With the real estate market slower than anytime in the last three years, more realty agents and loan brokers are looking for customers in segments often forgotten by the mainstream real estate industry — minority communities. “For the longest time it wasn’t quite popular to be a minority,'’ said Hilda Ramirez, a director of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors and co-founder of the Hispanic Association of Realtors and Affiliates. “But suddenly corporate America has awakened and it’s the hottest ticket in town.”

Nationally, 58 percent of Asians, 48 percent of Hispanics and 46 percent of blacks own their homes, compared with 74 percent of whites, according to 2004 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. But 60 percent of first-time U.S. home buyers in the next decade will come from these “underserved” communities, said Maria Valentin, diversity marketing director for First American Title Company, which hosted the conference. (more…)

search for : real estate market, realty agents and loan brokers, Hispanic Association of Realtors and Affiliates

Aside from getting info about whether selling prices have been trending up or down, you’ll want to ask local agents whether the inventory of unsold homes increasing, the number of weeks listings spend on the market before selling is on the rise and whether sellers are having to make price cuts and other concessions to sell.

So my advice is finish the renovation as quickly as you can (without botching it, of course) and then get that baby on the market. You’ll want to be especially careful about pricing it, though. If the market in your area is flat to soft, sticking a high price tag on the property on the theory that you can always drop the price later would be a big mistake. Houses that languish on the market because they were overpriced to begin with can be difficult sell. Buyers begin to wonder if there’s something wrong with the property. Or once they see the price being lowered, they figure they’re better off holding off to see if the price will come down further still. You’re much better off pricing the property so that it has a shot at selling within 30 days or so. (more…)

search for : unsold homes, price cuts, renovation

A successful homeowner association meetings takes thought, creativity, advance planning and funding. Too many scramble to cobble together this important event — with mediocre results. Few show up and the numbers fall short of the quorum requirements. This doesn’t need to happen. Just think what you can accomplish at this important event:

Lay Out the Welcome Mat. Make the attendees feel welcome and comfortable. Make sure there is adequate heat or air conditioning. Plan periodic breaks if the meeting is long. It will allow the participants to socialize and refresh their perspective on the business at hand. Let Them Eat Cake. Serve food and beverages following the meeting so there is a reason to conclude the business meeting and to encourage attendees to stick around. This is a positive way to end the meeting and leave a good taste in their mouths (literally!). Draw for a Prize. Make returning proxies and attending the meeting fun by including a drawing for, say, a Dinner for Two certificate. Add the names of those that return proxies and also those that actually attend the meeting. That way, those that return their proxy get two chances to win if they show up. Either way, you’ve encouraged members to help satisfy quorum requirements. (more…)

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Real estate agents would say that the more you tell them, the better they can negotiate on your behalf. However, the degree of trust you have with an agent may depend upon their legal obligation. Agents working for buyers have three possible choices: They can represent the buyer exclusively, called single agency, or represent the seller exclusively, called subagency, or represent both the buyer and seller in a dualagency situation.

In a traditional relationship, real estate agents and brokers have a fiduciary relationship to the seller. Be aware that the seller pays the commission of both brokers, not just the one who lists and shows the property, but also to the sub-broker, who brings the ready, willing and able buyer to the table. It most cases you will have 2 broker’s splitting the commission. Dual agency exists if two agents working for the same broker represent the buyer and seller in a transaction. A potential conflict of interest is created if the listing agent has advance knowledge of another buyer’s offer. Therefore, the law states that a dual agent shall not disclose to the buyer that the seller will accept less than the list price, or disclose to the seller that the buyer will pay more than the offer price, without express written permission. Many times it makes sense to “assign” someone in your office one side of the transaction, thus assures there is no conflict of interest. (more…)

search for : Real estate agent, dualagency, real estate agent, broker, fiduciary relationship

Fannie Mae is a government-sponsored enterprise, as are Ginnie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae), Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or Ginnie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or Freddie Mac) are all “secondary market lenders.” Fannie and Freddie subsidize the real estate mortgage market by buying mortgage loans originated by banks and other lending institutions. They also package mortgages and sell them to insurance companies, pension funds, and other financial institutions as mortgage-backed securities.

Fannie Mae was created by Congress in 1938 as a government agency to buy mortgages from lenders, creating a secondary market for loans insured by the FHA. Congress had created the Federal Housing Administration in 1934 to prop up real estate by providing governmental mortgage insurance for lenders. The federal government has also created the Government National Mortgage Association, GNMA or Ginnie Mae, to provide subsidized loans. A bank can originate a below-market loan to a low-income borrower, and then sell it to Ginnie Mae at full market value; the government pays the difference. (more…)

search for : Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae, Freddie Mac, Federal National Mortgage Association, Government National Mortgage Association, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation

USA Today reports that the National Association of Realtors is forecasting a 5.3 percent increase in rents this year, which is about double last year’s increase. The paper reports it would be the largest increase in rents since 2000, when the Internet boom and a white hot job market sent lots of young adults out of college looking for places to live. The last six years have seen a boom in new home construction, though, along with low mortgage rates, which helped many former renters move into their own homes, and helped keep rent increases more modest.

Rising rents is one of the factors in the higher-than-expected jump in consumer prices in the April reading from the Labor Department. In addition to making home purchases less affordable, the recent housing boom led many investors to convert apartment buildings to condominiums to try to cash in on the rise in real estate prices. One out of three apartment buildings sold last year were converted into condos for sale, the paper reports, and that took 191,400 apartments off the market, according to the Realtors. In addition, the newspaper reports the number of new apartment buildings under construction is down this year. (more…)

search for : National Association of Realtors, Internet, new home construction, real estate prices, apartment

The cold, clear water of LeConte Creek cascades over moss-covered boulders, lingers momentarily in small pools skirted by dense rhododendron and then rushes on through the hemlock, poplar, birch and maple forest. It’s here and in a handful of other streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that the brook trout _ the only trout native to the eastern United States and more specifically to the southern Appalachians _ is making a comeback.

Imperiled from Georgia to Maine by decades of pollution, poor land management and competition from nonnative brown and rainbow cousins, “brookies” are regaining a foothold in the country’s most visited national park on the Tennessee-North Carolina line. For the first time in 30 years, catching and keeping brook trout became legal again in the Smokies under an experimental program begun in April. The announcement came just days before a coalition of conservation groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and fish and game departments in 17 states announced an Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture to restore brook trout habitat. (more…)

search for : rhododendron, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Appalachians, Georgia to Maine, brookies, Tennessee-North Carolina, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture