Posted on

To Sell or Not to Sell? 5 Signs It’s Time to List Your Home

If you’re like me, thoughts of putting your home on the market and moving up, down or out of dodge all together periodically float through your mind. These days, there’s extra incentive given the inventory shortage in most regions of the country—some areas are even experiencing bidding wars. “After back-to-back years of a robust housing […]
Posted on

For Your Client: How to Get Your House Ready for the Market

First impressions are everything when it comes to selling a home. “Most people make up their mind whether or not they like a house within mere minutes of stepping foot inside,” explains Don Frommeyer, mortgage expert and CEO of The National Association of Mortgage Brokers. “That is why it is crucial to make sure that […]
Posted on

Ask the Expert: What Can a Homeowner Do about a Frozen Water Pipe?

Today’s “Ask the Expert” column features Charles Furlough, vice president of Field Operations with Pillar To Post Home Inspectors. Q: What can a homeowner do about a frozen water pipe? A: Water expands when it freezes, causing pipes that freeze to split. Even if a pipe doesn’t split, the ice will block the flow of […]
Posted on

Good News for Housing: Consumers Show Positive Financial Attitude

Consumer optimism toward the housing market gained some momentum last month following a dip in December, likely getting a boost from their increasingly positive financial outlook, according to results from Fannie Mae’s January 2015 National Housing Survey™. The share of respondents who says their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago […]
Posted on

DIY Home Repair Ideas That Will Make Your Home Worth More

If you’ll be putting your home on the market this year, doing some home improvement projects first can boost its value. When your budget only allows for a limited amount of money on these projects, there are still plenty of things you can do. Consider one or more of the following DIY home repair projects: […]
Posted on

New Study Finds Price Premium for Solar Homes

A study conducted by a team of researchers,  led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Berkeley Laboratory, found that homebuyers are willing to pay more for homes that have installed solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems. The research (Selling into the Sun: Price Premium Analysis of a Multi-State Dataset of Solar Homes) estimates a price premium of approximately […]
Posted on

87 Percent of U.S. Homes Qualify for Down Payment Help

RealtyTrac recently released a Down Payment Resource (DPR) on the availability of down payment programs across the country. Out of more than 78 million U.S. single family homes and condos, more than 68 million (87 percent) would qualify for a down payment program available in the county where they are located based on the maximum […]
Posted on

Effective Rate on New Home Loans Continues Downward Drift

On average, the contract rate on conventional mortgages used to purchase newly-built homes, remained a constant 4.03 percent in December, according to data released yesterday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). However, initial fees and charges on the loans dropped form 1.23 percent in November down to 1.16 percent. As a result, the average […]
Posted on

Expert Ways to Increase Home Value

With housing prices at recent highs, it’s a great time to sell; and still-low interest rates also make it a good time to buy a home.  Findings from a new, exclusive survey of more than 300 licensed residential real estate agents by the Consumer Reports National Research Center point to certain factors, such as smart […]