Articles and News about Residential Real Estate
Conventional Mortgages vs FHA Loans
The 2009 fiscal year is shaping up as the biggest on record for FHA loans. Applications for single-family home mortgages were up 50 percent from Oct. 1 through mid-August. Approvals have jumped 70 percent, to 1.67 million. FHA has carved out a huge chunk of the market in the last three years, from 3 percent in 2006 to a whopping 23 percent today. Borrowers of all stripes are turning to the FHA for help in obtaining a mortgage and achieving the dream of homeownership.
First-Time Homebuyer’s Tax Credit Questions Answered
First-Time Homebuyer's Tax Credit If all these tax credits are confusing you, never fear! Here's a simple, easy-to-understand source to make it all clear. In 2008, Congress enacted a $7,500…
Kentucky Ups New Home Tax Credit
As we had previously written about back in April, Kentucky Joins in Tax Incentives for Home Buyers, some changes have been made. Here’s how to know if you qualify.
Newsweek Says, ‘Now Is the Time!’
Their title is certainly eye-catching: Now’s the Time to Buy Your Dream House. Louisville home buyers don’t have to take just my word for it, now the national experts are starting to follow suit. (I wonder what took them so long.)
Time Waits for No Man
Much of this year’s real estate push can be attributed to the $8,000 first-time homebuyer’s tax credit and other government incentives. The deadline to move into a home and take…
Louisville Housing Market Improving
This piece in the NYT is aptly titled Home Sales, All Over the Map and that’s exactly the point! Depending on where you live, housing markets are extremely different from one another.
Short Sales, Contract for Deed, Lease Options and the Exciting Life of a Real Estate Lawyer
Bold title there, huh? You might be wondering the reason. Well, I’ll tell you! I attended some Continuing Education today as a part of my real estate license requirements. I…
Home Values Approaching Bottom?
This piece in the NYT gives some home sellers hope for a better future. Home prices continued to fall as unemployment rose and new foreclosures hit the market. But the…
Positive News For Home Sales
The Wall St. Journal is now talking about positive news regarding the housing market. There’s a change! But even this news, while positive, isn’t especially noteworthy.
Which Louisville Homes Are Great Deals?
If you’re “old” like me, you might recall the phrase: “a stitch in time saves nine.” Or a more contemporary, “You can pay me now, or pay me later” from a Fram oil filter commercial. My point is doing your homework upfront saves both time and money. It’s the smart thing to do and in real estate, it’s essential if you want to make a smart buy.
First-Time Buyers Find Deals in Louisville KY
I've been very clear that our current market isn't good for every person's situation. But for some people, it's absolutely a great time to be buying property. If you're a…
5 Reasons to Buy a Home Now
Please note that I didn’t say it’s a great time to sell. Homes are certainly being sold—almost 1,200 properties have sold in the first two months of the year here in Louisville—it’s just a tougher market to sell right now. The other side of the coin is that it’s a wonderful time to buy.
Things Are ‘Looking Up’ for First Time Homebuyers in Louisville
The Wall St. Journal wrote an article yesterday entitled For Some, It’s Finally Time to Dive Into Housing Market. Of course, they picked an extreme case to use as their example, as the real estate market in Phoenix, Arizona has been extremely volatile over the past decade and a half. I doubt you’ll see a price drop from $340,000 to $220,500 in less than two years in Louisville’s market, but you never know.
Louisville Weathers the Housing Crunch; Beats Cincinnati, Indianapolis
My thanks to a reader who thoughtfully sent this in. The Wall St. Journal does certain things very well. One of them is their “handy-dandy” charts. The other is their in-depth analysis. This time with Shrinking Prices, Rising Delinquencies they only batted .500. This was due in large part to the chart not working properly. That’s OK, we’ll forgive them because this piece wasn’t hidden behind a subscriber log-in.
(more…)