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Downsizing Is Booming
Goodbye, McMansion. Hello, bungalow, condo or suburban split-level. The Great Recession may be over, but many people’s lifestyles will never be the same. They are saving more, spending less, simplifying their lives and — increasingly — downsizing their homes. This trend, which began with the economic downturn but has dovetailed with demographic changes, has given Read More
Housing Inventories Rise for Eighth Straight Month
Housing inventories rose in many U.S. cities for the eighth straight month in August in a sign of the continued headwinds facing a soft housing market. The number of available homes for sale in 26 major metropolitan areas at the end of August increased 0.4% from one month earlier, according to figures compiled by ZipRealty Read More
The Best Moves For Home Buyers And Sellers
Plenty of forces, from overly cautious lenders to inaccurate appraisals, are wrecking real estate deals right now. But one of the biggest roadblocks to getting a house sold these days is the disconnect between buyers and sellers. In general, sellers have gotten more realistic in pricing their homes than they were right after the housing Read More
When Personal Style Impedes a Sale
John Blesso feels as though he has made plenty of compromises to try to sell his Morningside Heights apartment. Before every open house over the past five months, he has hidden away his toaster, cocktail shaker, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, remote controls, shaving cream and loofah, and even taken his towel off the towel Read More
Credit Rescoring Can Help You Qualify For A Mortgage
Call it the great real estate disconnect of 2010: Mortgage rates have been at half-century lows and home prices have stabilized, but applications for mortgages to buy houses have declined most weeks during the last three months, as measured by the Mortgage Bankers Assn. What’s going on here? Shouldn’t 30-year fixed-rate loans well below 5% Read More
Remember Jumbo Loans? They’re Back!
Amid all the double-dip discussions in the housing market is an odd ray of hope on the high end. With little to no fanfare, it appears jumbo loans are not only getting cheaper, they’re getting easier to obtain. After several years of stagnation in high-end housing, thanks to the disappearance of the jumbo market, things Read More
Fannie Mae To Prohibit Lenders From Changing Home Appraisals
Picture this: You’ve signed a contract to sell your house. Your buyers say they’ve nailed down the right mortgage. All is well. But then the appraisal comes in low — $25,000 to $50,000 under what was agreed in the contract. The buyers refuse to pay a dollar more than the appraisal, you decline to go Read More
Home Shortages Could Develop As Recovery Unfolds
Sooner or later, the economy will rebound, jobs will return and new households will form. When that time comes, however, there might not be enough housing to accommodate all the new family formations. At a time when millions of foreclosures have flooded the market, and millions more are said to be in the pipeline, talk Read More
Homebuyer Credit Extension Heads To Obama
First-time homebuyers will have until Sept. 30 to close on their purchases and land an $8,000 tax credit under a bill passed by the Senate late Wednesday. President Obama is expected to sign the bill, which was overwhelmingly approved by the House on Tuesday. The deadline had been June 30. The bill doesn’t help anyone Read More
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