real estate

How Far Will Your Salary Go In A Different City?

May 13, 2008

Just like real estate markets differ from town to town, so does the Cost of Living. Courtesy of CNNMoney, this helpful calculator measures the change in living expenses a person would face when moving between any two major cities in America. The key expenses compared are: Groceries Housing Utilities Transportation Healthcare The comparison data is […]

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The Counties In Which Home Prices Are Rising

May 8, 2008

When real estate news is reported on television or in the papers, it’s usually told as a national story.  Unfortunately, stories like these aren’t helpful for everyday Americans because real estate is not a national market. Real estate is local. The graph above was used by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in a speech to Columbia […]

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New Home Sales : How The Newspaper Headlines Mislead You

April 25, 2008

Newspaper headlines rarely tell the full story and today’s papers provide a terrific example. From the Baltimore Sun (and others): New-home sales lowest since 1991 8.5% March decline exceeds forecasts; prices also tumble As always, there’s more to the story than the headline. The Census Bureau reported a 8.5 percent decline in New Home Sales last […]

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It Doesn’t Matter That The Median Home Sale Price Rose In March 2008

April 23, 2008

The National Association of REALTORS released its Existing Home Sales report for March 2008.  An “existing home” is one that is not considered new construction. A sub-headline in the report showed that the median sales price of all homes sold in March increased by 2.5 percent to $200,700. But don’t assume that the housing market is […]

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Simple Real Estate Definitions: Average Days On Market

April 18, 2008

In the world of real estate, Days On Market is the number of days between when a home lists for sale and when it goes under contract. It is often abbreviated as DOM. Average Days on Market is a similar statistic but instead of applying to one home in particular, it applies to all homes […]

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Simple Real Estate Definitions: Discount Points

April 2, 2008

More commonly called “points”, discount points are up-front fees charged by mortgage lenders in exchange for lower mortgage rates. The cost of one point is one percent on the loan size and discount points appear on Line 802 of the HUD-1 Settlement Statement. As a general guideline, each point paid lowers a mortgage lender’s offered interest […]

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Why “Median Sales Price” Reports Aren’t Helpful For Housing Markets

March 27, 2008

Each month, the Commerce Department and the National Association of REALTORS release national housing data. The former’s release is called the New Residential Sales report and the latter’s is called the Existing Home Sales report. Both reports highlight the “median sales price”, the point at which half of the homes in the U.S. sold for […]

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The Difference A Zip Code Can Make

March 14, 2008

There is no such thing as a “national real estate market”. Real estate is local. We know this is true because even cities don’t have their own real estate market. This chart shows how home prices have diverged across adjacent zip codes over the last 12 months. Some influencing factors: School systems Infrastructure Proximity Supply […]

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The Right Question: “How Much Do I Want To Spend On Housing Each Month?”

March 6, 2008

One of the most popular questions that home buyers ask real estate and mortgage professionals is “How much home can I afford?” It’s a normal question to ask, but it’s not the most effective way to plan your finances. Banks will almost always approve you for a home loan in excess of your household budget. […]

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Making Your Home Sell Faster With Psychology

February 29, 2008

When selling a home, understanding a little bit about home buyer psychology can help you move your home more quickly. After all, what people perceive helps define how they act. A recent article from RealEstateJournal.com listed techniques home sellers can use to attract more offers from buyers. The tips included: Number Play: $299,999 seems far […]

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How Is Housing Doing? It Depends Who You Ask.

February 27, 2008

Yesterday, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight released its fourth-quarter housing data. The OFHEO report color-coded each state according to its annual price changes.  The states shown in red lost value, and everyone else gained.  Overall, the OFHEO measured a 0.8% national increase. Also hitting the wires yesterday was the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. This report […]

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Real Estate Term: Earnest Money

February 26, 2008

When a buyer and seller reach agreement on a home sale, the buyer typically puts a small amount of money into a trust account. This up-front deposit is more commonly known as “earnest money”. A sales contract’s earnest money requirement will vary from contract to contract.  It can be as high as 10 percent of […]

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What’s Your After-Tax Mortgage Rate?

February 6, 2008

Many homeowners are entitled to two major tax deductions — one for annual interest paid on a home loan, and another for real estate tax bills paid to government. Calculating your approximate tax credit is basic: Add mortgage interest paid and real estate taxes paid together Find your marginal tax rate Multiple your tax bracket […]

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Help Your Home Emotionally Connect To Buyers

February 5, 2008

The end of the Super Bowl kicks off the Real Estate Spring Buying Season. As home sellers should prepare for the season’s upcoming homebuyers, they could do worse than to watch this four-minute home staging video from Barbara Corcoran. Barbara offer simple steps that “won’t cost you a lot of money but could make a […]

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Real Estate Term : Negative Amortization Home Loan

January 25, 2008

(Pronounced: NEGH-ah-tive am-ohr-tih-ZAY-shun) Negative amortization is the process by which a loan’s principal balance increases on a month-over-month basis. This is in contrast to a “typical” amortization schedule in which the principal balance decreases. Negative amortization is an optional feature on some home loans. These mortgages are usually referred to by the brand names “Option […]

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Commercial Real Estate Update

January 23, 2008

According to the most recent Real Estate Research Corporation (RERC) investor survey, sentiment seems to have shifted markedly to “Hold” or “uncertainty” with the exception of the multifamily sector as the following chart indicates: Buy Sell Hold Office-CBD 24% 12% 64% Office-Suburban 24% 14% 62% Industrial-Warehouse 39% 6% 55% Industrial-R & D 20% 13% 67% […]

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2008 Commercial Real Estate Outlook

January 16, 2008

Integra Realty Resources publishes a free commercial real estate trends analysis every year. The outlook for 2008 is available now by going here Enjoy!

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Common-Sense Tips To Help Your Home Sell Quickly

January 11, 2008

Clipped from NBC’s Today Show, real estate maven Barbara Corcoran talks about preparing your home for sale.  As usual, her remarks are spot-on. Some highlights from the 5-minute video: Go online and shop for your own home first Empty your home of two-thirds of the “stuff” Keep your home immaculately clean Corcoran also offers pricing […]

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How The Case-Shiller Home Price Index Over-Simplifies Real Estate Markets

December 27, 2007

The headlines say that home prices are down 6.7 percent from a year earlier.  It’s important to recognize that this is a national figure. “National” has nothing to do with real estate.  Real estate is local. The chart above is from the latest S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index and — averaged out — shows that home prices […]

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Understanding Real Estate Terms: Absorption Rate

December 24, 2007

In light of today’s New Homes Sales data and Monday’s forthcoming Existing Homes Sales report, let’s review a term that real estate professionals use to describe housing inventory. Absorption Rate is a real estate term for the length of time required to sell all of a given stock in a given area. We can use […]

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