We have written on the long term impact that the new mortgage guidelines known as ‘Qualified Residential Mortgage’ (QRM) will have on the cost of financing a home. However, it seems that these expenses are already beginning to creep into lending. The QRM guidelines are much more rigid than those used in the last year. Though […]
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When lenders evaluate mortgage borrowers, they look at four things: income (the ability to repay), credit (the willingness to repay), collateral (appraised value and property condition) and assets (cash in the deal and cash reserves after closing, mostly). Of the “four legs of the table”, assets are the least discussed, and yet may be the […]
It seems that every time we talk about real estate today the conversation immediately goes to the financial aspects of buying a home. Where are prices headed? Where are interest rates headed? Should I wait to try and get a ‘better buy’? Should I wait until I can get a ‘steal’? The odd thing about […]
There have been some bright spots in the residential real estate market over the last couple of months. Several price indices have reported a stabilization of prices and some regions have even shown small levels of appreciation. This has led some to believe that we may have reached a bottom for home values. We must […]
Monthly Housing Survey InfoGraphic
One of the ways the federal government tried to “rescue” housing was to raise the Conforming Loan Limits – which is the maximum loan that can be sold to FannieMae, FreddieMac and GinnieMae (for FHA loans). By raising loan limits, liquidity was provided to mortgage lenders enabling them to lend at competitive rates in most […]
We read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal on Monday titled A Home Is a Lousy Investment. It was written by Mr. Bridges, a professor of clinical finance and business economics at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. The essence of the piece is that owning a home is not […]
Today, we are 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 The negotiation of a sales agreement is a very difficult process. A well drafted sales agreement almost cinches a […]
What impact does rising unemployment have on the real estate market? Actually, it is quite simple: Rising unemployment creates uncertainty. Uncertainty creates fear. Fear creates paralysis. Paralysis prevents people from moving forward with their lives. Don’t allow fear to stop you from getting on with your life. Realistically look at your personal situation and decide […]
Distressed Property InfoGraphic
CoreLogic information on Shadow Information:
http://www.corelogic.com/about-us/researchtrends/shadow-inventory.aspx
LPS information on inventory/sales ratio:
RealtyTrac information on discounts on short sales and foreclosures:
You all know the story…young chicken, fearful of the worst, runs around declaring that “the sky is falling, the sky is falling”. In today’s real estate market, there are many people (professionals and amateurs alike) with opinions that make buying real estate sound like throwing money away. One thing I have learned in life is […]
Making predictions can be the ‘kiss-of-death’ for a blog. Even if we get four out of five correct (80%), there are those in the industry who will kill us on the one we got wrong. We believe strongly that when making a real estate decision for you and your family you must look forward and […]
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We have reached the midway point of the year. Today, we want to look back over the first six months and give you what we believe were the five items that have had the biggest impact on the real estate industry so far this year. The Government Wants Out of the Mortgage Business From the […]
Enjoy your freedom on this holiday weekend!!
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Over the past few weeks and months, the media, so-called experts and most of our friends and relatives seemed to have almost soured on buying a home at this time. With fear of a fragile economy and high unemployment rates, who can argue with caution? When the pervasive sentiment among even real estate and mortgage professionals […]
The inventory of future short sales and foreclosures which will be coming to the market is known as ‘shadow inventory’. Future real estate pricing will be determined by the number of these distressed properties which eventually reach the market. These properties sell at major discounts: short sales at a 10% discount foreclosures at a 35% […]
A listing contract on a house for sale has a termination date. If the house reaches this date without being sold, it is called an ‘expired’ listing meaning it is no longer for sale under the previous contract. The end of June historically is a time when many listing contracts come to termination. There will […]
Everyone seems to have an opinion on where home prices are headed. Housing bulls are saying prices may start rebounding as early as later this year. Some housing bears are saying that prices may still drop another 10-15%. What actually is going to happen? No one knows for sure. However, Macro Markets, a financial technology […]
The KCM Crew, Dean Hartman and I attempt to write a quality post each and every day on this blog. However, perhaps the greatest insight ever delivered on this blog was in a comment posted yesterday by Nathan Hosier: “We can remain afraid to buy and let all of the great deals out there pass […]
Let me start by reminding you that I am NOT a real estate agent; however, I do think my parents raised me to have some common sense. So, here it goes….I think you should RAISE THE COMMISSION YOU WILL PAY AN AGENT WHO BRINGS YOU THE EVENTUAL BUYER OF YOUR HOME. Is it contrarian? Maybe. […]
There has been much confusion as to where housing prices are headed. We have actually blogged on the issue recently. Today, we want to give our opinion on this subject for the short term. We believe sellers have a window of opportunity for the next 90-120 days in which to sell their homes for maximum […]
