No one likes paying for home insurance, but it’s a necessary evil for most of us. This doesn’t mean you have to pay through the nose for it though – try these 8 easy tips for cheaper home insurance and see how much you could reduce your premiums by. Read the rest of this entry »
Pending home sales are down and additional declines are expected from abnormal weather conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in January, fell 7.6 percent to 90.4 from an upwardly revised 97.8 in December, but remains 12.3 percent higher than January 2009 when it was 80.5. Read the rest of this entry »
Well, real estate is quite confusing. If you are new to buying a house all the terms and different forms of agents can come as a surprise and can be intimidating at times. One of the questions we often hear from home buyers is whether or not they should work with a buyer’s agent? Short answer to this question is – Yes you should. There is no reason not to work with a buyer’s agent cause basically they work for YOU, the buyer. Let’s explore a few reasons and see why you should work with a buyer’s agent while purchasing a home or a property. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s not surprising to see that many realtor agents are starting to come on board Facebook. The fact that Facebook houses over 400 million users makes it a must to utilize this platform. If you are a realtor or real estate agent, make sure to use this platform. Although you may already have a Facebook profile, we strongly advise that you create a Facebook fanpage. Facebook page unlike profiles are more appropriate to create a business presence. Your personal profile acts like, well, a personal profile and this way you can separate your business and personal activities on Facebook. Read the rest of this entry »
Existing-home sales fell in January but are above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – dropped 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million units in January from a revised 5.44 million in December, but remain 11.5 percent above the 4.53 million-unit level in January 2009.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there is still some delay between shopping and closing that affected current sales. “Most of the completed deals in January were based on contracts in November and December. People who got into the market after the home buyer tax credit was extended in November have only recently started to offer contracts, so it will take a couple months to close those sales,” he said. “Still, the latest monthly sales decline is not encouraging, and raises concern about the strength of a recovery.”
Total housing inventory at the end of January fell 0.5 percent to 3.27 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.8-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 7.2-month supply in December. Raw unsold inventory is 9.6 percent below a year ago, and is at the lowest level since March 2006.
“Activity should be picking up strongly in late spring as buyers take advantage of the tax credit, which is critical to absorb distressed properties reaching the market and to continually chip away at inventory,” Yun said. “With a downtrend in the number of homes on the market, especially in the lower price ranges, values are beginning to firm but with great variance around the country.”
The best thing you can do get an edge in the world of real estate is to learn and stay on top of the industry. Blogs are a great way to stay updated in real estate. These are 20 blogs that are not only updated on a regular basis, but they are also interesting and look at real estate from different point of views. These blogs are usually run by real estate professionals and are good both for investors and realtors. Buyers and sellers can also get a glimpse of how the professional world of real estate works. Here are the top 20 real estate blogs.
A resource for real estate data. This is for anyone that is interested in real estate including buyers, sellers, investors as well as realtors.
An online magazine covering topics dealing with the real estate world in the U.S. and North America
An extensive blog with a lot of contributors including people in the field of real estate.
A blog that keeps track of the declining house bubble throughout the U.S. Read the rest of this entry »
An important part of the negotiation between you and your realtor are the fees. It’s important to understand how the process works and what the realtor is getting out of the situation. There are a lot of factors involved selling a home so results may vary. Do a little research on your realtor and find out how much leniency is involved to improve the situation for you.
Here are 5 things to keep in mind about how realtor fees work before you sign the contract with your realtor.
If you are a realtor, you definitely don’t want to miss this opportunity. REALTOR® Magazine recently announced that they are seeking entries for the Good Neighbor Award. The participants will be chosen based on their commitment and volunteer service. According Realtors.org, five winners will be announced in November 2010 and each winner will be recognized for their outstanding work and commitment in REALTORS® Conference & Expo in New Orleans. Of course all travel expenses will be paid and not to mention the national media exposure you will get through this contest.
According to REALTOR® Magazine Editorial Director Pamela Geurds Kabati,
REALTOR® Magazine’s Good Neighbor Awards recognize the important role Realtors® play as volunteers in their communities. We hope highlighting their stories inspires more Realtors® to give their time to important community organizations.
The Deadline for Good Neighbor Award entries is May 21, 2010. If you are a realtor and would like to take advantage of this opportunity, you can find more details here : Good Neighbor Award Entry Form