Sat.Aug 22, 2020 - Fri.Aug 28, 2020

article thumbnail

Sales of large homes skyrocket as homeowners seek more space

Housing Wire

Homebuyers who are juggling work and school from their home want more space, triggering an increase in the number of sales of large homes. According to Redfin , sales for large homes were up 21.2% year over year nationwide in July, compared to a 10% increase for medium-sized homes and a 2.3% increase for small homes. Redfin categorized large homes as those between 3,000 and 5,000 square feet, medium homes between 1,500 and 3,000 square feet, and small homes between 300 and 1,500 square feet.

Sales 545
article thumbnail

Why Is It so Important to Be Pre-Approved in the Homebuying Process?

Keeping Current Matters

You may have heard that pre-approval is a great first step in the homebuying process. But why is it so important? When looking for a home, the temptation to fall in love with a house that’s outside your budget is very real. So, before you start shopping around, it’s helpful to know your price range, what you’re comfortable within a monthly mortgage payment, and ultimately how much money you can borrow for your loan.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Renting a Room in Your House: What to Know

RIS Media

If you have a spare room in your home, renting it out can be a way to earn extra to pay the mortgage. There can be problems with this sort of arrangement, however, that could make you wish you hadn’t invited a renter into your home, so it’s important to be educated about the process as much as possible. Renting out part of your home does put you in the position of a landlord with the associated responsibilities.

article thumbnail

New Home Sales Surge in July

Eye on Housing

New single-family home sales surged in July, as housing demand was supported by low interest rates, a renewed consumer focus on the importance of housing, and rising demand in lower-density markets like suburbs and exurbs. Census and HUD estimated new home sales in July at a 901,000 seasonally adjusted annual pace, an approximate 14% gain over June and the strongest.

Sales 145
article thumbnail

The 2025 Real Estate Roadmap to Success

Don’t just react to changes, plan for them, so you can approach the new year with confidence, direction, and a competitive edge for your business. Having a well-defined business plan helps you chart a clear course, navigate challenges, and set a foundation for growth. This workbook gives you the key steps to outline what matters and will ensure you’re moving ahead.

article thumbnail

Is the FHFA about to delay the refi fee?

Housing Wire

According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has been communicating with mortgage industry groups about delaying the implementation of a fee which would add a 0.5% surcharge to refinance mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac starting Sept. 1. According to the article, the FHFA is considering a delay to the adverse market fee implementation date, but is not planning to rescind it.

More Trending

article thumbnail

Bringing Sail Freight Back to Brooklyn, Schooner Apollonia Delivers Goods to Red Hook

Brownstoner

Packed in the hold of a 1946 steel-hulled schooner, sacks of Hudson Valley malt and corn sailed into Brooklyn last week. The journey of the Schooner Apollonia down the river from Kingston wasn't a living history exercise, but an effort to bring carbon neutral shipping back to the Hudson River.… Read More > The post Bringing Sail Freight Back to Brooklyn, Schooner Apollonia Delivers Goods to Red Hook appeared first on Brownstoner.

145
145
article thumbnail

Refinance Appraisal vs Purchase Appraisal: Is There a Difference?

HomeLight

Picture this: You’ve been in your home for a few months, and lately, it seems like you’re getting more and more junk mail encouraging you to refinance your mortgage. And it seems like it might be a good deal, so you do a little research into what you need to do. Now you’re confused because you need a refinance appraisal, but you just got a purchase appraisal before being approved for a mortgage — is there a difference between a refinance appraisal vs. purchase appraisal?

article thumbnail

Opendoor launches… a brokerage?

Housing Wire

The line between traditional iBuyer and brokerage is getting ever-so-blurry for venture-backed startup Opendoor. The company, armed with $1.5 billion in VC funding, is looking to bring aboard real estate agents in Phoenix, Arizona, to support its “Home Reserve” iBuying platform, according to Inman , which spotted a jobs posting Friday morning.

Brokerage 538
article thumbnail

The Top Reasons People Are Moving This Year

Keeping Current Matters

Today, Americans are moving for a variety of different reasons. The current health crisis has truly re-shaped our lifestyles and our needs. Spending extra time where we currently live is enabling many families to re-evaluate what homeownership means and what they find most important in a home. According to Zillow : “In 2020, homes went from the place people returned to after work, school, hitting the gym or vacationing, to the place where families do all of the above.

Design 332
article thumbnail

Avoiding Lease Accounting Pitfalls in 2025: Lessons Learned from Spreadsheet Errors

Speaker: Abdi Ali, Sr. Lease Accounting Consultant

Join this insightful webinar with industry expert Abdi Ali, who will discuss the challenges that can arise from managing lease accounting with spreadsheets! He will share real-world examples of errors, compliance issues, and risks that may be present within your spreadsheets. Learn how these tools, while useful, can sometimes lead to inefficiencies that affect your time, resources, and peace of mind.

article thumbnail

Seattle Real Estate Market & Investment Overview 2020

Marco Santarelli

Despite the economic downturn and disruptions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the Seattle housing prices are keeping strong and steady. The Seattle real estate market showed a lot of resilience and is poised to recover the decline in sales, especially in the context of the slowdown experienced in April and May. Even before the virus hit the region, it was quite evident that if the inventory crunches further, the affordability will become a bigger issue in the Seattle housing market 2020

Marketing 141
article thumbnail

Home Prices Are Still Shooting Up, but Is This a Bubble About To Burst?

Realtor.com

Henrik5000/Getty Images The nation’s surging home prices don’t seem to care about the recession the country is mired in. They can’t be bothered by the deadly coronavirus pandemic or the double-digit unemployment that’s come as a result. Instead, prices are defying logic, expectations, and even belief, as they shoot up to record highs amid an unprecedented health and economic crisis.

Mortgages 141
article thumbnail

FHFA extends foreclosure and eviction moratorium for a third time to Dec. 31

Housing Wire

Four days ahead of its previous expiration date, the Federal Housing Finance Agency extended its moratorium on foreclosures and evictions for borrowers with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until Dec. 31. After its prior extension to Aug. 31 in June, the agency said it intended to monitor the effects of the coronavirus and update policies as needed.

Mortgages 536
article thumbnail

Builders & Realtors Agree: Real Estate Is Back

Keeping Current Matters

When shelter-in-place orders brought the economy to a screeching halt earlier this year, many believed the residential housing market would follow suit. Countless analysts predicted buyer demand would disappear and home values would depreciate for the first time in almost a decade. That, however, didn’t happen. It appears the opposite is taking place.

article thumbnail

Tech-Forward Strategies for Scaling Agent Efficiency & Accelerating Growth

As the real estate market evolves, technology has become essential for success. According to NAR, only 26% of agents feel their brokerage provides the necessary tech tools and, as a result, agents seek teams and brokerages who prioritize technology investments! Whether you manage an established team or are forming a new one, this guide outlines key considerations and necessary applications to thrive.

article thumbnail

1031 Exchange Rules For Investors: How To Do A 1031 Exchange In 2020?

Marco Santarelli

Taxes rarely make for exciting reading material, but if you own an investment property, there’s at least one set of IRS regulations you absolutely will want to understand: 1031 exchange rules. Why? Because normally when you sell an investment property for more than what you paid for it, you’d have to pay a hefty capital gains tax. But with a 1031 exchange , you get to defer paying those taxes if you reinvest the proceeds in a new property, making an “exchange” rather than a sale.

Investor 137
article thumbnail

Millennials Help Power This Year’s Housing-Market Rebound

Realtor.com

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Millennials, long viewed as perennial home renters who were reluctant or unable to buy, are now emerging as a driving force in the U.S. housing market’s recent recovery. Demand from millennials, who today range from their mid-20s to late 30s, has been increasingly important to the housing market since at least the middle of the last decade.

Marketing 138
article thumbnail

80% of economists see a chance of a double-dip recession

Housing Wire

Almost 80% of economists say there’s at least a one-in-four chance of a double-dip recession, following a record 32.9% plunge in GDP in the second quarter, according to a survey released on Monday from the National Association for Business Economics. About 40% of respondents rate the COVID-19 response from Congress as “insufficient” and 37% said it’s “adequate,” according to the survey that summarized the opinions of 235 members and was conducted between late July and early August.

As-is 528
article thumbnail

Should You Buy an Existing Home or New Construction?

Keeping Current Matters

Finding the right home to purchase today is one of the biggest challenges for potential buyers. With so few homes for sale and construction of newly built homes ramping up , you may be wondering if you should consider new construction in your search process. It’s a great question to ask, and one to look at from the pros and cons of what it means to buy a new home versus an existing one.

article thumbnail

Accelerating Real Estate Sales Pipelines to Streamline Buyer Journeys

Navigated 360° tours, like YourVRTours, advance pipelines by engaging clients further along the sales funnel. These immersive experiences provide comprehensive property insights, increasing buyer intent and readiness. By embracing navigated tours, agents can optimize property exposure, better qualify leads, and streamline the sales process. Stay ahead in the ever-evolving real estate landscape with innovative technology that elevates buyer journeys and progresses pipelines more effectively.

article thumbnail

Don’t Forget Your Wardrobe! How to Pack Clothes for Moving Day

HomeLight

It’s taken what seems like an eternity to finally get to this point. The offer has been accepted , the home inspection is complete, and the documents have been signed. Now, it’s time to start packing your belongings so you can finally start moving into your brand new abode. Do you have a plan for how to pack clothes for moving day? We all know that if we are packing fragile items , we should wrap them in old newspapers, bubble wrap, or even soft linens so nothing is broken.

As-is 136
article thumbnail

Virtual Staging: The Hot Trend That Can Help Sell Your Home During the Coronavirus Crisis

Realtor.com

Feverpitched/Getty Images In this age of social distancing, you might want to limit the number of strangers traipsing through your house. So chances are good you’ve said sayonara to the idea of having a staging company come in to artfully showcase your home for sale. That means it’s time to get creative in order to prep your property for sale.

Staging 135
article thumbnail

Average mortgage rate falls to 2.91%: Freddie Mac

Housing Wire

Average U.S. mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed loan fell to 2.91% this week, the second-lowest level on record, Freddie Mac said in a report on Thursday. The rate declined from 2.99% last week , the mortgage financier said. The average rate for a 15-year fixed home loan fell to 2.46% from 2.54%. “This year has been anything but normal and as the uncertainty lingers, mortgage rates remain near record lows,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

Mortgages 526
article thumbnail

2020 Bidding Wars: How to Win

RIS Media

At the start of the pandemic, the housing market nearly screeched to a halt. When most states moved to mandatory quarantining and strictly enforced social distancing, agents were, rightfully, concerned with the future of real estate. Now that some COVID restrictions have lifted, there has been an influx of buyers ready to make their move. However, the new challenge is that, now, there are not enough homes for sale to fulfill the number of buyers.

Agents 133
article thumbnail

Driving Profit: 4 Pillars for Growing Your Real Estate Brokerage

In the rapidly changing real estate landscape, achieving profitability requires a strategic approach beyond traditional methods. Our guide, "The 4 Pillars to Brokerage Profitability," outlines four essential pillars for scaling your real estate business: a seamless lead-to-close technology ecosystem, tailored integrated solutions for teams and agents, value-added success services and community support, and consumer-centric operations throughout the full homeownership lifecycle.

article thumbnail

Home purchase contract signings surge 5.9% in July

The American Genius for Real Estate

[REAL ESTATE BIG DATA] Positive NAR reports encourage strong homebuyer return into the housing market following pent-up demand. The post Home purchase contract signings surge 5.9% in July appeared first on The American Genius Real Estate.

Marketing 133
article thumbnail

Top Products Used in New Residential Construction

Eye on Housing

In a recent article, NAHB analysis of government data found that new single-family and multifamily construction used a total of roughly $94.93 billion in building products in 2019. Although the vast majority of the $94.93 billion was produced domestically, supporting jobs in the U.S. manufacturing sector, about 6.4 percent ($6.12 billion) was imported from other countries.

article thumbnail

Improving your real estate technology, from search to sold

Housing Wire

One of my favorite aspects of working for HousingWire over the past two years has been helping the company expand our real estate coverage. There is so much changing every day in the real estate technology landscape, and whether it’s through our HousingStack or our Real Estate D emo Days , we want to help real estate professionals stay current.

article thumbnail

Eli Manning Selling His Super Home in Summit, NJ, for $5.25M

Realtor.com

realtor.com, Patrick McDermott/Getty Images Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning has tossed his Summit, NJ, mansion onto the market. After retiring from the NFL earlier this year, the two-time Super Bowl champion is also moving on from his longtime home. If you’re a Giants fan with plenty of cash, you can now score Manning’s upscale abode for $5.25 million.

article thumbnail

Maximizing Your Online Presence: Tips for Real Estate Agents on Social Media

Speaker: Sarah Santa Ana, Real Estate Coach, Move4Free Realty

Networking is one of the crucial elements in every real estate organization's success. Both agents and real estate companies need to maintain robust networking links. This is why social media is essential for any real estate professional! Social media enables you to stay in touch with your present clients, maintain connections with your past clients, and engage potential customers and investors.