Home prices experienced their biggest year-over-year increase in February in nearly seven years. According to the CoreLogic, February Home Price Index report, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased by 10.2 percent on a year-over-year basis from a year ago. This home prices jump is the biggest year-over-year increase since March 2006. This is the …
In today’s MarketPulse newsletter from CoreLogic, the CEO says that this spring’s home buying season offers the brightest prospects for the housing market since 2006. With fewer foreclosed properties and declining shadow inventory comes solid gains in home prices and a reduction in the number of borrowers who are underwater. Our nation’s housing market is …
Designed to Sell designer Lisa LaPorta shares some of her best staging tips. Grimy bathroom walls are a major red flag to buyers. Here is an easy way to get rid of surface mold: Mix a spray bottle with one part water and one part bleach. Just spray it on the wall, and watch the …
Housing permits, house prices, and employment are benchmark elements the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and First American Title uses in the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI). In January, the list of improving markets jumped substantially to 242 from 201 in December. There are 361 metro areas nationwide. New additions to the NAHB …
This report has been prepared to help you avoid common mistakes made by well-meaning home sellers. During my years as a Mortgage Consultant, the mistakes I see made most often are those where sellers fail to do simple things that cost almost no money, yet always make homes sell for thousands of dollars more. Buyers …
The Internal Revenue Service has some important tax tips for selling your home whether you have already sold or are thinking of selling. If you have a gain from the sale of your main home, you may be able to exclude all or part of that gain from your income. Here are 10 tax tips …
In Search of a New Residence Subscribe to the area’s local newspaper in advance of your move. It usually contains a large real estate section, which can be very helpful in giving you some idea of the type of housing available in the new city, as well as other useful information. Arrange for a house-hunting …
Selling a house can be a daunting task. In addition, when most of the furniture has been moved out, the house can lack appeal, and it’s hard for many people to visualize living there. Gardener Marianne Binetti offers these tips for sprucing up the interior of a house on the market. • Use houseplants to …
The horror stories are everywhere. Short-sale approvals have dragged on and on. Borrowers and real estate agents don’t hear a peep from anyone. Clients give up and let the home go into foreclosure. That’s all in the past (we hope); the new short-sale timeline process has changed effective June 25, 2012. Fannie Mae and Freddie …
Even in times when real estate was booming, when homes were selling like hotcakes, the property appraisal was one of the major hurdles for sellers, buyers and lenders. While the actual appraisal inspection may only take an hour or so, the appraiser must still go back to the office, do the research and write the …
