Showing posts with label Real State. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Real State. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

What Real Estate Crisis?

Lately, when I tell people I meet that I work in real estate, they respond with a sympathetic look and mutter some kind of apology for the current state of the market.

People of Huntsville, this has got to stop.

Everyone has been brainwashed by fear-provoking media headlines about real estate: "Home Prices Crash!", "Overall Sales Take Devastating Downturn!", "Real Estate Recession!". Even if the real estate market was truly in as tragic a condition as people think, we're all forgetting one thing - Huntsville is unique.

The city of Huntsville seems to be the exception to the rule in many cases, and the real estate market is no different. I'd like to take a moment to dispel a few real estate myths to prevent a dangerous misconception from becoming a reality.

Myth #1: Home prices are drastically down, causing sellers to lose their equity.

Reality: According to the North Alabama Multiple Listing Service (NALMLS), average home prices in the Huntsville/Madison area have increased over five percent since 2006, and almost 20 percent since 2004.

Myth #2: The overall number of home sales has decreased.

Reality: From 2006 to 2007, the number of home sales has indeed dropped. By two percent. This number is hardly alarming when compared with the overall picture of home sales since 2004, which has increased by 18.5 percent.

Myth #3: The Huntsville real estate market is down, paralleling national real estate trends.

Reality: The dollar volume of sold listings has increased four percent from 2006, 17 percent since 2005, and 45.4 percent from 2004. This is not exactly the recession that everyone fears it to be.

Now that we've unveiled the truth about the Huntsville real estate market, let's take a moment to address one other area of popular concern: the subprime mortgage market.

The "collapse" of subprime lending has garnered much attention, making potential buyers question their ability to qualify for a home loan. What kind of person generally applies for a subprime loan? The kind that cannot qualify for a conventional loan. Oftentimes, those applying for subprime loans have credit scores below 620. How does one get a credit score below 620? One easy way is to fall into debt. If you fall into, or are already in debt, how easy is it to make your extremely high interest payments on your subprime loan?

Subprime lenders made their money by offering high interest loans to people who traditionally could not qualify for homeownership, often based on the previously stated fact that they - that's right - don't pay their bills. What made anyone think that for these people, their mortgage would be different? This is a game of risk for those lenders, which eventually burned them. The instability of the subprime concept should have been a heads-up to someone this game couldn't go on forever.

So, what percentage of mortgages does the subprime market comprise? According to Freddie Mac, about five percent. The supposed trouble is that so many of these subprime borrowers are defaulting on their mortgages, right? What percentage of these borrowers are delinquent? In the second quarter of this year, the delinquency rate was 14.82 percent. So in reality, there is a "crisis" among 14.82 percent of five percent of borrowers. This comes out to less than one percent of all homeowners. 0.7 percent to be exact. A greater percentage of the population voted for Dennis Kucinich in the 2004 Presidential primary - now that's a crisis.

So what does all this mean for Huntsville? It depends. If everyone continues to run around in Chicken Little-fashion, bemoaning the fall of the sky, this lunacy will indeed materialize into a lack of buyer confidence, potentially triggering an actual decline in the real estate market. How do we stop this? Pick up the phone right now and call five people to tell them the great news about Huntsville real estate.

Let's do the numbers...

U.S. Census Bureau

Homeownership

The homeownership rate in the third quarter 2007 (68.2 percent) was lower than the third quarter 2006 rate (69.0 percent). The homeownership rates in the Midwest and West were lower a year ago, while rates in the other regions did not change significantly.

New Home Sales

Sales of new one-family houses in September 2007 were 4.8% above August 2007 figures.

Office of Federal Housing and Enterprise Oversight

Housing Price Index - Fourth Quarter Appreciation

According to the Office of Federal Housing and Enterprise Oversight, housing prices in Alabama will appreciate 6.6% in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared with housing prices in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Other state numbers are included below:

Georgia: 4.7%

Tennessee: 6.6%

Florida: 1.3%

South Carolina: 6.3%

Freddie Mac

Primary Mortgage Market Summary

30-yr 15-yr
Avg. Rate 6.26% 5.91%
Fees/Pts 0.4 0.4

Standard & Poor's

Case-Shiller Home Price Index

Regardless of the media hype about the drop in home prices, the real value of a single-family house in the United States has more than doubled in 10 years, according to the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Index. In fact, in some markets, it has tripled.

Moody's Economy.com Survey of Business Confidence

Behind the numbers

· U.S. business confidence remains weak and fragile. Sentiment has stabilized since falling sharply during this summer's subprime financial shock, but it has yet to meaningfully revive.

· Conditions elsewhere across the globe are measurably better. Asian businesses are consistently the most upbeat, with sentiment close to its pre-shock level.

· Real estate firms are the most pessimistic. Financial service firms have turned somewhat more upbeat in recent weeks, but heretofore optimistic manufacturers are turning less so. High-tech firms are the most positive.

In the News...

U.S. Inflation Worries Seem Overblown

Last week's GDP report contained good news on inflation, with the headline consumer price deflator rising just 1.7% at an annual rate, down from 4.3% in the second quarter. Falling energy prices were a major contributor to this weaker trend, but this is only part of the story. The core PCE price deflator, which strips out volatile food and energy components and is the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, rose by less than 2% both on a quarterly annualized basis and year over year, the first such occurrence since 2003.

Banks Make it More Difficult to Get a Loan

According to the latest Senior Loan Officer Survey, banks are tightening lending standards on prime, nontraditional and subprime residential mortgages.

Business Week

Southern Comfort in Real Estate Investing

For undervalued, affordable housing with a good outlook for home-price and job-market growth, there's one region of the country that stands out: the South. Metro areas are all expected to see home prices increase more than 5% over the next two years -- a big figure in a country where home prices are expected to trend downward overall.

"If you exclude Florida, the one area of the country that has a good outlook with respect to affordable housing and job growth is really the South," says Stiff. "There are other places in the country that have one of those things, but not both." The Midwest, for instance, has affordable housing but increasing unemployment, while the West has job growth but very expensive housing.

It's true -- you can find bargains in any area of the U.S. these days, though it helps to have a starting point. "Right now, across the country, this is a good time to buy," says Gillespie, citing the usual three incentives: lower prices, high inventory and relatively low mortgage rates.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Owner Financing

When a seller considers owner financing there are many details to consider. Remember you are acting as the bank. You are lending your equity to a buyer. This may not bother some sellers, however most people feel that owner financing is too risky.

One of the first things you want to consider is how long you will finance the mortgage. 30 years is a long time to wait for most of your equity. Make sure you detail the terms so there is no misunderstanding between you and the buyer.

The Interest rate you negotiate can make your mortgage more secure if you can charge a higher rate to the buyer. What legal hassles are involved if they stop paying? Believe me, sometimes things change in peoples lives, layoffs, etc. Owner financing is not something you should jump into without careful consideration.

Because of falling home prices in most of the country and the lack of affordable mortgages for buyers is there a way to use owner financing to sell your home without the risk. Is there is a better, easier way to sell your property with owner financing? What if you could sell your mortgage at the closing table and walk away with your equity in cash. How would you feel if you could sell your property in weeks, not months or longer? Who would like calls from buyers with low credit scores, and you can say yes.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Tips on real estate

Tips on buying property

Budget and limitations: In this expensive day and age you must try and analyze what is the best budget you can afford. In that budget you can inquire about the properties available. Decided on 1 bhk, 2 bhk, 3 bhk, or a villa, and further see which areas have properties in the budget and category suitable to you.
Research: The advantage of internet is the information it provides you on your fingertips. Once decided on location visit property sites and find the property prices in locations shortlisted. These property prices may be a bit inflated, or deflated. However will provide you a range in which you might be able to you’re your kind of property
Try owner properties: Owners who have listed their properties on a property site wiJustify Fullll have their property on immediate availability. Besides, saving on the commission can save you a lot of money which you may invest in furnishing letter. It is easy to refine property search on these sites and locate a good deal.
Hire a real estate agent: Property dealers reach out the nook and corner of areas. They may spot properties which could have never fallen on property site. Hire a real estate agent if you’re buying your first home in Mumbai. Since it is your first home then don’t get your hands dirty with all the dealings and information to be verified before buying a property. Professional help while investing in real estate in Mumbai will ensure that you steer clear of fraudulent deals and make an informed choice.
Close look on properties: Now is the time to look into the properties that you may have shortlisted. See at least 5-10, and in various areas, before you decide on a home that suits your needs the best. You may be particular about windows facings, Vaastu etc. It may be useful to jot down the specifics you require from a home and make sure that your choice fulfills your criteria in every aspect. Imagine how the home would look when it’s furnished. What coolours you would want your rooms in etc... and then go ahead and select. But Behold until you read the next point
Consider the following criteria before you finally decide on the property. Calculate your daily expenses: Sometimes you must be ready to compromise while investing in property in this and of distances. The house could be perfect with the number of rooms you desire. But would you still buy it if it took you hours to get to the city?
• Schools around the area. It is a must for your kid’s school to be in close proximity to your residence. Keeping this in mind basically solves two problems : Since he/ she is going to be in the same school for about 12-15 years, it may not make sense if your kid has to spend time the problem of travel everyday for your kid as well as ensuring safety.
• Opt for higher floors since that helps to keep away from dust. You also get to enjoy all climatic conditions in India, be it winter, rainy or spring.
• Some basic necessities are Hospitals, grocery stores, markets, bus depots and railway stations. These amenities ensure hassle free daily life.
• The next thing is about the safety of that area. Make enough enquiries in the neighbour-hood and preferably buy a home in enclosed and guarded residential areas
• You should be ready to travel for work. However, don’t compromise on the above-mentioned areas. A job is dynamic factor and you may shift every year. However if traveling is a hassle for you than it may be more judicious to keep investment in a property and renting it out and staying in rented accommodations.
• You should also preferably look for amenities like swimming pool, sports club, gym etc. either within the residential complex or near by. All these facilities will help your family for recreation and refreshment.
Research on price: The “asking price” may be a lot more than what the actual price may be. Therefore, finding out the sale prices from the recent property sales in the area you’re interested in will be of great help. There may be marginal differences basis various factors including the Vaastu economics of the place, floor of the apartment, Water, furnishings etc.
Also understand future valuations, if you are planning to buy a home to live in, and you have a budget big enough to buy it in the city's central location, understand that you may not get high appreciation. If you are looking at home, along with getting the benefit of real estate boom, buy a home in suburbs.
So with these tips in mind go ahead and jump in to the property world!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Real Estate Book

What information can you get from a good real estate investing book? There are a number of online sites, which can impart you knowledge and tips on how to start make your real estate investments properly. You can also get a number of books, which are essentially on the subject of real estate investing. You can search sites related to books on the net for information on real estate investing books.

If you go for an in-depth analysis of these real estate investing books, you will find that there are a number of chapters covering topics like - how to market your real estate investing business, the secrets of real estate investing, tips & tricks on real estate investing, how to follow business success of tycoon of other fields and how to grow in the real estate business. All these and more are covered as a part of a good real estate investing book.

A number of hidden pitfalls are there that you should avoid for staying in the business. You can get a detailed overview about the dangers, drawbacks and possible ways out. You can also know whether you are ready to step into the business of real estate investing or not. The real estate investing book can give you advice on how to use the books properly so that you get the maximum information out of it.

While on your journey of becoming a successful real estate businessman, you would need a guide who can help you in the right direction. The real estate investing book can be a very good friend in achieving understanding your goals and achieving them. The book would also tell you about the real estate seminars from where you can get hidden benefits.

The real estate investing book also tells you how to set up your own multi billion-dollar empire based on real estate. Some online sites offer you a number of courses, both online as well as normal. You can start your own real estate business with your own home mortgage. If you pay attention to the techniques offered by the real estate investing books you would be able to recover it within seven years.

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Friday, July 25, 2008

Try Home Staging

Staging a house means decora`ting and/or furnishing the interior and exterior of the home so that it is visually attractive to the widest range home buyers. Just because the arrangement of your house perfectly suiats your needs doesn't mean that it will appeal to most potential buyers. Buyers are greatly influenced by their first impression of the house - if they're turned off at first sight, they're less likely to buy. Potential homeowners that come through your door expecting a particular style might be quickly turned off if the house is cluttered or eccentrically decorated. Uncommonly decorated homes might cause a potential buyer to turn away. Reciprocall`y, a more neutral décor is likely to give a buyer a positive first impression.

Get Rid of Clutter - Less is Better

If you have too much décor, belongings and furniture in your house, it will make each room look smaller than it actually is. For example, simply removing one piece of furniture, like a bookcase in the living room, will make the room appear less cluttered and larger. It's important to remember that "less is better." Home buyers are looking for ever larger homes. Making your home appear bigger will increase the overall appeal of your home. In the kitchen, clear off all the countertops -- at the most, you might only leave the coffeemaker sitting out. This way you show that there are plenty of cupboards for everything and that there is sufficient counter space.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Showing Your House to Attract Buyers

Your real estate broker will always let you know before he is bringing a buyer to your house for a showing. However, it's it is very important to keep your house neat and ready to be shown to potential buyers. There are certain things that have to be followed when your house is listed and ready to show. Your agent might hang a lock box on the door to permit licensed real estate agents to show your house when you're not available.

Your agent might schedule an open house, so that buyers who are interested can tour your house without any appointments. Usually open houses are scheduled on afternoons during weekends. It is ideal that the sellers leave their house during open house. If buyers or any curious visitors drop by and want to check your house, note down their contacts and refer them to your agent. Avoid showing the home all by yourself without your agent there to represent you.

When your house is to be shown it is important that you follow the house selling procedures, it will turn your house best when an agent shows it to potential buyers! Use the following information and see that the house is all set before being shown. Firstly switch on all the lights; this is including light at the entrance. Turn it on even during the day. Turned on lights will brightens the dim areas and avoids harsh shadows caused by sun’s light.

Switch off your television, take your companion animals with you or request your friend to have them when buyers visit. Set out some nice fresh flowers; include some good clean towels with neat tablecloths, if it suits to your decor. It is best to leave the property when your real estate agent brings a buyer to your home. This permits the buyers to take his or her time going through the property and feel more comfortable clearing doubts and asking questions. If you stay back, see that you’re polite and let the agent handle the questions, unless you’re questioned directly.

Avoid using room sprays or air refreshers; the smell or scent might cause an allergic reaction to some people. A potpourri would give off more natural smell. Try placing a drop of vanilla essence on the stove burner and switch it on for a second to give off a ‘freshly baked cookies’ smell. Don’t forget to empty your kitchen trash, even if they are placed under the sink. Keep beds made in all the bedrooms. Open all curtains and draperies to allow some natural light to enter. Get rid off old magazines, newspapers, empty glasses and other miscellaneous stuffs which are tend to left behind. Keep your floors swept or mopped and vacuum your carpet if it is necessary.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Home Buying Tips


The Internet has made the house-hunting process quicker and easier by putting a wealth of information at your fingertips. Literally. But many home buyers don't realize the many ways that web technology can help them. So let's take a look at some of the ways you can use the Internet to simplify your home search process.

The second type is part of the new generation of web-savvy real estate professionals. This agent knows the value of the Internet, and is "wired" into all of the major home-search websites, among other things. This agent can help you find and research properties more quickly by using the power of Internet technology. He or she is pretty handy with digital cameras, mobile devices, and other useful tools as well.

2. Use the Big Home-Search Websites

Over the years, real estate search engines have exploded both in quantity and complexity. These days, you can visit one of these websites and gain instant access to local property listings, recent sales data in your area, and more. This is an excellent way to screen houses before you visit them, which can save a lot of time.

For example, if you only saw a black-and-white photo of a home in the newspaper, you wouldn't know what the inside rooms looked like. You would have to visit the property to find out. These days, however, you can use virtual tours and photo galleries to preview nearly every corner of a house. If it doesn't match your needs, you don't waste your time with a visit. Now that's using technology to your advantage!

3. Use Your Local Newspaper's Website

Most city newspapers have an online version of their news as well. For example, here in Austin, Texas, I can visit the Austin-American Statesman website to get information about the local real estate market, homes for sale, new subdivisions being built and more. Sure, the Sunday paper has a lot of this information. But why wait until Sunday?

4. Read Local Real Estate Blogs

Many real estate agents and companies have begun to use blogs as a way of publishing information online. A blog is like a website, only the information is presented in chronological format like a daily journal. Many agents use their blogs to publish updates about the local market, new homes they have listed and more. An agent's blog is almost always more up-to-date than the main website. So they can be a good source for timely real estate info in your area. You can find them by doing a Google search for your city name plus "real estate blogs."

5. Use Your Email Network

Do you know a lot of people who live in the area where you want to buy? Friends, family and coworkers perhaps? If so, send them an email to let them know you're looking for a home in the area. If they see homes for sale in that area, they can email you about them. Essentially, you are creating your own house-hunting "army" to help you stay on top of things.

This can be especially useful in a hot market where homes sell fast. For example, imagine the following scenario:

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

What Is Right Price Of Your House

Because of the change in real estate market conditions, more sellers are competing for fewer buyers. So once again, it seemed important to challenge a long-standing "myth" of real estate. It is believed that the initial listing price isn't that important because the price can always be adjusted down later. This is a myth, and not true.

If most buyers first viewed your house because of a newspaper ad, a magazine, the internet, brochures, or the sign in your front yard, the initial listing price probably would not make a difference. The house would always be "new" to those seeing it. However, most buyers do NOT come to your house because of various types of advertising. That is another myth.

Sure, buyers call on an ad, they often LOOK at that house, but not always. Once they talk to an agent, they may discover it isn't what they need. They are, however, talking to an agent. That agent knows the current inventory and will know of other property that DOES fit their needs.

Those are the properties that buyers look at, and THIS is how most buyers end up looking at your house, too. Because of other agents, not because of your ad. It is very rare that anyone buys the house in the ad.

As a result, you need to get other agents interested in your property, and this is where your listing agent comes in...and why a good listing agent is extremely important. The listing agent gets buyer's agents looking at your home.

The most important factor in selling a house is still the list price. If your house is overpriced, agents are going to show similar homes that are priced more attractively. Your listing will get passed over. Agents pay MOST attention to homes newly on the market. There are fewer NEW listings than current listings. It is easier to keep an eye out for what is NEW, compared to the vast number of current listings. New listings are on the "hot" sheet circulated in real estate offices. The MLS computer identifies new listings. Your listing agent may hire a service to distribute fliers to all the buyer's agents. There are office previews and MLS tours to showcase new listings. A lot of attention is focused on what is NEW.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

How To Find A Home Builder

Five Trick for finding a home builder

1. Solicit Referrals from Family and Friends
Your friends and family know you best. If they have bought a new home from a homebuilder, ask them how they found the home builder and who they recommend (and indeed, who they would avoid). If you have been inside their home, ask yourself if you like it and ask them if they are having problems. Remember, a referral from friends and family is more valuable than one from a stranger - or a marketing pitch.

2. Research Area Home Builders
87% of future home buyers begin their search online for the simple reason that, because a new home purchase is the biggest purchase of a lifetime, it is best to know your options. But there are a lot of new home builders out there. In busy markets like North Carolina, there are literally dozens all competing for business. Visit their websites. If they invest in a good website with valuable information, it shows they care about demonstrating professionalism and integrity. If they speak to your needs (upmarket, first time home buyer, large family, etc.), it suggests they have worked with people like you. If a website is all glitz and little substance, do not call. If the site has valuable information, interactive floor plans, new house plans, sample photos and the functionality to print plans and brochures, this demonstrates competence. So if you like the site - and like the information it contains - sign up for information. You may be given special promotions and will be the first to hear of new offerings.

3. Research the Experience of Previous Customers
It is extremely unlikely that you will be the first person to buy a home from a prospective homebuilder. Because the internet offers such a diversity of voices and opinions, if you do not know anyone who has worked with a considered homebuilder before, see what the online community has to say about the home builder. Some homebuilders have inspired such contempt that websites exist to showcase reasons to avoid them while others have created incredible loyalty. A little research may save you hours of pain and thousands of dollars.

4. Tour Model Homes and Ask Questions
When a home builder unveils a community of new homes for sale, there will be a model home open for public tours. Take one. Some "tip of the iceberg" questions to ask include: How often will access to the new home be given during building; Are there any fees required that need to be paid upon closing; How many times has a given plan been built; Is there a premium on the home site; What will be built on adjoining properties; What are area zoning laws; and How is code-compliance guaranteed?

5. Read the Paperwork
The new home purchase is a major decision so take the time to read all documents thoroughly. If something is unclear, ask questions. Everybody says "read the fine print" but in this case, perhaps more than any other, this is crucial.
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Monday, June 9, 2008

Be carefrull when Investing Real Estate

Author of the “Cash Flow Quadrant” book, Robert Kiyosaki, says his “Rich Dad” asserts that investing isn’t rocket science. Rich Dad suggested it was just a matter of using common sense. But we all know that wisdom isn’t, in fact, all that typical.

According to Kiyosaki, the lowest levels of investors are individuals who simply have not studied the process. They assume that investing is either too risky or a scam. Others skip their do-diligence and end up suffering a loss.

The smarted advice anyone can give you having to do with investing in real estate is just to educate oneself. If, in your rush to “get rich”, you jump in without that education, you’ll be doing yourself a tragic disservice. Time is your most important resource and if you waste that, you’ll usually find that your money will be lost as well - money you have that you end up squandering, equity you could have earned if you’d just taken the time to master the process.

“That is just fine and dandy,” you may say. You presumably will accede that education is typically a helpful thing. Knowledge is power, after all…. But “what instruction should I get?” might be your 1st question. Your second question is probably going to be, “How do I go about getting it?”

The 1st skill you may want to study is some fundamental accounting, which isn’t as ambiguous as it appears to be. Accounting is the language of finance. If you are going to invest in a business or an investment property (or whatever), you’ll need to be willing to check up on it and see if it will be an asset (earn you money) or a burden (lose your money). It seems like logic when you ponder it, doesn't it? But in order to be able to ascertain these things, you’ll want to be able to read accounting-statements.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Things To Know About Renters Insurance

Damages/Losses covered Under Renters Insurance
Renters insurance covers all your possessions from various disasters that are covered in the policy. It claims your possessions from damages/losses like, fire, theft, accident, explosion, vandalism, windstorm, and etc. It even provides coverage for your personal liabilities that covers the occurrence where anyone injures while visiting you. It doesn’t claim the damage caused by the earthquakes or floods. People who live in the places where regular floods or earthquakes occurs, needs additional insurance to cover those disasters.

Find a Reliable Insurance Provider
An easy way to find a reliable insurance company that gives you good services is to visit the website of insurance department of your state and determine the proportion of complaints against these companies. You can choose the company that has few complaints filed against them. Renter’s insurance rates may differ a lot from one company to the other. You have to spend certain time for comparing various service providers and select an efficient one.

Understand Your Requirements
The amount of coverage depends on the property you own. You have to evaluate the prices of all your belongings and choose the suitable policy that covers all your belongings. The sum of prices of all your belongings will be the amount of your required coverage for your personal property. If there is a need of excessive coverage, you can purchase the umbrella policy.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Buying a Home With Resale Value


Homes with a pleasant view of the horizon often sell at a premium above similar homes without the view. However, if a view is important to you, buy it mostly for your own pleasure and not as an investment. Though you may place a considerable dollar value on the view, future buyers may not be so like-minded. It may take you longer to find a buyer when it comes time to resell the house. Or you may end up dropping your price to more nearly match other sales prices in the neighborhood.

In short, if you are buying a house with a view, try to pay as little extra as possible. Otherwise, you might not get your money back.

Lot and Landscaping

Even though most real estate value is usually concentrated in the building, the lot is important, too. Obviously, it should be as level as possible. Assuming the property is in a typical neighborhood, the lot should be rectangular – no odd shaped lots or oddly situated lots.

Yard sizes are smaller in modern homes than in older homes, but there should still be a decently sized front and back yard. Do not buy a house where the entire back yard is taken up by a swimming pool, for example.

Do not purchase an over-landscaped property, either. You would normally pay a premium for that, which you may not be able to recover when you sell. You will get your best value if the house is moderately landscaped or under-landscaped for the area. You can always improve the landscaping during your ownership by improving the grass and adding bushes and trees. Just do not spend too much.


House Size

In each residential neighborhood, houses will vary in size and rooms, but they should not be too different. If resale value is an important consideration, you should not buy the largest model in the neighborhood. When determining market value, the homes nearest to yours are most important. If most of the nearby houses are smaller than your house, they can act as a drag on appreciation.

On the other hand, if you buy a small or medium house for the neighborhood, the larger homes can help pull up your value. This is one of those times where determining your "wants" versus your "needs" can be extremely important. Buying what you need in a more prestigious neighborhood may provide more financial reward than getting what you want in a less desirable neighborhood.


Bedrooms and Bathrooms

Three and four bedroom houses are the most popular among homebuyers, so if you can stick in that range you will have more potential buyers when it comes time to resell. Five is okay, too, as long as you do not have to pay too much extra for the additional bedroom.

There should always be at least two bathrooms in a house, preferably at least two and a half. One bathroom with a place to wash up for day-to-day visitors, one for the master bedroom, and at least one to be shared by the other bedrooms.


The Kitchen

Family activity centers around the kitchen, so this is the most important room of the house. Larger kitchens are better, and they should be provided with modern appliances. Obviously, the dining room and breakfast nook should be located adjacent to the kitchen. In newer houses, the family room should also be extremely close to the kitchen.

There should be easy access to the back yard, as there will be occasions for barbecues and outdoor entertaining. In addition, it should be a short trek between the garage to the kitchen so hauling groceries in from the car does not become a horrendous chore.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

6 Tips For Selling Real Estate In A Troubled Market

1. Be accurate – be badly neat. Humans who appear to see one’s abode are searching for apple-pie absolute acreage to advance in. They do not wish to see bedraggled carpets or soap algae on the battery walls. It goes above the items that would in fact be damaged by messiness. The key is to accord a acceptable aboriginal impression.

2. Get rid of odors. Leave the abode for awhile and again appear aback inside. Odors will al of a sudden angle out added acutely than afterwards one is in the abode for several hours. Find area the odors are advancing from and do whatever it takes to get rid of them. To accomplish this Real State abode assume even fresher, accessible windows for a abbreviate while afore the absolute acreage abettor comes to appearance the house.

3. Fix up the front. The actual aboriginal consequence abeyant buyers of absolute acreage see is the foreground of the house. The foreground aperture should be afresh corrective or cleaned. Light accessories by the aperture should be able and shiny. It helps if plants and flowers can be anchored abreast the foreground door.

4. Do not beat abeyant buyers with clutter. Some humans are of the assessment that a abode is meant to be lived in, so they leave things lying about all over the house. That is not a acceptable attitude if one wants to advertise one’s absolute estate. Things should be put away, or disposed of if they are no best needed. Ataxia makes the abode attending abate and leaves a poor impression.

5. Simplify decorations. If home décor is aberrant or unusual, it is abiding to be the a lot of active anamnesis the abeyant client has of the home. Even if the home is abounding with ancestors pictures all over the walls, it detracts from the accepted ambient of the room. It may attending abundant to the owner, but the client alone sees a mish-mash of faces searching out from the walls. Simpler is better.

6. Accomplish the apartment attending bigger. Humans generally attending for absolute acreage if they are upsizing their households. One should be acquainted that their abeyant buyers a lot of acceptable wish added allowance and not less. Apartment should attending beneath abounding rather than added so. Abate beds, beneath accouterment in closets, and beneath appliance in anniversary allowance will advice the allowance attending larger.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Taking Action For Investing Success

You have read everything thing available about real estate investing. You have spend countless hours visiting the real estate investing forums. You have invested thousands in real estate investing courses. Now what? Are you doomed to the same destiny of most information junkies? Are you going to become the divorced marriage counselor? The counselor who knows all about how to save marriages but could not save their own.

So what will determine your success? Honestly it is pretty simple, so simple that it can be summed up in one word action. Taking action is what separates the men from the boys on the playground we call life. So what constitutes action? By my definition, action involves any movement in the direction of you goal or purpose on a visible plane. Now your thinking “Visible plane?”. By visible plane I mean doing something that can be seen, rather than simply thought. Thinking is great but without action, thinking will take you no where. A simple way to remember the power of action is to use the word ACT.

Action compensates tremendously, do you see the power in that? Taking action in any direction is truly the only way that you can ever get closer to reaching your goals in life. Even action that is completely wrong teaches you a lesson that could not have been learned by simply thinking. When Albert Einstein was asked about his thousands of scientific failures, he simply said that he successfully found thousands of ways not to do something. Each perceived failure moved him one step closer to success. Without action none of the failures would have happened, but neither would his success.

The only sure way to never succeed in as a real estate investor is to do nothing at all. Show me a man who went bankrupt while trying to become a real estate investor and I see potential. Show me a man who has knows it all, but has done nothing and I see a overweight dietician.

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Buying Your First Vacation Home

The smaller home can often be upgraded (or not), but the neighborhood can never be changed - at least, not by you.Baby boomers are now entering their prime wage-earning years, and many of them are thinking (or have already thought) of buying a second home. Often a couple will choose a retirement home for 'part' of the year, thus still retaining their family home and familiar home town base.

If you yearn for a vacation home, the first thing to decide is: where will it be? Here your hobbies will come into play; are you a skier, shopper, fisherman, hiker, golfer, beach-comber or sun worshipper? Are you a country mouse or a city mouse, etc.?Another factor to take into account is perhaps one that you have not thought of: Many people think that having a vacation home means they will never want to travel abroad again. However, it is quite possible that you may still want to fly off and take vacations in foreign lands sometimes. Think about this and choose accordingly.

If you are the type of person who would still like to travel abroad, you may want to choose a small, secure home (like a condo). Alternatively, you could opt to buy a larger home so that your children can also enjoy it in your absence.Finally, if you think you could be a future traveler, consider the option of buying a second home that you could also rent out to others for vacations. This may pay for your trips abroad!You must consider whether or not you want to be able to drive to your second home, so that you can escape at weekends. If your chosen place is a long way off, remember that you will always have to pay the air fare and do the airport trip etc.

If you have no clue where you would like to buy a vacation home, cast your mind back to some memorable vacations you have had. Think about making it a project to drive off into the wild blue yonder on sunny weekends and check some places out.Price is a critical factor. Waterfront is always priced higher. Do you really want it? An ocean or lake outlook can be very pretty when the sun is sparkling on it, but it will accentuate the grayness on a dull day.

Are you looking at old timer homes? Are you taking in the cost of renovations? Remember, if you remodel a bathroom or kitchen it is supposed to increase the price of your property by around 80% of the remodeling costs. Roofs are also a viable improvement that will increase the value of your property.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Land and Real Estate in Arizona


Moving to Arizona has the ultimate choices from purchasing raw land to purchasing land in a more rural area to add a manufactured home to building a luxury custom home. Finding land is easy; Finding land that is worth purchasing is a totally different story.
I can specifically tell you about Arizona although this might be prevalent in other areas also. What to watch out for are Land fissures, Drinking water (how far you have to drill to install a pump), natural washes, and natural washes that become re-routed from other building and area growth, and most importantly flood plains.If you purchase land on a hill or close to a mountain expect to have above average ground movement and more costs for the foundations. Also high speed internet may become an issue unless you can get used to using a high speed cell card.
If you are dreaming of a home with land to have horses and other friendly domestic animals you might check with city ordinances first. For example if you purchase land that was recently annexed by Surprise AZ. You might be surprised by the no farm animal ordinances. Even if homeowners nearby already have this type of animal living on the land they have owned for many years this can be a huge issue if that is what you were planning for your land. Keep in mind that Arizona water is a very big topic here, being in a desert water conservation is very important. Wells that are functioning now might have to be dug deeper in the future as the land around is developed. Large subdivisions moving in around you can lower a water table pretty fast and cause you to have to make modifications to your well, the storage tank and also how deep your well is.