Wire fraud schemes are evolving, and scammers are finding new ways to infiltrate real estate transactions—including exploiting virtual meeting platforms to dupe home buyers and sellers. A hacker may break into an email account and invite your client to a virtual meeting. How will the client know he or she is being targeted by a …
Category: Real Estate Tips
Oct 05
Renovation Startup Revive Wins iOi Pitch Battle
Renovation Startup Revive Wins iOi Pitch Battle Revive, a technology startup enabling home sellers to update their properties with no upfront costs, was named Thursday as the winner of the fourth annual Pitch Battle at the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2022 Innovation, Opportunity & Investment (iOi) Summit in Los Angeles. Twelve companies bringing solutions to …
Oct 04
Mortgage Rates Inch Closer to 7%
Mortgage Rates Inch Closer to 7% Home buyers who waited to buy a home this month compared to last month may have some regrets. Home buying is 12% more expensive than just a month ago. Fast-rising mortgage rates—up one percentage point in September alone—have added an extra $250 more onto monthly mortgage payments over the …
Oct 03
FHA Moves to Include On-Time Rental Payments for First-Time Buyers
FHA Moves to Include On-Time Rental Payments for First-Time Buyers The Federal Housing Administration published a letter to lenders on Tuesday urging them to consider including a borrower’s positive rental payment history when applying for FHA-insured financing. The move is believed to be a boost for first-time home buyers to help to improve their credit …
Sep 29
Decade-High Rates Deeply Cut Into Contract Signings
Decade-High Rates Deeply Cut Into Contract Signings House hunters are backing away from the housing market as mortgage rates continue to rise sharply. The National Association of REALTORS®’ newly released Pending Home Sales Index—a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings—fell 2% in August compared to July and is down 24.2% compared to …
Sep 28
Realtor.com® Acquires Agent Matching Platform
Realtor.com® Acquires Agent Matching Platform Move Inc., the operator of realtor.com®, announced it was acquiring UpNest, a tool to help home buyers or sellers compare real estate agents and select the best match for them. Realtor.com® already connects home sellers with agents through its ReadyConnect Concierge referral network, but, according to company officials, the UpNest …
Sep 27
Homes With Higher Fire Risk Sell for Nearly $120K More
Homes With Higher Fire Risk Sell for Nearly $120K More The risk of a house fire isn’t slowing buyers in this market frenzy. The median sale price of homes that have conditions creating a high risk of fire was $550,500 in April, compared to $431,300 for homes with a low risk of fire, according to …
Sep 26
Mortgage Rates Jump Even Higher After Fed Hike
Mortgage Rates Jump Even Higher After Fed Hike After the Federal Reserve raised its key short-term benchmark rate by another three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday, the average for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed to its highest level in 14 years, remaining above 6% and hitting more home buyers’ pocketbooks. It’s the fifth time …
Sep 23
NAR Helps White House Brainstorm Inventory Solutions
NAR Helps White House Brainstorm Inventory Solutions Raising the alarm about the nation’s housing supply crisis, Leslie Rouda Smith, president of the National Association of REALTORS®, told policymakers at a White House meeting Wednesday that the U.S. is short 5.5 million homes to meet the needs of its population—and that’s creating new affordability challenges for …
Sep 22
Existing-Home Sales Slip Again
Existing-Home Sales Slip Again Existing-home sales slipped further in August as economists blame the “housing recession” mostly on higher mortgage rates, though home prices continue rising, according to newly released data from the National Association of REALTORS®. But while existing-home sales, which reflect transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops, fell a modest 0.4% …
Sep 22
Builders Aim to Win Buyers Back
Builders Aim to Win Buyers Back Even as demand for new homes fizzles—about a quarter of homebuilders are reducing their prices to attract more buyers as foot traffic falls—single-family construction jumped 3.4% in August, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Economists are calling it a “surprising bounce back” after five consecutive months of declines. Still, builder …
Sep 21
Skeptical Over iBuyers, But Still Curious?
Skeptical Over iBuyers, But Still Curious? Sixty-six percent of homeowners recently surveyed say they don’t believe iBuyers yield higher sales prices than traditional sales. However, a nearly equal number say they would consider using an iBuyer due to the flexible options for selling, a new survey from Clever Real Estate finds. The number of iBuyer …
