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How to Fight a Low Appraisal
February 15, 2012 in Buying a Home, Home Values, Massachusetts, Mortgages, Selling a Home | Tags: appraisals, Buying a Home, mortgage refinance, refinancing a mortgage, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
How to Fight a Low Appraisal
When it comes to selling a home or refinancing a mortgage, the appraisal process can make or break the deal.
“The appraisal is pretty much the lynchpin of any transaction in real estate these days,” says Michael Corbett, Trulia’s real estate expert and author. “Over the years there’s been so much acceleration in pricing and a huge drop in pricing that knowing the value is almost an art form.”
Read more at How to Fight a Low Appraisal.
Distressed Sales Undercut Home Prices in 2011, Study Says
February 3, 2012 in Buying a Home, Massachusetts, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Tags: foreclosures, home prices, Home Values, Real Estate Market, trends in real estate | Leave a comment
Distressed Sales Undercut Home Prices in 2011, Study Says
A report released today says that home prices slid by nearly 5 percent last year, but also indicates that most of the decline was due to distressed sales.
CoreLogic’s December Home Price Index found that home prices fell 4.7 percent in 2011 compared with December 2010, marking the fifth consecutive year of the housing slump. But excluding distressed sales, prices only dropped by 0.9 percent in 2011. The discrepancy between the two figures highlights the foreclosure crisis‘ obstructive effect on a market recovery.
Read more at Distressed Sales Undercut Home Prices in 2011, Study Says.
5 Low-Cost Kitchen Updates to Attract Home Buyers
January 26, 2012 in Massachusetts, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Tags: home staging, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
5 Low-Cost Kitchen Updates to Attract Home Buyers
It’s a tool used by house flippers all across the nation. Stagers know its power. Real estate agents push its importance. What is this not-so-well-kept secret of real estate? A kitchen can sell a house.
A kitchen is the heart of a home. This is true all across the globe. The old saying that the “stomach is the way to the heart” carries a lot of truth. Kitchens are where we spend much of our time and most of that is with our families.
Read more at Kitchens Sell a House.
What’s in Store for Housing in 2012?
December 28, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Home Values, Massachusetts, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Tags: home prices, housing market, Real Estate Market | Leave a comment
What’s in Store for Housing in 2012?
The worst for the housing market may finally be over, according to housing experts in a recent article in Kiplinger. After median home price have dropped nearly 40 percent nationwide, a rebound is taking shape — although, housing experts say, the market may stay flat for awhile before gradually ticking up.
According to housing experts in a recent Kiplinger article, here are some predictions for the real estate market in the coming year:
Read more at What’s in Store for Housing in 2012?
As Prices Sink, Home Ownership Heads To New Lows
December 5, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Home Values, Massachusetts, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Tags: Buying a Home, home prices, Home Values, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
As Prices Sink, Home Ownership Heads To New Lows
USATODAY.COM – Home prices across the nation are right back where they were at the beginning of 2003. All that was gained is largely now lost, and the effect on home ownership could continue for decades.
“Consumer attitudes have gotten a lot more negative about long-term commitment,” said Standard and Poors’ David Blitzer, after reporting home prices through September had fallen a deeper-than-expected 3.9%, compared with the third quarter of 2010. “They dropped to new lows. This takes them below the point we saw in 2009, where briefly we all thought this thing was about to turn around.”
And that’s the problem.
Read more at As Prices Sink, Home Ownership Heads To New Lows.
Are First-time Home Buyers Scared Off?
December 5, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Tags: Buying a Home, first-time homebuyers, home buyers, Real Estate Market | Leave a comment
Are First-time Home Buyers Scared Off?
WASHINGTON (AP) — This should be a great time to buy a first home. Prices have sunk to 2002 levels. Sellers are waiting anxiously as homes languish on the market. Mortgage rates are their lowest ever.
Yet the most likely first-time homeowners, especially young professionals and couples starting families, won’t buy these days. Or they can’t. Or they already did, during the housing boom. And their absence helps explain why the housing industry is still depressed.
The obstacles range from …
Read more at Home Market Being Held Back by Wary First-Timers.
Are the Holidays a Good Time to Sell Your Home?
December 5, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Tags: Buying a Home, home buyers, home sellers, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
Are the Holidays a Good Time to Sell Your Home?
Sixty percent of real estate professionals advise their sellers to list a home during the holidays because it’s a good time to sell, according to a new survey conducted by Realtor.com.
Why are the holidays such a good time to sell? Seventy-nine percent of the agents surveyed said that more serious buyers come out during the holidays, and 61 percent say less competition from other properties make it a great time to sell. Plus, 17 percent of agents say the cold weather is actually a benefit, making homes feel more cozy.
Read more at Most Real Estate Professionals Recommend Clients List Their Homes During the Holidays.
Mass. Home Sales Up for 4th Straight Month
November 29, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Selling a Home | Tags: Buying a Home, home sales, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
Mass. Home Sales Up for 4th Straight Month
BOSTON — Sales of single-family homes were up in Massachusetts last month when compared to the same period a year ago, yet the market remained slow.
The Warren Group reported Tuesday that October was the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases, but the last two Octobers have been worst since 1990.
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors said a roughly 3 percent increase in sales last month was driven by …
Read more at Mass. home sales up for 4th straight month.
Flawed appraisals create major problems for lenders
November 20, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Home Values, Massachusetts, Selling a Home | Tags: appraisals, home buyers, home sellers, Home Values | Leave a comment
Flawed Appraisals Create Major Problems for Lenders
How do you fight back when an appraiser — often from another city and working for a small fee on behalf of a big bank — wrecks your sale, purchase or refinancing with a low-ball valuation?
It’s a serious problem in markets across the country. For example:
- Homebuilder John Nolde of Richmond recently found a buyer for a new, green-certified house at $199,500, only to see an out-of-area appraiser …
Read more at Flawed appraisals create major problems for lenders.
Housing in 2012: Things Are Looking Up
November 17, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Home Values, Massachusetts, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Tags: Buying a Home, home prices, Home Values, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
Housing in 2012: Things Are Looking Up
The outlook: Most of the country will see the housing market stabilize, just don’t bet on a big increase in prices
A smaller house will make a big difference
(MONEY Magazine) — Last year the economic forecasting firm Fiserv predicted that home values would sink around 5% in 2011, and that prices in three-quarters of the nation’s major metro areas would fall. The bad news is, the firm wasn’t that far off the mark. The good news: In the coming year, Fiserv thinks 95% of the 384 metro areas it tracks will see prices rise.
Read more at A smaller house will make a big difference.
Tips for Selling a Home in the Winter
November 11, 2011 in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Selling a Home | Tags: home sellers, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
Tips for Selling a Home in the Winter
Traditionally, the time from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day can be some of the slowest time of the year for home buying due to the holidays and the often less-than-perfect weather. But that doesn’t mean sellers can’t sell during the winter months. In fact, with decreased inventories, sellers may have a better chance to standout and face a buyer pool with more urgency to settle down.
Experts offer some of the following tips for selling a home in the winter:
Read more at Tips for Selling a Home in the Winter.
FHA Rules for Condo Buys Cause Big Headaches for Buyers, Sellers
October 24, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, FHA Mortgages, Massachusetts, Mortgages, Selling a Home | Tags: Buying a Home, condominiums, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
FHA Rules for Condo Buys Cause Big Headaches for Buyers, Sellers
Is a little-publicized switch in federal mortgage policy causing huge problems for condominium sellers, buyers and homeowner association boards across the country — even depressing prices and blocking refinancings?
Condo industry leaders, from the 30,000-member Community Associations Institute to individual unit owners and realty agents, are emphatic that the answer is …
Read more at FHA rules for condo buys cause big headaches for buyers, sellers.
What’s the Best Day to List a Home?
October 20, 2011 in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Selling a Home | Tags: Selling a Home | Leave a comment
What’s the Best Day to List a Home?
List a home on Friday and you’ll have a greater chance of success when selling it, according to Redfin, which analyzed 1.2 million listings in 16 markets over 21 months to determine the best day of the week for selling a home.
In every market analyzed, Redfin found that homes listed on Friday were 12 percent more likely to sell within 90 days. What’s more, the company found that homes listed on a Thursday or Friday sold …
Read more at What’s the Best Day to List a Home?
Home Short Sales Rise in ‘Dramatic Shift’ That May Boost U.S. House Prices
October 18, 2011 in Buying a Home, Massachusetts, Selling a Home | Tags: Buying a Home, home prices, Home Values, Selling a Home, short sales | Leave a comment
Home Short Sales Rise in ‘Dramatic Shift’ That May Boost U.S. House Prices
U.S. home prices may get a boost from an unlikely source: a pickup in sales of properties in default before they reach the stage where they are repossessed by the bank and sold.
There has been a “dramatic shift” in banks’ willingness to sell a property for less than the mortgage balance to avoid foreclosing …
Read more at Home Short Sales Rise in ‘Dramatic Shift’ That May Boost U.S. House Prices.
We’re Shifting From Buyer’s to Seller’s Market
October 17, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Tags: Buying a Home, Cape Cod real estate, Massachusetts real estate, Real Estate Market, real estate news, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
We’re Shifting From Buyer’s to Seller’s Market
A Hub real estate mogul who owns more than 5,000 units in Greater Boston said the recession in the Bay State’s housing market is over.
“The residential market is making a comeback” Harold Brown, the 86-year-old chairman of the Allston-based Hamilton Co., told the Herald. “We hit the bottom and we’re digging our way out and we’re headed up.”
Brown cited apartment home sales data, apartment vacancy rates in the single digits and rising rents as indicators that the residential market is rebounding.
Read more at Brown: We’re shifting from buyer’s to seller’s market.
Do Buyers Want a Deal – Or a Steal?
October 13, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Selling a Home | Tags: Buying a Home, Cape Cod real estate, home buyers, home sellers, Massachusetts real estate, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
Do Buyers Want a Deal – Or a Steal?
Buyers are still looking for homes, but they won’t settle for anything less than a great deal, say real estate professionals.
“All the buyers across the board want everything in a house,” says Karin Batterton, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent in Baltimore. “They want it …”
Read more at Buyers Want a Deal – Or a Steal.
High-end Home Sales Surging
October 7, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Tags: Cape Cod real estate, luxury homes, Massachusetts real estate, Real Estate Market | Leave a comment
High-end Home Sales Surging
The volume of Massachusetts residential home sales increased in the third quarter by 13 percent compared to the same period last year, creating an overall picture of stability in the Bay State’s housing market, according to market data provided from MLS PIN.
“The market’s bright spots included an uptick in sales at the higher end of the market …
Read more at High-end home sales surging.
Home Ownership Ranks High, But No Buyer Urgency
October 6, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Selling a Home | Tags: Buying a Home, home ownership, Selling a Home | Leave a comment
Ownership Ranks High, But No Buyer Urgency
More than 68 percent of home owners and renters in a recent survey say now is a good time to buy a home. In fact, one-third of renters and one in five home owners say they want to buy a home within the next two years.
“We thought people would be soured after watching home values fall, but instead we found the typical American still places high value on home ownership,” says Frank Anton, chief executive officer of Hanley Wood, which conducted the survey of 3,000 home owners and renters.
So where’s the buying rush?
Read more at Home Ownership Ranks High, But No Buyer Urgency.
Cape Home Prices Climb in September
October 6, 2011 in Buying a Home, Cape Cod, Real Estate Market, Selling a Home | Tags: Cape Cod real estate, home sales, Real Estate Market | Leave a comment
Cape Home Prices Climb in September
BARNSTABLE — The median price for real estate sold on Cape Cod climbed above $300,000 during September — just the third month this year that the median has reached that mark, according to numbers released Wednesday by the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds.
And the registry reported that the volume of sales for the month …
Read more at Cape home prices climb in September.
Open Houses vs. Virtual Tours
October 5, 2011 in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Selling a Home | Tags: Cape Cod real estate, Massachusetts real estate, open houses, Selling a Home, virtual tours | Leave a comment
Open Houses vs. Virtual Tours
While open houses benefit real estate agents in terms of advertising, training new agents, and finding buyers for other properties, sellers reap fewer benefits. They have to tidy the house and leave it for the afternoon, and the likelihood of the home actually selling as a result of the open house is small.
Experts say agents should consider the security risks posed by an open house.
Read more at Open houses: Weighing risks versus rewards.
