Category Archives: Buyers

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RealtyTrac Outing Location of Sex Offenders, Drug Labs and Toxic Dumps

In a bid to bring transparency in online real estate search to new heights, RealtyTrac has baked a batch of data on unpalatable neighborhood characteristics into its listing detail pages.

Distributed among 108 million addresses, the information — which could be construed as a massive collection of red flags — includes the location and details of environmental hazards such as underground spills, polluters and hazardous waste sites, as well as former drug labs, sex offenders and building permit activity.

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Why 2014 is a Good Year to Buy a Home

If you didn’t buy a home in 2013, you may be kicking yourself now. Home prices climbed nationally an average of 13.6 percent in the past 12 months, according to Tuesday’s release of the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index.

Don’t make the same mistake in 2014, suggests Benjamin Weinstock, real estate attorney and partner at the firm Ruskin Moscou Faltischek in Uniondale, N.Y.

Market forecasters predict that 2014 will be another year of gains for the real estate market, even though the rapid pace of sales in 2013 cooled off a bit at the end of the year. On Dec. 30, The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index, based on contracts signed last month, rose 0.2 percent in November, below the 1 percent rise forecast.

Home prices are expected to rise about 5 percent next year, says Weinstock. Higher mortgage rates will dampen the pace of both sales and price gains, but not bring them to a halt. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is expected to rise from 4.5 percent to 5 percent in the next year.

Even aside from expected price gains, buying a home is almost always a good investment in the long run, says Weinstock. Tax benefits are not to be overlooked.

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Do you know why buying a home is cheaper than renting?

Neighborhood

Buying costs less than renting in all 100 large U.S. metros, according to the Rent vs. Buy Report from Trulia.

Rising mortgage rates and home prices have narrowed the gap between renting and buying, though rates have recently dropped and price gains are slowing.

Low mortgage rates have kept homeownership from becoming more expensive than renting. In some markets, like San Francisco and Seattle, rents have risen sharply; rising rents hurt affordability relative to incomes, but rising rents make buying look cheaper in comparison.

Trulia says that at a 30-year fixed rate of 4.5%, buying is 38% cheaper than renting nationally, versus being 44% cheaper at the start of 2013.

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Families Step in as Lenders to Help Kids Buy a Home

Saving Money

Employment troubles, large student loan debt, and tight underwriting standards have been major hurdles holding back potential first-time home buyers in their 20s and 30s, the Los Angeles Times reports.

In 2012, Americans who were 30 to 34 had the lowest home ownership rate of any similarly aged group in recent decades at 47.9 percent, according to demographer Chris Porter of John Burns Real Estate Consulting. As comparison, Americans born between 1948 and 1957 had a 57.1 percent ownership rate by the time they were in the 30 to 34 age group.

Studies have shown a strong desire among 20- and 30-somethings to buy a home, but their finances are holding them back from making such a move. As such, more relatives are stepping in to provide assistance with downpayment and closing costs. Twenty-seven percent of first-time buyers received a money gift from relatives last year.

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Foreclosure Pipeline Gradually Being Cleaned Out

Graph - down

As the foreclosure crisis continues to recede, some parts of the country remain at elevated levels. Five states now account for nearly half of all the completed foreclosures in the nation —Florida, Michigan, California, Texas, and Georgia, according to CoreLogic’s latest foreclosure report.

Foreclosures made up 10 percent of sales in December, while short sales comprised 4 percent of sales, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ existing-home sales report for December.

On average, foreclosures sold for an average discount of 18 percent below market value in December, while short sales were discounted 13 percent, NAR reports.

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Wealthy Americans pick Real Estate as Best Investment for 2014

Money

Millionaires across the U.S. say commercial and residential real estate is the best alternative-asset investment option for 2014.

One-third of millionaires surveyed in a new Morgan Stanley study plan to purchase real estate this year, Bloomberg reports. And 23 percent say they’ll invest in real estate investment trusts.

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Why We Fall in Love – With Houses

Home

Falling in love can be wonderful—and finding the perfect house can make a house-hunter weak in the knees.

A survey by Realtor.com shows that falling head-over-heels for a house is fairly common—69% of respondents reported that they have had a home crush. House-hunters with a “home crush,” as defined in the survey, are drawn to the same house again and again. Realtor.com surveyed 1,082 individuals from Jan. 9 to Jan. 20 who reported having had a home crush.

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New Low for First-Time Home Buyers

New Homeowners

First-time home buyers accounted for 27 percent of sales nationally in December, the lowest since the National Association of REALTORS® began tracking them in 2008. Typically, first-time home buyers account for 40 percent of the market.

Why are their numbers dwindling? Housing experts point to several hurdles, such as high student loan debt, less-than-perfect credit, low employment and wage growth, and the double-digit growth in home prices this past year.

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Know Your Mortgage Options Before Buying Your First Home

Money

Applying for and getting a mortgage is one of the most daunting obstacles to overcome when shopping for a home. The process can be especially scary and confusing for first timers who may be unfamiliar with the various programs out there, or the advantages and disadvantages of each. Here is a quick rundown of the types of mortgages available, to help decide which may be the best option for your own situation.

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In Housing, Big Is Back (not counting the extras)

The bursting of the housing bubble didn’t deter affluent buyers for long.

After the recession, the market for large, expensive homes slowed sharply. Yet despite the bursting of the housing bubble, the ensuing recession and the slow recovery, buyers have not abandoned luxury homes. It turns out that they just took a break. In July 2013, sales of homes costing more than $1 million were up 46.6 percent from the previous July. When it comes to new homes, bigger is again better.

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