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Baby Boomers: Home Is Where The Heart Is

Within the next five years, Baby Boomers are projected to have the largest household growth of any other generation during that same time period, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard. Let’s take a look at why… In Merril...
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5 Demands to Make on Your Listing Agent

The busy spring real estate season is here. Are you thinking of selling your house? Are you dreading having to deal with strangers walking through the house? Are you concerned about getting the paperwork correct? Hiring a professional real est...
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Location, Location, Location

A recent Demand Institute report revealed “nearly half of all American households plan to move at some point in the future.” Seventy-five percent of those surveyed in the report cited one or more ‘location-related reasons’ for their eagerness ...
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Is the Housing Market Back? Ask Lowes & Home Depot!

A recent Bloomberg Business article reports that both Lowes & Home Depot experienced fourth quarter profits that beat revenue projections by the most in six quarters. So what does that mean to the housing market? Consumer Confidence Lowe’s ...
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Hurry Up!! Call your Agent and List your House!!

That headline might be a little aggressive. However, as the data on the 2015 housing market begins to roll in, we can definitely say one thing: If you are considering selling, IT IS TIME TO LIST YOUR HOME! We realize that existing home sales s...
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Housing Market to “Spring Forward”

Just like our clocks this weekend in the majority of the country, the housing market will soon “spring forward”! Similar to tension in a spring, the lack of inventory available for sale in the market right now is what is holding back the market. ...

New Construction = New Competition

For the last several years, home sellers had to compete with huge inventories of distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales). The great news is that the supply of these properties is falling like a rock in the vast majority of housing ma...
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Selling Your Home? The Importance of Using an Agent

When a homeowner decides to sell their house, they obviously want the best possible price with the least amount of hassles. However, for the vast majority of sellers, the most important result is to actually get the home sold. In order to acco...
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Home Sales are NOT Collapsing!

The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) just released their Existing Home Sales report and some have taken the results and ran with headlines like: “Existing home sales collapse in January despite low mortgage rates”. Let’s take a closer loo...
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Two Graphs that Scream - List Your Home Today!

We all learned in school that when selling anything, you will get the most money if the demand for that item is high and the inventory of that item is low. It is the well-known Theory of Supply & Demand. If you are thinking of selling your...
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Consumer Confidence at Highest Level in Over a Decade

Two recently released reports reveal that the American public is starting to feel much better about the U.S. economy. The University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers showed that: “Consumer optimism reached the highest level in the past decade ...
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Real Estate Heading in the “Right Direction”

The housing market has taken a great turn toward recovery over the last few years. The opinions of the American public toward real estate took longer to recover, until recently. For the first time since 2006, Americans have an overall positive...
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5 Reasons You Shouldn’t For Sale By Owner

Some homeowners consider trying to sell their home on their own, known in the industry as a For Sale by Owner (FSBO). There are several reasons this might not be a good idea for the vast majority of sellers. Here are five reasons: 1. There Ar...

No Matter What the Groundhog Says… You Should Sell Before Spring!

Is spring closer than we think? Depending on which Groundhog you witnessed today, you may have less time than you think to get your home on the market before the busy spring season. Many sellers feel that the spring is the best time to place t...
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13,808 Houses Sold Yesterday! Did Yours?

There are some homeowners that have been waiting for months to get a price they hoped for when they originally listed their house for sale. The only thing they might want to consider is... If it hasn't sold yet, maybe it's not priced properly. A...
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The Two Things You Don’t Need to Hear from Your Listing Agent

You’ve decided to sell your house. You begin to interview potential real estate agents to help you through the process. You need someone you trust enough to: Set the market value on possibly the largest asset your family owns (your home) Se...
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5 Reasons to Hire a Real Estate Professional

Whether you are buying or selling a home, it can be quite an adventurous journey. You need an experienced Real Estate Professional to lead you to your ultimate goal. In this world of instant gratification and internet searches, many sellers think...
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New Fannie Mae Appraisal Program: Helping or Hurting?

Every home must be sold TWICE! Once to the buyer, and once to the bank appraiser if a mortgage is involved. The second sale may have just become more difficult. A new program announced by Fannie Mae may slow down the home-sale closing process b...
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Think You Should FSBO? Think Again! [INFOGRAPHIC]

Think You Should FSBO? Think Again [INFOGRAPHIC] | Simplifying The Market

Homeowners’ Tough Decision: OTM, FSBO or List

At the end of the year, in every region of the country, hundreds of homeowners have a tough decision to make. The ‘listing for sale agreement’ on their house is about to expire and they now must decide to either take their house off the market (O...
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Freddie Mac: 2015 Home Sales to Hit 2007 Levels

According to Freddie Mac’s latest U.S. Economic & Housing Market Outlook, U.S. home sales in 2015 will show increase to the numbers associated with a normal real estate market. Here is their projection: “We are projecting a 4 percent rise in...
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Home Values Compared to the Peak of 2006-2007

There is no doubt that the housing market has recovered from the meltdown that occurred just a few short years ago. However, in some states home values still have not returned to the prices we saw in 2006 and 2007. Here is a breakdown showing whe...
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Confusing Real Estate News? An Agent Can Help

Below are the headlines from three separate news releases issued over a one month period: 11/3/2014 - Millions of Potential New Households Waiting Out the Recovery 11/11/2014 - Experts: First-Time Homebuyers' Weak Finances Holding Back Hous...
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Will Higher Interest Rates Kill HOME SALES?

The Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Realtors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are each projecting mortgage interest rates to increase substantially over the next twelve months. What will that mean to the housing market in 201...