Search Results for: blog the housing market and home equity

Does Your Real Estate Agent Practice “Buying a Listing?”

With the housing market slump, some real estate agents are practicing a sales technique called “Buying a Listing.” Unfortunately, this technique can hurt you in more ways than one if you are trying to sell your home. I’ll explain what this sales technique is and what the impact on you could be. Let’s take a typical family that is ready to sell their home. Chances are that this family would have interviewed several real estate agents before they made their decision on which agent to hire. And chances are that all of these real estate agents came equipped with “comps” … Continue reading →

Is the Short Sale Right for You?

Despite the downsides, the reality is that sometimes you have to sell your home even in a bad housing market. One result of this mark is the increasing popularity of the short sale. What is a short sale? Well, there are two applications for the definition. In the first, you are selling your home for less than you paid or for less than what you have remaining on your mortgage. You are in negative equity. It doesn’t seem fair, but if you purchased your home in the last two to five years, and need to sell it today, this negative … Continue reading →

How Did Our Economy Get into This Mess!

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If you have been following our economy’s downturn, you will most likely be able to label the number one cause – the housing market. When the real estate bubble burst, it caused a huge trickling affect on our whole nation’s economy. It wasn’t only the drop in house value that caused the spiral. The hugely growing housing bubble led to many families borrowing into their growing equity. As they borrowed against this huge asset (their home), they pumped money directly into the economy. Unfortunately, this money was “borrowed” and not real income. Still, it temporarily boosted our economy. When the … Continue reading →

Checking Your Remodeling Recoup Cost

Do you ever wonder what upgrades to your home might add in terms of value? Even with a slumping housing market, you can still increase your home’s resale value with the right renovation. As everyone knows, kitchen and bathrooms get the greatest recoup in investment overall, but some other numbers may surprise you. Recoup value on projects can vary by region. This can make sense in some places, such as insulated windows in New England getting a greater recoup value, while not make sense in other places, such as upgrading an air conditioning system in Texas getting a small recoup … Continue reading →

Addiction to Credit

Our society has become very reliant on credit and debt. Who even pays for things with cash anymore? This obsession combined with the desire to get ahead and have more has led to a national crisis. The debt in this nation, from the guy next door to our own government is astounding. Our country at every level needs to stop borrowing from the future. Otherwise, there will be no future. A perfect example is this mortgage mess. Aggressive lenders over the past couple of years helped create the disaster we are now experiencing. But you can’t blame it on the … Continue reading →