All Blog Posts Tagged 'Agents' (342)

Real estate professionals and mortgage loan officers say that appraisers seem to be reluctant to report price appreciation occurring in numerous spots across the nation, and it’s complicating sales transactions, The Real Deal reports. 

Appraisal problems — where property valuations have come in lower than…

Reverse mortgages are gaining steam again, as more home owners 62 and older look to borrow against their home’s equity. 

But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns in a new report that reverse mortgages aren’t being used as they were originally intended by lawmakers. The watchdog group also…

The big drop in inventories of homes for-sale is helping once-expired listings finally get sold. Sellers are finding re-listing their properties may offer them more luck now than a few months ago, real estate professionals report. 

Nationwide inventories of single-family homes, condos, townhouses, and…

Recent housing surveys are showing an uptick in home prices, particularly in cities in warm-weather “sand states” that had been hard-hit during the housing slump, such as in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Miami, and Tampa. But some housing experts worry that the lift in prices may be temporary due to banks “hoarding…

Condo boards have a message for delinquent owners who fail to pay their monthly fees: Pay up or move out. 

Over the last few years, condos increasingly have faced more residents who are delinquent on their monthly fees, which has meant less money for condo buildings' maintenance and amenities. 

Condo…

Eighty percent of non-home owners are willing to give up certain luxuries in their life so that they can purchase their dream home, according to Century 21’s Spring Home Buyer/Seller Survey. 

So what are they willing to sacrifice in order to save for purchasing their dream home? The survey…

More real estate professionals say they are getting an unexpected surprise when they arrive at foreclosed homes: The homes aren’t really vacant. Squatters are living there and it’s led to some awkward — and even dangerous — encounters, they say. 

There have been recent reports of attacks, sexual assaults,…

Some cities that have seen population decreases, high foreclosures, and job losses are faced with the problem of what to do with the abandoned homes that were left behind. 

After all, it takes money to demolish empty homes, and some cities are finding they can’t afford to do it. 

"The principal…

Chicago continues to dominate the search traffic on Realtor.com, taking the No. 1 spot for top-searched housing market for the month of May. 

The site released its list of top-searched housing markets…

Home buyers who are looking for big discounts on housing nowadays are finding that their lowball offers are no longer sticking with sellers, and that their offers are getting a flat-out “no” when they’re way below the asking price.

"Right off the bat, buyers say, 'I want a steal,' and I tell them they have…

In one Long Island, N.Y., village, residents are finding there are stiff penalties for not keeping up with your yardw ork: You might end up in jail. 

The Massapequa Park village board approved unanimously a law that would fine and possibly jail home owners who don’t maintain their yards. 

Lawn…

Foreclosure filings — which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions — soared 9 percent in May from the previous month, RealtyTrac reports. The pick-up in foreclosures for the month marked the first monthly increase since January and had some in the housing industry saying that the…

More Americans are optimistic that home prices will inch up over the next year, with expectations that prices will rise at least 1.4 percent in that timeframe. That marks the highest amount ever recorded in Fannie Mae’s monthly National Housing Survey.

Thirty-four percent — also the highest ever recorded — of…

Some housing experts say a “mega-boom in home ownership” is brewing as Hispanic Americans look to join in home ownership. Indeed, Movoto, a real estate brokerage in San Mateo, Calif., predicts Hispanics will make up half of new home buyers nationwide by 2020.

The growth in that time frame is expected…

More borrowers are shortening their mortgage terms, and are considering paying off their mortgage a possible feat. Record low interest rates has allowed more borrowers to refinance their loans from 30 years to 15- or 20-year terms. 

A recent Freddie Mac report shows that 31 percent of recent refinancers…

Home appraisals coming in for lower than the agreed upon selling price of a home is making it difficult for some home buyers to take advantage of the market. 

About one-third of real estate professionals say low appraisals have caused a transaction to fall through, be delayed, or have to be…

Retirees’ decreased monthly incomes may make it more difficult for them to meet the stricter underwriting standards that lenders have in place in order to qualify for a mortgage, according to an article in The Washington Post. 

Whether refinancing their current mortgage or applying for a new loan to…

Foreclosure sales are making up a bigger bulk of sales. In the first quarter of this year, sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure accounted for 26 percent of all residential sales, which is up from 22 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to RealtyTrac’s latest foreclosure report.

But…

Celebrities are increasingly finding that having a famous name doesn’t always help them sell real estate, even though those famous names may help them move movie or music tickets, perfumes, or other products. 

Several celebrities who have tried to sell their homes recently have had to reduce their asking prices or have found their big-priced homes linger on the market waiting for a buyer. 

In the last year, for example, actors like Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have had to…