Source: DaveRamsey.com - Some homes are tougher to sell than others, and Dave Ramsey has some good advice on how to get from "For Sale" to closing. Is 2014 your year to sell your home? According to the National Association of Realtors, it just may be. Although sales have slowed somewhat as mortgage rates increase, [...]
Source: MSN Real Estate - Even as temperatures stay cold, the housing market continues to stay hot -- at least in some areas. The inventory of unsold U.S. homes dropped from 1,846,155 in November to 1,731,017 in December, Realtor.com said in a report. In fact, housing demand for the full year 2013 was quite higher [...]
Source: Inman News - Consumers who don’t use online technology to shop for mortgage rates or look for a lender or real estate agent may be selling themselves short, with lower-income borrowers particularly at risk, according to Fannie Mae economists. Findings from a recent study suggest that online tools that improve borrowers’ understanding of mortgage [...]
Source: CNN/Money - The foreclosure crisis is showing signs that it's finally fading away.The number of new foreclosure filings -- which includes default notices, auctions and bank repossessions -- dropped 15% to a total of 113,454 properties in November, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed properties. That was the biggest monthly decline since [...]
Source: DaveRamsey.com - In just a couple of months, we’ll be deep in the heart of home-buying season. Some house hunters will succumb to house fever, which can cause calm, rational people to resort to knee-jerk reactions and downright hissy fits in the quest for their perfect home. You can avoid the troubles that go [...]
Source: Inman News - Prospective homebuyers hoping to buy a home in the next four months say the lack of inventory is their biggest challenge, but many believe winter is a good time to buy because sellers are motivated to sell and more willing to negotiate. That’s according to a survey of more than 1,300 [...]
Source: CNN/Money - Home prices posted the largest annual gain since housing bubble days in August, although the month-over-month gain slowed for the fourth straight month. The closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller home price index increased 12.8% from a year earlier, the biggest 12-month gain since February 2006. But with mortgage rates significantly higher in recent months, [...]
Source: Realtor.org - Lenders' tight underwriting standards have been blamed for sidelining many potential home buyers the last few years. But lenders may be showing signs of loosening up a bit. The average down payment on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell 2.74 percent from the second quarter to 15.73 percent of the home’s value in [...]
Source: Realtor.com - Now that the U.S. government is once again up and running, it’s time to take stock of the government shutdown’s impact on the real estate market (especially the mortgage end of that market), and what happens immediately going forward. One quick red flag comes from the National Association of Home Builders, which [...]
Source: Los Angeles Times - The Federal Housing Finance Agency is pushing Fannie and Freddie to chase down borrowers who can make home loan payments but choose not to. Anyone thinking of skating on mortgages owned by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac may want to think again. As a result of new government reports, [...]