Home > Blogs > Lucky Lang > Lucky's Blog

Iowa Market Report For October!

By Lucky Lang

Real Estate Agent with Premiere Plus Realty Marco Island BK3351211

October 10, 2007 12:46 AM

Quad Cities Favorite Realtor

Lucky Lang

October 2007

Call Lucky for all of your Quad City real estate needs @ (563) 676-9031

Pricing as Much
Art as Science

Pricing property can be more art than science in some of today's markets. New home builders probably have the easiest time of it -- at least without shocking the buyers -- because everything is new. There are no bare areas in the carpet, fingerprints on the appliances, nicotine stained ceiling tiles in the rec room -- and definitely no cat and dog odors that are promised to be dealt with by installing new carpet after the buyer moves in.
With resale homes, the first weapon to use in the battle to sell the home is to price it correctly. The challenge for sellers is that they want as much as the last sale, however, in today's market

Mortgage Rates

U.S. averages as of September 27, 2007:

30 yr. fixed:   6.42%
15 yr. fixed:   6.09%
1 yr. adj:        5.60%

View current rates

that's not as guaranteed as it was a year ago. The seller can still walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in gain, but maybe not the absolute highest amount of gain ever in the community.
Thus, pricing is the key. There are only a few ways to price a home for sale

CONTINUED >>>

Wondering What Your Home Is Worth?

Let me show you.

Could Your Closets Be
Turning Off Buyers?

     Homeowners are always looking to fine-tune the look of their homes before they put their house on the market. But all too often an area that gets forgotten is the closet.
      Everyone seems to have more stuff than ever before and a lot of that stuff gets crammed into the closets. Then when you list the home on the market, and Mr. and Mrs. Buyer come to have a look, they reach for a closet door and are greeted with an overstuffed, unorganized mess. The prospective buyers don't see your valuables as prized possessions; instead what they see is too much stuff and too little space. Often buyers can't picture their belongings in a home that's filled with clutter. That's why a lot of agents will recommend organizing, not just the space you see immediately upon entering the home, but also the closets.
      "I think that instead of being kind of a luxury, now it's something that everybody thinks they need," says Paula Gallegos, co-owner of Conejo Closet Designs in CONTINUED >>>

Back To Basic
Home Buying Skills

     Lenders tightening their purse strings are sending a signal to potential home buyers to do the same.
      There's really little choice.
      Just as lenders make certain mortgage applicants are gainfully employed, are sure they can actually afford to pay the mortgage during it's full term, and carefully document that buyers have the cash to cover additional costs that come with home ownership, potential home buyers need to get their financial house in order as well.
      If people were more responsible for their own financial behavior, that would have taken the power away from the people who put them in risky loans. The reason for all the creative financing was because people didn't want to do the work.
      This involves hard financial work and sacrifices many households have long avoided.
      As a carrot, keep in mind, the benefits of owning your own home, likely to be your most valuable asset, far outweigh any passing pain you may endure to achieve that goal.
      Here's how to prepare for what's become a more difficult home buying ordeal. CONTINUED >>>

Read My Blog!!!

You can find many great Davenport real estate agents and loan officers on ActiveRain.com Lucky Lang is a proud member of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, a free online community to help real estate professionals grow their business.

Demographic Changes That Will Impact Housing In the Future

TThe latest 1,200-table 2006 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates key changes in social, economic, and housing characteristics for the nation.
As part of the Census Bureau's re-engineered 2010 Census, the data collected by the ACS helps federal officials determine where to distribute more than $300 billion to state and local governments each year. The 2006 ACS estimates are based on an annual, nationwide sample of about 250,000 addresses per month. In addition, approximately 20,000 group quarters across the United States were sampled, comprising approximately 200,000 residents. Geographic areas for which data are available are based on total

CONTINUED >>>

Local Market Conditions

Daily News and Advice

Read about the events shaping the Real Estate market today, find current interest rates, or browse the extensive library of advice and how-to articles written by some of the top experts in Real Estate. Updated each weekday.

More Articles

September Round Up: Rates Tick Up

Nailing Down Housing Costs

It's A Good Time For A Home Inspection

FHA Home Loan Program Poised to Take Off

Lucky Lang
E-mail: llang@melfosterco.com
Web: http://www.qcfsbr.com/
(563) 676-9031

Mel Foster Company
(563) 823-2213
3211 E 35th St. Ct.
Davenport, IA 52807

Equal Housing Opportunity

Comments(5)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Donna Yates

BHGRE - Metro Brokers - Blue Ridge, GA

Blue Ridge Mountains

Lucky: You have one of the best newsletters I have ever seen. Very appealing to the eye and draws the reader in.

Oct 10, 2007 06:06 AM

Premiere Plus Realty Marco Island - Marco Island, FL

Marco Island & Naples Florida Real Estate

Donna,

Thanks! I really love this as well!

Lucky :)

Oct 10, 2007 01:42 PM

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate Mesa Arizona Realtor

Homes Arizona Real Estate LLC - Mesa, AZ

AzLadyInRed

Hey Lucky.........how'd you get your AR Read My Blog box in this newsletter? I have the same one, but just write an article. Do you replace the article with this?

Oct 22, 2007 05:23 AM

Teri,

It's been so long I can't remember! I think I put it in my profile set-up. It automatically shows up when they send it to me to publish.

If you need help, call their help line. Those people really are helpful.

Take care and good luck!

Oct 22, 2007 12:45 PM

Thanks Lucky.........I like that you did this. This newsletter goes out to many, many people every month. Great idea!!

Oct 22, 2007 01:30 PM

Iowa Market Report For October!

Comments(5)

Lucky Lang

Service Areas

Real Estate Resources

Recent Posts

Popular Posts

Additional Information

Use Google To Search Active Rain