Search Results for: blog the housing market and home equity

Home Swapping Instead of Home Selling

With more and more homes remaining out on the market for longer periods of time, desperate homeowners who want to move are looking into alternatives to getting their home sold the traditional way. One of these way is through home swapping, trading an existing home for someone else’s existing home. Even developers and real estate agencies are looking into home swapping in order to get their new homes sold. In the case of developers, the home swap is more like a trade in, just as if you were trading in an old car for a new one. While home swapping … Continue reading →

Home Prices Are Steeply Falling

How would you feel if you knew that your house was worth less now than it was eight years ago? If you live in Detroit or one of the other areas that have been the hardest hit by falling home prices, then this scenario could be reality. In truth, home prices fell their steepest rate ever since the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index has been keeping track of housing prices. The 10-city index, which has been keeping track of prices for 21 years, also showed the steepest decline in history. Overall, housing prices dropped 15.8 percent when compared to last … Continue reading →

Don’t Do These Things Before Buying a Home!

If you are planning on a home purchase, there are certain things that you can do that might jeopardize your success in getting a qualifying mortgage or a good rate. As soon as you decide to house hunt, don’t do any of the following. Make a major purchase. You don’t want to affect your assets by making a major purchase. This could affect you in two way. First, it can add to your debt, which will affect your credit rating. And second, it can reduce your available assets, also affecting your credit or affecting the cash you might have for … Continue reading →

Home Week in Review: May 12 – 18

Welcome to the wonderful world of home and garden and our weekly review: Do you love Laundry? I know, the question sounds a little weird. But, there are days when I actually love doing laundry. When circumstances are overwhelming, there is something comforting about regular chores. Completing them can offer a sense of normalcy, constancy, stability, instead of what sometimes feels like drudgery. Doing the everyday tasks that make a house a home and help make a family feel cared for can be a good form of therapy… More Reasons to Move Are you contemplating making a move to a … Continue reading →

When Will Home Sales Bottom Out?

Is there a final end is sight to a declining housing market? Will home sales improve this year, next year or in 2010? Bakerate.com conducted a study, bring together a panel of experts in the industry, and this is what they found. One thing to understand about forecasting the housing market is that although it is based on good solid information, such as foreclosure rates, job growth, new construction figures and home sales and prices, that it is still forecasting. No one really knows the future, including the weather, although we can make some educated guesses. The next thing to … Continue reading →

The Housing Market and Home Equity

Home sellers are spooked by the lowering prices of their homes. While homes on the market may still get some interest, it is not good. If an offer does come in, it is usually a low ball one. This is due to at least three reasons. One, the busted housing market is all over the news, so home buyers know that they have a lot of power; two, there is a lot of inventory out there, so buyers feel confident that if they walk away there will be many other homes to buy; three, buyers are concerned with the rising … Continue reading →

Home Improvements in a Recession

As the housing market continues to nose dive, food and gas prices continue to soar and people are finding themselves nervous about surviving a recession, it is tough to know what to do about home improvements. You want to make good decisions on home improvement whether or not you are actively thinking of selling your home. With limited resources and the possibility of having to sell a home quickly in a rock bottom market, making the right home improvements can really benefit you in the end. So how do you know the how, what and when of home improvement? Here … Continue reading →

How Can I Protect My Family’s Finances?

Despite our best efforts to plan and budget, sometimes things happen that throw our families’ finances so far off track that we may wonder whether we will ever be able to meet some of the financial goals that we had set for ourselves. Things like retirement, college educations for the kids, and even home ownership can seem like distant fantasies when times get tough and you are living in survival mode. The good news is that as bleak as things may seem, all is not lost. You do not have to give up on your family’s financial goals. With some … Continue reading →

Plan Allowing Forclosed Families to Stay Put

According to the Los Angeles Times a “right to rent” plan will allow homeowners to rent their forclosed homes back and stay put. The basic idea is simple. In recognition of the extraordinary crisis, Congress would give families that took out mortgages at the peak of the boom and are facing foreclosure the option to remain in their homes as renters for a substantial period of time — five to 10 years — while paying the market-rate rent. Earlier this year, Freddie Mac launched a similar policy, giving former homeowners the option to lease their recently foreclosed properties, but on … Continue reading →

When Remodeling, Consider the Neighbors

If you are planning a remodeling project, it is important to consider the neighbors. No, not because they might complain but because their home might be affecting the value of your own. Taking a look at all of the factors for your home, including your neighbors will help you make the right decisions about remodeling projects and get the most value from your investment. First, if you are planning an addition, take a look at the square footage of the houses that belong to your neighbors. You want to keep the size of your house in line with the others. … Continue reading →