real estate: Take time to create a home inventory before disaster strikes!
- 10/19/10 09:53 AM
Take time to create a home inventory before disaster strikes! We all hope we'll never have a theft, fire, flood or other weather-related disaster happen to our homes. But if one of these things should occur, you don't want to rack your brain trying to figure out what you've lost in order to file your insurance claim. The answer is to create an inventory of everything that's in your home. But the time to do it is now - before the loss occurs. Creating a complete home inventory does take a few hours of your time. You'll want to look at (0 comments)
real estate: Tax Credit extended a full year for Military!
- 06/10/10 09:53 AM
REMINDER! For certain members of the military, the Foreign Service, and the intelligence community, the home buyer tax credit has been extended a full year -- to April 30, 2011 for a signed contract and June 30, 2011 for the closing. To qualify, government service personnel need to have been on official extended duty and meet specific provisions. If you know someone who may qualify for this valuable benefit, please have them contact us right away to see if they meet the explicit requirements. (0 comments)
real estate: Improve your home, cut your energy bills, and reduce your income tax!
- 06/10/10 09:51 AM
Improve your home, cut your energy bills, and reduce your income tax! The federal economic stimulus package signed into law last year included substantial tax credits for energy-saving home improvements. This means you can cut your monthly utility bills AND reduce your income taxes, while making your home more attractive and possibly more valuable when it's time to sell! The Existing Home Retrofit Tax Credit includes a range of energy-saving fix-ups, from windows to windmills, that qualify for a tax break from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Here are five points to ponder: 1. The easiest way to qualify for a tax (0 comments)
real estate: >> Market Update
- 06/02/10 05:54 AM
>> Market Update INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE For the third month in a row, Existing Home Sales beat expectations, UP 7.6% for April and UP 22.8% over a year ago. A lot of the gain was put to the tax credit expiration that required a signed contract by April 30. But buyers have till June 30 to close, so observers feel sales will probably increase for the next couple of months, then take a short break before rising again. Inventories were up from 8.1 to 8.4 months, but this is similar to April gains in prior years, rather than evidence (1 comments)
real estate: Market Update
- 05/13/10 08:48 AM
Market Update INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE Last Tuesday the National Association of Realtors reported pending home sales were UP 5.3% in March over February, and UP 21.1% over March of last year. This gain in contracts on existing homes, following February's 8.3% rise, indicates a nice boost should be coming in existing home sales for April. Buyers who signed contracts before the end of March now have till the end of June to qualify for their homebuyer tax credit.In other news, a major mortgage insurance company reported the risk of a decline in home prices decreased in the last (0 comments)
real estate: Work Smarter Not Harder
- 05/05/10 09:41 AM
Work smarter, not harder! Here's how. Who isn't strapped for time? These days everyone's dealing with a ton of issues every day. Here are some tips from the experts on how to get the maximum done in the minimum time. 1. Stop multi-tasking. It's easy to get drawn into this modern work habit, with phone calls, emails and social networks clamoring for our attention -- along with all the work we have to do. But studies show multi-tasking doesn't necessarily increase productivity or help us get things done more quickly. The best approach is to work on just one task at (2 comments)
real estate: Its All Greek To Wall Street
- 05/05/10 09:37 AM
Review of Last Week IT'S ALL GREEK TO WALL STREET... The stock market ended down after a volatile week whose off-putting news ranged from Greece to Washington to the Gulf of Mexico. Greek bonds were downgraded to junk, while Portugal and Spain got downgrades too. Goldman Sachs execs were grilled in Washington, then Friday came news of a federal criminal probe into the firm. Finally, energy stocks got hammered following a terrible oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In spite of these unfortunate events, the economy continued to offer up signs of recovery. On Tuesday, following the Case-Shiller annual home (1 comments)
The House of Representatives passed a bill extending the USDA housing program. The bill raises the guarantee fee to 3.5% (from 2%). Last week, Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (and Chris Cordry's uncle) , mentioned that conversations were underway with the Senate and was hopeful that the extension could be completed before funding expired in early May. (0 comments)
real estate: A License Required for your HOUSE?
- 04/08/10 08:23 AM
A License Required for your HOUSE? If you own your home you really need to check this out at the end of this email is the Google link to verify. If the country thinks the housing market is depressed now, wait until everyone sees this no one will be buying homes in the future. We encourage you to read the provisions of the Cap and Trade Bill that has passed the House of Representatives and being considered by the Senate. We are ready to join the next march on Washington ! This Congress and whoever on their staffs that write (2 comments)
real estate: A leading indicator for home prices? Follow the rents!
- 04/01/10 05:29 AM
The big question for home buyers and sellers today is: "Where are home prices headed?" People want to know if now is a good time to buy or sell, or if they should wait. We all need to stay on top of trends in real estate values -- so what's a good way to analyze the situation? Yale economist Robert Shiller states it bluntly: "If you look at the trend in rents to see where housing prices are headed, you're looking at the right measure." Shiller is the co-developer of the S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Indices that monthly track residential real (1 comments)
real estate: Social Media for busy professionals
- 03/31/10 05:03 AM
Social media for busy professionals Online social media networks are becoming very important to the people we want to reach. For the week ending March 13, Facebook was reported as the most visited Web site in the U.S. This was the first time it surpassed Google for an entire week! No wonder more and more business professionals are using social media. But it does take time. To make sure you're using that time well, here are some tips to get the most out of online networks. 1. Keep your eye on the goal. The ultimate goal in using a social media (1 comments)
real estate: This Weeks Forecast
- 03/30/10 06:30 AM
This Week's Forecast INFLATION, MANUFACTURING, JOBS... Everyone will be waiting with bated breath for Friday's Employment Report, when even pessimistic observers are predicting the recovery's first serious increase in payrolls. Markets will be closed for Good Friday, although the Federal government will be open. But let's not forget about Monday's PCE reading, which is the Fed's favorite look at inflation. Any rise here could bring the Fed closer to a rate hike. Finally, we get two looks at the strengthening manufacturing sector with the Chicago PMI and the ISM Index. >> The Week's Economic Indicator Calendar Weaker than expected economic data tends (0 comments)
real estate: Market Update
- 03/30/10 06:20 AM
>> Market Update INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE February existing home sales were down for the third month in a row, but the 0.6% drop was less than expected. We had severe winter weather putting a damper on things and we're still seeing the hangover from sales pushed into October and November when everyone thought the homebuyer tax credit was going away. February new single-family home sales were down 2.2%. But the median price of $220,500 was UP 5.2% over last year and the average price of $282,600 was a strong 9.3% UP from a year ago. The Mortgage Bankers Association (0 comments)