Home Ownership Increases Dramatically: 20 year snapshot

HUD tells us that at the end of 1991, there were roughly 60 million families that owned a home and 33 million families that rented a home or an apartment. 

At the end of 2011 (i.e., 20 years later and the most recent year for which data is available), there were 76 million families that owned a home (+27%) and 39 million families that rented (+16%). 

HUD also tells us that 3 out of every 4 American households added in the last 2 decades were homeowners as opposed to renters. 

Western Region Dominates in Year over Year Home Value Appreciation

Q1 Home Prices Maintain Strength Over Winter for First Time in Seven Years

Clear Capital has released its Home Data Index (HDI) Market Report with data through March 2013.

"Home prices ended the first quarter of 2013 in a similar fashion to how they started the year, stable and in positive territory," said Dr. Alex Villacorta, director of research and analytics at Clear Capital.

"It has been seven years since home price growth continued throughout winter. This is very strong evidence of the start to a new leg of the recovery, one that should give further confidence to consumers and lenders alike that the recovery is real."

"As buyers become more confident the recovery is sustainable, this sentiment should grow to create a positive feedback loop."

Continue for report highlights and National and Regional map 

Strategy: Get a LOW rate FHA loan so you can let someone assume it AFTER rates go up!

Mark and Sharon Fowler of Charlotte, N.C. are simultaneously planning a home purchase and resale strategy.
Mark Fowler, chief revenue officer and vice president of production for Residential Finance Corp. in Charlotte, says he and his wife will use FHA financing to purchase their home even though they are making a down payment of more than 20 percent and could easily qualify for conventional financing.

Why? The Fowlers are using the "assumable" status of FHA mortgages as a future marketing tool to lure potential homebuyers when they decide to sell sometime down the line.

4 Real Estate Moves with Surprise Tax Implications

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson | Broker in San Francisco, CA

It’s no surprise that owning a home automatically opts you into a new realm of tax advantages. In fact, in a recent survey of people who bought homes in 2012, 79 percent said the mortgage interest and property tax deductions were "extremely important" factors to their decision to become homeowners in the first place.

But these two deductions are just the tip of the iceberg of all the real estate-related tax guidelines, advantages and disadvantages.  Because others get less press, it can be relatively easy for an individual American taxpayer to unwittingly trigger tax liabilities they might have been able to minimize or plan for, or to unwittingly trigger tax perks and fail to claim them.

This is why its essential to touch base with your tax pro before any and every real estate move you make, no matter how minor you think it might be. Sometimes planning and timing makes a major difference to the financial impact of a real estate-related tax; other times, just knowing the size and scope of the tax implications will impact the real estate decision you make.

Here is a short list of real estate moves that trigger surprising tax issues, pro and con:

Home Buyer Education: Online

As we enter into the busier spring time home buying season, I begin to get calls from clients and Realtors who ask about Home Buyer Education.  Community, County and State Grant programs vary in amount of money offered, but many require home buyer education BEFORE the Grant can be offered to the home buyer. 

Listing your home and avoiding criticism

When you begin the process of listing your home for sale, it's best to look down the road a bit and visualize WHO will be looking at your home and WHAT their perceptions of your home will be?

The goal of any home listing is to minimize any "negative talk" in the minds of those touring your home and how that can be done is by eliminating at least 4 major stumbling blocks that need a home listing's attention:



4 Ways to Hater-Proof Your Home, Before You List It
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson | Broker in San Francisco, CA

In my experience, there’s one fundamental truth about haters:  you can never fully escape them. The only way to live a 100% hater-free life is to never stick your neck out, and never do anything because, as the saying goes, you simply cannot please all of the people all of the time.

And this is particularly true with real estate and putting your home on the market - because homes, locations, aesthetics and such are so much a matter of personal preference, some people will find something to criticize about even the most perfectly staged, priciest properties on the market.

What is the correlation between credit scores and mortgage rates?

If it's low, do anything you can to make it better!

Does a low credit score really cause my mortgage rate to increase? And by how much?  The data is pulled by myFICO, a division of the Fair Isaac Corporation, with interest rates as of November 13, 2012.

FICO Score Mortgage Interest Rate
760-850       2.926 percent
700-759       3.148 percent
680-699       3.325 percent
660-679       3.539 percent
640-659       3.969 percent
620-639       4.515 percent

As you can see, a good credit score can definitely work in your favor. Raising your credit score is a trick and there is a way to do it most effectively and quickly.  I can help with guidance and suggestions on how to do it.


Here is an excellent place to begin repairing your credit: 
I recommend credit monitoring 

Utah Housing can help more home buyers

Utah Housing offers a "Score Loan" for Utah home buyers with middle credit scores between 620 and 660.

Data out today from Equifax shows the number of consumers with sub-prime credit scores is shrinking across the country and more home buyers can now be helped with home financing!

Nationally, the total number of consumers with Equifax credit scores below 620 fell 2.1 percent, or by about 1 million consumers, in the third quarter of 2012 versus the third quarter of 2011.

Why I love what I do!

Home ownership has a significant impact on net worth, educational achievement, civic participation, health, and overall quality of life. And, home ownership helps create jobs—lots of them—right here at home.

• For every two homes sold, one job is created in the U.S.

• Each purchase generates as much as $60,000 in economic activity over time.

Selling your home? Why is tile and hardwood all the rage?

1. Think like a buyer, to understand why carpet is falling out of fashion. Today's buyers are seeking low-maintenance, high-performance home finishes that allow maximum versatility and healthfulness for their families. And wall-to-wall carpet triggers many of those concerns:

• Maintenance: By and large, buyers see carpet as something that requires regular, professional cleaning -- or labor-intensive self-cleaning -- at a couple hundred bucks a pop.
• Performance: There are certainly high-end carpets that wear well over time, but many of the carpets that are installed by sellers just prior to putting a home on the market do not qualify. These light-colored, inexpensive carpets often look old and worn relatively early in their lives, and buyers know this.
• Versatility: A buyer of a home with carpeting everywhere is somewhat limited in their decor and design choices by the preferences of the seller before them. By contrast, hard flooring finishes allow the buyer a near-infinite range of decor palette choices.
• Healthfulness: Buyers see traditional carpeting as something that off-gases toxic fumes and traps dirt and allergens that may exacerbate family members' allergies or other respiratory issues. Many see hardwood and other hard flooring finishes as more healthful and sustainable for their families -- and for the planet. To boot, buyers who have pets and children know that these little wild family members can be very hard on carpet.

What is with all the hating on carpeting? | Inman News

Digital Media Usage Among Home Shoppers

NAR Research: NAR and Google Study of Digital Media Usage Among Home Shoppers | realtor.org

Report Highlights

- 90 percent of home buyers searched online during their home buying process
- Real estate related searches on Google.com grew 253 percent over the past four years.
- Buyers use specific online tools during different phases of the home search process
- How important "local" search terms and websites are for buyers
- How mobile technology cements online to offline home buying — including the reading of online reviews
- How video and YouTube satisfy buyers' research needs
- The role of age and gender in driving real estate decision making in the market by being the top demographics who searched online and took the next steps offline
- Top states for searches around first-time home buyer tips and specific housing segments like senior housing and foreclosures