Category Archives: Uncategorized

A survey by The Joint Center of Housing Studies at Harvard University reveals that when a family is buying a home they consider the financial benefits of homeownership along with the social benefits. The survey mentions things like: Paying rent does not make sense Homeownership provides a good financial opportunity Owning a home helps you building family wealth Buying a home is investing in your retirement Home equity gives you something to borrow against So how did homeownership match up … Continue reading →

If you are debating listing your house for sale this year, here is the #1 reason not to wait! Buyer Demand Continues to Outpace the Supply of Homes For Sale The National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun recently commented on the inventory shortage: “While feedback from REALTORS® continues to suggest healthy levels of buyer interest, available listings that are move-in ready and in affordable price ranges remain hard to come by for many would-be buyers.” The latest … Continue reading →

There is much discussion about how the real estate market is in the middle of its turnaround based on sales increasing on a year-over-year basis. Though the fact that housing is again moving is fabulous news, let’s not lose sight of which homes are selling. Here is a closer look at different price ranges and how they are faring in the current ‘boom’: $0-100,000 sales up 38.8% $100,000 – 250,000 sales up 8.7% $250,000 -5 00,000 sales down 6.2% $500,000 … Continue reading →

In a recent post, Trulia examined whether homeownership was again being seen by adults in the US as a “part of their personal American Dream.” Over the last five years: The percentage of U.S. adults who believe homeownership is part of their American Dream increased from 70% to 75% The percentage of 18-34 Year-olds who believe homeownership is part of their American Dream increased from 65% to 80% Here is a graph of the survey over the last five years: Bottom … Continue reading →

Now that the market has showed signs of recovery, some sellers may be tempted to try and sell their home on their own (FSBO) without using the services of a real estate professional. Real estate agents are trained and experienced in negotiation. In most cases, the seller is not. The seller must realize their ability to negotiate will determine whether they can get the best deal for themselves and their family. Here is a list of some of the people … Continue reading →

There are many benefits to homeownership. One of the top ones is being able to protect yourself from rising rents and lock in your housing cost for the life of your mortgage. Don’t Become Trapped Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist at realtor.com recently reported on what he calls a “Rental Affordability Crisis”. He warns that, “Low rental vacancies and a lack of new rental construction are pushing up rents, and we expect that they’ll outpace home price appreciation in the year … Continue reading →

Yesterday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their latest Existing Home Sales Report which covered sales in November. The report revealed that sales: “…fell 10.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million in November (lowest since April 2014 at 4.75 million)…” That revelation gave birth to a series of industry articles, some of which quoted pundits questioning whether the housing market was slowing. In actuality, there is one rather simple explanation to much of the falloff … Continue reading →

As the economy continues to improve, more and more Americans are seeing their personal financial situations also improving. Instead of just getting by, many are now beginning to save and find other ways to build their net worth. One way to dramatically increase their family wealth is through the acquisition of real estate. For example, let’s assume a young couple purchases and closes on a $250,000 home in January. What will that home be worth five years down the road? … Continue reading →

Today, many real estate conversations center on housing prices and where they may be headed. That is why we like the Home Price Expectation Survey. Every quarter, Pulsenomics surveys a nationwide panel of over one hundred economists, real estate experts and investment & market strategists about where they believe prices are headed over the next five years. They then average the projections of all 100+ experts into a single number. The results of their latest survey: Home values will appreciate by 3.9% by … Continue reading →

Some Highlights: 91.9% of homes in the US have positive equity 256,000 homes regained equity in the third quarter of 2015 37.5 million homes have significant equity (defined as more than 20%)