May 01
4 Ways to Boost Exposure on LinkedIn. LinkedIn can help real estate agents create a unique and personal professional brand by taking control of the people they connect with, the groups they join, the recommendations they give and receive, and the ways they express their real estate skills and experience. Here’s how: Agents need …
May 01
Renters Say More Buildings Should Welcome Pets. Seventy-five percent of renters say they own pets, yet many are not able to find enough pet-friendly rental options, a new survey of 1,100 renters by Apartments.com shows. Last year, only 43 percent of renters said they owned pets. More than 60 percent of survey respondents say …
Apr 30
Explore Short Sale Lease Back Programs. A Riverside, Calif. real estate broker has debuted a Short Sale Lease Back program. Other organizations are coming up with similar programs to help home owners get back on their feet again after a short sale. Bob Irish, with Lake Hills Realty and CEO of National Short Sales, …
Apr 30
Home Contractor Scams a Growing Concern. Home contractor scams are often on the rise in the spring, and home owners should take steps to make sure they aren’t duped. The scams often target the elderly, with scammers offering to complete yard or household work for money up-front and then never completing the work after …
Apr 29
House Flipping Staging a Comeback? More Americans are once again on the hunt to snag a home at bargain prices, fix it up, and then try to resell it for a quick profit. Home flippers mostly vanished from the market during the housing downturn a few years ago. But with home values inching up, …
Apr 26
Lenders Embrace Home Equity Loans Again. As housing values rise, home-equity loans and lines of credit are staging a comeback, MSN Money reports. In late 2008 as the housing market slowed dramatically, home-equity borrowing came to nearly a standstill as lenders became cautious because values were falling so quickly. By late 2011, nearly a …
Apr 26
Report: ‘Alarming’ Rate of Re-Defaulters With HAMP A new report finds that borrowers who had their mortgage payments reduced as part of the Home Affordable Modification Program are still failing at an “alarming rate” to stay current on their mortgage. The borrowers had their mortgage payments reduced, on average, by more than $400 a …
Apr 25
Banks Increasingly Turning to Deeds-in-Lieu of Foreclosure Short sales and loan modifications have grown to help offset foreclosures, but banks are also turning to deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure more too. Slightly above 20,000 deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure occurred nationwide in 2012, which is up nearly 40 percent from 2011, according to RealtyTrac. Some states are even …
Apr 25
Foreclosure Crisis Melting Away? Foreclosures are falling quickly as more borrowers keep up with their mortgage payments and banks complete more loan modifications or approve short sales to avoid foreclosures on their books. For the first time since 2008, the number of borrowers who are behind on their payments or in foreclosure dropped below …
Apr 05
Home Prices Pick Up at Fastest Pace in 7 Years. Home prices nationwide, which includes distressed sales, soared 10.2 percent year-over-year, according to CoreLogic’s February report. It’s the largest year-over-year increase in home prices since March 2006. It also marks the twelfth consecutive monthly increase in national home prices, according to CoreLogic’s report. When …
Apr 05
3 Ways to Get Unfriended on Your Social Networks. Social media experts at SocialToaster in Baltimore surveyed social media users to find out what are the most common grounds for unfriending or unfollowing someone. Here are three offenses that emerged from their survey: 1. Repetition again and again: 51.2 percent say that users who …
Apr 02
Millennials Embrace Unique, High-Tech Spaces. The Millennial generation is about 90 million strong—forming the largest demographic wave in the country’s history—and some reports suggest they’re readying for home ownership. Millennials’ entrance into home ownership has been delayed due to the recession, high unemployment, and high student loan debt. They’ve been living in their parents’ …
