I'll keep this short: Existing-home sales rose from the first quarter in 13 states, apparently from buyers responding to discounted home prices, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors®. Nearly 25% of metropolitan areas showed rising home prices in the 2nd quarter from a year ago, with greatly mixed conditions continuing around the country.
In..(read more)
Aspiring First-time Home Buyers who have been sitting on the proverbial real estate fence may see their "ship" coming in this year in the form of a new Federal Housing initiatives.
In the latest move by the U.S. government to stop the national housing & economic bleed, first-time buyers will be able to take advantage of a temporary tax credit of up to $7500.00.
The stipulations..(read more)
I've been repeatedly asked "how low do you think prices will go?" I've been repeatedly asked, "have we hit bottom?" I've been repeatedly asked, "is the world coming to an end?" Ok, well I haven't been asked that, but I've been asked something similar.
Now CNBC Analyst Dennis Kneale raises what may be the most critical question of all: Is the current housing crisis really..(read more)
The number of new listings hitting the Washington County Board of Realtors MLS has been below 900 for two months running.....and for the first time since July of 2006 (see yellow below). Note below that we "threw out" the month of December (see blue below) for the past two years. As many fewer people tend to list their homes at the onset of the Holidays, December represents an..(read more)
I just came across a very interesing Wall Street Journal opinion column titled as much: "The Housing Crisis Is Over," stating that April 2008 may have been the "bottom" of housing crash that started in late 2005. A pretty wild healine indeed, yet if you take the time to read it I think you will see that this guy's opinion is largely based on fundamentals, not just the wishful thinking..(read more)
I work on a regular basis with a large volume of “expired listings.” As a matter of fact, these clients account for 25% of the Larkin Group’s total sales volume. These are Sellers who spent 3, 6, perhaps even 12 months on the market and their listing term finally “expired” without the home selling.
We’ve had tremendous success helping these individuals..(read more)
In case you didn’t know it already, Federal regulators shut down ANB Financial National Association banks (a.k.a “ANB”) last week after discovering "unsafe and unsound" business practices there.
If we were living in the gun-slinging Wild West as portrayed in the old John Wayne films, I think ANB (Arkansas National Bank for those who aren’t aware) could have..(read more)
Your agent tried to warn you, but you just wouldn’t listen. You thought you could save some real dough buying a short-sale. Now months have passed and you didn’t even get the home you wanted!
This can either be a long or short post. It all depends on how much convincing you need, which will then determine how much you elect to read.
If you’re a Buyer, you’ve..(read more)
"Amazing Deal!! Buy an Oak tree for $209,900 and we'll throw in the home behind for FREE!"
And yes, this DID come from the Washington County MLS by the way. I shall leave the agent nameless because I think he actually is a decent guy, but seriously! Am I the only one who notices the picture of the kitchen in a million-dollar home using Grandma's vintage polaroid camera with all of the..(read more)
I thought this was interesting. Calpers has been naming the worst companies since 1992. Fortunately their worst company picks WON’T put my beloved ‘Avocado Eggroll’ in jeopardy, but certainly isn’t helpful to the company’s stock.
On this year’s list? Cheesecake Factory, (OUCH!), La-Z-Boy, and many, many others.
According to Calpers, one of America’s..(read more)
