Sat.Apr 10, 2021 - Fri.Apr 16, 2021

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Here it is: Biden’s first-time homebuyer tax credit legislation

Housing Wire

Consumers have been closely following President Joe Biden’s proposed first-time homebuyer tax credit , but the newest form of that proposal has several significant restrictions. The latest draft of a down-payment assistance bill would provide $25,000 to first-time homebuyers, but only those who are also first-generation homebuyers and economically disadvantaged.

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4 Major Reasons Households in Forbearance Won’t Lose Their Homes to Foreclosure

Keeping Current Matters

There has been a lot of discussion as to what will happen once the 2.3 million households currently in forbearance no longer have the protection of the program. Some assume there could potentially be millions of foreclosures ready to hit the market. However, there are four reasons that won’t happen. 1. Almost 50% Leave Forbearance Already Caught Up on Payments.

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Sellers and Buyers Are Both Feeling More Optimistic In Today’s Market

Lighter Side of Real Estate

There’s no denying that the real estate market has had its ups and downs over the past year. But how are buyers and sellers feeling about the market today? In March, the Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) was 81.7, up 5.2 points from February—which means more consumers are feeling optimistic about the real estate market. According to the HPSI: 61 percent of consumers surveyed said that now was a good time to sell (up from 55 percent in February). 53 percent of consumers surveyed sai

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Questions to Ask When Renting a Room

Realty Biz

Considerations When Renting a Room in Someone’s House. Are you considering renting a room in someone’s house? You are not alone as sharing space in a home has become more popular. Owning a home can be expensive. That’s why many people are opting to rent a room in their home so they can help cut down housing costs. Some owners have found themselves in a financial squeeze that has forced them to do things they otherwise would not.

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3 Real Estate Office Hacks to Help Kickstart the Busy Season

Ready to better your Back Office? Dive into the secrets to a powerhouse back office with Brokermint expert, Jessica Souza. In this free download, she shares her 3 transformative hacks designed to clean house, get everyone on the same page, and set yourself up for success. From optimizing agent profiles to ensuring flawless transactions and boosting agent retention, these strategies are your ticket to a seamless operation.

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Working with buyers in the nation’s hottest housing market

Housing Wire

Austin, Texas might be the hottest housing market in the country. The Lone Star State’s friendly tax policies combined with the city’s huge tech scene and its cool factor have made it a destination for Silicon Valley types for several years. In addition to the same demographic factors driving growth elsewhere — all those millennials buying homes — the number of companies relocating there is a huge draw.

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More Trending

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Canada’s Property Bubble Is Now So Large, A Soft Landing Would Take 19 Years

Better Dwelling

Canadian real estate prices are now beyond frothy, and the government says that’s fine. They believe they can prevent home prices from falling, and let incomes catch up. If you’re in government or banking, you may have already seen me explain how impossible this is. If you haven’t, this is known as the “soft landing” […].

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Buyers Have Diverse Preferences for the Home’s Exterior Design

Eye on Housing

A new question introduced to the 2021 Edition of What Home Buyers Really Want* showed buyers pictures and descriptions of four exterior designs and asked for their preference. Results reveal that buyers have quite diverse preferences for the exterior style of their home, since none of the choices was preferred by anywhere near a majority of buyers. At best, a.

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2 million refi candidates eligible after mortgage rate drop

Housing Wire

Another 2 million borrowers could save an average of nearly $300 a month on a refinance thanks to last week’s 10-basis-point drop in mortgage rates. Recent data from Black Knight found the number of high-quality refi candidates moved back up to 13 million last week — potentially putting $3.6 billion back in to homeowners pockets. On March 25, the data analytics company reported 7 million high-quality candidates fell through the cracks on the market’s “forever rates” after

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Some Buyers Prefer Smaller Homes

Keeping Current Matters

Over the past year, we’ve had plenty of opportunities to reflect on what we consider most important in our lives. The place we call home is one of the biggest things many of us are reevaluating. George Ratiu, Senior Economist at realtor.com, shares: “The very nature of the pandemic, through the health implications, social distancing, and need to isolate, has really brought a central focus on the importance of home for most Americans…In a sense, it has elevated real estate markets as a centerpiec

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Need Curated Pre-foreclosure Lists to Generate New Real Estate Leads? Trellis Has the Data!

Trellis is a state trial court research and analytics platform that provides Real Estate Professionals (Buyers, Foreclosure, Loan Modification, etc.) with LEADS on Pre-Foreclosures, Lis Pendes, Distressed Assets and more — to help uncover **new** opportunities and grow their business. The process is quick and easy — and all in real time. Trellis will supply you with a link to the relevant dockets, a Leads sheet and access to its UI where applicable.

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Canada Says Property Bubble “Not Great” For Locals, Good For Foreign Investors

Better Dwelling

A Canadian official in charge of housing policy confirmed the current market is not an accident. Instead, it’s a conscious decision where the government picked the winners and losers. TVO aired an interview with MP Adam Vaughan yesterday, discussing housing policy. In the interview, Vaughan, who helps oversee the CMHC, said price drops are not […].

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Top 10 Affordable Small Towns Where You’d Actually Want To Live, 2021 Edition

Realtor.com

Getty Images The idyllic appeal of small-town life has taken on a whole new dimension in the coronavirus era. People seeking more room for work and schooling at home, more distance from others, and more things to do that don’t involve crowding into indoor spaces are finding that small towns check all those boxes—and plenty more. Even before the pandemic, incessantly rising home prices had been driving many folks farther afield to get more square footage for their money.

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These were March’s hottest housing markets

Housing Wire

In modern history, the housing market has never seen a month like March. Record demand and the lowest levels of inventory on record pushed sales prices to record highs in March and made life very complicated for buyers, real estate agents, builders and lenders across the United States. The national median home-sale price hit a record high of $353,000 in March — up 17% from 2020 — according to a new report from Redfin.

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Home Is Where the Heart Is [INFOGRAPHIC]

Keeping Current Matters

Some Highlights. There’s no doubt about it: homeowners love their homes, and that feeling has become even more important over the past year. The vast majority of homeowners say they’re emotionally attached to their home and that it has kept them safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Owning a home provides a sense of safety, security, and accomplishment.

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Accelerating Real Estate Sales Pipelines to Streamline Buyer Journeys

Navigated 360° tours, like YourVRTours, advance pipelines by engaging clients further along the sales funnel. These immersive experiences provide comprehensive property insights, increasing buyer intent and readiness. By embracing navigated tours, agents can optimize property exposure, better qualify leads, and streamline the sales process. Stay ahead in the ever-evolving real estate landscape with innovative technology that elevates buyer journeys and progresses pipelines more effectively.

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BMO Sees Soaring Lumber Prices Crashing Soon, Which May Lower New Home Costs

Better Dwelling

North American lumber prices are soaring, sending homebuilding costs higher with it. The good news is, relief may be just around the corner. BMO Capital Markets updated its Benchmark Western Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) lumber forecast for April. The bank sees lumber prices dropping in the second half of the year. By 2022, they expect lumber prices […].

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No foreclosures until 2022? CFPB seeks to extend foreclosure moratorium

The Mortgage Report

CFPB has proposed extending the foreclosure moratorium through Dec. 31, 2021. That would mean no COVID-related foreclosures until 2022. Learn more here.

Mortgages 139
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Should government help create housing market supply?

Housing Wire

If demographics are economics, and we accept that in the years 2020 to 2024 the U.S. will have the best housing demographics in history , then it follows that home prices could take off in an unhealthy way. In 2021, we already have the unhealthiest housing market — in terms of low housing market supply and multiple bids for each sale — than we have had in the last 10 years.

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How Often Can You Refinance a Home Loan? More Than You Might Think

Realtor.com

Getty Images Homeowners with a mortgage often hear about the benefits of refinancing—to snag a lower interest rate, reduce their monthly loan payments, and tap into their home equity. The list of advantages is long and enticing. But if you’ve recently refinanced but have seen interest rates drop even further—or start creeping up—you might wonder if you can (and should) refinance again before rates truly skyrocket.

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Maximizing Your Online Presence: Tips for Real Estate Agents on Social Media

Speaker: Sarah Santa Ana, Real Estate Coach, Move4Free Realty

Networking is one of the crucial elements in every real estate organization's success. Both agents and real estate companies need to maintain robust networking links. This is why social media is essential for any real estate professional! Social media enables you to stay in touch with your present clients, maintain connections with your past clients, and engage potential customers and investors.

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This Week’s Top Stories: Bank of Canada Blamed For Property Bubble, and QE Cannot Stop Prices From Falling

Better Dwelling

Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s most important stories. Canadian Real Estate A Large Canadian Bank Just Blamed The Bank Of Canada For The Property Bubble One of Canada’s largest banks attributed the country’s frothy real estate market to the central bank. BMO wrote, “a surge in demand started by the pandemic, but […]. The post This Week’s Top Stories: Bank of Canada Blamed For Property Bubble, and QE Cannot Stop Prices From Falling appeared first on Better Dwelling.

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No foreclosures until 2022? CFPB seeks to extend foreclosure moratorium

The Mortgage Report

CFPB has proposed extending the foreclosure moratorium through Dec. 31, 2021. That would mean no COVID-related foreclosures until 2022. Learn more here.

Mortgages 139
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Want to boost your home’s property value? Plant a tree

Housing Wire

There’s no denying shopping for a home is time-consuming. You have to pay attention to everything – the neighborhood, floorplan, proximity to work, school district and cost. Even if you plan to live in the home for years, you want features that’ll increase your property’s value for when the time eventually comes to sell it. And while homeowners often scramble to renovate kitchens and bathrooms, remember to pay attention to your yard’s foliage. .

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Septic Inspections: What to Know About a Septic System Inspection

Maximum Exposure Real Estate

What to Know About Septic Inspections Are you wondering how septic inspections work? If you are buying a home with a septic tank, there are some things you need to be aware of. If you are selling your home, you could need an inspection of the septic system. For example, here in my home state […]. The post Septic Inspections: What to Know About a Septic System Inspection appeared first on Massachusetts Real Estate Exposure.

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Rise of The Apps: Building Your Dream Tech Stack For Real Estate Success

Speaker: Trey Willard, Realtor/Team Leader at Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

In order to create continued success in today’s real estate market, realtors need to utilize an arsenal of technology that will increase their efficiency and presence on social media. Using technology to manage your prospects and tap into their needs through websites, social media, and other channels is critical for real estate success in 2022 and beyond.

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Canada Offsets Expensive Real Estate With Low Paid, But High-Quality Tech Labor

Better Dwelling

The mystery of how Canada attracts so many big tech companies was revealed in a commercial real estate analysis. The country scored 5 spots on CBRE‘s 2020 list of Top 50 Tech Hubs. High-quality labor is one of the key reasons real estate prices haven’t been a drag. The other is Canadian tech workers make […]. The post Canada Offsets Expensive Real Estate With Low Paid, But High-Quality Tech Labor appeared first on Better Dwelling.

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Top 12 Colors to Help Sell Your Home Fast

Realtor.com

Painting the interior of a house that’s about to hit the market is a project with a twist—the colors you choose will need to strike that magic on-the-market balance between a blank slate and an inviting home where buyers can imagine themselves living. Sound intimidating? Here’s the good news: A fresh coat of paint always helps. According to real estate pros, paint is one of the quickest, easiest ways to make a space feel move-in ready.

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Mortgage rates move down to 3.04%

Housing Wire

The average U.S. mortgage rate fell for the second consecutive week, down nine basis points to 3.04%, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Despite rates mirroring mid-march levels, Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, doesn’t expect them to hold. “The economy is improving on the demand side and on the supply side, a variety of goods and materials remain scarce,” said Khater. “As a result of this imbalance, pricing pressures are building and cau

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Will mortgage rates go down in May 2021? Forecast and trends

The Mortgage Report

Mortgage rates are holding low but May 2021 could see big upward mortgage rate swings. Advice, predictions, and your next steps.

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5 Data Proven Ways Agents Can Do 18% More Business

Curious as to how you could do 18% more business? How about 14 more transaction sides per year? Check out this infographic with data from a RealTrends study to learn more.