GLOZAL's Blog Posts Tagged 'real' (327)

Purchasers of 12 properties in Detroit got an unwelcome surprise when they visited their new places: The homes were nothing but a pile of dirt.

Kristine Diven and Micho “Detronik” McAdow say they purchased a home at auction and went to check on it weeks later to find it completely demolished. The couple…

Home buyers have plenty of information available at their fingertips. They’re educated and savvy when it comes to real estate. They educated themselves with data and trend reports on the housing and financial markets, as well as on their own communities. They know that you are no longer the gatekeeper of…

Ten major banks have agreed to pay more than $8.5 billion in a settlement with federal regulators over lenders’ past mistakes in processing foreclosures.

About $3.3 billion of the settlement is to help 3.8 million eligible home owners who were foreclosed upon in 2009 and 2010. About $5.2 billion of…

Home buyers trying to scrape together enough money to cover the typical 20 percent down payment frequently look to relatives for help. About a quarter of first-time home buyers use gifts from relatives to fund a down payment for a home purchase, according to data from the National Association of…

New single-family home sales soared to its fastest pace in 2 1/2 years, jumping 4.4 percent over last month, as median prices also rose, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. 

The sales pace in November for new-home sales was the highest since April 2010, the same time when the federal home-buyer tax…

Tight inventories of for-sale homes are causing bidding wars on homes to turn “brutal,” The Orange County Register reports. For example, some home buyers in Southern California say they’ve been up against 18 other buyers in bidding wars for a property. 

For some, the bidding wars are causing frustration as…

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 is days from expiring if Congress doesn’t act to extend it. If the act expires, home owners will be responsible for paying income taxes to the IRS on a certain portion of their mortgage that is forgiven in a short sale, foreclosure, or principal…

Forbes partnered with Nextdoor.com, a social network for neighborhoods, to determine the friendliest towns in America. A total of 500 towns with populations between 5,500 and 150,000 were included in the study and ranked on the percentage of owner-occupied homes, crime rate, charitable giving, and percentage of college graduates. Studies have shown home ownership can increase neighborhood stability and college-educated people have been found to display more civic engagement. 

The…

Home shoppers will likely have more urgency in the new year, wanting to buy before home prices rise even more. 

Home prices are edging up in most markets, and buyers are taking notice. Buyer surveys recently have shown that home shoppers expect home prices to continue to inch up, and they want to cash in before…

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty released a report showing that, for many low-income renters, the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act is all that stands between housing and homelessness. But if Congress fails to act, that law will expire at the end of 2014.…

A Bucks County, Pa., man has been charged with allegedly trying to lure real estate agents into model homes with intentions to sexually assault them, police say. 

Frank A. Yeager, 29, is in policy custody and has been charged with one count of criminal attempt rape, a first-degree felony, as well as several misdemeanor charges.

On Nov. 25, a Pulte Homes real estate rep told police that a man entered the office requesting to see a model home. The woman told police she had a…

Borrowers seeking a mortgage or for those looking to refinance are increasingly turning to credit unions.  These financial institutions are expected to surpass a record-breaking $100 billion in mortgage loan originations this year, The New York Times reports. 

The growth has mostly been attributed…

Chicago is the top housing market for home buyers, according to recent rankings of 30 of the largest U.S. metro areas released by Zillow. This is the second time in a row the city has nabbed the top spot which is unwelcome news to homeowners trying to sell their properties.

Its ranking as the top buyer's market means properties in the Chicago area stay on the market longer, with more frequent price cuts and sell for less than their listing price, all factors that give prospective…

Home owners are moving again: After hitting a record low last year, the national home mover rate increased from a record low of 11.6 percent in 2011 to 12 percent in 2012, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. 

About 36.5 million people 1 year and older moved, an increase from the 2011 estimate of 35.1 million. In 2012, the majority of people who lived at a different residence 1 year ago moved within the same county (64.4 percent).

Among the 11.8 million intercounty movers — people…

Several of the nation’s largest banks announced they will halt foreclosures during the holidays, following a similar move made by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last week. 

The following banks say they will stop foreclosures until after the New Year: Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp, PNC Financial…

The housing market has shown several consecutive months of improvement in home prices and buyer demand. The housing market—once a downer for the U.S. economy—is now its one bright spot. But why?

A recent TIME magazine article questions what’s really behind the real estate market’s improvement. 

Tim…

Developers are ramping up apartment construction across the country to cash in on rising rents. Multifamily construction is at nearly two-thirds of its pre-recession peak; single-family home construction is about a third of its way back, David Crowe, chief…

Police are on the hunt for two men in Northwest Indiana who lured a real estate agent to a phony showing appointment. The men allegedly posed as prospective clients and then sexually assaulted the real estate agent inside the home, according to police.

The real estate agent scheduled a daytime appointment to show the two prospective clients a home in the Robertsdale neighborhood in Hammond, Ind., meeting the two men at the residence.  

“Upon entering the house at 10 a.m.…