Blog

Welcome to my Real Estate Insider blog. I collect & update only the most relevant Real Estate Information that I think would be of interest to you.


Tips to prepare your budget before buying a home

Posted on

PHILADELPHIA – Nov. 20, 2017 – It’s virtually impossible to know what size home you can afford if you aren’t fully aware of how much money you are earning and how much you are spending each month. Start with your income: How much do you bring home after taxes and retirement plan contributions? Next, look…


Buyers snapping up homes at fastest pace in 30 years

Posted on

CHICAGO – Nov. 20, 1017 – Homes are sitting on the market for the shortest time in 30 years, according to an annual report on homebuyers and sellers by the National Association of Realtors. The report focused on about 8,000 homebuyers who purchased their home in the year ending in June. It found the typical…


Millennial homebuyers send chill through rental markets

Posted on

NEW YORK – Nov. 8, 2017 – Amid an uptick in the housing market, the homeownership rate is now increasing, in part because millennials are reaching the age when they’re forming families and settling down. On the flipside, that development has helped lead to a slump in the residential rental market. For most of the…


Bubble? Nowhere in sight for U.S. housing market

Posted on

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Oct. 24, 2017 – U.S. housing markets are expected to remain healthy through at least the end of 2018, with no housing bubble in sight and no projection of home prices falling, according to the Fall 2017 edition of The Housing and Mortgage Market Review (HaMMR), released by Arch Mortgage Insurance Company….


Palm Coast lands on national ’50 best cities’ list published on USA Today website

Posted on

PALM COAST OBSERVER PALM COAST TUESDAY, OCT. 17, 2017 2 days ago Palm Coast lands on national ’50 best cities’ list published on USA Today website SHARE COMMENTS 1 The city also made it onto a time.com/money list of the ‘7 best places to retire.’ by: Jonathan Simmons News Editor Is Palm Coast one of…


Handshake worthless without signed contract?

Posted on

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Oct. 12, 2017 – Question: Several weeks ago, we found our dream home and had a handshake deal with the seller, agreeing on price and closing date. Now time has passed, and the seller still has not signed the written contract with the terms we shook on. We really want the…


Foreclosures hit 11-year low in 3Q

Posted on

IRVINE, Calif. – Oct. 12, 2017 – ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q3 2017 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report finds a total of 191,824 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions. That’s down 13 percent from the previous quarter and 35 percent from a year ago. It’s the lowest level of foreclosures…


An unusual rental agreement in exchange for a downpayment

Posted on

SEATTLE – Sept. 21, 2017 – Entrepreneurs in Seattle have come up with an idea to help aspiring home buyers overcome the downpayment obstacle: They’re offering downpayments to people who are willing to be an Airbnb host for up to three years by renting out a room in their new home. The company, Loftium, provides…


It’s official: Fed will start selling bonds

Posted on

WASHINGTON – Sept. 21, 2017 – The U.S. economy is finally sturdy enough for the Federal Reserve to withdraw the extraordinary support it has provided it since the depths of the recession and financial crisis. In a move that that could nudge consumer borrowing costs higher, the Fed agreed Wednesday to begin gradually shedding much…


Average mortgage rates fall again to new 2017 low

Posted on

WASHINGTON (AP) – Aug. 31, 2017 – Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week. It was the fifth straight weekly decline for the benchmark 30-year rate, which again reached a new low for the year. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 3.82 percent from 3.86 percent last week….


Favorite renovation projects by generation

Posted on

CHICAGO – Aug. 30, 2017 – The average homeowner is spending more money on a greater number of home improvement projects, according to HomeAdvisor’s 2017 True Cost Survey, a study of 14 million service requests received between July 2016–17. However, the projects vary by generation, income, and geography, the study finds. Baby boomers, for example,…


4 times buyers have only themselves to blame

Posted on

CHICAGO – Aug. 29, 2017 – Real estate professionals see a lot of dumb reasons why home buyers ultimately end up losing out on a deal. Practitioners recently shared some of the more common mistakes with realtor.com, including ways to correct the situation: 1. Shopping outside their price range “It sounds obvious, but some homebuyers…


U.S. home prices surge in June, led by Seattle

Posted on

WASHINGTON (AP) – Aug. 29, 2017 – U.S. home prices climbed higher in June with gains that are eclipsing income growth – creating affordability pressures for would-be buyers. The Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 5.7 percent in June, according to a Tuesday report. The separate national average rose as well,…


Cash no longer king for S. Fla. homebuyers

Posted on

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Aug. 21, 2017 – Cash deals are by no means dead, but they aren’t dominating the South Florida housing market the way they once did. Sales without mortgages are happening less frequently as investors flee and traditional buyers gain easier access to financing, industry observers say. In the second quarter, 46…


More buyers putting less down on a home

Posted on

NEW YORK – Aug. 21, 2017 – A 20 percent downpayment is no longer the norm. In the past year, 1.5 million borrowers purchased their homes with downpayments of less than 10 percent, according to Black Knight Financial Services. That marks a seven-year high. A growing number of home shoppers are financing more than 90…


Homeowners with student debt can roll it into mortgage

Posted on

WASHINGTON – Aug. 1, 2017 – Fannie Mae, the large quasi-government agency that sets the guidelines for lenders selling their home loans on the secondary mortgage market, is adopting some new procedures that should make it easier for many borrowers with student debt, and those who cosigned for them, qualify for a home loan. Large…


Mortgage rates fall again – second straight week

Posted on

WASHINGTON (AP) – July 27, 2017 – Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week for the second week in a row, despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to lift borrowing costs. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages slid to 3.92 percent from 3.96 percent the previous week. While historically low, that…


First-timers missing out because appraisals lag values

Posted on

DALLAS – July 26, 2017 – After Dallas-area real estate pro Laura Barnett put a listing on the market three weeks ago, it quickly received 22 offers. But Barnett didn’t take the highest bid. Instead, she took a cash offer because she wanted to ensure that there were no hang-ups along the way toward closing….


12M consumers may get July credit-score boost

Posted on

WASHINGTON – June 22, 2017 – The three largest credit-reporting agencies will begin cleaning up credit reports in July, which could help lift the credit scores of about 12 million consumers. In a survey by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one in four people say they spot errors in their credit reports, most commonly concerning…


Guess which homes sold for over asking price

Posted on

CHICAGO – June 14, 2017 – Try out your real estate pricing knowledge with a new online listing game. Realtor.com® has launched Property Tycoon, which allows participants to test their market knowledge by selecting homes they think sold over asking price from a given selection of homes. According to realtor.com, players are provided a game…