The economy’s decline leveled off significantly from April through June, confirming  that the worst is behind us.

GDP declined at an annualized rate of 1 percent in the second quarter, after shrinking an amazing 6.4 percent earlier this year. But consumer spending, 70 percent of economic activity,  continues to fall as Americans continue to save and  reduce debt. Economists express concern that our basic spending habits have been permanently altered by this great recession. This is also having an effect on rentals as renters downsize or insist on rent reductions.

With this as a backdrop we looked at rental rates which a are a prime factor in evaluating a property. We clearly have a long way to go. The Dept of Commerce chart indicates we are at a fragile beginning of a recovery. The key to successful property ownership now will be to keep it occupied and ride this out. Continue reading this post

The market in Columbus Ga MLS is typical of markets all across the country.  Sales are down.  That said, our economy is more stable than most and for this reason we have not seen the dramatic drop in home prices.

Homes priced right and well maintained are still selling quickly.  Homes with any problems or that are overpriced are being overlooked.

Here is a snapshot of 2008 vs. 2009 :

• Home prices are down about 4%
• Total Homes sold are down 21%
• Home sales in the $100K to $200K level are only down 17.5%
• Home sales in the $200K to $300K price level are down 35%
• Home sales in the $300K to $450K price level are down 22%
• Home sales in the $450K and up price level are down 27%

New home sales and foreclosures account for a large portion of the sales in the Columbus GA/Phenix City home market this year.  The normal resale homes are the ones really staying on the market.

So, it is very important for resale clients to price their homes aggressively and to have their homes in pristine condition when they go on the market!

Wayne will be hosting a session titled “Prospecting, Proposals, Pipeline: AgentEvaluator” at HomeGain Live Nation in San Francisco on August 3rd at 2pm. Twitter it #homegainnation.

Find more Regional Updates here.

Click to learn more about Columbus Georgia Real Estate and Columbus home prices.

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The Brooklyn New York real estate market has been really picking up over the past two months.

As an example, I want to tell you about a listing appointment I went on several weeks ago. The owner of the house passed away and left the home to her son who lives in Texas. The son called me and invited me over to give them an estimate as to how much the home is worth and to consider hiring me to represent him with the sale of the same.

Upon viewing the house I expressed to them that in my opinion the home was worth between $500,000 to $525,000. When I told him this his jaw dropped and I asked them “why do you have that look on your face?” To which he explained to me the following…

“I had a neighbor approach me as I was cleaning out the house inquiring if I was going to be selling it. I told him I was to which he responded that he would like to buy it. I asked him how much he would pay me and he states $350,000. I thought that was a great offer because in San Antonio Texas those kind of numbers buy you a mansion and my Mom’s house as you can see is small, fully attached and in dire need of major repair work. So I accepted the offer and my lawyer sent contracts to that buyer. Instead of signing the contracts, the buyer started to play games and wanted changes to the contract that my lawyer would not accept. Continue reading this post

We’ve all heard it; “real estate is local”. I’m not so sure.

I believe that all of the different “local” real estate markets are in fact intertwined with one another. While there is not much value in a national average or median real estate price, there is value in national sales volume, national inventory levels and other national housing statistics.

Think of them as a barometer - a measure by which you can assess your local market. Perhaps your market is selling more homes on average at a higher price point than the national average. Perhaps it’s less. Either way, national market statistics matter. You can use this information as part of a general wellness test of your local market. Not to mention that what actually is happening in other local real estate markets can directly affect what happens in your local market.

We in fact just ran into a scenario where a client of ours could only buy a home at a certain price here because the home he owns in Michigan cannot sell for a reasonable price there. They wanted to spend about $600,000, but, bought for $250,000 until the home in Michigan can sell. This is an example of exactly how these markets are intertwined and why in fact real estate is not all local.

To truly understand your local market, you must stay abreast of and understand more than just your neighborhood, town and city market statistics lest someone else who does understand will be the “local expert” instead of you. Continue reading this post

The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage is  a  product created by Congress in 2008 to provide some liquidity to the struggling home market. The amount you can borrow depends on age, current interest rates, and the appraised value of your home or FHA’s mortgage limits,whichever is less. Generally, the more valuable your home is, the older you are and the lower the interest, the more you can borrow.

1. No payments are necessary as long as the house is your principal residence.
2. No need to repay the loan as long as you or one of the borrowers continues to live in the house
3. You can never owe more than the value of your home at the time you or your heirs sell the home.
4. When you sell your home, you or your estate will repay the cash you received from the reverse mortgage plus interest and fees.
5. The rest is yours.

The Rules Just Changed

More seniors are turning to reverse mortgages to supplement their retirement savings, which have been decimated by market losses. Continue reading this post

Mortgage rates, prior to June, were stabilizing after a volatile first quarter.  Potential home buyers and existing homeowners were settling in to the fact that a 4.5% conventional mortgage rate could be had; some days you had to pay a couple of points, some days only one.  FHA and VA loans were about an eighth of a percentage point higher.

Continue reading this post