Real Estate sales improving

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Leon

For the third consecutive month, home sales across the United States rose in the month of December 2011.  Homes sold at an annual rate of 4.61 million.  Up 5.0 percent from November and 3.6 percent from December a year prior.  This is an important pick up as the increase in sales of single family homes is important towards the road to recovery.

According to real estate agents, that equates to one in three homes were sold and purchased with cash.  While at the same, time, on in three homes sold last month was either through foreclosure or short sale, which means lenders allowed distressed homes to be sold for less than the outstanding debt owed on them.

Based on the recently released numbers, economist believe that there is currently 2.38 million homes available for sale representing a little over 6 months worth of inventory.  A number that is favorable towards the future recovery of the housing market.

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Closing costs

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Leon

As a buyer of real estate, we all want to know all the components of what we are buying or really paying for.  In all real estate transactions, there is a closing cost.  The closing costs are an accumulation of charges paid to different entities associated with the buying and selling of real estate property. For buyers, they are usually about 2-4% of the total sales price of a property. The is no small amount.  Some of the fees that the closing costs contains are: application fees, appraisal fee, county taxes, credit report, discount points, documentation fee, escrow fees, homeowners’ association fees, loan fees, mortgage insurance, origination fees, tax registration and title insurance premium.

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Department of Real Estate

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Leon

Most states have a Department of Real Estate, where all real estate agents in the state must get licensed at in order to practice in the state.  The department will also set forth what you need to do to test and pass the real estate exam.  More importantly to you, the site will list all the real estate agents in the state.  Before you sign an agreement to work with any real estate agent, you should go to the department of real estate and see if you can find the agent listed on the site.  If he or she is not license you know what not to do.  If he or she is listed, you can see if there are any complaints filed against them.  Real estate agents with past problems with former clients can be an indicator that there could be problems with working with them in the future especially if there were issues with money or fraud.

For those of you who have had problems with their real estate agent, you can also file complaints which will be investigated by the government on your behalf.  If they can prove that there were violations of the real estate licensing law, like misleading or defrauding the public, a formal hearing will be held and can result in the revocation or suspension of the agent’s license.  That is the extent of their powers.  They cannot get your money back but they can stop the agent from working or defrauding others in the future.

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Foreclosures climb

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Leon

Nation wide foreclosure rights continue to climb.  Roughly 11 million home owners remain underwater on their mortgages and are prime victims of future foreclosures to come.  At least eight percent of those individuals are in serious trouble and will face foreclosure soon or are already in it.  It is now clear that foreclosure is not isolated to specific areas of the country or class of individuals.  It is affecting everyone, in nice and bad neighborhoods.  Its affecting the rich and the poor.  For example, in the high end neighborhoods of Florida, in Fisher Island and Rosemary Beach, there is a 20.5% foreclosure rate.  About 38 out of 184 active loans are in default.  So its not isolated to the lower classes or the poor.  Rich people or people who thought they could afford expensive homes are feeling the downturn.

As a result of the foreclosures, everyone is seeing a huge depreciation in the value of their homes.  As the home value go down, those who can afford to pay their payments are dealt with the reality that they are paying for a home that is worth less than its purchase price.  Some elect to hang in there while others foreclose on their homes.  For those walking away they see it as a smart financial decision.

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Figure out your agent’s sell rate

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Leon

Finding a real estate agent with experience selling homes in your market will help ensure correct pricing.That might sound obvious but if you real estate isn’t experience in selling homes you are in for a hard time especially in these tough times.  So don’t be afraid and ask all the hard questions.  Treat them as potential candidates for a job and ask them everything you need to know before you hire them.  Ask your real estate agents, how long it usually takes for them to sell a house.  It’s best to choose an agent whose properties sell in an average of three or four months, a time frame that indicates the agent understands how to price the market.  If they take on average six months or longer to sell a home that is too long.  Its especially too long if you know you can’t wait more than a few months.  You can’t expect them to sell your home in two months if on average they take six months or longer.

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Real Estate Agent review

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Leon

Finding a good real estate agent / broker is essential to enjoying a painless real estate transaction. The saying is “20% of the agents do 80% of the business,” and it is true. The question is how can you find a good real estate agent? The best agent for you doesn’t necessarily work at the largest brokerage, close the most transactions or make the most money. The best agent for you is an experienced professional who will listen to you, conduct herself in an ethical manner and knows your market.

 

1. REALTORS® and Real Estate Agents “woman agent holding house and keys”© Big Stock Photo All Realtors® are licensed to sell real estate as an agent or a broker but not all real estate agents are Realtors®. Only Realtors® can display the Realtor® logo. Realtors® belong to the National Association of Realtors and pledge to follow the Code of Ethics, a comprehensive list containing 17 articles and underlying standards of practice, which establish levels of conduct that are higher than ordinary business practices or those required by law. Less than half of all licensees are Realtors®. Ads Top Realtors In Your AreaYour Search For An Experienced And & Trusted Local Realtor Ends Here!www.AgentMachine.com What’s my house worth?Find your home’s value instantly. Free service. Get estimates now.FindHomesValue.com What’s My House Worth?Find your home’s current market value online with HouseValues.com.www.HouseValues.com

2. Referrals Most real estate agents stay in business because satisfied clients refer them to friends, family, neighbors and coworkers. Ask the people around you who they have used and ask them to describe their experiences with this real estate agent. Successful agents make customer satisfaction their number one priority and put their customers’ needs before their own. Try to find an agent who goes above and beyond her responsibilities. She’ll be the agent whose praises your friends sing loudest.

3. Search Online for Agent Listings There are plenty of Web sites that will refer agents to you but that is no assurance of quality. The agents they refer are those who have paid the Web site owners a fee to be listed in their directory. A better bet is to Google the top real estate companies in your area, go to those Web sites and look up profiles of individual agents at offices near you. Agents who are experienced will tell you but newer agents might have more time to spend with you. Look for customer testimonials.

4. Attend Open Houses By going to open houses, you can meet real estate agents in a non-threatening working environment and interact with them. Collect business cards and make notes on them. If you’re thinking about selling your home, pay attention to how the agent is showing the home. Is she polite and informative; appear knowledgeable? Does she hand out professional-looking promotional material about the home? Is she trying to sell features of the home? Or is she sitting in a corner reading a book, ignoring you?

5. Track Neighborhood Signs Pay attention to the listing signs in your neighborhood. Make note of the day they go up and when the sold sign appears. The agent who sells listings the fastest might be better for you than the agent with the largest number of “for sale” signs. Results speak volumes.

6. Using Print Advertising Real estate agents run real estate ads for two purposes. The first is to sell specific real estate. The second is to promote the real estate agent. Look in your local Sunday newspaper for ads in your targeted neighborhood. Then look up the Web sites of the agents who are advertising. These agents could be specialists in your neighborhood. Call and ask them about their experience.

7. Recommendations from Professionals Ask other real estate agents for referrals.

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What Your Score Gets You

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Leon

Taking care of your credit is so important for several reasons. Specially if wanting to buy a home. Your credit score is one of the factors that will determine your mortgage loan interest rate. The better your score, the better your interest rate is likely to be. FICO, also known as the Fair Isaac Corporation, posted the differences in interest rate you may pay, depending on your score. If your score is between 620 and 639—considered a risky score by some creditors—you could pay an interest rate of 5.718 percent on a $300,000, 30-year conventional mortgage. As of mid-August, 2010, If your score is at the high end, 760 to 850, your interest rate could be 4.129 percent on the same loan. A score of 650 may net you a rate of 5.172 percent.

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Minimum Credit Score Needed to Buy a Condo

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Leon

Thinking about buying a condo, did some research on credit scores.
The score your lender will accept for a conventional loan can be determined by many factors, including your payment history, your salary history, your current wage, your available credit, the scores other lenders are accepting and the current economic climate. Cornett Communications advises that even in tight economic times, a score of at least 650 will get you in the door for financing. I’m at 670, hope I qualify.

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Realtor define

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Leon

A “Realtor” is a real estate professional.  Its a broker or a real estate agent who is a member of the National Association of Realtors aka the “NAR”.  A real estate agent who is not a member of the National Association of Realtors cannot call himself or herself a Realtor.

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Tracking homes up for sale

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Leon

One way to find a reliable and professional real estate agent is to track the homes that are put up for sale in your neighborhood and when their are sold and by whom.  If you set up a chart and chart the progress of these properties, you should be able to chart a pattern of who represents the majority of the properties in your neighborhood and how fast they sell or stay on the market in your area.  If you have the time, you can track this over a few months and this will provide you with a good starting point – a list of a few potential agents to interview before you make your final decision to hire one.

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