One of the stresses of moving to a new area is giving up the familiarity that you have with your old neighbors and starting from scratch. Whether you've just moved to a different locale or you're planning to relocate in the near future, there are some easy ways that you can make a home of your new neighborhood right from the start. Stand Up and Smile While there are neighborhoods where people are definitely friendlier than others, by making your presence positively known you can make an instant impression on those that live around you. When you're walking around the neighborhood, make sure you … [Read More...]
If you're planning to buy a home in the near future, you're probably already in the process of saving up for a down payment. But if you haven't seen a mortgage advisor or started looking at properties yet, you probably don't have a good idea of what a down payment will cost you. Different mortgages have different down payment requirements, and you'll need to figure out ahead of time how much of a down payment you need to put forward. Following are some general guidelines. Be sure to speak with a knowledgeable, local lender to get the best advice for your area How can you calculate what you'll … [Read More...]
According to the Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index, U.S. home prices increased by 0.40 percent in August, which boosted year-over-year home price growth to 5.10 percent. Denver, Colorado continued to lead in home price gains with a monthly increase of 0.90 percent and a year-over-year gain of 10.70 percent. San Francisco, California also posted a year-over-year gain of 10.70 percent, but posted a month-to-month loss of -0.10 percent. Portland, Oregon posted a year-over-year gain of 9.40 percent with a month-to-month gain of 1.10 percent. Cities with the slowest growing home prices … [Read More...]
Despite all of the excitement that comes along with moving to a new area or home, it can also be a time of considerable stress. Whether you're just getting prepared to put your house on the market or you've been up to bat for a while and are feeling the effects, here are some pointers for how you can keep your stress level low and your attitude positive. Queue the Clean-Up! It may seem like an inopportune time for such a task, but de-cluttering your home can have a positive impact on your mental health. Instead of saving all the cleanup to the last moment when you're trying to get your family … [Read More...]
Last week's economic news included the National Association of Home Builders Index, Housing Starts and FHFA's report on August home sales. The National Association of Realtors® released its monthly report on sales of previously owned homes. Builder Confidence and Housing Starts Post Gains The Wells Fargo National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index for September posted its highest level of builder confidence in 10 years a higher than expected results with a reading of 64 for October. Analysts expected a reading of 62 based on September's reading of 61. The NAHB Wells Fargo … [Read More...]
Housing markets show continued strength as the National Association of Realtors® reported that sales of existing homes reached their second highest level since February 2007. Sales of pre-owned homes increased by 4.70 percent and reached 5.55 million sales on a seasonally adjusted annual basis against analyst expectations of 5.34 million sales and August's reading of 5.30 million sales of previously owned homes. August's reading for existing home sales was revised downward from 5.31 million sales. Economists said that August's lower than expected sales of existing homes may have been … [Read More...]
