Tag Archives: real estate

Buy a Home for $1.75

It seems that the housing crisis has made some interesting news lately. While auctioning off homes is nothing new, especially with the rash of foreclosures that have been happening, and auctioning off homes on eBay is still not surprising, getting an entire house for only $1.75 is something noteworthy. The Saginaw News of Saginaw, Michigan is reporting that a Chicago woman won an eBay auction for a home. There were eight bids in total. Of course, the home will actually cost the woman a bit more than the $.75. She has to pay an additional amount of approximately $850 for … Continue reading →

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 →

Does Your Real Estate Agent Practice “Buying a Listing?”

With the housing market slump, some real estate agents are practicing a sales technique called “Buying a Listing.” Unfortunately, this technique can hurt you in more ways than one if you are trying to sell your home. I’ll explain what this sales technique is and what the impact on you could be. Let’s take a typical family that is ready to sell their home. Chances are that this family would have interviewed several real estate agents before they made their decision on which agent to hire. And chances are that all of these real estate agents came equipped with “comps” … Continue reading →

Sell that House!

Here are the four easy things you should do to prepare your house for a sale. Doing a little work now will save you a big headache later. Clean up the entryway Buyers spend a lot of time in the front of your home. Whether they are gazing at the house from the curb or waiting on the front steps for their realtor to arrive, the entry way gets a lot of examination. Focus on this area to make sure that it is clean and in perfect shape. It is your home’s first impression. Paint the front door, replace worn … 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 →

Is the Short Sale Right for You?

Despite the downsides, the reality is that sometimes you have to sell your home even in a bad housing market. One result of this mark is the increasing popularity of the short sale. What is a short sale? Well, there are two applications for the definition. In the first, you are selling your home for less than you paid or for less than what you have remaining on your mortgage. You are in negative equity. It doesn’t seem fair, but if you purchased your home in the last two to five years, and need to sell it today, this negative … 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 →

Interest Rates

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I have been overhearing some concerning conversations out there – people who are waiting for the interest rates to keep falling. Let us address this misconception about interest rates with a little background. The Fed cuts interest rates by two main factors. The first are the rates charged to the banks when the bank borrows money from the Fed or other banks. The second affects the prime rate – which many unsecured loans are based on. Still, both of these rates don’t necessarily trickle down into the two places people most use debt – mortgage rates and credit card rates. … Continue reading →