Entries by The KCM Crew

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5 Top Real Estate Stories in 2011

In 2011, we experienced one of the most volatile housing markets in American real estate history. Things we never anticipated happened. Events we were sure would take place didn’t. Today, we want to review the five headlines we think had the biggest impact in 2011. 1.) Interest Rates remained at historic lows In order to […]

Best Post of 2011: For Buyers

This week we are posting the best blogs of 2011 by category. We hope you enjoy them as much as you did when we first posted them. – The KCM Crew Even the Naysayers Say Now Is the Time to Buy Business School professors Eli Beracha of East Carolina University and Ken H. Johnson of […]

Best Post of 2011: For Sellers

This week we are posting the best blogs of 2011 by category. We hope you enjoy them as much as you did when we first posted them. – The KCM Crew The First Question You Should Ask Your Listing Agent What is the most important thing a seller should look for when hiring a real […]

The Evidence is in on the Choice of a Lockbox

Today, we are again honored to have Ken H. Johnson, Ph.D. — Florida International University (FIU) and Editor of the Journal of Housing Research as our guest blogger. To view other research from FIU, visit http://realestate.fiu.edu/. – The KCM Crew Does the choice of a lockbox matter?  Do the older type lockbox systems influence the […]

NAR’s Sales Count: Not News and Not Really Important

Last week, several people asked us to comment on how “important”  the “news” that the National Association of Realtors had miscalculated sales figures was. Two things: this is not news and we don’t necessarily think it is that important. Here is the original blog we posted on this issue back in February. – The KCM Crew […]

Why Involve a LENDER in the Home Selling Equation?

One thing many real estate agents have learned is the importance of having a team of professionals to facilitate a smooth transaction. Having a lending expert on the team, can make available the following services to you…all for FREE: They stand ready to screen all potential buyers. Today’s lending landscape is a rapidly changing environment. […]

The Need for a True Real Estate Professional

Anyone in the real estate industry for any length of time realizes that the education required and the resources necessary to be a true industry professional have dramatically increased over the last two decades. In today’s volatile market, it is necessary to have a true real estate professional if you want to sell your home […]

A Better Indicator of a Healthy Market: Liquidity

Today, we are again honored to have Ken H. Johnson, Ph.D. — Florida International University (FIU) and Editor of the Journal of Housing Research as our guest blogger. To view other research from FIU, visit http://realestate.fiu.edu/. – The KCM Crew What is the definition of a healthy housing market?  Is it a housing market in which home […]

Where Are the Generation Y Home Buyers?

Many buyers are delaying a decision to purchase a home because of the volatility of the real estate market. There is no larger category exhibiting this behavior than those of  Generation Y. To define this segment of the population, we go to Wikipedia: Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation (or Millennials), Generation Next, […]

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Houses Are On Sale Across the Country [INFOGRAPHIC]

The graphic depicts pricing of all homes from their ‘peak through current declines’ as per Case Shiller. This index looks at prices in 20 major metropolitan areas.

Each market peaked at different times. Therefore, the InfoGraphic doesn’t cover one segment of time. Here is a site where you can see when each market actually peaked:

http://www.housingviews.com/2011/11/29/how-the-cities-did-in-the-latest-release/how-cities-did-september-2011/

Common Sense Isn’t Common Practice

It used to be that there was logic applied in the world of mortgage lending. An appraiser determined the value of a home by the axiom, “what a reasonable buyer would pay a reasonable seller”. An underwriter weighed the plusses and minuses of a file (after analyzing the income, the assets, the credit profile and […]

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Real Estate as a Hedge against Inflation

We haven’t heard a lot about inflation recently. However, prices have started to creep upward over the last year. As examples, here are a few categories that increased from November 2010 to November 2011: Food at home – up 6.2% Housing fuels and utilities – up 3.5% Transportation – up 9.2% Today, we want to […]

…And the Changes Keep Coming

With an election year right around the corner, it seems obvious that the world is full of flip-floppers, so why should housing and mortgage policy-makers be any different? Remember when the Federal Government was trying to ease its way out of being the dominant provider of mortgage financing (and trying to move people more into […]

The Wealthy Are Also Defaulting on Their Mortgages

There are many who believe that mortgage delinquencies in their region are concentrated in the middle-to-lower income neighborhoods. Actually, the research shows the number of delinquencies in the higher priced sections are currently exceeding the percentages in less affluent areas. The most recent Mortgage Monitor issued by LPS reports that the largest increase in both […]

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Home Sales Increase Across the Country

The National Association of Realtors recently released their 2011 3rd Quarter Housing Report. In the report, they showed that combined sales of single family homes, condos and co-ops increased in EVERY state as compared to the 3rd quarter of last year. Here are the state-by-state numbers.   The next time someone says houses aren’t selling, ask them […]

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Rent or Buy? The Research Is In!!

Today, we are again honored to have Ken H. Johnson, Ph.D. — Florida International University (FIU) and Editor of the Journal of Housing Research as our guest blogger. To view other research from FIU, visit http://realestate.fiu.edu/. Dr. Johnson was one of the top speakers at NAR’s Conference and Expo in Anaheim earlier this month. He is sharing his presentation with us […]

Understanding the Impact of Shadow Inventory

Standard & Poors released their Third Quarter 2011 Shadow Inventory Update yesterday. We want to cover the basic points of the report today. What is shadow inventory? It is an inventory of houses that will come to market as a distressed properties at a discounted price. Each of the data companies define shadow inventory in slightly […]

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Why You Need an Expert – Part II

Yesterday, we explained that having someone who truly knows the market was crucial if you were planning to buy or sell a home today. This expert should know what is happening in real estate, understand why it is happening and be able to simply and effectively explain each point to you and your family.  Today, […]