My Posts/Listings

Smaller Homes to Grow in Demand, Surveys Suggest

The square feet of new homes is expected to continue its decline in future years. The National Association of Home Builders predicts that U.S. houses will average 2,152 square feet in 2015, which will be down 10 percent compared to last year. Smaller homes near restaurants and retail may be the most in demand as the housing market crawls out of its slump, housing experts say. McMansions–which... [Read more]

Freddie Issues Rule Changes on Short Sales

As of Jan. 1, Freddie Mac will require parties involved in a short sale to sign affidavits that will make them liable for any negligent or intentional misrepresentations in the transaction, HousingWire reports. Mortgage servicers are being urged to implement the change immediately before the Jan. 1 mandate, however. The move is part of Freddie Mac’s effort to crack down on the rising incidences of... [Read more]

Best Housing Markets for Big Bargains

Financial analysis firm 24/7 Wall St. has identified the housing markets expected to offer some of the biggest discounts for home buyers. Many of these markets have been plagued with large gluts of foreclosures that have dragged down prices. In fact, six of the 10 markets on the list have had median home prices fall to less than half what they were five years ago, according to 24/7 Wall St. The following... [Read more]

The Largest Group of Home Buyers by 2030?

Immigrants are expected to make up a large number of the future home buyers of America in the coming decades, according to a new report, “Assimilation Tomorrow: How America’s Immigrants Will Integrate by 2030” by the Center for American Progress. Researchers found that while 25.5 percent of immigrants owned homes in 2000, that percentage is expected to jump to 70.3 percent by 2030. If that happens,... [Read more]

Group Aims to Save Pets From Housing Crisis

A growing number of real estate professionals are finding pets left behind in vacant homes after families have moved on. Pets are being increasingly left behind in homes for any number of reasons, not just in cases of foreclosure, agents say. For example, pets are sometimes found in homes when the home owner has passed away and the relatives didn’t want to deal with the pet, or home owners who believe... [Read more]

Gov’t Announces More Refinancing Program Details

This week, the federal government released more details about its revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program, which sets out to allow more home owners to refinance their mortgage and take advantage of ultra-low rates. The program is geared to those who are current on their mortgage but may be underwater, owing more on their homes than they are currently worth. Here are some more details about the changes... [Read more]

Students Swap Dorms for McMansions?

Some college students are trading in cramped dorm rooms for ultra-large luxury McMansions, complete with Jacuzzis, grand great rooms, five-bedrooms, chandeliers, and three-car garages. For example, in Merced, Calif., which has been hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis, college students in the community who are facing a shortage of dorm space are finding housing from the McMansions that had been overbuilt... [Read more]

Census: Americans Sticking Closer to Home

The Census Bureau reports that not even 12 percent of the U.S. population relocated over the last year, down from more than 20 percent in 1985 and marking the lowest level since 1948. Part of the decrease in migration can be blamed on the housing market downturn and economic uncertainty, but it also can be attributed to the aging of America and the fact that older people are less likely to pull up... [Read more]

Happy Thanksgiving! – Enjoy your day.

Hard to believe this Thursday is Thanksgiving and the start of our Holiday celebration. It feels good to approach such a time that invites us to take pause and focus on what is good in our lives. Contrary to what some may think, Thanksgiving is not about being the gateway to Black Friday. Thanksgiving is about our bounty…not only of good food but of good fortune irrespective of how we measure it.... [Read more]

You Can Get Help – Overcome mental roadblocks that lead to foreclosure

There are several government reports out now stating that most homeowners who lose their home to foreclosure never contact the bank to determine whether they can work something out with them, despite the ubiquitous government, bank and media education campaigns encouraging them to do just that. While I’d wager that a small portion of this number are strategic defaulters who plan to walk away... [Read more]

Foreclosures Are Selling Quicker, BofA Says

In several markets, Bank of America is reporting that it has picked up its pace in moving through its inventory of foreclosed homes faster than it has in the past, The Wall Street Journal reports. Brian Moynihan, Bank of America Corp.’s chief executive, said at a press conference that in cases where banks can take ownership of the properties quickly and get them cleaned up, they are able to get them... [Read more]

Empty Foreclosures ‘Go to Pot’?

Foreclosed homes left standing empty are increasingly becoming overtaken and turned into marijuana farms inside. The problem has particularly surfaced in Las Vegas. For example, at one foreclosed home in Las Vegas, police seized 878 marijuana plants worth about $2.6 million, the Los Angeles Times reports. In Nevada — which for the last few years has had the highest foreclosure rate in the country... [Read more]

Top reasons to sell home in winter

We’re getting close to the end of the year, which begs the question of whether it’s worthwhile trying to sell your home now. Is it a waste of time? Will it sit on the market and become shopworn? Should I take my house off the market for the holidays? Will the home-sale market be better for sellers in 2012? The first question you need to ask yourself is: Are you emotionally prepared to sell?... [Read more]

Is lease-to-own home purchase worth the risk?

Buyers have a lot to lose if they cancel deal. A lease-to-own house purchase (also “rent-to-own purchase” or “lease purchase”) is a lease combined with an option to purchase the property within a specified period, usually three years or less, at an agreed-upon price. Such arrangements have proliferated in the post-crisis market because many potential homebuyers can’t meet... [Read more]

Previous Homeowners – 3 options for buying home after a short sale experience.

Q: I experienced a hardship two years ago and had to sell my house via short sale. I am now ready to purchase a home but heard I would have to wait another year because of FHA rules. I have been paying my rent on time and my credit is in the 700s. What programs or other options do I have in terms of obtaining a loan? I want to purchase a house for $70,000. –T. Jordan A: I’m glad to hear... [Read more]

Freddie Mac Hits REO Selling Record

Freddie Mac has sold a record number of single-family REO homes in the first nine months of 2011, and the homes are selling for an average of 94 percent of market value, Tracey Mooney, Freddie Mac’s vice president of single-family servicing and real estate owned properties, said in a blog post. “Because our homes are well maintained and priced right for the local market and home buyers, most of... [Read more]

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