Buying or Selling a Home?
Here is a newsletter I wrote for an internet website:
http://palmbeachgardens.macaronikid.com/article/396190/buying-or-selling-a-home?fb_action_ids=565346103481743&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map=%7B%22565346103481743%22%3A309409062500999%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22565346103481743%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=[]
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Big Heart Brigade - 100,000 Thanksgiving Day Dinners
The Big Heart Brigade of the Treasure Coast is a 100% volunteer organization and has no paid administrators or board members. Every dollar that is raised goes directly back into the community, thereby maximizing the impact of every dollar. This year we are working to prepare 100,000 meals to give away to those who possibly would not have a meal on Thanksgiving.
Ella & I waiting to find out what station we will be working at first.
Ella waiting to start working the turkey gravy station
Paul opening huge barrels of turkey gravy
Ella and I working hard
Daddy & Ella working hard
Preparing the turkey gravy
Ella & I making Thanksgiving Day placemats
Ella & I getting ready to start assembling Thanksgiving Day dinners
Thank you to everyone who came out today to give their time in order to make someone else's Thanksgiving special!!!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Do you feel lucky?
When setting an asking price, some real estate agents and home sellers use numbers believed to bring good luck.
In predominantly Asian neighborhoods, for instance, listing prices often feature the number eight and avoid the bad luck number four. Trulia says 20 percent of listings in these neighborhoods end with an eight, with this particular superstition strongest in communities where Asians represent over half of residents.
Seven is the lucky number in Nevada, where it is 37 percent more common for listings to feature a seven before the zeros in the price; the number of triple-seven listings are three-fold higher in the state than elsewhere across the country.
Listings with 316, representing a New Testament verse, are 27 percent more common in the Bible Belt; while the number 13 is 15 percent less common nationwide than the numbers 12 and 14.
When it comes to buyers, Cornell University marketing professor Manoj Thomas says lower numbers on the left make them feel they are getting a good deal. Because people tend to round down, 54 percent of homes under $1 million have prices that end in nine, according to Trulia.
Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist, says five is the most popular digit in the high-end market, as it is viewed as “the midpoint on the 1 to 10 scale.”
Source: Wall Street Journal (11/09/12) P. M1; Tanaka, Sanette
© Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688
In predominantly Asian neighborhoods, for instance, listing prices often feature the number eight and avoid the bad luck number four. Trulia says 20 percent of listings in these neighborhoods end with an eight, with this particular superstition strongest in communities where Asians represent over half of residents.
Seven is the lucky number in Nevada, where it is 37 percent more common for listings to feature a seven before the zeros in the price; the number of triple-seven listings are three-fold higher in the state than elsewhere across the country.
Listings with 316, representing a New Testament verse, are 27 percent more common in the Bible Belt; while the number 13 is 15 percent less common nationwide than the numbers 12 and 14.
When it comes to buyers, Cornell University marketing professor Manoj Thomas says lower numbers on the left make them feel they are getting a good deal. Because people tend to round down, 54 percent of homes under $1 million have prices that end in nine, according to Trulia.
Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist, says five is the most popular digit in the high-end market, as it is viewed as “the midpoint on the 1 to 10 scale.”
Source: Wall Street Journal (11/09/12) P. M1; Tanaka, Sanette
© Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
More cash sales, shrinking time on market
All-cash buyers have surged since the housing downturn while the typical amount of time it takes to sell a home is shrinking, revealing the changing dynamics of today’s home buyers and sellers.
Academic experts took a closer look at cash buyers and how time-on-market impacts home sales during the “Changing Dynamics of Recent Home Buyers and Sellers” session at the 2012 Realtors® Conference and Expo. Funding for the research was provided by the Realtor University Center for Real Estate Studies.
“We’ve seen a tremendous increase in cash buyers since the housing downturn that we haven’t seen before in history,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Yun said a decade ago, cash home purchases were less than 10 percent of the market, but they’ve increased steadily since 2008 – up to 30 percent of sales.
Yun said the increase in cash buyers results from tight lending conditions and an increase in investor sales, which make up the bulk of cash purchases. Increases in the number of international buyers, who often have financing difficulties when purchasing a home in the U.S., are also adding to the cash sale rise; 62 percent of international purchases were all cash, a percentage that has increased since 2007.
Recent NAR research may offer insight into how cash buyers receive funds for home purchases. According the 2012 NAR Home Buyers and Sellers Profile, 40 percent of repeat buyers use proceeds from the sale of their primary residence as a source of down payment, but downsizing boomers may have enough equity left from their home sale to pay all cash for their next purchase. Yun also noted that one in 10 buyers rely on proceeds from the sale of stocks or 401K disbursements for down payments. Those with stable jobs and who had investment gains in recent years may use those cash funds to buy a home outright rather than financing the purchase.
Dr. Grant Ian Thrall, president of the American Real Estate Society, agreed that cash sales have increased dramatically in recent years. Thrall spoke at the session and conducted an in-depth market analysis to gain greater insights into cash buyers.
“Research shows a bias toward cash sales for newer and lower priced homes,” Thrall said. “Many of those sales are occurring within the first 60 days that the home is on the market, and more than half sold within the first 120 days.”
Thomas Springer, professor of Finance and Real Estate at Clemson University, discussed how time-on-market responds to employment changes, and shifting market and economic conditions. Springer analyzed market data from more than two dozen metro areas. His findings indicate that time-on-market is a function of property characteristics, price and market factors for a specific home; however, at market level, time-on-market for an area is a function of local, national and global economic and market factors.
Yun said that tightened inventory conditions also impact time-on-market, which has steadily decreased nationally since the start of the year.
“Tightened inventories in some places mean homes are selling more quickly and reducing time-on-market,” Yun said. “Our research shows that last year, homebuyers saw 10 homes before buying, down from 12 the year before. And more than half of buyers reported that finding the right home was the hardest part of the home search process.”
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
Academic experts took a closer look at cash buyers and how time-on-market impacts home sales during the “Changing Dynamics of Recent Home Buyers and Sellers” session at the 2012 Realtors® Conference and Expo. Funding for the research was provided by the Realtor University Center for Real Estate Studies.
“We’ve seen a tremendous increase in cash buyers since the housing downturn that we haven’t seen before in history,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Yun said a decade ago, cash home purchases were less than 10 percent of the market, but they’ve increased steadily since 2008 – up to 30 percent of sales.
Yun said the increase in cash buyers results from tight lending conditions and an increase in investor sales, which make up the bulk of cash purchases. Increases in the number of international buyers, who often have financing difficulties when purchasing a home in the U.S., are also adding to the cash sale rise; 62 percent of international purchases were all cash, a percentage that has increased since 2007.
Recent NAR research may offer insight into how cash buyers receive funds for home purchases. According the 2012 NAR Home Buyers and Sellers Profile, 40 percent of repeat buyers use proceeds from the sale of their primary residence as a source of down payment, but downsizing boomers may have enough equity left from their home sale to pay all cash for their next purchase. Yun also noted that one in 10 buyers rely on proceeds from the sale of stocks or 401K disbursements for down payments. Those with stable jobs and who had investment gains in recent years may use those cash funds to buy a home outright rather than financing the purchase.
Dr. Grant Ian Thrall, president of the American Real Estate Society, agreed that cash sales have increased dramatically in recent years. Thrall spoke at the session and conducted an in-depth market analysis to gain greater insights into cash buyers.
“Research shows a bias toward cash sales for newer and lower priced homes,” Thrall said. “Many of those sales are occurring within the first 60 days that the home is on the market, and more than half sold within the first 120 days.”
Thomas Springer, professor of Finance and Real Estate at Clemson University, discussed how time-on-market responds to employment changes, and shifting market and economic conditions. Springer analyzed market data from more than two dozen metro areas. His findings indicate that time-on-market is a function of property characteristics, price and market factors for a specific home; however, at market level, time-on-market for an area is a function of local, national and global economic and market factors.
Yun said that tightened inventory conditions also impact time-on-market, which has steadily decreased nationally since the start of the year.
“Tightened inventories in some places mean homes are selling more quickly and reducing time-on-market,” Yun said. “Our research shows that last year, homebuyers saw 10 homes before buying, down from 12 the year before. And more than half of buyers reported that finding the right home was the hardest part of the home search process.”
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
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Friday, November 2, 2012
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