Mar 30
Unstaged Rooms Hamper a Home Sale Sellers may be shooting themselves in the foot when they leave an empty, dark, or cluttered room unstaged, according to a recent realtor.com® article. Empty rooms, for example, can “kill a home sale, especially if the other rooms are furnished,” says Allison Bethell of FitSmallBusiness.com. Imperfections stand out more …
Mar 29
Facebook Accused of Allowing Discrimination in Housing Ads Several fair housing organizations sued Facebook on Tuesday, accusing the social media giant of allowing landlords and brokers to discriminate based on gender and family status on its advertising platform. They argue that advertisers could use the personal data of Facebook users to then target ads that …
Mar 28
HomePath mortgage financing, an easier, more affordable option for purchasing a home. Fannie Mae’s homepath mortgage is a special program offered to finance the purchase of Fannie Mae Real Estate Owned (REO) properties. With a Fannie Mae HomePath mortgage you get the following benefits: 1 – Down payment as low as 5% and …
Mar 27
Places for Rental Returns in 2018 If your investors are in search of higher profits, they may want to look to Baltimore; Macon, Ga.; Montgomery, Ala.; Detroit; and Atlanta. These metros each boast counties that have some of the highest potential for single-family rental returns in 2018, according to a new analysis by ATTOM Data …
Mar 26
Flood Insurance Premiums Are About to Go Up Many homeowners and buyers in flood-prone areas will see higher flood insurance premiums starting April 1. The premium hikes, which are required by law, will be as little as 2 percent for some properties and as high as 24 percent for others. On average, the increase will …
Mar 23
Affordable Housing Efforts Under an umbrella of higher home prices, mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have recently taken several efforts to try to open up housing options for low- and middle-income buyers. The government-sponsored enterprises have added support for three lower-cost housing options: rural homes, manufactured housing, and the existing stock of …
Mar 22
Home Sales Rebound in Kickoff to Spring Low inventory levels and accelerating home prices couldn’t put a lid on existing-home sales in February. Following two consecutive months of declines, existing-home sales rebounded 3 percent in February month over month and reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.54 million, the National Association of REALTORS® reported …
Mar 21
FHA loans remain a great first time buyer tool It’s true, the FHA administration recently reduced the maximum loan amounts for FHA loans. However, this will not substantially impact most borrowers. And, in fact, FHA can be your best option for achieving home ownership. Things to consider: First time home buyers with FHA loans can …
Mar 20
Cities Where Owners Are Still Underwater Though homeowners are gaining equity across the country, the number of underwater borrowers in some areas remains high. The metro with the highest share of homeowners with negative equity is Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla., where the number of those in the red has grown 13.1 percent year over year, according …
Mar 19
Homeowners Keep Getting Richer and Richer Homeowners with mortgages have seen their equity increase 12.2 percent year over year, according to CoreLogic’s newly released Home Equity Report. Homeowners gained more than $15,000 in home equity between the fourth quarter of 2016 and the fourth quarter of 2017—the highest growth in home equity in four years, …
Mar 16
Floor Plan Fads You’ll See More Often Home floor plans can take much longer to evolve than design trends. Changes tend to occur over years, as some designers and architects look to push the envelope and take a gamble on what they believe will resonate with buyers. But a few trends are starting to emerge. …
Mar 15
Common Contract Contingencies Seventy-four percent of contracts in the first month of the year contained settlement contingencies, according to the January 2018 REALTORS® Confidence Index survey, conducted by the National Association of REALTORS®. The monthly survey, based on responses from more than 3,500 REALTORS® about their latest transactions, examines what real estate pros are seeing most …
