Category Archives: Sellers

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Boomerang Buyers Expected to Boost Recovery in the New Year

Housing foreclosure authorities LoanSafe.org and YouWalkAway.com have created a new website to help people re-enter the housing market after having been through a previous foreclosure. The website is called AfterForeclosure.com and helps those most affected by the housing crisis take charge of their financial future and own their own home again.

Based on a poll of their combined members, LoanSafe.org and AfterForeclosure.com are confident that these potential buyers will make 2014 the year of the “boomerang” buyer.

Changes in lending guidelines and population shifts make these buyers essential to the recovery of the housing market. Jon Maddux, co-founder of AfterForeclosure.com says: “Alienating this large and growing pool of potential buyers does not bode well for the market in an environment where natural housing advancement has been largely disrupted.”

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Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Climb by Most in Seven Years

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Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose in October from a year ago by the most in more than seven years, signaling the real-estate rebound will keep bolstering household wealth in 2014.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property prices in 20 cities climbed 13.6 percent from October 2012, the biggest 12-month gain since February 2006, after a 13.3 percent increase in the year ended in September, a report from the group showed today in New York. The median projection of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 13.5 percent advance.

A dwindling inventory of foreclosed properties has helped restrict the supply of homes for sale, pushing up prices even as higher mortgage rates cool demand. The real-estate market will probably get its next boost from gains in employment that are lifting consumer confidence in the economic expansion.

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Home Design and Remodeling Trends For 2014

The end of the year brings many things. Special time spent with family and loved ones. Presents from Santa. The promise of a fresh start. And, if you’re like us, an insatiable desire to change up your environment by updating it with the latest trends.

If you are feeling the pull toward renovating, redecorating, or revising your home for 2014, here are some exciting trends you may want to incorporate.

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Think Color in 2014

Designers

Gray is the new black; reclaimed wood and porcelain floors are made for walkin’; and wireless is controlling sound, window shades, TV, and more.

Whether it’s based on fashion, the economy, new technologies, or the overall mood of the country, home design trends come and go — sometimes slowly and sometimes lickety-split. But as with apparel, some trends become classics and remain strong — a Barcelona chair, for instance — while others go out the window (think avocado and harvest gold kitchen appliances).

Here are 10 trends that are coming on big in 2014…

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Housing Predictions: How 2014 Will Be Different

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What should you expect for next year’s housing market? Trulia’s Chief Economist, Jed Kolko, dipped into the data to find out. Check out his predictions for the 5 ways that the 2014 housing market will be different from 2013, as well as the top 10 cities to watch as we enter the new year.

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Skyrocketing rents hit ‘crisis’ levels

Since the housing crisis began in 2008, approximately 4.6 million homes were lost to foreclosure, according to CoreLogic. The vast majority of those homeowners became renters. Even as housing recovered, credit tightened, pushing even more potential buyers out of homeownership and into rentals, both apartments and single-family rental homes.

There are now 43 million renter households, or 35 percent of all U.S. households, the highest rate in over a decade for all age groups, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies; 4 million more renters today than there were in 2007. For those aged 25 to 54, rental rates are the highest since the center began record keeping in the early 1970s.

As a result, rental vacancies have fallen dramatically, and rents have skyrocketed.

Read the article…

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6 Things Real Estate Agents Wish You Knew

Open House

Real estate agents see it all.

From the unmade beds to the overstuffed garages to the “What were they thinking?” decor. Over the years, they learn a thing or two: Why some houses sell, while others linger on the market. Why some promising buyers never make it to the closing table. How to get a better deal on the mortgage. Even just how much the other agents stand to make on your home. And the good news is, they want to share. Whether you’re a buyer, seller or both, here are six things real estate agents wish you already knew.

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Why Sellers Shouldn’t Wait Until After the Holidays to List Homes

With the holidays approaching, sellers often wonder if they should keep their properties on the market or take them off? Or if they haven’t listed their homes yet, should they wait until after the first of the year? Maybe hold off until spring?

Conventional wisdom used to be that you shouldn’t even try to sell your home during the busy holiday season. Potential homebuyers were too preoccupied with attending parties, cooking meals, buying presents or planning vacations. With all that going on, there just wasn’t time to ride around with a real estate agent, looking at properties.

But with the Internet, smartphones, tablets and our always-on lifestyle, that conventional wisdom isn’t relevant anymore. The reality is, the homebuying season is now year-round. Here’s why you should consider listing your home during the holidays, or even in January.

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3 Soothing Insights for Sellers

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Selling your first home can feel like a real estate roller coaster: it has lots of twists and turns — and even some points where you just hold your breath and wait to see how things turn out. However, you have more control over this wild ride than you may realize. Here are a few facts that can minimize the anxiety and maximize the outcome of your first home-selling experience.

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NAR Chief Economist Reveals 2014 Predictions

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Speaking at the 2013 Realtors Conference & Expo earlier this month, National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist Lawrence Yun predicted steadiness in existing-home sales over the next year as prices continue to ascend.

Over the past two years, Yun says existing-home sales have shown a 20 percent cumulative increase, while prices have gained 18 percent. Meanwhile, incomes have only barely risen, coming up somewhere between 2-4 percent.

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