April Housing Numbers Show Hints of Progress...
RISMEDIA, May 10, 2011—The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently released the April edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard—a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Officials caution that the latest housing figures underscore fragility in the housing market and highlight the importance of the Administration’s...Landscaping to Add Curb Appeal...
A well-landscaped yard creates curb appeal and helps your property retain maximum value. Here are a few tips and tricks for sprucing up your outdoor spaces yourself. A beautiful yard is a head-turner, no doubt about it. The good news is that even if you can’t tell a tulip from a turnip at the garden center, you can still create eye-catching curb appeal by paying attention to the basics of good landscaping. Ignoring your...6 Mistakes Made by Home Sellers...
Selling a home during this real estate downturn can be stressful on the seller. It’s not unusual for some homes to sit on the market for months on end, and many areas are still working through a backlog of foreclosure inventory, which also drives down home prices. Fact: 36 percent of homes nationwide sold for a loss in January. As we enter spring’s home shopping season, buyers are in the driver’s seat in many markets,...Short Sales Can Benefit Buyers & Sellers...
Homeowners who are “underwater” in their homes – owing more on their mortgage than the value of the home – can turn to a short sale to avoid foreclosure. Simply put, a short sale is accomplished when the homeowners sell the property and their lender or multiple lien holders agree to accept the sale price as payment on the loan. In December, a client of Matt Martin Real Estate Management in Vienna completed a...Use Your Home’s Curb Appeal to Create a Grea...
RISMEDIA, March 9, 2011—(MCT)—Now that virtually all the winter’s snow has melted (in some areas of the country) and it’s easier to navigate the streets, let’s consider something calculated to get people slamming on the brakes: curb appeal, that special something that makes prospective buyers stop for a better look at a house for sale. In normal market times, the National Association of REALTORS®, 49% of buying...Short Sale Tips for Sellers...
If you’re thinking of selling your home, and you expect that the total amount you owe on your mortgage will be greater than the selling price of your home, you may be facing a short sale. A short sale is one where the net proceeds from the sale won’t cover your total mortgage obligation and closing costs, and you don’t have other sources of money to cover the deficiency. A short sale is different from a...New Home Sales Fall 12.6% in January...
RISMEDIA, February 28, 2011—(MCT)—Sales of new U.S. homes fell in January 2011, almost completely retracing the strong gain seen in December, the Commerce Department recently estimated. Sales dropped 12.6% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 284,000. Economists had been expecting a pace of 300,000. For December, sales were up a revised 15.7% to a 325,000 level, compared with the previous estimate of a 17.5%...January Home Sales Increase...
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Sales of existing homes recorded modest gains in January, the third straight month of month-over-month increases. According to the National Association of Realtors, homes sold at an annual rate of 5.36 million in January, up 2.7% from December and 5.3% higher than January 2010 sales. It was the first time in seven months that the monthly total was higher than the year before. “The up trend...Buyers & Sellers Should Take Advantage of Tod...
RISMEDIA, February 16, 2011—The Case-Shiller Index is one of the country’s most popular ways of measuring the movement of home prices. And in its latest rating, which went out in late December, the verdict was: Prices are down. The Case-Shiller report’s 20-City Composite rating was 0.8% lower than it was one year previously; the first year-on-year decrease since October 2009. In some markets, sales were the worst...Connect with Brenda Mancil
