Top 5 REALTOR® Updates | Week of November 2nd
Check out these five real estate updates to help you stay in-the-know with the latest happenings in our industry.
1. Persuade Owners to List in the Winter
Some home owners may be hesitant to list in the winter, believing the cold-weather season won’t attract many buyers or leave the best impression of their property. But while spring may be the peak home shopping season, owners may be able to snag more for their home in the winter. The real estate brokerage Redfin found that on average, sellers net more above asking price during the months of December, January, February, and March than they do from June through November. Read More...
On Thursday, October 29, 2015, the temporary legislation keeping America’s surface transportation programs running will expire. One proposal would use Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s credit risk guarantee fees (g-fees) to fund an extension of transportation programs. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) "strongly believes that a new tax on homeowners would also prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from effectively managing their risk." Read More...
3. Low Tier of Market Offering Bigger Pay Offs?
The investment potential appears to be favoring the low price tier in real estate, according to a newly released report by Clear Capital. “As the housing recovery continues to unfold, we are clearly seeing a growing dichotomy between the low price tier and top price tier market performance,” says Alex Villacorta, vice president of research and analytics at Clear Capital. “By and large, the low price tiers of the Top and Bottom MSAs are significantly outperforming their top tier counterparts...." Read More...
What are the greenest cities in the U.S.? Several cities encourage an environmentally friendly lifestyle. WalletHub researchers recently compared 100 U.S. cities across 13 key metrics, locating those with the most smart-energy policies and initiatives, best air quality, “green” jobs, residents that adopt greener lifestyles such as in how they commute, etc. View WalletHub’s rankings to see how your city stacks up. You find a new real estate niche! Read More...
5. Home Buyers Don’t Need to Fear
Home shoppers no longer need to tremble all the way to the lenders’ office or have nightmares over being denied a home loan – all the troubles that have been prominently spotlighted by many news reports in recent years. A new report confirms: It’s getting easier to get a mortgage – and as a bonus, borrowing costs are still low.Over the past year and a half, the federal government and enterprises have taken several steps toopen up the credit box, and the efforts may finally be showing signs of paying off. Read More...
