Mar 26
Buy a home through HUD’s Good Neighbor Next Door initiative designed to encourage renewal of revitalization areas. Law enforcement officers, pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers and firefighters/emergency medical technicians can contribute to community revitalization while becoming homeowners through HUD’s Good Neighbor Next Door Sales Program. HUD offers a substantial incentive in the form of a …
Mar 24
Compliments of Trulia.com: Since the housing bubble burst, it seems like everyone and their mother can’t stop talking about what a great time it is right now to buy a home, but how good is it really? After years of seeing home prices drop like flies and rental markets tightening up better than pair of Spanx, it’s safe …
Feb 29
Warren Buffett appeared live on CNBC’s Squawk Box this week. During the interview, he was asked about the current real estate market and whether he felt now was ‘the time to buy.’ His response was rather emphatic,and has been used as a headline in hundreds of articles since the interview: “If I had a way …
Feb 12
Home Affordability Is High I’ll say it again: With affordability soaring, falling home values, and low interest rates - now is a great opportunity to buy a home. It’s like we’re having a sale! It’s our once-in-every-two-decades sale. We haven’t had a sale like this since Eisenhower. Plus, interest rates are at or near record …
Feb 03
… Yes, you read that right! The National Association of Realtors chief economist, Lawrence Yun, predicts a 2% overall increase in home prices next year. And a 4% increase in the number of sales. For 2013, he projects sales to pick up another 6 percent and prices to rise another 3 percent. Ahem. That’s a …
Jan 30
Warren Buffet is seen by many as the greatest investor of our time. When he speaks, people listen. Like anyone else in his position of influence, he is criticized by some for using his bullhorn to promote his own business agendas at times. That makes it very interesting when we occasionally learn of how he privately …
Jan 02
Swiss financial services company Credit Suisse says to expect a ‘bumpy stabilization’ in U.S. residential home prices in 2012. “U.S. homes now appear fairly valued compared with median family income,” said Martin Berhard, Credit Suisse global real estate analyst. “Furthermore, the interest rate environment is likely to remain accommodative for the foreseeable future. We therefore expect housing …
Dec 27
The latest numbers for apartment vacancies in complexes with 20 or more units reveals that the vacancy rate is rising and rents are dipping slightly. After trending mostly down for two years, vacancies at larger complexes in King and Snohomish counties jumped significantly this fall, from 4.74 to 5.25 percent, and average rents fell a …
Dec 15
Fiserv, a financial services technology company that generates the Case Shiller Home Price Index, released their Home Price Insights November 9th. In a nutshell the release had two main points: They are forecasting that home prices, at a national level, will fall 3.6% during the year ending in mid-2012 and will then rebound …
Dec 03
There is more and more research coming out showing that it makes great financial sense to purchase a home today. Purchasing a home right now is a bargain compared to historic norms whether it be rent vs. buy ratios, income-to-price ratios or income-to-mortgage payment ratios. In addition to these benchmarks, it is interesting to look at the COST of a …
