national cost of slightly more than $10,000. Its average national return is 80.6 percent, but in six cities, its return is estimated at 100 percent or greater.

The six siding and window home maintenance projects in the top 10, combined with the project with the biggest return on investment—a mid-range entry door replacement—prove something that every sales associate tells sellers throughout the country: First impressions count. A mid-range entry door replacement, a project new to the survey this year, is the only home remodeling project that REALTORS® expect to generate a full return for the money nationally. It’s the least expensive of the 33 projects included in the analysis, yet it brings a whopping average national return on investment of 128.9 percent. It generates a better-than-100 percent return in 48 of the 80 cities, according to REALTORS® surveyed, and in several cities, its return is estimated at more than double its cost.

Additional data prove the value of restraint. Upgrading kitchens and baths is still a smart bet. However, home owners will recoup the greatest share of their costs by foregoing super-deluxe projects in favor of mid-range kitchen and bath remodels. A mid-range kitchen remodel brings an average 72.1 percent return on investment, while an upscale kitchen re-do returns only an average of 63.2 percent of the money invested. A mid-range bathroom project has an average 71 percent cost recovery, but the average recovery on an upscale bathroom project is nearly 10 points lower, at 61.6 percent.

The only upscale projects that cracked the top 10 were the home maintenance projects of fiber-cement siding replacement and vinyl window replacement. The average cost of fiber-cement siding is more than $13,000, but its return on investment reached 83.6 percent, placing it squarely in second place in the survey. The average cost of vinyl window replacement is nearly $14,000, and it generates an average return of 76.5 percent, or tenth place in the survey. Of the 12 upscale projects, nine landed in the bottom half.

Overall, home owners recouped an average of 63.8 percent of their investment in 33 different home improvement projects, according to REALTORS® who responded to the survey. The expected cost recoup was generally down from previous years in line with the drop in home prices nationally (see page 23). The return on home owners’ investment in remodeling projects has declined an average of 3.5 percentage points between 2008 and 2009. That’s down from the 2.7 point drop between 2007 and 2008 and much less than the 5.5 point drop between 2006 and 2007 and the 10.5 point drop from 2005 to 2006.

Zooming in from the national to the city level, Honolulu sits atop the rankings for having the most projects—18—that generate at least a full return on investment. In Honolulu, adding a wood deck, completing a minor kitchen remodel, adding fiber-cement siding, and replacing an entry door bring the highest returns, ranging from 121.1 to 195.3 percent return on investment. San Francisco is closest behind with 10 projects generating at least a full return on investment. Adding a master suite, doing a minor kitchen remodel, and replacing an entry door have the biggest returns, producing between 112.2 and 119.1 percent return on investment.

One surprise: Despite the common perception that contractors are hungry for work and therefore willing to wheel and deal, the average national cost of every project surveyed has gone up, though at a slower rate than in the previous year.

3 Factors That Reduce a Home's Value

2009-11-19T16:40:00.000-08:00

BEFORE PLUNKING DOWN your life savings on a home, consider that the current owners and even the home inspector probably can't tell you everything you need to know about the
Nearby foreclosures, crime and environmental threats can end up costing a lot more than mold in the basement. Living close to a landfill, for example, can knock up to 15% off a home's value.
While sellers in some states are legally obligated to disclose information that might affect a buyer's decision to purchase a home, they often won't know, say, that a registered sex offender moved in across the street last month.
Ultimately, it's up to buyers to look into factors that go beyond the front yard, says Leslie Sellers, vice president of the Appraisal Institute, a Chicago-based trade organization. "People will spend days and weeks researching a used car and kicking tires, but when it comes to a home, if the decor suits them, they're ready to buy right then," says Sellers.
"Before you make an offer, walk the neighborhood and talk to neighbors," advises Sid Davis, a Farmington, Utah-based real estate broker and author of "A Survival Guide for Buying a Home."
Here are three value-draining factors worth investigating:

Foreclosures
Just a few years ago, home buyers barely considered the impact of foreclosures on a home's value. But as the rate of foreclosures climbs ever higher — the number of homes facing foreclosure in April rose 65% year over year, according to RealtyTrac — it's now an undeniable part of the equation.
A study co-authored by Geoff Smith, vice president at the Woodstock Institute, a policy group in Chicago, found that each foreclosure within an eighth of a mile of a single-family home results in a 0.9% decline in the home's value. Although the research only looked at data in Chicago between 1998 and 1999, the researchers contend that the overall findings still apply today. "If you were to replicate that study now, you'd probably find a bigger impact because there are more foreclosures and they're bringing down the housing market overall," says Smith.
Foreclosed homes often fall victim to neglect and vandalism, explains Stephen Fuller, director of George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis. A concentration of foreclosed homes only magnifies the effect and undermines nearby property values, he says. Depending on the scale and duration of the problem and the lack of countervailing forces such as good schools or park land, the damage to a home's resale price will likely be significant, says Fuller.
Also, scan the real estate listings to see if a large number of homes are for sale in the area or if rental properties are on the rise. It could signal a more transient — and therefore troubled — environment, Fuller says. Also, look for short sales — when the asking price is less than the mortgage balance — "that's a sure next step to foreclosure," he says. Buyers can ask their realtors to look up short sales in a particular ZIP code or area. (Realtors have access to the data, which is provided by the Multiple Listings Service that is not made public).

Environmental threats
You've monitored for radon and tested the well water. Everything turns up clean. But do you know how far that landfill or abandoned manufacturing plant is from the front door? If they're too close it could lead to serious health issues — and weakened resale values.
A home located within a mile from a landfill, for example, will likely see a 10% to 15% reduction in value, says Robert A. Simons, a professor of urban planning and real estate at Cleveland State University and author of a 2006 study on the effects of environmental contamination on real estate values. Property within two miles of a Superfund site (a government-designated hazardous waste site) could suffer up to a 25% reduction in value (compared with a home that had no threat of environmental contamination), says Simons, who also wrote "When Bad Things Happen to Good Property."
Nuclear power plants, on the other hand, have a mixed impact on home values, he says. While perceived as scary, they offer some benefits such as a high tax base and high employment. An added bonus: "There's a huge buffer around those plants with lots of park land," he says. However, live too close — say, within half a mile — and the nearby plant starts taking a toll, Simons found. "Then you get into air emissions, pollution, and are you downwind or upwind," he says.
Consumers can search for Superfund sites near their homes on the Environmental Protection Agency's web site. The EPA also has a searchable database that tracks toxic chemical releases reported by certain industries.

Crime/Sex offenders
Looking into the crime rate of a prospective neighborhood is a no-brainer for most home buyers. But it won't tell you that a registered sex offender lives two houses down.
"I encourage people to presume that there will be registered sex offenders nearby," says Tara-Nicholle Nelson, a San Francisco-based real estate attorney and broker.
The closer a home is to a registered sex offender's, the greater the impact on its value, according to James Larsen, a professor at Wright State University in Ohio. Larsen's 2003 study of home sale prices in Montgomery County, Ohio, found that, on average, homes within one-tenth of a mile of a serious sex offender's residence saw a 17% drop in value, while houses between one-tenth and two-tenths of a mile sold for 10% less.
In order to search for addresses and pictures of registered sex offenders, go to Family Watchdog. The site also offers email and cellphone alerts if a registered offender moves into your neighborhood. For other crime statistics, AreaConnect lets users compare crime data for more than 8,000 cities.

by Smart Money

4 Signs Your Home Value Could Drop

2009-11-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

Despite signs that the real estate market is bottoming out, millions of homeowners are likely to find themselves in worse shape within the next two years.

Nearly half of the nation's 52 million mortgage borrowers will have negative equity by the end of the first quarter of 2011, up from the 14 million at the end of this year's first quarter, according to estimates in an Aug. 5 report by Deutsche Bank. With so many borrowers "underwater" -- or owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth -- the risk is high that they'll default and their homes will go into foreclosure, says Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. (Moody's Economy.com estimates that 17.5 million mortgage borrowers will be underwater by early 2010.)

Negative equity is the product of several factors. The most significant weight is the broad and persistent decline in home values . A Zillow.com index of home values fell 12.1% year-over-year during the second quarter, resulting in a total drop of 22.3% since the market peaked in mid-2006, according to an Aug. 11 report by the online real estate marketplace. Many buyers who bought their homes around the peak with a 20% down payment have lost that dollar amount.

"The continued decline of U.S. home prices will contribute to rapidly rising rates of negative equity," Karen Weaver, a Deutsche Bank research analyst, wrote in the report. "The most obvious implication is for mortgage defaults." Current homeowners, or those shopping for a home and who are concerned that they'll end up underwater, should consider how long they expect to live in their homes. Being underwater doesn't affect homeowners unless they plan to sell, Zandi says. Individuals who are staying put for at least the next five to seven years will likely recoup the lost value of their home, says Amy Bohutinsky, a Zillow.com spokeswoman. In addition, homeowners should refrain from borrowing against their mortgages, she says.

Those who find themselves underwater can turn to the federal Making Home Affordable plan, which can help you refinance or do a loan modification. You'll have to meet the eligibility requirements.

Whether you're at risk for falling behind may have more to do with the economy and your neighborhood than your job, your credit or your income. Here are four warning signs that you're heading underwater.

Foreclosures in your neighborhood
The quickest way to end up underwater is to live in a neighborhood that's plagued by foreclosures. When one home on your block goes into foreclosure, your home's value drops by 1%, Zandi says. But that isn't a one-to-one relationship. If two homes on a block go into foreclosure, your home's value will drop by more than 2%. As homes go into foreclosure, they create a domino effect, lowering home values throughout a neighborhood in a cascade beyond homeowners' control.

Homes lingering on the market
When "For Sale" signs linger in a neighborhood for three or more months, that may mean buyers and sellers can't agree on a price. In that environment, homes are unlikely to sell unless the sellers lower their asking prices.

"The time on the market is always a good barometer of demand for homes and for the price homes are transacting at," Zandi says. "The longer it appears that neighbors are taking to sell their home the more likely it is they're not getting the price they want and that prices are falling."

Compare the time it took for homes to sell in your neighborhood three years ago versus today; if it's taking weeks or months longer to sell, the prices homes can fetch are dropping, Zandi says.

Increasing unemployment
In most cases, the cities where homes have lost the most value during the past year also possess the highest unemployment rates.

Homes in Merced, Calif., have lost 40.2% of their value year-over-year, the biggest loss of home values in the nation, according to Zillow.com. The city's unemployment rate is the fourth-worst among 372 metropolitan areas at 17.6%, according to July data from the Labor Department. El Centro, Calif., where home values plunged 37.6% year-over-year (the second-biggest drop in the country), has the worst unemployment rate at 30.2%.

Individuals living in areas battered by high unemployment are likely to see their home values drop further, especially if they live in areas dependent on dwindling industries -- like Central Valley, Calif., and the mortgage lending business or Detroit and the auto industry, Zandi says.

Homes in disrepair
Dented siding, peeling paint and broken porches could be signs that neighbors are having trouble making ends meet and can no longer pay to take care of their homes, Zandi says. Or they may have gotten an appraisal and discovered their homes have dropped in value and are no longer worth the cost of repairs. As the condition of homes in your neighborhood worsens, home values almost inevitably drop. "The mere fact that they're not investing in their homes will affect you too," Zandi says.

What underwater borrowers have in common

Risky mortgages: Some 77% of option-ARM borrowers and 50% of subprime mortgage borrowers were estimated to be underwater as of the first quarter of 2009, according to the Deutsche Bank report. With option-ARMs, borrowers could make minimum monthly payments that didn't even cover the loan's interest. As the market declined, these balances grew. With subprime mortgages, borrowers often had poor credit scores and little documentation of their financial situation. In both cases, borrowers often ended up with a large mortgage relative to the house's price.

Date of purchase: Individuals who bought their homes between 2003 and 2008 are at risk of being underwater because they bought while prices were rising, Zandi says. The risk is greatest for those who bought in 2005 and 2006, as the market approached its peak.

Excessive borrowing: Many individuals borrowed against their homes during the bubble by taking out second mortgages or tapping into home equity lines of credit or home equity loans. This borrowing left their homes with less equity to weather the drop in home values.

Home's location: The areas that have been hit the hardest by plunging home values include the "sand states" of Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada because they brought the most speculation, easy credit and overbuilding during the bubble, Zandi says. Also hurt: the states where unemployment is especially high and manufacturing jobs have been eliminated like Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, Zandi says.

By SmartMoney

SHOULD YOU BUY A FORECLOSURE?

2009-09-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

If you've considered buying a house in foreclosure or one that's on the brink, you're seeing lots of opportunities now. But before you jump in, consider these 12 points.

By Sally Herigstad
MSN Money

Make $500,000 in one year! Buy houses for pennies on the dollar! The business of buying foreclosures and pre-foreclosures has never been hotter. The experts will guide you every step of the way to help you get rich quick. Just take a seminar or buy a book and you'll be on easy street in no time.

With foreclosure filings reported on 291,000 U.S. properties in February, up 30% from a year ago, it's easy to entertain visions of buying cheap houses and flipping them for quick profits.

The only trouble is, it's not so simple. New realities are changing the foreclosure business, and the unwary investor can be left in the lurch.

Here's what's changed and what you might want to watch out for:

•There may be little or no equity on the table. Dana Mackey used to send 100 letters at a pop to distressed homeowners in the Agoura Hills, Calif., area. He would typically get about a 10% response. Of those, he would be able to work with several families either by carrying paper so they could stay in their homes or by purchasing the homes from them, and he'd make a good profit.

That doesn't work anymore. Most of the houses in trouble in his area are now "underwater" -- people owe more on their homes than the homes are worth. Many homes have $950,000 mortgages but are worth only $700,000 in today's market.

"Before, I was able to help them," says Mackey, of Prosperity4Kids. "Now, they're so far gone that there's nothing you can do. The banks don't want to negotiate. The banks don't want the property back, but they don't want to take the $250,000 hit right now either. And the market keeps dropping." Mackey has stopped sending the letters.

•Foreclosures are becoming more emotionally and politically charged. Groups such as the Moratorium Now! Coalition are working to stop foreclosures and evictions nationwide. Frustrated with rising unemployment and foreclosures, the coalition's motto is "Bail out the people -- not the banks." Reading a few stories of families sleeping in trucks after being foreclosed on could make Scrooge cry. Few topics raise people's emotions as quickly as a classic battle between the haves and the have-nots.

You, as a buyer, may be an innocent bystander in this drama, but that might not keep you from having trouble taking possession of a home -- or keeping it. A sheriff in Chicago, for example, has told his deputies to stop evicting people from foreclosed properties because he believes some people, especially renters, have been evicted without proper notice. In February, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also known as ACORN, announced a campaign of civil disobedience designed to help families resist eviction and remain in their homes after foreclosure. (See "When foreclosure doesn't mean eviction.")

The homeowners likely won't make it easy on buyers either. "What people don't count on is the high emotional stakes involved with someone who is in the process of losing their home," says Craig Venezia, the author of "Buying a Second Home." They may have been fending off pre-foreclosure buyers, feel they were pushed into the loan or be emotionally drained by the prospect of losing so much. They don't exactly welcome your contact; sometimes, they're hostile.

•You've got more competition than ever. Once a homeowner receives a notice of default, the foreclosure process is public. Some homeowners report being contacted by as many as 65 people offering to "help" during the pre-foreclosure period. At an auction, it's no better. You register and get a bidder's card or paddle, but so do as many as 2,000 other people. "People think, 'If I get a foreclosure, I'll be the only one,'" says Larry Loftis, the author of "Successful Real Estate Investing in a Boom or Bust Market." You could skip auctions and look for REOs, or real-estate-owned properties, where the bank has already foreclosed and owns the home. But those are put on the Multiple Listing Service rolls along with every other property. There's really no way to get around the competition.

Even before the current foreclosure boom and its fallout, buying foreclosures had major downsides. Here are nine more good reasons you may want to steer clear in any market:

•Some pre-foreclosure tactics are sleazy. There's a whole seminar market that teaches you how to find people who are about to lose their homes and pretend to be their white knight. The seminars teach you to pitch that, yes, Aunt Martha will lose the property, but she'll save her credit. You use complicated contracts and high-pressure and scare tactics, and misrepresent what the homes are worth. What you're hoping is that Aunt Martha has about 60 grand in equity. You take over her property, her loan -- and her equity. Loftis says, "It's deceitful and unethical, but that's what they teach."

•You can pay too much. Auctions are designed to create a buying frenzy. It's easy to get caught up and spend more than you'd planned. "People should not be misguided into thinking that the lenders just take a loss. Sometimes they do," says Venezia. "What I've seen is that more short-selling is happening, but it's still more of the exception than the rule." Remember, when a house sells for far less than both the market price and the mortgage, it makes the news exactly because that's not how it usually works.

•You don't get much time to do your research. Foreclosure auctions are a quick process, so when you find out a property is coming up for auction, you don't have much time to research it. If a property sells at auction, all liens are wiped clean, but you are liable for any property taxes. That could wipe out any savings. "You're going to know less about the property," says Venezia. There's no home inspection. Some of the houses are sold sight unseen. And if you're the winning bidder, it's yours -- there's no going back.

Your profit can disappear in the time it takes to rehab and sell a home. Even if you get a property at what you think is a good value, you have to factor in all your costs. It's not just labor and materials. It's the time you hold the property. It could take months to fix up one property and find a buyer for it, and all that time you're paying mortgage interest, utilities, property tax, insurance and more. You really have to do the math.

Say you manage to pay $200,000 for a house worth $250,000. You plan to put in $10,000 worth of carpet and paint before clearing a nice profit. Not so fast. There's always more that needs to be done than you had expected, so say the rehab actually costs you $15,000. Closing costs add $12,500. Then, say it takes you six months to fix the house and find a buyer -- and each month you're paying $3,000 in expenses.

The cost of flipping
Selling price, once fixed:
$250,000
Purchase price:
$200,000
Gross profit:
$50,000

Expenses
Closing costs:
$12,500
Rehab:
$15,000
6 months of taxes, interest, etc.:
$18,000
Total expenses:
$45,500

Net profit:
$4,500

That's a pretty slim profit margin -- one that's completely wiped out if the previous owners trash the place. Or if there are any unknown major defects, such as a leaking roof, a severely cracked foundation or mold. Or if it takes longer than you think to rehab the house in your free time. Or if selling the house takes longer than you anticipated. Not to mention that it could take two to three times longer to complete than a traditional sale, tying up your time and money.

That's a lot of risk, and it could turn out even worse. There are other ways to invest in real estate without exposing yourself to so much risk.

•The owners or tenants may still live there. If you buy property at a foreclosure auction, you may have to be the one to evict the tenants. Do you have the stomach for that?
•Vacant properties are a huge financial drain. Most foreclosures involve single-family homes. These homes feel like safer buys because they're what we know. But you're better off buying multifamily homes, with renters to cover the mortgage payments, taxes and utilities. "If you buy a quad, even if someone moves out, the other tenants cover your expenses," author Loftis says. "You rehab one unit at a time. You never have a property sitting empty that eats your lunch."

•The neighborhood may have underlying problems. You need to ask, "Why is this house in foreclosure?" If the owner lost his job, that's one thing. But if many jobs are being lost in the area, causing a glut of homes on the market, stay away.

•Financing a foreclosure can be complicated. At an auction, you have to bring a cashier's check for a down payment, and then you might have 24 hours to come up with the rest of the cash. Getting a traditional mortgage on a foreclosure would be extremely difficult. You would need to have different sources -- your own cash, access to trusts or hard-money lenders (which can charge exorbitant interest rates).

•You can get great deals now -- without buying foreclosures. One of the best reasons not to buy foreclosures: It's a buyer's market. Loftis recommends that you look for properties that have been on the market six months or longer. You'll find sellers who are willing to give you a good price.

Still, buying a foreclosure might make sense.

If you're thinking of buying a foreclosure or pre-foreclosure for your own residence, it's an entirely different scenario. If you do your research, avoid occupied houses and never buy sight unseen, it could be worth the trouble. Georg Finder, an independent credit evaluator in Fullerton, Calif., bought a fixer-upper that way. He paid about half as much for his house as his neighbors had paid for theirs, and he used some of the savings to make cosmetic fixes. For Finder, the positives outweighed the negatives. He still lives there, 20 years later.

Why it's Time to Invest in Real Estate

2009-09-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

Passing through the Fort Myers, Fla., airport a few weeks ago, I noticed people eagerly signing up for a free bus tour of foreclosed real estate -- with all properties offering water views. During the ride to my hotel, the young driver volunteered that he'd just bought his first house, paying $65,000 for a foreclosed property in nearby Cape Coral that had last sold for more than $250,000. He said he'd never expected to be able to buy anything on a driver's salary, let alone something that nice.

Late last month, Standard & Poor's reported that its S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price index of real-estate values increased this past quarter over the first quarter of 2009, the first quarter-on-quarter increase in three years. Its index of 20 major cities also rose for the three months ended June 30 over the three months ended May 31, with only hard-hit Detroit and Las Vegas experiencing declines. The week before that, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales volume of existing homes was up 7.2% in July from June.

In short, the data suggest that real-estate prices hit a bottom some time during the second quarter and have now begun to rise. There's no way to be certain that this marks the end of the long, painful correction that followed the real-estate bubble, but clearly prices are no longer in free fall.

That means if you've been sitting on the fence, it's time to act.

Trying to buy at a bottom
Ordinarily I'd never try to time the real-estate market, but I can understand why buyers have been cautious. Few want to buy in down markets, just as stock buyers avoid bear markets. And for most people, of course, buying a house is a much bigger decision than buying a stock.

But with real-estate prices nationally now down about 30% from their 2006 peak and showing signs of turning up, the prices aren't likely to go much lower. Every real-estate market is local, and so there may be a few exceptions. Overall, though, I can't imagine a better time to buy than right now.

In addition to bargain prices, buyers should find plenty of homes to choose from. The inventory of unsold homes was 4.09 million units in July, up 7.3% from June, according to the National Association of Realtors. And mortgage rates this week were at a two-month low of close to 5%.

Even the stricter appraisal process is working to the advantage of buyers. Appraisals are coming in far lower than most sellers have been expecting, forcing them to face the new reality of sharply lower prices. And with stricter standards, lenders aren't going to let buyers borrow more than they can afford, which protects buyers and helps to keep prices down.

The flipping days are over
Unless you're really prepared to accept the demands (and headaches) of being a landlord, I don't recommend direct ownership of real estate as an investment. The days of buyers lining up to buy and flip Miami Beach and Las Vegas condos are mercifully gone. There are much easier ways to make money in real estate, such as buying into real-estate investment trusts or buying shares in homebuilders and other housing-related businesses, such as Home Depot (HD, news, msgs).

Historically, the mean rate of return on real estate has been around 3%, according to research from Yale economist Robert Shiller, who co-developed the Case-Shiller index. Shares in REITs and other stocks have often done much better.

But there's a good reason homeownership has been such a central part of the American dream. It delivers security, pride of ownership, a sense of community and decent investment returns as a bonus.

I felt glad for my driver in Florida. He represents the other side of the foreclosure crisis. For every hardship story, and no doubt there are many, others are realizing their dreams of homeownership and getting what may well turn out to be the deals of their lives.

[Related content: homes, home buying, home prices, foreclosure, interest rates]
By James B. Stewart, SmartMoney

336,173 Foreclosure Filings in the Country Reported in June 2009

2009-08-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

A total of 336,173 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported in June 2009, a 5 percent increase from the previous month and a 33 percent increase from June of 2008, according to RealtyTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 336,173 U.S. properties in June, the fourth straight monthly total exceeding 300,000 and helping to boost the second quarter total to the highest quarterly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in the first quarter of 2005. Foreclosure filings were reported on 889,829 U.S. properties in the second quarter, an increase of nearly 11 percent

Some of the key findings include:

• A total of 101,045 California properties received a foreclosure filing in June 2009

• Florida documented 52,899 properties received a foreclosure filing in June 2009.

• Arizona’s 16,834 properties received a foreclosure filing in June 2009.

For a complete Rate Rank by State for June 2009 logon to: http://www.realtytrac.com/news/Press/newsletter-articles.asp?a=b&ItemId=6959&accnt=216672

5 Best and Worst Housing Markets

2009-08-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

Best Housing Markets:

1. New York

2. Washington, D.C.

3. Charlotte, N.C.

4. Portland, Ore.

5. San Diego

Worst Housing markets:

1. Las Vegas

2. Phoenix

3. Detroit

4. Minneapolis

5. San Francisco

Click here to see Forbes.com's full slide show of the 10 best and 10 worst U.S. housing markets.

By Matt Woolsey, Forbes.com

Should I Pay My Mortgage, Should I Stop Paying My Mortgage

2009-06-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Please logon to http://activerain.com/blogsview/1125842/should-i-pay-my-mortgage-
for the issues we are having today regarding houses going to foreclosure and short sales. Great information from a Florida Real Estate Attorney with comments from other agents across the country.

10 Ways to Sell Your Home Faster

2009-05-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Finish the "honey do" list. Just about every homeowner has a string of little repairs that never quite get done. Now's the time. Fix the screens, oil that squeak, patch the cracks, paint the trim. Stuff that you've long since stopped noticing could be shouting "Deferred maintenance!" to every potential buyer.

The cost: A few bucks if you're handy, a couple of hundred or so if you hire someone who is.

Get inspected. A pre-sale inspection can help in two ways, says real estate columnist Tom Kelly. Professional inspections can identify problems that could thwart a sale in time to fix them. And if there are no major problems, he said, an inspection can publicize that fact to skittish buyers.

"Having an inspection (report) right on the counter during the open house . . . shows the buyers that the seller's got nothing to hide," said Kelly, author of several real-estate books, including "Cashing in on a Second Home in Mexico."

The cost: Around $400.

Pack up the clutter. "Clutter eats equity," said real-estate broker Barb Schwarz, CEO of StagedHomes.com and a pioneer of the concept of professionally preparing houses for sale.

Too much stuff makes rooms look smaller and focuses buyers' attention on your possessions rather than the home you're trying to sell. That's why many professional stagers recommend removing as much as a third of your things to better show off rooms and closets.

"Since you're going to have to pack it up anyway, do it now," advised Schwarz, who said she has staged more than 5,000 homes. Buyers "can't imagine themselves living there if they can't see the space."

The cost: $150 to $300 a month for three months' storage.

Depersonalize and neutralize. The first items that should go in those packing boxes: family photos, collections and just about anything else that says "you." Streamline your artwork and consider toning down bold decorating statements, said Ilyce Glink, author of "50 Simple Steps You Can Take to Sell Your Home Faster and for More Money in Any Market." That means neutral shades if you need to repaint walls or replace carpets.

"Buyers have a hard enough time envisioning how their stuff will look on your walls," Glink said. "By neutralizing your decor, you can help give them the blank canvas they need to imagine your house as theirs."

The cost: $10 and up for paint; $500 and up for new carpet.

Clean like a fiend. "I mean Q-Tip clean," said Schwarz, who recommends taking a cotton swab to faucets and fixtures, scouring fingerprints from all the switch plates, shining windows until they're spotless and vacuuming up every last dog hair from the baseboards. "You should be able to eat off the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor."

You'll need to banish suspect smells as well; you don't want your house to become known in real-estate circles as "the cat pee place." If your pets have had one too many accidents, you may need to replace the affected carpet and padding and have the underlying floor sealed. If you're not sure how your place smells, get your least tactful friend to take a few whiffs and tell you the honest truth.

The cost: $10 or so in home cleaning products, if you do it yourself; $75 and up if you hire help.

Stage the rooms. Stand in the doorway to find each room's focal point, and use furniture placement to highlight that. The back of your sofa shouldn't block the view of the fireplace, for example, and the dining room table shouldn't be sharing space with a stair climber.

You should remove any extraneous pieces of furniture, but you may be able to "repurpose" them in another room. A wingback chair that's crowding the family room might help create a nice reading nook in the master bedroom, Schwarz suggested. The cost: Nothing, if you do it yourself; $1,500 and up if you hire a professional stager.

Tend to the floors. Keeping them spotless won't help if they're dated, worn or impossibly stained. You shouldn't spend a fortune installing hardwood or tile, though, since you're unlikely to recoup the cost. Look for compromises that can improve the home's appearance without busting your wallet.

Carpets should be steam-cleaned to see if they're salvageable. If not, you may be able to reduce the costs of replacement by offering to do some of the work, such as removing the old carpet and moving furniture.

And banish scatter rugs, Schwarz advised. Little rugs add to the visual clutter and can be dangerous besides.

The cost: Anywhere from a few bucks to a few hundred bucks.

Kick up the curb appeal. By now, you probably realize the garden gnomes are a no-no. But you may not realize how many sales you're losing before potential buyers even get to the front door.

"Most people will start their search for a home on the Internet. If your house's Internet photo doesn't 'wow' them, they might never call for a showing," Glink said. "That's why your front landscaping needs to be in perfect condition."

Given the pressure to make a good first impression, you'll need to do more than trim back the hedges and plant a few pansies.

"Hire a professional landscaper to clean up the leaves, plant some fall flowers, trim the bushes and trees, and really manicure your lawn," Glink suggested. "If your front walkway is cracked, now might be the time to replace it."

The cost: $300 to $500 for the landscaping, more if you need to fix walkways or driveways.

Pick the right publicist. If you're working with an agent, you'll want one who can really sell. That means somebody who knows your neighborhood intimately and who's enthusiastic about your home. That also means someone other agents want to work with; someone who's too abrasive or who isn't trustworthy won't help your cause.

If you're going to try to sell your home yourself, make sure you're up for the job. Hawking a home can be hard work.

The cost: 3% to 6% of the sale price of your home.

Set the right price. A seller may think she's just testing the market with a high price tag, assuming buyers will at least make an offer, but buyers may assume she's unreasonable and move on.

Your goal should be a fair price -- something that's reasonable given the price of other homes in your area.

"Buyers who are actively searching for a fairly-priced home," Glink said, "will pounce on what they perceive is fair value."

Liz Pulliam Weston is the Web's most-read personal-finance writer. She is the author of several books, most recently "Your Credit Score: Your Money & What's at Stake." Weston's award-winning columns appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board.

When Your Mortgage Application is Rejected

2009-04-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Nearly half of applicants are turned down, but you can find ways to land a loan.

Don't be surprised if your friendly lender, the one who invites you to sit down and apply for a mortgage, ushers you politely out the door empty-handed after you've chatted a bit.
The sudden chill isn't personal. The Mortgage Bankers Association, or MBA, in Washington, D.C., estimates that about half of all mortgage applicants are now being turned down. Though refinancing approvals remained static, the acceptance rate on mortgage applications suffered a 10 percentage-point drop, from 63 percent in the first half of 2007 to 53 percent in the first half of last year, according to mortgage data tracked semi-annually by the association. Since then, further tightening of credit standards means at least half of mortgage-seeking consumers can't squeeze through to acceptance, says MBA spokeswoman Carolyn Kemp.
Instead of yielding to shame, anger or any of the usual emotions associated with rejection, today's consumers who are intent on buying or refinancing should adopt a pragmatic stance, since clear-eyed determination may eventually land them a loan.
1. Get a read on the reason
If you've submitted a formal application, federal law dictates that you're entitled to a formal rejection.
Expect an "adverse action" notice, spelling out the reasons for turning you down, which these days is likely to state that the loan amount you're seeking is too large compared to the current appraised value of your home, says Joe Theisen, president of the Wisconsin Mortgage Professionals Association and branch manager of Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. in Madison, Wis.
If it's not your home's value that's the issue, it may be your personal credentials, such as your creditworthiness, work history or debt load.
When credit is the issue, an adverse-action notice is required, naming the credit reporting agency that provided the data on which the lender based its decision, according to Federal Trade Commission rules. You're also entitled to a free credit report; see the FTC Web site for more information.
Given the odds of acceptance, a lender may not require you to pay a few hundred dollars to submit a formal application, which includes the cost of a professional appraisal on the property. Instead, he may pull a credit score, and tell you what you're likely eligible for, says Marc Savitt, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.
2. Find a fix
Qualifying for a mortgage isn't a black-and-white issue. Rather, different loans at varying rates may be available, depending on how risky a lender thinks a particular mortgage will be. If you don't qualify at 5.5 percent, for instance, you may be able to get the nod for a loan at 6 percent or 6.5 percent.
However, many borrowers, especially those who are refinancing, need a certain rate to reach the monthly payment they want. Not only are rates higher for risky loans, but there are now upfront "point" charges dictated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two big mortgage guarantors currently under government control, Savitt says.
To get a good rate, some borrowers may be able to make changes — like lowering the amount of the loan they seek.
When a borrower isn't far from the qualifying mark, he may be able to reapply and be approved relatively quickly. For instance, if you're within reach of a 740 credit score, which is usually required for the best rate, you might pay down a balance on a credit card and hit the target, Theisen says.
3. Seek out other opinions
Not every lending firm adheres strictly to the same playbook, and one lender may approve what another rejects, says Savitt, who recently had a borrower with good credit turned down for a low down payment, government-insured loan, but found another firm giving the green light.
A local "community bank," meaning a smaller, hometown institution, may be more flexible, contends Diane Scriveri, chief lending officer at Bogota Savings Bank in Teaneck, N.J., and vice chair of the affordable housing committee of the New Jersey League of Community Banks.
"Because we're local, we may know home values better. We still use independent appraisals of course, but we may look at comparable (home values) differently because we know what's really happening in different neighborhoods," she says.
Credit unions, which only offer loans to consumers who qualify for credit union membership, may also be more forgiving, says Tony Emerson, president of the Credit Union League of Connecticut.
"It would be foolhardy to suggest that in every case, you can go to a credit union and get a loan," Emerson says.
Still, he says, some credit unions may judge loan eligibility based upon the unique relationship they have with their members. For instance, many credit unions offer membership to employees of specific companies and would know more about a member's job stability, he says.
4. Give it another try
The Mortgage Bankers Association is predicting that 30-year fixed rates will hover near the 5 percent range through 2009. So if predictions hold and interest rates stay relatively low, you should have time to try again if the factors behind your rejection improve.
Fortunately, a rejection shouldn't bring down your credit score, says Craig Watts, public relations director for Fair Isaac Corp.
Making a formal application and then reapplying more than a month later could lower your score, but only by about 5 points. Most scoring systems allow consumers to make multiple mortgage applications within a 30-day period without any negative impact on their credit score. But mortgage inquiries older than 30 days will count as a single inquiry if they're made within a 14-day or 45-day window, depending on the scoring model used.

Bankrate.com

Mortgage Market News and Rates

2009-03-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

In This Week's "Good News":

Home Prices and New Home Sales Up For January

Although it is not overwhelmingly good news, it is a step in the right direction.

According to FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency), U.S. home prices climbed 1.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from December to January.

The East North Central region posted the greatest increase, experiencing a 3.9 percent rise in home prices, while, not shockingly, the Pacific region dropped 0.9 percent, making it the worst performer.

The FHFA's monthly home price index is calculated using purchase prices of homes backed by mortgages that have been sold or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

On top of this news, just released this morning by the Department of Commerce -- New Home sales numbers climb 4.7% for the month of February, shocking most economists.

Following this news, national homebuilder stock appears to be on the rise for the moment. Some of the stocks posting respectable gains include: KB, Pulte and Toll Brothers.

‘Jumbo' Financing Rates to Become More Competitive

Jumbo financing, which has largely been a thing of the past, is making a comeback.

In part, this comeback appears to be due to the announcement that the government will begin buying up ‘toxic assets'.

A number of major lenders are beginning to roll out programs that are specifically focused on loan amounts that exceed Conforming Conventional financing (balances over $417,000, and in High-Cost areas - balances exceeding $730,000).

The lender loan programs look to target the loan amount range of $730,000 min. to $1.5 million max., with mortgage rates in the upper 5% range.

Currently, the jumbo-conforming spread continues to remain high, but with conforming rates so low, it means more reasonable jumbo rates will likely follow, despite being offered at a premium.

As more banks and lenders enter the fold, rates on jumbo loans will likely be significantly pushed down, aiding the luxury-end of the market as well as hard-hit, costly regions of the United States.

This is great news for those home owners that are excluded from the recent release of the governments sponsored ‘Making Home Affordable" plan.

Mortgage Rate Trends:

The Week's National* Conforming Loan Averages (BankRate avg.):

30 year fixed: 5.09%Down

15 year fixed: 4.81%Up

5/1 ARM: 4.78% Down

30 year Jumbo: 6.46% Down

5/1 Jumbo ARM: 5.34%Down

* Keep in mind that these rates are national averages', rates may be lower in your region of the country.

FHA and VA 30 year fixed rate loans have seen a rise this week- expect note rates to be in the range of 5.25 to 5.50 percent throughout the rest of the week.

Rural housing rates will likely remain in the range of 5.25 to 5.375 percent for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage.

If you have a client(s) that you are having trouble getting qualified through your normal channels, or questions/comments regarding any information contained in this newsletter, please feel free to contact Richard Shreeve, Editor toll free direct at 1-800-466-1809 (MA Lender of Choice).

America's Top 5 Best - and Worst - Housing Markets

2009-02-28T12:32:00.000-08:00

Check it out.

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=18080758>1=35000

Clean Energy to Power Economic Recovery

2009-02-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Obama Delivers on Promise to Make Clean Energy a Cornerstone of Recovery Plan

Today, President Obama signed an economic recovery plan that delivers $78.6 billion in clean energy, energy efficiency, and green transportation. These provisions will reduce pollution and save energy while creating jobs. When fully implemented, these provisions will prevent approximately 68 million tons of global warming pollution annually, reduce oil consumption by 15 million barrels per year, and create more than 1.5 million jobs.

“President Obama’s election campaign was powered by the energy of millions of Americans who support a clean energy future. Now, his economic recovery plan will repower America and recharge our economy by investing in solar and wind, more efficient homes and public transit,” said Environment Massachusetts Field Organizer Winston Vaughan.

Environment Massachusetts applauded both the president and Congress for delivering a plan that will put Americans to work in good jobs weatherizing homes and federal buildings, installing renewable energy projects, and expanding our public transit capacity to meet growing demand.

The final bill invests $32.80 billion in clean energy, $26.86 billion in energy efficiency, and $18.95 billion in green transportation. Environment Massachusetts highlighted the following provisions out of a long list of clean energy projects funded by the plan

• Providing $5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program, enough to prevent 2 million tons of global warming pollution, create 375,000 jobs, and weatherize more than a million homes.
• Investing $8.4 billion in public transit, $1.3 billion in Amtrak and intercity rail, and $8 billion in new high speed rail, which combined will save 14 million barrels of oil per year and create or preserve nearly 296,000 jobs.
• Extending and “recession proofing” the renewable energy incentives, which will prevent 61 million tons of global warming pollution per year by the end of the three year extension and create or protect 670,000 jobs in the near term;

“The president’s recovery plan is a down payment on a clean energy transformation of our economy that will help solve global warming, reduce our dependence on oil and create more jobs,” concluded Vaughan.

Environment Massachusetts' summary of economic and environmental benefits of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is posted at: http://www.environmentmassachusetts.org/ARRA_chart_2009-2-17

# # #

Environment Massachusetts is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization working for clean air, clean water, and open space. www.environmentmassachusetts.org

Winston Vaughan
Field Organizer
Environment Massachusetts
44 Winter Street, Suite 401
Boston, MA 02108
w. 617-747-4447
Winston@EnvironmentMassachusetts.org
www.EnvironmentMassachusetts.org

December Sales Increase Despite Declines in Year-End

2009-01-30T12:17:00.000-08:00

On January 27 MA Realtor Association reported that single-family homes sales were up 3.2 percent in December compared to the same time last year. While median prices continue to go down, this is the third month in the last four to experience sales increases.

There were 2,622 single-family homes sold in December 2008, a 3.2 percent increase compared to 2,540 homes sold the year before. This is only the third monthly increase in 2008 and only the fourth time there has been an annual December increase since 1997. On a month-to-month basis, there was a 12.1 percent increase compared to the 2,339 homes sold this past November. This is only the third November-to-December increase since 2000.

In December, the median selling price for single-family homes was $275,000 a decrease of 14.9 percent compared to $323,000 in December 2007, which is back to 2002 levels. On a month-to-month basis, the December median selling price went down 2.8 percent from November at $283,000.

The condominium market experienced a 14.8 percent decrease in the number of units sold this December compared to last year (from 1,107 units sold in 2007 to 943 units sold in 2008). On a month-to-month basis, condominium sales were up 4.1 percent compared to 906 units sold in November. Similar to single-family home sales, this is only the third November-to-December sales increase since 2000.

The median selling price of a condo in December 2008 was $230,000, which is down 14.8 percent from the December 2007 median price of $270,000, which is back to 2003 levels. Compared to this past November, the median selling price of a condominium was down 8.0 percent (from $250,000).

“With sales up in December, we feel prices and the extremely low interest rates are bringing people back into the market,” said Rogers. “This was something that was starting to happen in September and October, but the financial turmoil put a halt to that in November. December’s results indicate that the market is at least heading in a positive direction and we’ll take that for now.”

The inventory of single-family homes fell 16 percent from December 2007 levels (from 30,014 listings in 2007 to 25,178 listings in 2008) which translates into 9.6 months of supply in December 2008. This is down from 11.8 months of supply in December 2007 and down from 12.2 months of supply in November 2008. This is the ninth straight month that year-over-year inventory levels have gone down.

Inventory continues to drop in the condominium market as well. December inventory went down 24 percent (from 13,939 listings in 2007 to 10,637 listings in 2008), which translates into 11.3 months of supply, down from 12.6 months of supply in December 2007 and down from 13.2 months this past November.

Detached single-family homes stayed on the market an average of 140 days in December 2008 compared to an average of 147 days in December 2007, while condos stayed on the market an average of 142 days, down from an average of 148 days in December 2007.

Do You Know All About Foreclosures, Short Sales and Bank Owned Properties?

2009-01-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

Please read this great article on MSN from Bankrate.com, understand the differences and determine if it's right for you.

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13107831>1=35000#atoolb

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

2008-12-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

May the tree lights of Christmas and candle lights of Hannukah brighten your life and bring you joy for the New Year!

EarthTalk: Which is greener: dryer sheets or liquid fabric softener? - Andover, MA - AmericanTowns.com

2008-12-15T12:54:00.001-08:00

EarthTalk: Which is greener: dryer sheets or liquid fabric softener? - Andover, MA - AmericanTowns.com

Posted using ShareThis

Thrifty Solutions for an Outdated Kitchen

2008-11-11T16:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the lessons we learned that sellers can use in turning that old, tired kitchen into a showplace buyers will clamor to call their own.

1. Add space and light by removing a wall. Instead of shelling out thousands of dollars to build additional floor space for our cramped kitchen, we took a simpler, less invasive approach. We replaced the partition walls with a single supporting beam and extended the exterior wall to enclose an underused 8-by-9-foot deck. For more light we added a large skylight and enlarged the garden window.

2. Don’t move the plumbing. Although it was tempting to move the sink from the back wall to the new island, it would have cost us an additional $1,200. Relocating the stove was possible, but moving the gas and electricity would have run at least $500 plus the cost of a new stove to work with the island. We did relocate the fridge to make room for the island, which we use for both food prep and casual dining. However, keeping most of the appliances in the same place saved us an estimated $2,000.

3. Unclutter the countertops with special hardware. Limited counter space doesn’t have to mean limited workspace. Mounting a stand mixer and a food processor on heavy-duty appliance lifts from Rev-A-Shelf kept them out of the way but instantly accessible. The brackets are strong enough to support an appliance in use, so you can lift it up to create an instant workstation. The lifts average about $90 each.

4. Buy ready-to-assemble cabinets. We chose white melamine boxes for most of the kitchen and cherry for the hutch, all from CabParts. The drawer boxes were ordered from Drawer Box Specialties. Ordering parts by mail and installing them yourself requires careful planning and precise measurements, but the payoff is major savings (for us, about $15,000).

5. Consider a variety of countertop materials. We wanted granite for its look and durability, but our budget kept us from using it on the island as well as the countertop. By shopping around, we found a 3⁄4-inch-thick granite slab that cost 30 percent less than a 1 1⁄4-inch version. The granite’s true thickness is visible around the undermount sink, but a laminated edge makes it look like a thicker slab and hides the plywood backing, which adds structural support to the countertop. A maple butcher-block top on the island costs about $450.

Adapted from an article in the October/November 2007 issue of Fine Homebuilding. To read the entire article as well as other stories about home repair and remodeling, go to www.finehomebuilding.com.

10 Ways to Cut Energy Bills This Fall

2008-10-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

Staying warm doesn't have to cost a fortune. Here are some ideas from the U.S. Department of Energy for conserving heat and saving money.

When the leaves start falling, you know that the heating bills are about to start rising. But keeping your home warm and cozy on chilly autumn nights doesn't have to break the bank.

The U.S. Department of Energy offers these simple tips and relatively inexpensive home improvements that will help ensure cold gusts stay out and your furnace doesn't have to work harder than it should.

The goal: Conserve energy and keep more of your hard-earned dollars in your pocket.

1. Plug air leaks with caulking, sealing, or weather stripping. Save 10 percent ($190per year) or more on energy bills. Focus on windows, doors, outlets or switch plates on exterior walls.

2. Properly maintain the heating system. Heating accounts for half the average family's energy bill (approximately $950 per year). Make sure the furnace or heat pump receives professional maintenance each year. The small cost (about $75-100 for most service calls) will pay back in better performance all year long.

3. Install a programmable thermostat. Programming the thermostat from 72ºF to 65ºF for eight hours a day while no one is home, or everyone is tucked in bed, will cut the heating bill up to 10 percent ($90 per year), paying for a basic unit in less than a year.

4. Seal and insulate heating ducts. A system can lose up to 60 percent of its warmed air before it reaches the register (wasting $570 in warmed air per year) if ducts are not properly insulated in unheated areas such as attics and crawlspaces.

5. Insulate, insulate, insulate. Adequate insulation in the attic, ceilings, exterior and basement walls, floors, and crawlspaces can save up to 30 percent on home energy bills ($630 per year). Focus on the attic. (Heat rises.) Most homes should have between R-30 and R-49 insulation in the attic. Learn more at www.eere.energy.gov/consumer.

6. Close fireplace dampers when not in use. When in use, reduce heat loss by opening dampers in the bottom of the firebox (if provided) or open the nearest window about an inch, close doors to the room, and lower thermostat setting to 50-55ºF.

7. Let the sun shine in. Open curtains on south facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat the home, and close them at night to reduce the chill from cold windows.

8. Stay out of hot water. Water heating accounts for 15 percent of household energy use. Reduce water heating costs by lowering the water heater’s thermostat setting. Each 10ºF reduction can save between 3-5 percent in energy costs. Also insulate the hot water heater and hot water pipes.

9. Install storm windows over single-pane windows or replace them with Energy Star qualified windows. Storm windows reduce heat loss by 25 to 50 percent, and storm windows with low-e coating that reflect heat back into the room during the winter months save even more energy. Look for the Energy Star label to maximize savings. Energy Star qualified windows reduce heating and cooling bills by an average of $345, but could be higher in cold and hot climates, compared with uncoated, single-pane windows. Can’t afford new windows just now? Tape clear plastic sheeting to the inside of window frames if drafts, water condensation, or frost are present.

10. Net big savings with a little label. When replacing appliances, light bulbs, electronics, or heating and cooling systems, cut energy bills by up to 30 percent
($600 per year) with Energy Star labeled products. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in place of comparable incandescent bulbs. Find retailers at www.energystar.gov.

These and other improvements that impact the energy efficiency of a home can save home owners money in the short term and serve as a selling point to potential buyers later. Be sure to save receipts, documentation, and manufacturer’s information.

Not sure where to begin? Try the Department of Energy's online energy audit tool at www.hes.lbl.gov. In the long run, a whole-house energy audit is a fool proof way to make a plan to address wasted energy and make a home operate efficiently for years to come. Visit www.natresnet.org to find a qualified auditor in your neck of the woods.

Reassuring Buyers in this Market

2008-10-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

In unsettling economic times such as these, it is not unusual for home buyers to overanalyze market data and their home purchase decision to the point of being paralyzed with information overload or pure anxiety. The failure of several banks and financial services firms, the placement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship, and the volatility on Wall Street combined with uncertainty surrounding the presidential election only complicate matters for consumers.

As a result, many prospective buyers are sitting on the sidelines, despite the fact that current conditions within the residential real estate market are very favorable for those looking to enter into homeownership. To be sure, home prices are substantially more affordable than they were 2-3 years ago, and mortgage interest rates remain near historic lows. In addition, new, higher FHA loan limits and a $7,500 home buyer tax credit approved as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 have effectively reduced the down payment hurdle for homeownership, especially for entry-level buyers. Finally, the increased capital for mortgage lending that will become available with the federal government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should make it easier to obtain home financing in the months ahead.

MARKET RECAP

2008-09-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

Everything isn’t turning up roses quite yet, but last week’s slate of economic news suggests that at least blooms are forming. Existing-home sales hit a five-month high, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors, jumping 3.1% in July to 5 million units from 4.85 million in June.

Meanwhile, on the new-home front, sales rose 2.4% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 515,000 units after falling to a revised 17-year low in June, the Commerce Department reported. More encouraging, the inventory of unsold homes declined for the second month in a row, to a 10.1 months’ supply at the current sales pace. It appears that new home sales have begun to stabilize, as sharply reduced prices have lured buyers back into the market.

Prices on both existing and new homes should continue to stabilize along with the economy. On the latter, gross domestic product grew at a seasonally adjusted 3.3% annual rate during the second quarter, exceeding most economists’ estimates by over a percentage point. The new GDP numbers reflect new data showing that exports were even stronger than first estimated and that business inventories weren’t depleted as much as earlier thought.

Further proof of a recovering economy could be found in durable goods orders – products that have a life expectancy of at least three years, including cars, computers and aircraft. They increased 1.3% in July, matching June’s revised number. Economists had predicted orders would drop 0.5%. (Overall, it was a bad week for the professional prognosticators.)

Even long-suffering shareholders in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had something to cheer about. It seems that the prior week’s talk of nationalization may have been premature (but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen yet). An emerging sentiment among investors is that both institutions might still have a life as independents, which lifted both Fannie’s and Freddie’s stock 50% higher. (Keep in mind, though, it doesn’t take much price movement to produce big percentage swings in a low-priced stock.)

WHICH STATE IN NEW ENGLAND IS RECOVERING FIRST FROM THE RECESSION?

2008-08-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

Chart I below shows the growth in number of people with jobs from May of last year to May of this year. New Hampshire's growth at 1.6 percent is way above any other state in this region as well as being far better than the barely positive US figure of 0.2 percent. Chart II shows that our unemployment rate at 4 percent is the lowest in the region and well below the national 5.5 percent rate.
Finally, Chart III shows the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's index (as reported by the Boston Bank) of economic activity for each of the New England states and the nation. At nearly 200, the index for New Hampshire is far and away the region's highest and is also 24 percent above the national index.

Source for Charts I, II and III: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

If any state is going to recover in a timely fashion from this recession and reverse the decline in home sales, it's going to be New Hampshire. From a pricing point of view, the recovery may already be in progress. Median home price for residences statewide have risen steadily for the past four months and are now 11 percent above what they were in February.
For the first half of this year, the statewide median home price is still 8 percent below the first half of last year. That's way below the national drop, and at our current rate of climb, prices here should be in positive territory by the end of the year.
Nevertheless, only 1,127 residential properties and 281 condominiums were sold statewide in June and those sales were respectively 20 percent and 38 percent below the sales for June of last year. So prices may be slowly rising, but closing a sale is harder. The home next door to ours, for example, just sold after nearly three years on the market, to the great relief of everyone involved. Perhaps it's a harbinger of better future buyer activity.

NH residential (non-condominium) sales

County
Units sold YTD
% change 2007-08
Median
price YTD
% change 2007-08
Average price YTD
% change 2007-08

Belknap
272
-21%
$220,000
-7%
$330,681
-8%

Carroll
288
-16%
$203,000
-10%
$302,620
-8%

Cheshire
278
-19%
$187,000
-11%
$228,800
-1%

Coos
125
-23%
$105,000
-7%
$131,672
-6%

Grafton
295
-31%
$200,000
-8%
$265,241
-3%

Hillsborough
1,260
-22%
$252,000
-10%
$287,427
-8%

Merrimack
460
-29%
$225,000
-9%
$257,145
-5%

Rockingham
1,075
-17%
$295,500
-6%
$351,741
-3%

Strafford
423
-25%
$223,000
-11%
$246,397
-8%

Sullivan
172
-22%
$166,500
-12%
$220,162
-3%

Statewide
4,648
-22%
$241,000
-8%
$287,451
-5%

MASS & NORTH SHORE HOME SALES

2008-08-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

MAR reported that both single-family home sales and condominium sales were down 14.9 percent and 20.3 percent respectively in June compared to the same time last year. On a month-to-month basis, both single-family sales and condominium sales continue to go up. Listings and months of supply are down compared to the same time last year.

In the second quarter of 2008, single family homes sales were down 13.7% and condominium sales were down 23.6%. "While we were hoping to see the trend of narrowing sales declines we experienced in April and May, that just didn't happen in June, " said MAR President, Susan M. Renfrew. "However, median prices are at their highest in several months, while the number of homes for sale and months of supply are continuing to come down, meaning demand for those properties can start to increase.

MA Detached Single-family Home Sales and Median Selling Prices

2007 2008 % Change

12,184 10,518 -13.7

355,000 325,000 -8.5%

MA Condominium Sales and Median Selling Prices

February 2007 February 2008 % Change

6,283 4,802 -23.6%

287,500 265,000 - 0.9%

FHA Extends Financing for Immediate Purchase of Foreclosed Homes

2008-06-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

In an effort to stabilize declining home values in certain neighborhoods, the Bush Administration announced a temporary policy that will extend government-backed mortgage insurance and allow for the immediate sale of vacant foreclosed properties.

For one year, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will insure foreclosed properties marketed and sold by property disposition firms on behalf of lenders. The properties, which must purchased by owner-occupants, will no longer be subject to the customary 90-day waiting period.

“A glut of foreclosed and abandoned homes harms neighborhoods, frustrates home buyers and delays a community’s recovery,” said Brian D. Montgomery, Assistant Secretary of Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner. “The action we take today will allow home buyers to purchase these homes in much greater numbers and ease the excess supply of unsold homes in neighborhoods across the country.”

FHA’s new temporary policy will help stabilize neighborhoods experiencing high rates of foreclosure by reducing the inventory of unsold properties. Many foreclosed properties remain vacant for months, inviting vandalism and reducing values of surrounding homes. To address that sizeable inventory, lenders have hired companies that specialize in the marketing and disposition of foreclosed homes. It’s reasonable and appropriate that these firms have the ability to sell the properties to borrowers using FHA financing.

With certain exceptions, FHA currently prohibits insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. This prohibition is intended to prevent property “flipping,” a predatory practice that strips a home of its equity before being quickly resold at an inflated price to an unsuspecting buyer. FHA’s new policy will permit the immediate sale of foreclosed properties to legitimate borrowers wishing to use FHA-insured financing.

OPPORTUNE TIME TO PURCHASE

2008-04-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

Existing-home sales in the Northeast and West each rose 2.2 percent from February, while the South and Midwest fell by 3.5 percent and 6.5 percent respectively. Sales once again dropped in all regions year-over-year: 18.8 percent in the Northeast; 22.3percent in the West; 20 percent in the South; and 15.9 percent in the Midwest.

Yet some areas in MA like North Shore as averaged the same this quarter in sales price to last years quarter, January through April 07.

That shows that we aren't declining in price in certain areas like most think and where rates are down this would be an opportune time to purchase.

The banks have declared that it will be harder to lend next year because of the current situation on the rate of foreclosures so they will be making it tighter for everyone including people who can afford to purchase by wanting more money down and top credit scores.

So why take the gamble and wait?

Opportune Time To Buy A Home

2008-03-20T06:31:00.000-07:00

1) The advantages of owning a home, include a number of financial and social benefits, not the least of which include federal income tax deductions on mortgage interest and property taxes, as well as the security of knowing they can not be evicted from their home without cause upon termination of a lease.

2) Owning a home also provides one of the best paths to accumulating personal wealth. As evidence, a recent Federal Reserve study found that the median net worth of U.S. homeowners is $184,400, or 46 times greater than the average renter's median net worth of $4,000.

3) Housing is a solid long-term investment. Provided one's lifestyle or living arrangements won't dictate a move in less than 3-5 years, homeownership often makes more sense than renting. Data shows that over the past 30 years, the median price for existing homes in the U.S. has increased an average of more than 6 percent per year and the typical home nearly doubles in value every 10 years. For more facts and figures, go to www.housingmarketfacts.com and the Consumer Resources section of the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® website for "Why It's a Good Time to Buy."

Furthermore, while it's true that mortgage lending standards have been tightened in recent months, it's also important to educate consumers about the new, higher loan limits announced last week for FHA mortgages as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loans. The new loan ceilings will provide access to loans with more attractive terms, including lower-priced "jumbo" loans. Importantly, however, the lower rates for jumbo mortgages will only be available until December 31, 2008.

By then, interest rates also may have risen and home prices could strengthen, making this spring an ideal time to buy - the very argument made by writer Dan Kadlec in his article entitled "Ignore the Headlines" which appeared recently in Time magazine.

HOME TIPS

2008-02-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

The Chilling Danger of Carbon Monoxide

For most of us January brings bitter winds, icy paths and dipping temperatures. But perhaps the most chilling result of wintry weather is the marked increase in home injury during this season. "Carbon monoxide, home fires and power outage hazards pose harmful threats to our families and their well being," says Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council. "Unfortunately, only 35 percent of homeowners have a carbon monoxide detector in their home - leaving more than half of families exposed to this silent killer." See the Home Safety Council's recommendations for these simple steps to avoid potential dangers during the winter months.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amazing Handyman Tricks

It's winter and you're indoors more and you should have time to get to some of those minor door, floor, window and ceiling repair projects around the house that you have been putting off for too long. Even if you are not much of a Do-It-Yourselfer, you may wish to check out a useful list of some of "Super Handyman" Al Carrell's quick fixes compiled by textfiles.com from a Mother Jones Magazine article. Examples: pushing your drill bit through a throwaway aluminum pie pan or a plastic butter tub when drilling into the ceiling to keep the dust mostly out of your eyes and off the floor, or using talcum powder to help quiet a squeaky floor.
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Garbage Disposers - Use, Care and Safety

Consider the lowly garbage disposal. It's one of those unheralded, generally overlooked little things that make our lives today so much easier than they used to be. If you don't remember, or are too young to know, how much bother and time cleaning the food mess in the kitchen and scarps from dinner plates and serving dishes used to be - consider yourself lucky. We've compiled a guide to the use, care and safety of garbage disposals at Home Hints eNews.
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Green Cleaning

Most of us are interested in trying to decrease our own contributions to the ubiquitous air and water pollution that so bedevils modern living. Here are some eco-friendly cleaning procedures you may wish to try. To clean a toilet bowl try pouring a can of Coca-Cola® into the toilet bowl. Let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then brush and flush clean. Kool-Aid© will also clean a toilet as will Alka Seltzer®. Drop in two tablets; wait twenty minutes, brush, and flush. The citric acid and and/or effervescent action in these products will clean vitreous china.
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Winter Home Maintenance - Easy Steps to Prevent Winter Home Disasters

The extremes of winter temperatures and the rapid shifts between them can be a real challenge for homes and homeowners. Winter conditions may shift from mild to extreme cold and can permanently damage many components of your home. Jay Banks, who lives in Vancouver British Columbia and ought to know of such things, has compiled a Winter Home Maintenance Guide - Eleven Easy Steps to Prevent Disasters, to help prevent home disasters such as broken pipes.

MORTGAGE NEWS

2008-02-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??

The recent real estate boom was fueled by a period of record home appreciation and historically low interest rates. Banks, in order to compete, loosened guidelines and began offering more funding to more borrowers through riskier, non-conforming or "exotic" mortgages.

These ideal lending conditions persisted for several years, supported by high demand, historical real estate data, home prices, and massive trading volume/profits on mortgage-backed securities and other financial instruments on Wall Street.

Then, in 2006, a slowdown in real estate led to a deterioration of home values, an increase in inventories, and ultimately to today's tightening of credit guidelines, leaving many investors unable to sell or refinance out of their existing positions. Many Americans who had tapped into their equity were suddenly tapped-out and overextended as home values fell. Foreclosures followed in record numbers and a re-valuation of mortgage bonds and other financial instruments created the credit/liquidity domino effect we're now experiencing.

Unfortunately, it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. According to the latest estimates, over 2 million subprime and Alt-A adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) holders will face payment increases of up to 30%-100% when their loans reset in the next 2 to 18 months. These loans make up less than 40% of the total mortgage market, but the negative effects, as we have seen, of increased foreclosure activity can have a ripple effect throughout the industry and around the globe.

What does this mean to you and your mortgage?

Sellers: If you're planning on selling your home, be prepared for an even smaller pool of qualified buyers. While some experts predict a settling of this credit crisis over the coming year, tightened credit guidelines and diminishing mortgage products could knock out as many as 15%-30% of potential qualified buyers. Now is not the time to sit and wait for the best possible price. Have a serious talk with your Real Estate Agent. Having experienced buying/selling transactions in your area, he or she can help you price your home accordingly. He or she can also help ensure that your buyers are pre-approved and stay pre-approved throughout the entire transaction.

Buyers: Get pre-approved by your mortgage professional. While there are a lot of great deals out there, getting credit is becoming tougher and tougher, and it's taking longer and longer to complete a transaction. Remember, what you qualify for today could change tomorrow in a volatile market. For those looking to refinance, keep this in mind. There is no time to delay! Communicate with your lender. Don't do anything that could negatively affect your credit, and make sure you get all your documentation in on time.

ARMs Borrowers: If your ARM is scheduled to reset in the next 2-18 months, you need to schedule an appointment with a mortgage professional right away. Whether your ARM is subprime, Alt-A, or even if you have a pre-payment penalty, don't let a default or foreclosure situation sneak up on you. Did you know that your monthly payments can increase anywhere from 30% to 100% once your loan resets? At the very least, give yourself the peace of mind of knowing what your adjusted payment will be. A good loan officer can help calculate the numbers.

Borrowers with less-than-perfect credit: Each week it seems lenders are shedding more and more mortgage products. Many lenders have stopped offering No-Doc loans and are reducing all forms of Stated-Income loans. While it might be challenging, borrowers with credit issues need to see a loan expert. Often they have credit repair resources and other strategies to help you reach your financial goals.

Finally, don't let the headlines get to you! While all looks bleak and scary now, there's an important concept to embrace: all markets, while cyclical in nature, are self-correcting, be it credit, real estate, stocks, or bonds. For the last 6 or 7 years, real estate was booming and riding high. The correction we're experiencing now – while it seems harsh and could get much worse – is, in a sense, "natural" and directly related to the extremely loose guidelines and perhaps overzealous lending and leveraging during the boom cycle.

Top 10 Reasons It's a Great Time To Buy

2008-01-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

1. Selection, selection, selection.
Regardless of price range, there are plenty of houses from which to choose. There's a great selection of attached homes, condos and townhouses. You can find large lots, small lots, and a lot that will accommodate your boat or RV. You have many options. When resale inventories are low, buyers are forced to make compromises. Not today.

2. No bidding wars.
In 2005, we knew one family who made offers on 10 homes. They lost the first nine to the feeding frenzy that existed in the market - other buyers bid the properties up substantially from the original listing prices. There were even escalation clauses where buyers authorized their agents to outbid other offers by thousands of dollars. There's no competitive bidding in the buyer's market of today.

3. You can make an offer.
A few years ago when you made an offer, the only question was how high above the list price you should reach in hopes of being the best offer on the table. Today the sell price vs. list price ratio is about 96 percent. Sellers won't be insulted if you "make them an offer they can't refuse."

4. Patience is tolerated.
In the hot seller's market, everything was rushed. You had to find a house before other buyers did, then hurry up and make the offer. Today, buyers can take their time. They can look at several homes and think about their decision for a while.

5. Due diligence is welcomed.
In this market, a buyer is encouraged to obtain a home inspection, termite inspection and appraisal. In 2005, many buyers waived these contingencies in order to gain an advantage.

6. Plenty of specs.
Buyers sometimes had to play games if they wanted a newly built home. There were lotteries and waiting lists. Some buyers even slept in their cars in order to get to the head of the line.

7. Repair requests are accepted.
After buyers complete a home inspection, they're allowed to submit a repair request to the sellers. But in the past, sellers often insisted the home be sold as-is. Many times, there were back-up buyers waiting for the primary buyers to upset the sellers, whose home was increasing in value almost daily.

8. Few, if any investors.
It's estimated that one third of all sales in 2005 were to investors. These buyers caused the market to inflate and affordability to decline. Mortgage fraud became commonplace. It's a great time to buy without having to compete with hundreds of prospective landlords.

9. Location, location, location.
Today's buyers can find homes closer to work. In this market, reasonably priced homes are within biking or walking distance to schools, rapid transit lines and relatives.

10. Real financing is available.
The "wink, wink" zero-down, no-doc, adjustable, sub-prime loans are gone. Fixed rates are back. FHA financing, first-time homeowner bond programs, and special loans for teachers or police officers are back in business. The bottom line: It's a great time to buy real estate!

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS COMMENDS FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD ON TIMELY INTEREST RATE CUT

2008-01-24T18:01:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON, January 22, 2008 - The following is a statement by Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors®, on today’s action by the Federal Reserve Board:

"Today’s 75-basis-point cut in the Fed funds rate to 3.50 percent is a very good step in the right direction to boost the economy and send a clear message to both the market and to consumers. This strong rate cut will help lower mortgage interest rates and lessen the burden of adjustable-rate loans that are resetting in the current environment. It also could help stimulate business investment in the wake of market uncertainties. We commend the Federal Reserve Board on its bold action, but at the same time we urge it to keep a close watch to see if additional action is needed.

New Law Helps Ease Pain for Some Facing Foreclosures or Short Sales

2008-01-10T20:33:00.001-08:00

On December 20 President Bush signed into law H.R. 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. While this piece of legislation is far from being a cure for all the ills caused by the recent and on-going meltdown in the real estate mortgage sector, it will certainly provide relief for some who are caught between declining home values and rising mortgage payments.

It has been widely noted lately that, in certain circumstances, parties undergoing foreclosure or short sales may also face tax bills on the "phantom income" generated by debt forgiveness. Here is a brief example: Suppose you had refinanced your home for $550,000 and that, now, when you have to sell, its value is only $500,000. Your lender might agree to a short sale, and discharge your mortgage debt even though the payoff was $50,000 short. The catch for you is that you might receive a 1099 from the lender, and be taxed on the $50,000 of debt forgiveness. You see why it is called "phantom income." (There are, in fact, generally good reasons for taxing debt forgiveness, but that is a whole other discussion.)

H.R. 3648 will provide relief from that kind of tax bite in certain specified situations. Beginning January 1, 2007 and lasting until January 1, 2010, certain discharges of mortgage indebtedness on a principal residence will be excluded from a taxpayer's gross income. As always, though, certain restrictions apply.

For one thing, the amount of indebtedness is limited to $2 million. For most of us folks, this will not present a problem.

Of greater relevance is the fact that, to be excluded, the debt discharged must be acquisition debt. That is, the mortgage must have been used to purchase the home. Suppose, for example, that you have lived in your home for twenty years, that you bought it back when it was "only" $200,000, and that, by now, you have refinanced it up to $650,000. Suppose, also, that your neighbor purchased his home just last year, and that he took out a $650,000 mortgage to finance the transaction. Now, both of you need to sell and your homes have decreased in value to $600,000. If you both are granted short sales by the lender, you will both have mortgage debt forgiveness of $50,000. Under H.R. 3648, his debt forgiveness will not be taxed because it was acquisition debt. Yours, however, will be. Bummer.

H.R. 3648 will also have relevance in situations where there is not a sale, but where the borrower and lender have restructured the loan and, along with other possibilities such as interest rate and/or payment reductions, the loan balance has been reduced. In such cases the debt forgiveness will not be taxed as ordinary income, but the amount of debt forgiveness will be applied to a reduction in the borrower's cost basis in the property. This way, it may subsequently be at least partially recaptured by the IRS in the form of capital gain tax.

Finally, we note that this tax exclusion only applies in situations where the debt forgiveness resulted from a situation related to a decline in the value of the property or to the financial condition of the borrower. You wouldn't benefit from it if your mortgage was reduced as a form of payment for services rendered to the lender (suppose you were the bank president).

H.R. 3648 won't solve all the problems out there, but it will certainly be of help to some. That is probably a good thing.

EXISTING-HOME SALES TO TREND UP IN 2008

2007-12-14T06:13:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON, December 10, 2007 - Existing-home sales are projected to trend up in 200with pending home sales showing a slight near-term rise, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®. However, a recovery for new-home sales is unlikely before 2009.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the worst part of the credit crunch has already worked its way through the data. “The unusual mortgage disruptions that peaked in August were clearly seen in lower home sales that were finalized in September and October, so the market was underperforming,” he said. “Now that mortgage conditions have improved, some postponed activity should turn up in existing-home sales over the next couple of months, and I expect sales at fairly stable to slightly higher levels.”

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in October, increased 0.6 percent to an index of 87.2 from an upwardly revised reading of 86.7 in September. It was the second consecutive monthly gain, but remained 18.4 percent below the October 2006 index of 106.8. “The broad trend over the coming year will be a gradual rise in existing-home sales, but because sales are exceptionally low in the final months of 2007, total sales for 2008 will be only modestly higher than 2007,” Yun said.

The PHSI in the Northeast jumped 16.0 percent in October to 80.6 but is 11.1 percent below a year ago. In the West, the index rose 8.4 percent to 87.3 but is 16.9 percent lower than October 2006. The index in the Midwest slipped 1.4 percent in October to 85.5 and is 11.7 percent below a year ago. In the South, the index dropped 7.8 percent in October to 91.6 and is 25.3 percent below October 2006.

“The improvement in the Northeast reaffirms a trend apparent for some months now that shows signs of recovery, noteworthy because that was the first region to slump, and the gain in the West indicates some easing of interest rates for jumbo loans,” Yun said. “Lawmakers need to understand that raising the loan limits on FHA and GSE-backed conventional loans will markedly improve mortgage availability.”

Existing-home sales are likely to total 5.67 million this year, the fifth highest on record, rising to 5.70 million in 2008, in contrast with 6.48 million in 2006. Existing-home prices should be down 1.9 percent to a median of $217,600 for all of 2007, and then rise 0.3 percent to $218,300 in 2008.

“Home price growth in the vast affordable midsection of America will help raise the national median existing-home price slightly in 2008. I then expect price appreciation to return to more normal patterns in 2009, perhaps rising one or two percentage points above the rate of inflation,” Yun said.

“Even with a modest decline in the national aggregate price this year, it’s important to keep in mind that nearly two-thirds of the metro areas in the U.S. are showing price increases,” he said. “The apparent disparity results from fewer sales in high-cost markets, so a change in the mix of sales is dragging down the national median home price.”

Areas showing healthy price gains include disparate markets such as Gary-Hammond, Ind.; Binghamton, N.Y.; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Spokane, Wash. “We can’t emphasis enough how much local conditions vary, even within a given area, so it’s important for consumers to make decisions based on local market conditions.”

New-home sales are forecast at 788,000 this year and 693,000 in 2008, down from 1.05 million 2006; no sustained improvement is seen for new homes until 2009. Because builders have correctly adjusted production, housing starts, including multifamily units, will probably total 1.36 million this year and 1.16 million in 2008, down from 1.80 million last year. The median new-home price is projected to drop 3.0 percent to $239,100 for 2007, and then decline another 0.2 percent to $236,600 in 2008.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is estimated to rise slowly to the 6.4 percent range by the end of 2008, with additional cuts in the Fed funds rate lowering short-term interest rates.

Growth in the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) should be 2.1 percent in 2007, down from a 2.9 percent growth rate last year; GDP growth is forecast to improve to 2.4 percent in 2008.

The unemployment rate is likely to average 4.6 percent for 2007, unchanged from last year, but rise to 5.0 percent in 2008. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, will probably be 2.8 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2008, down from 3.2 percent in 2006. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income is estimated to grow 3.1 percent this year, the same as in 2006, and then grow 2.2 percent next year.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MARKET

2007-10-25T06:05:00.001-07:00

Inventory: Even though there seem to be many properties on the market right now (and there are), that doesn't mean that the "good" ones last very long. Strong properties priced well continue to move quickly so watch inventory closely and work with your broker so you don't miss the good ones.

Mortgage Meltdown? There certainly is a media feeding frenzy on this topic. You are going to see a return to basics here, with more emphasis on fixed-rate mortgages and on programs like FHA instead of some of the "loan products" that have gotten some people in trouble. Don't buy into the panic; work with a solid, reputable and local mortgage professional and buy with confidence while rates are low.

New Construction: With more "built" inventory available and with the cost of construction having increased steadily over the past year, it's no surprise that this market segment continues its retreat. If you're shopping for something brand new you may be able to negotiate quite well on your purchase. On the other hand, rare or unique-value properties like custom green homes will certainly hold their own.

The Bottom Line: Buyers who need a home should not dawdle when a good, well priced property hits the market. Investors can make some excellent moves, especially with multi-family properties, starting right now. Interest rates continue to be very good for qualified buyers. Sellers who want their properties to move in the next 60 days really need to take a hard look at the competition in the marketplace, and price their homes accordingly. Inventories will likely continue to swell this winter so sellers who can be aggressive now, should be.

THE CONTROVERSY ON PURCHASING A HOME IN TODAY'S MARKET

2007-10-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

The National Association of REALTORS® has released a series of talking points in response to the remarks of CNBC's Jim Cramer, who last week told viewers of the Today show, "Don't you dare buy a home now. You will lose money."
NAR Responds to Jim Cramer on the Today Show
September 28, 2007—Today, 2007 NAR First Vice President Charles McMillan faced off with Jim Cramer on NBC’s Today Show, countering Cramer’s earlier irresponsible statement on the show telling consumers NOT to buy a house right now. Cramer would treat homes like stock purchases, and McMillan was there to tell him and consumers across the country that housing is not a day-trading activity – it’s a good, solid long-term investment that has proven its value over time. McMillan spoke for Realtors® everywhere as he countered misconceptions about the real estate market and drove home positive messages about the value of homeownership.
What’s Happening Now
~ Housing is a good long-term investment – it’s not a day-trading activity. ~ Owning a home isn’t just about investment, although that’s certainly important. It’s also about building community, a place of your own, and having a part of the American Dream. ~ Homes are not stocks. Most people stay in their home for about 6 years – they buy for the long haul to create a home for their family, not to buy then turn around and sell six months later. ~ It’s impossible to time any market. Right now, interest rates are favorable and buyers have lots of options.
~ For buyers able to qualify for conventional financing, there are ample opportunities in the current market. Conventional loans are available and rates are reasonable, and FHA-insured mortgage applications have been rising as low- and moderate-income buyers seek alternatives to subprime loans. ~ Two-thirds of metropolitan areas across the country are showing modest price gains, and the national median home price in August showed a slight increase. Some examples of markets that have shown both increased sales volume and price (you should collect information from your own market and be prepared to talk about specifics in your own area): Beaufort, TX; El Paso, TX; Farmington, NM; Salem, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; Spokane, WA. ~ The average homeowner has seen an increase of 50 percent in value over the past five years. We project prices to rise about 2 percent next year, and in coming years, average home price appreciation should return to historical averages, around 6 percent. ~ Realtors® are passionate about helping people into homes and expanding homeownership opportunities. Realtors® live where they work and can see the benefits of homeownership firsthand.

ONE IDEA THAT COULD HELP PREFORECLOSURES

2007-09-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

BRUCE MARKS
Lenders should bail out consumers
By Bruce Marks September 20, 2007
THE HUMAN SIDE of the subprime crisis is that more than 2 million homeowners are at risk of losing their homes. If immediate action is not taken, the repercussions of allowing this meltdown is likely to affect virtually every community, drive the economy into recession, and affect economies overseas. The most effective and just remedy is for the lenders and investors who created these "exotic" products to restructure the loans. This does not require taxpayer dollars to bail out an industry that has profited hugely from this scheme.
Some have portrayed this crisis as one created by "risky borrowers"
taking advantage of generous lenders. These hardworking Americans did not design these "exotic" products and package them for worldwide investments. Blaming borrowers would be like a car maker designing and selling cars that suddenly go into overdrive and cause accidents, and rather than having a recall to fix the cars, the owners are penalized for being negligent drivers.
This subprime crisis is about risky and greedy lending. These "exotic"
products are unique in their type and magnitude. The majority are adjustable rate mortgages, but these ARMs are unique for they do not decrease if the prime rate or other indexes go down. These are Strangulation ARMs that are structured to always increase, resulting in foreclosure or financial ruin for the majority of borrowers. Payments are initially affordable but dramatically increase over three to four years to more than 10 percent, even if the lending indexes decrease.
There was no perceived subprime crisis prior to 2007 when the initial payments were affordable. But double-digit interest rates over the long term would transform anyone into an at-risk borrower.
These loans - hundreds of billions of dollars worth - have generated huge profits for the brokers who originated them, the lenders who purchased them, the rating agencies that evaluated them, and the investment bankers who packaged and sold them to investors. A New York Times investigation of Countrywide, the country's largest mortgage company, detailed how the company structured employee incentives that exploited borrowers by imposing large costs on the borrowers, and pushed many into unaffordable mortgages. Additionally, the billions of dollars in bonuses paid out last year by the investment bankers reflect the profitability of the subprime lending market.
These defective products require the restructuring of loans. Developing a borrower-focused solution, based on what the borrower can afford, is the most viable remedy. This requires lenders who service the loans to reduce the interest rate and/or reduce the outstanding mortgage balance to what the homeowner can afford. This can be determined by documenting the homeowner's net income, required debt payments, necessary expenses, with the remaining amount available for the mortgage payment.
However, lenders refuse to restructure loans, and instead demand more money while maintaining the unaffordable mortgage. Regulators must exercise their power to require lenders to restructure these loans. This remedy addresses the interests of all parties involved: the investor can obtain a reasonable return, homeowners can keep their homes, and the local tax base can be maintained.
The Neighborhood Assistance Corp., a nonprofit mortgage broker and community advocacy group, has begun this process by bringing Countrywide borrowers who need their loans restructured to the mortgage company's regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision. For uncooperative lenders, the regulators must impose "cease and desist" orders. The Neighborhood Assistance Corp. has also stepped forth with a $1 billion commitment to refinance borrowers out of their loans on the best terms available.
It is unfortunate that the solutions put forth by politicians focus on a taxpayer bailout of lenders and investors. Congress is also proposing to expand Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's lending authority. This should not occur until they commit to restructure the subprime loans in their portfolios, and require lenders who place loans with them to also restructure loans and eliminate their predatory practices. The legislation needed immediately is to allow bankruptcy judges to restructure unaffordable loans.
Everyone needs to be concerned even if they do not have a subprime loan.
Neighborhoods are being devastated, and it will only get worse.
Politicians and regulators have ignored the plight of over 2 million homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure. The restructuring of loans is straightforward, attainable, and can be done at no cost to the taxpayer.
This puts the responsibility where it rightly belongs - with the lenders and investors who created the crisis.
Bruce Marks is founder and CEO of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America

HOW TO SELL IN A BUYER'S MARKET

2007-08-14T06:50:00.000-07:00

You've got to be proactive on price, marketing and more.
If you're selling your home this year, be prepared for a marathon, not a sprint.
In most places, those heady days of putting a property on the market, receiving multiple bids, getting more than you expected, and accepting an offer in just days or weeks are over.
Now, for most houses in most parts of the country, it's a buyer's market. That means that more houses are for sale, there are longer stretches on the market, and prices have slowed, plateaued or, in some places, decreased.
Homes are staying on the market for about four months, according to the most recent averages from the National Association of Realtors.
If you plan to plant your "for sale" sign, here are 10 things you can do beforehand:
1. Recognize every market is different. Your state, town or neighborhood could dovetail with national numbers or buck the trend entirely. "There really is no national market," says Sambrotto. "There's a patchwork of regional markets." Never rely solely on one person's advice or opinion. Talk to a handful of professionals, do your own research and listen to your gut instinct.
2. Get your home inspected. "Before I would even call a real-estate agent, I'd have my home inspected," says attorney Diana Brodman Summers, author of "How to Buy Your First Home." Some real-estate agents advise against spending the money (basic inspections range from $200 to $400, according to a 2004 survey from the American Society of Home Inspectors), because the buyers will get one anyway prior to closing. Others recommend it because it gives sellers an early warning on any repairs they might have to make.
But in this market, says Summers, it's better to be proactive. "I would rather know what the inspector is going to find and be able to fix it -- and pick who will fix it," she says. This method also allows you to shop around for the best price instead of perhaps paying an inflated price later on.
3. Shape up before marketing. A buyer's market means you've got more competition. "You want to put your best foot forward," says Eric Tyson, co-author of "House Selling for Dummies." If your home isn't appealing and in good repair, potential buyers won't even stop. Some sellers think it's OK to skip this step and take less, but if the house is not appealing, you may not get the chance to negotiate. "Six weeks before you want to put it on the market is a great time to get it done," says Summers. You don't need to renovate, but make sure everything looks good and works well. Easy ways to make your home stand out:
New paint. Paint the whole house, if it needs it, or just the trim, shutters and door to freshen up. A clean entryway. Sweep or pressure-wash the front walk and porch. Polish the outdoor metalwork, clean the windows and glass, and replace any burned-out bulbs in outdoor lighting. And, if you can, add planters with flowers.
Lush landscaping. Think new mulch, sharp edging, a healthy lawn and beds of flowers.
"Maximize your chances of people being excited about your listing when it hits the market," Tyson says.
4. Devise a marketing plan. Do you want to use a real-estate agent or would you rather sell it yourself? If you try doing it yourself, set a time limit after which you want to enlist the aid of a professional. Selling it yourself can save you the real-estate commission (usually about 6 percent), which can be an advantage in a tight market. But in a buyer's market -- or rapidly changing market -- it can help to have a little professional expertise to price, market and move your property. And don't forget, potential buyers may think that if there's no agent involved, the price should already be 6 percent less. Both buyer and seller can't save the same 6 percent.
5. Check into company relocation assistance. Are you moving to take a new job? If so, the company might offer resources to make selling your house easier, says Summers. Some companies will even provide a list of real-estate pros who will work with you at a discount. If you're selling in a tight market, every little bit helps. Best source: Call your human-resources department.
6. Interview real-estate agents. If you're interested in using an agent, interview several early on about listing your home, says Tyson. "Ask them for their advice," he says. "That's a good way to select an agent." What would they highlight about your home? What would they change before it goes on the market?
Ask to see an activity list -- a list of all the buyers and sellers they've represented, the areas of town and the price ranges. You don't want private details, says Tyson. But you want to see if they've worked in your neighborhood, in your price range and if they have a track record of successful sales.
How old are the comparable sales (often called "comps") they are showing you? A few years ago, you could study comps that were six months or a year old. This year, because many markets are changing, you want neighborhood comps that are no more than three months old, says Summers.
And find out how long each has been a professional. Experience counts. "If you're going to pay 5 to 6 percent, you might as well get the best your money can get," says Tyson.
7. Set a price. The rules are different in soft markets. "You don't overprice your house 20 percent to leave wiggle room for negotiating," says Tyson. That kind of strategy might never be a good idea, but it can really backfire in 2007. It's not a matter of being willing to negotiate. If your price is too high, potential buyers may not even look at it. And they may very well see a negative message in such a high price. "Those who overprice their homes in this market are wasting everyone's time," he says.
To get an idea of what's going on now, you want recent comps. But you may also want to look at comparables from the past six months. "You will see trends," says Patricia Fitzgerald, broker/owner of Coastal Properties in Jupiter, Fla. Are properties moving? Are prices holding steady or are sellers dropping prices?
Pricing is strategy. And much of it comes down to just how motivated you are to sell -- or how quickly you have to leave.
If you plan to pad the price, it's "an art, not an exact science," Tyson says. "Five to 10 percent is one thing. Fifteen to 20 percent and you have a problem."
Two more points to consider:
Modern technology. Agents and buyers most likely are using computers to search for properties. If you want to sell yours for about $400,000, consider listing it at $399,999 rather than $400,500. That way, a computer search of anything between $350,000 and $400,000 will include your listing.
Commissions aren't add-ons. Don't add the real-estate commission to the value of the home to come up with your asking price, says Tyson. If you use an agent, the fee comes out of your share of the profits. Otherwise, "you're going to get penalized for overpricing your house," he says. Instead: Try negotiating your commission with the agent. When the recent seller's market was in full swing, it was easy to get agents to list your property for as low as 4 percent (split with a co-broker). They knew the property would sell in days or weeks and their marketing costs would be low. Now it's reversed. Agents commonly are looking at four to six months to sell a property, which increases their marketing expenses. This makes them hesitant to offer a discount.
Beware of hidden financing costs. Not all financing is the same from a seller's point of view. With some types of financing, such as FHA and VA home loans, the seller pays the points on the loan. Understand the different types and what will be required of you as a seller, because that could affect how much you net in a sale.
8. Understand your price. While you don't want to undervalue your house, many sellers today won't make as much as neighbors who sold last year, says Summers. If you have your heart set on a certain amount and find out that houses aren't selling for that, you may "have to change your mind and sit on the house," she says.
9. Get rid of the junk. "This year, it's more important because buyers are going to be more fussy," says Summers. "Buyers are going to come in with an attitude." Throw things out, ship them early or rent a storage locker. But clear out that clutter. Buyers look for space and light. To show it off, you need to be able to tour a group comfortably through the house, as well as actually walk into those "walk-in" closets.
10. Stay on top of the market. "You must be aware of market changes," says Summers. That's one reason she recommends using an agent. Stay on top of what is happening with mortgages and finance rates, keep looking at comps and "see trends before they happen," she says. "The real-estate market is still in a time of correction. You have to be so careful with both buying and selling."

HOME IMPROVEMENT SCAMS

2007-07-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

To help you differentiate a scam from the real deal, Bankrate has compiled a list of the most common remodeling scams. Beware of the following key phrases, and remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Key phrases to beware of:
"I just happen to be working in your neighborhood."
"I have materials left over from another job."
"I need the cash up front."
"I have a special offer that's good for today only."
"I can help you finance the project."
"I want to use your home as a model."
"I just happen to be working in your neighborhood."
This happens when contractors appear at your home unsolicited to inform you that they noticed some problems with your home's (insert: chimney, driveway, windows, plumbing, etc.) while working on a neighboring home. For example, the contractor might say he or she was on the roof of your neighbor's home and noticed missing shingles on your roof. This may be the case -- but often no repair is needed.
More important, legitimate, established, and reputable contractors tend to find enough work through word of mouth referrals that they don't need to be going door to door to attract customers. Be especially skeptical if the contractor drives a vehicle with no company name, no phone number or with out-of-state license plates. "Do not let these people enter your home," Johnson warns. "Often they want to be invited inside to see if something is worth stealing."
Also, be sure to ask for proof that he or she is insured, licensed, and bonded. "Homeowners that check out contractors beforehand and research their credibility are usually more satisfied with the job than if they abruptly chose a contractor," says Jeremy Zidek, communications coordinator for the Better Business Bureau in Alaska.
"I have materials left over from another job."
Sometimes contractors will offer a discount for the job under the pretense that they have extra materials and want to use up their supply. The truth is good contractors order enough supplies to meet the needs of each job, as often the price for supplies is typically included in the contract. Further, if a contractor has materials left over from a previous job and is making them available to you, he either didn't finish the job or is cheating the previous customer. Or he may have never had a previous job but has materials to make it look like he did.
"I need the cash up front."
This contractor will take your money and disappear before or (even worse) after your project gets underway. It can be frustrating trying to chase after him, getting him to come back and finish the job or hiring someone else to clean up a messy work site. Don't ever pay in full for a project before any work has been done. Note: you may be expected to pay a down payment. "The contractor may not want to block out time in his busy schedule without some money up front," Levinson says. He recommends creating a payment schedule with the contractor at the start -- wherein you pay some portion only upon completion of a project. Johnson swears by the one-third theory. "The most I will ever give somebody up front -- after I have called references and checked him out -- is one third of the money," he says. He gives them another third when the project is halfway done. "Their profit is in their last payment because that's what going to keep them on the job."
"I have a special offer that's good for today only."
If a contractor is offering a "special deal," ask them to legitimize what they are offering. While this is a common sales technique, you can ask them for documentation of this bargain -- a flyer, for example, that the contractor has mailed or delivered in the past. Or one from another contractor at a higher price. "Any time a contractor puts pressure on a homeowner to act quickly about making a remodeling decision, that's a red flag," Zidek says. Remodeling decisions should be made carefully, not hastily.
"I can help you finance the project."
Sometimes a contractor will suggest you borrow money from a lender that the contractor knows. This could indicate a home improvement loan scam, as the contractor may be getting kickbacks from the lender. Homeowners may believe they're financing a small remodeling project loan, when in fact they're signing for a much larger loan, if not completely refinancing their home. Never finance through your contractor without shopping around and comparing loan terms.
"I want to use your home as a model."
The scam centers on the idea of using your home as a vehicle or "show home" to advertise their services in return for a hefty discount. Established contractors should have completed enough previous projects that they won't need your job as a demonstration.
Still more scams
While any part of your home could be a target, many scams tend to center around driveways, roofs, chimneys and furnaces.
Driveway Sealant Scam: If a contractor offers to seal your driveway for a heavily discounted price, find out what materials will be used as sealant. Cheap, inferior substances may look great initially but will wear off in three months.
Chimney Repair: These scam artists often lure their victims via advertisements in local newspapers offering gutter cleaning at a cheap price. Once the work is performed, they claim the chimney is in dire need of structural repairs. To provide so-called evidence of this, they will make it look like the chimney is in a state of decay by removing bricks and mortar from the chimney. Note: There might be decay if you burn a lot of wood and don't get your chimneys inspected every year. Another chimney scam is when a contractor says there's a threat of carbon monoxide poisoning if the chimney is not repaired immediately. This is a serious concern, so if you are unsure about whether to trust this person, get a second opinion from a reputable contractor.
Hot Tar Roofing: Contractors send mailings, telemarket, or go door-to-door in this scam, offering a price that sounds too good to be true & want to do the job immediately. They often use substandard materials. You may not realize you've been duped until heavy rains cause the roof to leak resulting in damage to the building's interior. Sometimes you can't determine the quality of the job until after it has been completed. "If you're having major work done, ensure that your contract has a hold back clause where you withhold the final payment until 30 days after completion of a project," Levinson says.
Furnace repair: Once they inspect your furnace, they may claim it is leaking dangerous gases or is about to explode. Ask your utility company to come and inspect your system. Also be wary if they tell you the unit is too small or needs a complete overhaul. When choosing a contractor always get several estimates on the needed repair.
Duct Cleaning: In very unusual circumstances do ducts need to be cleaned. The scheme is called a "blow and go" because the scam artist will use a small vacuum cleaner with no special filters to stir up the dust, pollen, mold, and other contaminants instead of removing them. Duct cleaning can be necessary if there is mold in the house or if the heatinf or air condition has been running with inadequate or nonexistent filtering. If you change filters regularly, your ducts don't need to be cleaned.

IF REMODELING THE KITCHEN IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO

2007-07-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

and what kind of new appliances might you need, what's worked well for you, what hasn't or how can you dispose of your old appliances; well consider replacing older, less energy-efficient appliances first. Visit manufacturer web sites for the latest appliance designs and availability in your area to test new products. The National Kitchen & Bath Association is a not-for-profit trade association representing the kitchen and bath industry. They offer several articles that will lead you through the remodeling process. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers has some good hints and some useful links in the Consumer Information section of their website.

NEWS ON UPCOMING HOME SALES

2007-07-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

Pending Homes Sales Index Declines While Some Regions Are Up
WASHINGTON, July 03, 2007 -
Pending home sales, a forward-looking indicator, shows existing-home sales may ease but should stay fairly close to present levels in the months ahead, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
The Pending Home Sales Index*, based on contracts signed in May, rose in the West and Northeast but fell in the Midwest and South. The national index stood at 97.7 in May, down 3.5 percent from a downwardly revised April index of 101.2, and is 13.3 percent lower than May 2006 when the reading was 112.7. In April, the index was 10.4 percent lower than a year earlier.
Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, stressed that housing activity continues to be impacted by tighter lending criteria and a lack of buyer confidence. “Some transactions are being postponed from mortgage market disruptions,” he said. “But better supervised lending will put housing in a fundamentally healthier state over the long term.
“Mortgage purchase applications are trending up, with some of the rise due to buyers reapplying for alternatives to subprime financing. Nonetheless, home sales should stay close to present levels in the months ahead given an accumulating pent-up demand,” Yun said.
The pent-up demand results from slow household formation, which is significantly below levels that would be expected in a period of job creation and economic growth. “As consumer confidence improves, home sales will rise,” he said.
The index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.
An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales.
Annual changes in the index are more closely related to actual market performance than are month-to-month comparisons. As the relatively new index matures and seasonal adjustment factors are refined, the month-to-month comparisons will become more meaningful.
The PHSI in the West rose 5.6 percent in May to 95.4 but was 13.7 percent below a year ago. In the Northeast, the index increased 3.8 percent from April to 93.1 but is 9.6 percent lower than May 2006. The index in the South fell 7.6 percent in May to 107.2 and was 15.4 percent below a year ago. In the Midwest, the index dropped 8.9 percent in May to 89.4 and was 11.7 percent below May 2006.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. # # #
* The Pending Home Sales Index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity from 2001 through 2004 parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months. There is a closer relationship between annual index changes (from the same month a year earlier) and year-ago changes in sales performance than with month-to-month comparisons.

BEWARE WHEN YOU GO ON VACATION!

2007-06-07T17:25:00.000-07:00

Home Safety Tips while you’re on the Road.
The last thing you want to do while on vacation is spend time worrying about the safety of your home. Here are a few vital tips for crime prevention and vacation peace of mind:
Keep up appearances:
Suspend newspaper delivery and have someone pick-up your mail.
Use timers to switch lights on and off, and possibly a TV or radio.
Have someone cut/water the lawn.
Leave a generic greeting on your voice mail/answering machine. Never say you’ll be away or leave a long list of instructions that "imply" you’ll be away.
Don’t make it easy:
Ensure all doors and windows are locked and can’t easily be lifted out of their tracks.
Trim shrubbery around doors and windows that would otherwise make it hard to see intruders from the road.
Secure or remove anything that could be used as a break-in device of opportunity.
Get the help of those you trust:
Tell someone where you’re going, when you’ll be back and how to reach you in case of emergency.
Have neighbours, ideally one to the front and back or on both sides, keep an eye on your home and report anything suspicious to the police.
Consider asking someone to housesit, especially if you plan to be away for an extended period of time.
Make sure your home insurance is up-to-date for the duration of your trip.

Now you have less to worry about. Have a great vacation!

CHANGING RE/MAX OFFICES

2007-06-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce that we recently joined the team of RE/MAX Innovations. After researching several real estate companies, we discovered that RE/MAX Innovations was far ahead in technology, training, marketing strategies, and financial programs. In addition to our national recognition and traditional services, we provide:

Buyers and sellers direct access to the Multiple Listing Service, with electronic property watch, program updates every ten minutes and email alerts.
Partnership with Virtual Homes, an Internet real estate marketing company. Virtual Homes provides me with leads to pre-qualified Buyers.
Virtual Tours and Brochures: Web sites and virtual tours are created utilizing digital photography techniques, plus 360° panoramas of listed properties.
Equity Plus Program: RE/MAX Innovations offer an exclusive program known as the Equity Plus Program for clients who are both selling and purchasing a home through our agency. This program qualifies you to buy without a contingency sale and eliminates the carrying costs of two or more properties.

We look forward to working in a progressive and customer oriented company. If you know someone looking to purchase or sell a single family, multi-family, or investment property, have them contact us. RE/MAX Innovations provides all of the resources that will allow us to help them achieve their goal.

Yours truly,

Linda and Pat Norton

TOP TEN BEST TOWNS TO RETIRE TO FOR LESS

2007-05-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

North Carolina Town TopsList of 10 Best Places to Live
By Amy Hoak From MarketWatch
The population of Asheville, N.C., is only about 70,000, but this midsize city ranked No. 1 on a list of the most popular places to live in 2007.
Asheville made its second appearance on Relocate-America.com's annual top 10 list, compiled each year since 1998. The site attracts visitors in the process of relocating and is aimed at helping people research cities before making a move. The Web site is a service of HomeRoute, a Howell, Mich.-based company that also connects consumers to Realtors.
Below are the top 10 cities on Relocate-America.com's "America's Top 100 Places to Live for 2007": 1. Asheville, N.C. 2. Traverse City, Mich. 3. Ithaca, N.Y. 4. Chicago 5. Cary, N.C. 6. Portland, Maine 7. San Francisco 8. Stevens Point, Wis. 9. O'Fallon, Mo. 10. Spencer, Iowa
To assemble the list, the site starts by asking visitors for nominations, which describe some of the characteristics of the cities, including people and neighborhoods, the beauty of the area, schools, activities, economic health and environmental health. The editorial staff then considers education, crime, employment and housing statistics for the past year in order to rank the cities, the company said in a news release.
The layers of analysis from statistical and anecdotal perspectives prevent what Steve Nickerson, CEO of HomeRoute, called a "popularity contest" among site visitors.
Though Asheville is best known as the location of the 19th-century Vanderbilt manse the Biltmore, the Relocate-America.com Web site highlights the city's downtown, where "artists and street musicians converge with tourists and locals for a vibrancy rarely found in a city of this size." The average home price in town is $265,000, according to the site, and the housing stock includes new construction, older Victorians, condominiums, single-family homes and town houses.
There is frequent turnover in the rankings, Nickerson said. Last year, for example, Naperville, Ill., held the No. 1 spot. This year, the Chicago suburb was ranked farther down in the top 100.
To view the complete list -- and read more about the top 10 -- visit the Relocate-America.com

Practical Advice to Home Sellers

2007-04-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

A lot of sellers in today's market don't want to paint, clean or fix anything. The assumption is the house down the street sold last year for more money, and that home does not come close to comparing to theirs! Even when an experienced listing agent makes recommendations to the seller -- the seller's refuse to take them to heart. Why? They believe their home and situation is different from everybody else that is selling a home.
They feel they have the best home, or perhaps some aspect of their home that makes them totally unique. In the seller’s mind, they get an exemption from doing the required work.
But this can be the fatal mistake or real estate, failing to see that the home down the street is unique as well. Maybe it has been totally updated with new siding, or new roof.
Buyers will view your home with a critical eye -- all the while comparing current pricing and all other real estate in your area. They want to be certain the money they are spending to purchase a property is well spent! They do not want to overpay on a home that still needs work. So if the carpets are dirty and original, the carpet padding has lost it's resiliency, if there are water stains on the kitchen ceiling, there is rusty water underneath the hot water heater, the paint trim has yellowed, the windows are fogged up, the furnace is gasping, and the home is on the market with none of the needed maintenance taken care of, the buyer will say "Next!"
And then when the buyer does move on, the seller may be thinking that his agent is wasn't working for him -- not holding enough open houses or placing ads and classifieds in magazines. The truth is they were not listening.
Clean and stages homes are important. The buyer needs to be able to envision themselves living in the space. Spending weeks -- or months -- on the search for their next perfect home has tired the buyer out. They don't want to see the grimy floors and the minor repairs that they'll spend week fixing when they move in.
For some quick tips, have your homeowners:
Mow the yard and weed the flower beds.
Tone down the color. You love the red, but a neutral tone, such as beige. You are selling the room, not the color.
Declutter, especially before and open house or a walk-through.
If they don't want to clean, hire a maid service for a day. Have them mop and dust and scrub -- especially in the kitchen and bathrooms!
So sellers, listen to reasonable advice in the form of wisdom from the experienced agent you have hired to sell your home. Ask for the market statistics to be substantiated. Compare your homes to other homes in your own community "apples to apples!" Then paint, clean, fix, update, and still price your home or real estate competitively!

ALERT: YOUR NAME IS BEING SOLD — TAKE ACTION NOW!

2007-03-10T08:27:00.000-08:00

This information is being sold by the credit bureaus to other lenders...and also to companies that sell and resell the same names and personal information!!!!

The good news is that you can make it stop, right away. And pass this information on to everyone you know — your friends, family members, neighbors and coworkers.

BONUS: Opting out will also protect you from "pre-approved credit offers" arriving via mail...one of the leading causes of identity theft in the US.

Go to www.optoutprescreen.com and take your privacy back.

Take five minutes right now — opt out, and pass it on. Refuse to be a part of this system.

Your Very Own "Best Place"

2007-03-09T06:48:00.000-08:00

Here's a great site, Sterling's bestplaces.com that gives the best places in the country for families and singles to live in. Also shows 10 affordable towns to live in; locales where jobs are plenty.

Check out businessweek.com on why artists are the indicator of coming gentrification and ten cities artists should flock to now. Some of the top ten are Sante Fe, Boulder and Nashville. Also, the best undergrad B schools are listed for your information. This is a great resource for real estate information.

What's Hot in Houses Today

2007-01-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

Are you are preparing your home for sale, planning to remodel, or shopping for a new home? Find out what is important in today's housing market, and make choices that contribute the most value and enjoyment for the money.
Home Styles
Old world styles are popular. French, English, Tuscan and Spanish homes with stone or stucco walls, tile roofs, iron fixtures, heavy beams and rustic floors are in demand. A sense of historic connection resonates with buyers today.
The Craftsman style, built in the early 1900's, is back. Features of this style, such as cobblestones, deep eaves, tapered columns and wide trim, favor the handmade look over mass produced.
Farmhouses and country homes are perfect remodel candidates and prototypes for new homes. Native materials, wood windows, simple floor plans, and warm colors connect with nature and earlier times.
The retro look is fashionable. Ranch styles and split levels built in the 1950's are perfect for sleek remodels, and fit with fashionable furniture styles.
Urban modern is everywhere. Modern open plans make use of color, tile, glass, and experimental materials such as plastic and metal.
Floor Plan
The preferred ceiling height is about 9'-11'. Two story ceilings are out. In small rooms these feel like towers.
Lots of floor level changes are not desirable.
Most buyers today want four bedrooms, and at least two living areas. Formal dining rooms are still in demand.
Formal living rooms are often converted to studies, libraries, or guest rooms.
Media rooms are a sought after feature when price range allows.
The visual and spatial connection between kitchen and family room is firmly established.
Cabinet space is required for large televisions and wall space for the newer flat screens.
Three car garages are needed, especially in areas without basements.
Structured wiring is important today for internet, phone, cable and sound. Desk space for computers is required.
Good access to the outdoors is something buyers look for. French doors combine access with light. Sliding glass doors are not as favored.
Lots of storage is needed for today's lifestyle. People have lots of stuff. Huge master closets, pantries, laundry rooms, and extra storage closets are expected.
On the other hand, very spare lofts are perfect for some lifestyles. Simplified spaces are an antidote to today's complex lifestyle.
Kitchens/Baths
Most buyers are savvy about kitchen design and appreciate good work spaces with easy access to range, refrigerator and sink. Lots of counter space, deep drawers, two sinks, nearby extra refrigerator, and butler's pantries are all desirable features.
Stainless appliances are going strong. In urban modern styles, white or colored appliances are back. High end homes conceal some appliances as cabinetry.
Eat-in kitchens are a basic requirement for most buyers.
Antique tables or cabinets are being refurbished and used as bath cabinets. Kitchen cabinets that look like furniture are a great look.
Granite, marble or stone counters are popular. However, granite tops added to 1980's cabinets do not go over well. Consider your architectural style before adding features.
Concrete countertops are perfect for ultra modern, but most buyers shy away from them.
Wide, cabinet depth refrigerators have a built-in look, and are not as expensive as the true built-in type.
Large rustic tiles, stone, concrete or wood floors have a warm, functional appeal.
Subway tile (3" x 6") is popular in bathrooms and on kitchen backsplashes.
Patterned cultured marble and laminate are out. Slippery, white floor tile is out.
Trim
Wide, baseboards (6"+) and door and window trim (4"+) are key features in old European and American styles.
Craftsman style doors - simple square frames with flat panels - work well with both old and modern looks.
Iron or heavy wood entry doors make strong statements that buyers love.
Rustic finishes on hardware, such as brushed nickel, oil rubbed bronze, weathered brass, and other non-shiny finishes are the popular choices.
Rustic wood beams or wood covered ceilings create a hand crafted, primitive look that buyers like.
Wrought iron gates, stair rails and light fixtures compliment the rustic style.
Stair rails in ultra modern homes may be wire, pipe or painted metal.
Front porches and covered patios are always a strong selling point. Outdoor fireplaces are popping up everywhere.
Floors & Walls
Distressed wood floors that look old are valued. Simple wood boards are sometimes laid down with cracks exposed. Re-claimed wood is very desirable.
Bamboo floors are popular, especially in modern style homes where light colored floors are desired.
Concrete floors - often stained and scored are popular. These go well with the modern look, and are used in Craftsman and rustic European styles too.
Colorful laminate floors are a good fit with mid-century modern. Laminate floors that looks like wood are out. Parquet floors are out, unless hand crafted.
Framed or hung mirrors are preferred, although plate glass works in ultra modern styles. Mirrors used on walls or ceilings are a turn off.
Colors are in, but soft is the word. Soft greens, yellows, earth tones and creams create a serene background that fits many styles. Complex colors, with more colors in the mix, are sought after. Deeply saturated colors, such as plums and reds, are used in moderation.
Flat paint on walls hides flaws and creates a designer look. Shiny is out. Soft whites are safe for trim.
Faux finishes are out. Often these do not turn out as well as expected, and are difficult to maintain.
The same (or similar) wall color through adjoining spaces creates a more spacious feeling.
Historic paint colors such as sage greens, beiges, muted yellows, and grays work well on the exterior. Bold or harsh colors are a turn-off to most buyers.
Wallpaper is problematic and harder to change than paint. Very often it does not fit the buyer's taste.
Heavily textured walls and popcorn ceilings are totally out.
Lighting & Plumbing Fixtures
Buyers want more windows, natural light, and a greater connection with the outdoors.
People today are more discriminating about the quality of light. Windows on two sides of the room balance the lighting and reduce glare.
One light in the middle of the room will not do. Under cabinet task lighting is appreciated. Security lighting is important. Wall sconces offer soft ambient lighting. Recessed cans provide area light. Dimmers help to control the lighting.
Light fixtures are a decorative element in all styles. Clean, modern fixtures, such as pendant lights, recessed cans, and wire string lights compliment the urban look.
Retro fixtures are interesting decorative features in 1930's craftsman and 1950's ranch styles.
Industrial metal fixtures are in. The un-decorated, industrial look of metal or stainless steel is in.
Heavy drapes are out. They are too pretentious, and, well, heavy. Light cotton, linen or silk drapes are in. Or, wood blinds. Or nothing.
Retro woven wood blinds have made a comeback. Mini blinds are very yesterday.
Bath fixtures are finished in rustic bronze, nickel, or chrome. Old style two-handled faucets and farmhouse sinks are in style. Bath sinks may be glass bowls, granite, stone, stainless or traditional china. Cultured marble is out.
All free standing tubs are in. Pedestal and wall hung lavatories are in.
Energy Efficiency
With fuel costs going up, energy efficiency is definitely in. Buyers want high efficiency AC, good insulation, low-e glass, programmable thermostats, double pane windows, and ceiling fans.
Effective passive solar orientation is a great advantage. It shows a smart planning and use of natural solar energy.
Instant hot water is a perk that buyers like, as are drinking water filters.
No one wants foil on windows or stick-on window film.
Light is in demand. Don't close blinds. Do remove solar screens when they are not needed, such as under patio roofs, porches or shade trees.
Screened porches are back. They create a multi purpose space that is both indoors and outdoors, and keep mosquitoes away.

2007-01-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Buyers and Sellers....Real Estate has been pretty tough this past year, but it is starting to pick up. I don't think the media helps of course. It scares people from making a great investment.

It's a great time to buy with the interest rates still down. Keep in mind though if you do buy, you need to stay for a while. It's a different market of buying and selling now.

Sellers have to keep in mind that they have to have great appeal to the home if they want to sell it. You need to keep up with the changes. We are in a millenium generation now and they want instant gratification and don't feel they need to do anything to get it.

The older generation felt they had to work to live, this generation feels they have to live to work.