Posted on February 25th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
Because luxury homes are often one-of-a-kind and there are fewer sales in such a narrow marketplace, groups that track statistics pick varying points as the cutoff for this market. Homes priced at $2 million and above — the dividing line at Trulia.com, a San Francisco-based website that tracks the market using Multiple Listing Service feeds — account for most price drops nationwide. Such homes represent less than 2% of Trulia listings but are responsible for 24% of the dollar volume in asking-price reductions.
Filed under: Buying, L.A. Times, Luxury Properties, Real Estate Market, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on February 25th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
IRS issues new guidelines on obtaining home buyer tax credits
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued new guidelines and clarified documentation that taxpayers must submit to successfully obtain the federal tax credit for home buyers.
MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS
The federal tax credit for home buyers was extended and expanded late last year. [...]
Filed under: Buying, Current Events, Economy, L.A. Times, Real Estate Market, Tax Issues, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on February 25th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
Foreclosures are still impacting the housing market and this will likely continue through 2010. This Updated Field Guide provides foreclosure information and resources for REALTORS® and their clients, including information for those interested in investing in foreclosed properties.
Filed under: Buying, Economy, Foreclosure, Real Estate Market, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on February 7th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
Important advice to anyone planning to contact their lender directly for a loan modification: The key here is to be tenacious. These lenders and servicers (lenders) are large with hundreds, and even thousands, of employees. Whenever you call your lender, you should plan on being on the phone for a long time (figure an hour [...]
Filed under: Foreclosure, Investor Words, Mortgage, Real Estate Market, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on February 4th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
What’s new in the NAR Information Central library collection? This month you’ll find books on urbanism, real estate investment, vacation homes, remodeling and many more. Interested in borrowing any of these titles from the library? Simply click on the title to make your request right over the web!
Filed under: Real Estate Market, Realtor, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on February 2nd, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
Faster Sales Coming For Foreclosure Buyers
Foreclosure buyers got a Christmas Eve goodie from Fannie Mae, a new strategy that’s likely to make foreclosure purchasing very much quicker. The catch? A bunch of lenders are about to be very unhappy.
Until the recent real estate meltdown, foreclosures were a problem but not too much of a [...]
Filed under: Commentary, Mortgage, Real Estate Market, Short Sale, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on February 2nd, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
The latest idea bubbling up in the world of real estate is the use of principal reductions to stem the foreclosure tide, the theory being that if we lower mortgage balances then homeowners will have smaller monthly payments and fewer foreclosures. It sounds great, but don’t look for lenders to gleefully cut mortgage balances anytime soon. In fact, principal additions rather than principal reductions are the rule of the day.
Filed under: Commentary, Economy, Foreclosure, Mortgage, Politics, Real Estate Market, Selling, Short Sale, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on January 29th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
NAR President Vicki Cox Golder sits down with Chief Lobbyist Jerry Giovianello to discuss NAR’s response to President Obama’s State of the Union address.
Filed under: Politics, Real Estate Market, VRN | No Comments »