During the decline of house prices in the deflation of the housing bubble, price levels will fall to fundamental valuations of historic levels of appreciation, price-to-rent ratios, and price-to-income ratios. The nominal price declines may be impacted by inflation and monetary policy of the Federal Reserve, but inflation adjusted prices will fall precipitously. As people [...]
Entries from February 2009
The Housing Bubble – What Buyers Need to Know
Feb. 17th, 2009
Foreclosures and Residential Real Estate Markets
Feb. 16th, 2009
The number of foreclosures will affect both the timing and the severity of the deflation of the housing bubble. It is foreclosures that drive prices lower quickly. Foreclosures control the timing of the crash because they directly impact the must-sell inventory numbers: the greater the number of foreclosures, the greater the rate of decline in [...]
How Reverse Offers Make Things Happen in Real Estate
Feb. 15th, 2009
The idea of making something happen in this real estate market or any other is an idea that home sellers can get their teeth on and arms around. Home Sellers often expect their listing agent to be serious and network their home to everyone they know and people they don’t. But all too often there [...]
Unemployment and Residential Real Estate Markets
Feb. 15th, 2009
Prior to the housing bubble, house price declines had only been associated with economic downturns and increases in unemployment. As people lost jobs, they lost their ability to make house payments, and many lost their homes in foreclosure. Unemployment is devastating to housing markets. When the economy softens, wage growth slows down as employers are [...]
Does The Code Of Ethics Still Exist With Real Estate Agencies?
Feb. 14th, 2009
Nowadays you hear about all kinds of codes of conduct and codes of ethics being broken in all facets of business and business services. But as of late I have been seeing some really horrible things being done by Real Estate Agents and Agencies. One of the questions on a forum was, have agents and [...]
Future Loan Terms and Residential Real Estate Markets
Feb. 14th, 2009
One of the primary mechanisms for inflating the housing bubble was the widespread use of exotic loan terms including interest-only and negative-amortization adjustable rate mortgages. The appeal of interest-only and negative-amortization loans is the lower payments they offer, or their ability to finance larger sums of money with the same payment. These loan terms are [...]
Photo Fundamentals For Your Real Estate Business
Feb. 14th, 2009
When you got your real estate license you probably didn’t think you needed top-notch photography skills in order to become a success in real estate industry. And you don’t. But taking photos is an aspect of the business that can’t be ignored and unless you hire that photo job out, it’s up to you to [...]
Remodeling Mistakes That Can Virtually Kill A Home Sale
Feb. 13th, 2009
So many people are remodeling homes before trying to resell or flip houses. But mistakes are being made that could make your home difficult to market. Like the couple we saw on TV who took the closets out of 2 basement bedrooms and slashed the resale value of their home. They literally turned their home [...]
Credit Crunch – Why Did We Have It?
Feb. 13th, 2009
In 2007, the financial markets were abuzz with talk of a “credit crunch.” It was portrayed as some unusual and unpredictable outside force like an asteroid impact or a cold winter storm. However, it was not unexpected, and it was not caused by any outside force. The credit crunch began because borrowers were unable to [...]
Keep Your Home “Ready for Sale”
Feb. 13th, 2009
You may not be interested or need to sell your home anytime soon. That’s an enviable position to be in nowadays. But you never know when that may change, so the best thing you can do is to keep your home in “ready for sale” condition. As a homeowner you find something needs to be [...]