Sat.Dec 05, 2020 - Fri.Dec 11, 2020

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Housing market outlook for 2021…and beyond

Housing Wire

2020 was a truly unprecedented year. With it behind us, let’s look ahead at several housing market trends that are likely in 2021 and beyond. First, exceptionally low mortgage rates are likely to be around for an extended period. The Federal Reserve is expected to continue an accommodative monetary policy and keep the federal funds target below 0.25% through 2022.

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Why It Makes Sense to Sell Your House This Holiday Season

Keeping Current Matters

If you’re one of the many homeowners thinking about taking your house off the market for the holidays, hang on. You definitely don’t want to miss the great selling opportunity you have right now. Here’s why this month is the optimal time to make sure your house is available for holiday buyers. The latest Existing Home Sales Report from The National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows the inventory of houses for sale has dropped to an astonishing all-time low.

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23 Of The Strangest Things Homebuyers Have Asked Sellers to Leave With the Property

Lighter Side of Real Estate

It’s not unusual for homebuyers to admire a seller’s belongings. Chances are they may share similar taste—they bought the same house, after all! But some go as far as to ask that certain items remain with the home as part of the deal. It’s easy to imagine clients wanting to include mirrors, window treatments, and maybe even chandeliers—but some take it a step farther and make really bold requests.

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What is a Contingent House Listing?

Point2Homes

Image: Doubletree Studio / Shutterstock.com. When searching for the ideal home, expect to encounter a few issues along the way, such as homes listed as contingent. But, what does contingent mean and how does it affect your purchase? A home listed as contingent means the seller has accepted an offer. However, before the sale can go to closing, certain contingencies must be met.

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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.

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How to grow housing supply in 2021

Housing Wire

The U.S. housing market was the single best outperforming economic sector globally during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The reasons for that are solid demographics and low mortgage rates , which will not change much in 2021. Due to the solid demand for homes, housing supply for both new and existing homes are at all-time lows. New Home Supply. The monthly supply for new homes is currently at 3.3 months.

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Mortgage Preapproval vs Prequalification: What’s The Difference

Maximum Exposure Real Estate

How Pre-approval Differs From Pre-qualification Do you know how mortgage preapproval differs from a prequalification? There has been some confusion among those looking to buy a home and qualify for a mortgage loan regarding the difference between a mortgage pre-approval vs. a pre-qualification letter. Indeed, they sound pretty similar, so hearing these terms before or […].

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Condo vs. Townhouse: How Are They Different

Realty Biz

How Are Townhouses Different From Condos? One of the big choices you have to make when home buying is what type of property you want to live in. An increasingly popular choice for buyers is between condos and townhouses. They offer many advantages to buyers with benefits over traditional family homes. These types of property have many things in common, but important differences as well.

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Fannie Mae extends relaxed appraisal, lending standards

Housing Wire

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae extended its relaxed lending and appraisal standards put in place due to COVID-19 into the new year. The flexibilities surrounding verbal verification of employment and appraisals were originally set to expire on Dec. 31, 2020, however Fannie Mae is now pushing that back to at least Jan. 31, 2021. “We are extending the temporary flexibilities related to verbal verifications of employment and power of attorney to loans with application dates on or before Jan. 31, 2021 fr

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Are Home Prices Headed Toward Bubble Territory?

Keeping Current Matters

Talk of a housing bubble is beginning to crop up as home prices have appreciated at a rapid pace this year. This is understandable since the appreciation of residential real estate is well above historic annual averages. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), annual appreciation since 1991 has averaged 3.8%. Here are the latest 2020 appreciation numbers from three reliable sources: FHFA : 7.8%.

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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.

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The Top 10 Housing Markets of 2021—Who Made the List?

Realtor.com

milos-kreckovic/iStock Wouldn’t it be great to look into the future? You could see just how quickly the world will recover from this deadly pandemic, get the winning lottery numbers—and learn just which real estate markets will be a solid investment. Unfortunately, we misplaced our crystal ball. But by analyzing data and trends, the realtor.com® economics team put together a list of the housing markets that are expected to sizzle next year.

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How to Get Preapproved For A Mortgage: Loan Approval Explained

Realty Biz

Tips For Getting Preapproved For a Mortgage. If you start looking for your new home before you know how much you can afford to spend, you will be in for some disappointment. It is effortless to start looking at homes that you will later find you can’t afford when you try to get approved for a mortgage. However, if you have a mortgage preapproval , you will know where you stand and be in a stronger position when making an offer.

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HW Media acquires REAL Trends to combine two of real estate’s most powerful media outlets

Housing Wire

HW Media, publisher of HousingWire, FinLedger, and producer of Engage Events, today announced it has closed on the strategic acquisition of REAL Trends, the residential real estate industry’s leading report that ranks the performance of the top U.S. brokerage firms. REAL Trends will continue to publish the REAL Trends 500, The Thousand, and Website Rankings reports on an annual basis, as well as produce the Gathering of Eagles and DealMAKERS events.

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How Remote Work Can Power Your Vacation Home Sale

Keeping Current Matters

This year, the opportunity to work remotely has increased the demand for vacation homes. Gay Cororaton, Senior Economist and Director of Housing and Commercial Research at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), notes : “Working from home is a positive factor in demand for vacation homes.”. Buyers are taking advantage of the fact that working from home might be someplace other than their primary residence – at the beach, in the mountains, or somewhere in between.

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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.

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Let’s Make a Deal! 7 Things You Can Negotiate When Buying a Home—Beyond the Asking Price

Realtor.com

fstop123/Getty Images Whether you’re buying your first home or your 11th, there’s one thing we all think about when it comes time to negotiate the deal: wiggling that pesky price down as much as possible. Of course, price is important when you’re buying a home. But it’s not the only negotiable part of the sale—there are plenty of other ways to haggle aside from list price.

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Credit Karma: What Is It and How Does It Work Including Video

Maximum Exposure Real Estate

What to Know About Credit Karma Have you ever wondered what Credit Karma is and how it works? Maybe you have seen their advertisements on television? Your credit score is one of the most critical pieces of financial information, especially when buying a home. For a long time now, creditors and lenders have used your […]. The post Credit Karma: What Is It and How Does It Work Including Video appeared first on Massachusetts Real Estate Exposure.

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Mr. Cooper settles $90M lawsuit over illegal foreclosures

Housing Wire

Mr. Cooper , the nation’s largest nonbank servicer of mortgage loans, will refund customers nearly $90 million and pay a civil penalty of more than $6.5 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it violated the rights of over 115,000 customers, some of whom it had illegally foreclosed on. When Mr. Cooper – then known as Nationstar – bought thousands of mortgages through MSR bulk purchases, it frequently failed to identify loans with existing modifications, according to the lawsuit, which was fi

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An Honest Look at Unemployment Numbers

Keeping Current Matters

Last Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the November Jobs Report. It revealed that, though headed in the right direction, the nation’s job recovery has slowed. The consensus reaction is best exemplified by a quote from Glassdoor Senior Economist , Daniel Zhao: “We saw positive job gains, but I think the sentiment is largely negative because we know that we’re heading into a dark winter.”.

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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.

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‘Bargain Mansions’ Reveals One Trendy Renovation You Might Regret

Realtor.com

HGTV Tamara Day of “Bargain Mansions” is always getting creative with her renovations, but with her latest project, she is given a clean slate, with a house that’s been stripped down to the studs. In the Season 3 episode “On Par for Glory,” Day has purchased a classic Kansas City home for $247,000, and spends $150,000 on the renovation.

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Buffini Makes ‘Bold Predictions’ About Upcoming Year’s Real Estate Market

RIS Media

It’s safe to say that 2020 threw everyone for a loop. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the lives of billions of people worldwide, and perhaps the most surprising element of all has been how COVID has supercharged the U.S. real estate markets rather than upended them. “This has been a strange year. But there has been a lot of good in this year too,” said Brian Buffini, founder and chairman of Buffini & Company , at this year’s “Bold Predictions: 2021 Real Es

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What’s next for housing in 2021?

Housing Wire

As we look ahead to 2021, we remember that this year, the housing market has continued to remain a bright spot in the economy, even as other areas continue to struggle amid stay-at-home orders and economic shutdowns. COVID-19 threw the economy for a loop in 2020. In fact, this year seemed to prove anything is possible. From wildfires to hurricanes, the pandemic to murder hornets and a deeply divisive political campaigning season that drove record-setting voter turnout, 2020 did everything but fo

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Housing’s role in consumer confidence and the K-shaped recovery

The American Genius for Real Estate

(ECONOMY) Why is there such a strong divergence in consumer confidence right now, and why is real estate a primary factor? The post Housing’s role in consumer confidence and the K-shaped recovery appeared first on The American Genius Real Estate.

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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.

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5 Kitchen Design Rules You Should Definitely Break in 2021

Realtor.com

photoman/Getty Images The kitchen is a major focal point of a home—after all, it’s where meals are made to nourish your family, and where guests (when you can host them safely again) tend to gather, no matter how carefully you’ve arranged your living room. Because of that, the kitchen is a key selling point, which may intimidate some people from thinking outside the box when it comes to kitchen design.

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Prepping Your Home to Sell in 2021: How to Attract Homebuyers

Homes.com

With the dramatic impacts COVID-19 has left on the homebuying and selling industry, we look at the best ways to market your home in 2021. The post Prepping Your Home to Sell in 2021: How to Attract Homebuyers appeared first on Homes.com.

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Mortgage rates hold steady at record lows

Housing Wire

Despite slightly higher Treasury yields, mortgage rates held steady at record lows this week, according to a survey by Freddie Mac. Rates remained at last week’s level of 2.71% for the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. “Mortgage rates remain at record lows, resisting their typical correlation to Treasury yields, which have recently been moving higher,” Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater said.

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Building Materials Prices Decline in November Amid High Volatility

Eye on Housing

Prices paid for goods used in residential construction ex-energy decreased 0.6% in November (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index for inputs to residential construction, including food and energy also decreased over the month, albeit by slightly less (-0.5%).

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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.