Nationwide Open House Weekend April 20-21

If you're in the market to purchase a home you won't have a better opportunity to preview prospective properties than the mecca of all open houses, Nationwide Open House Weekend April 20-21! In it's 4th year running, there will be homes upon homes from coast to coast ready for your viewing pleasure for this event.

Consider it like a community garage sale, but the homes themselves are for sale on a much larger scale! There's nothing we like more than efficiency so the ability to see as many homes of interest in one fell swoop goes down as a major win-win in our book.


There are a couple of ways to find the open houses, check with your local real estate companies many of them will have a list of upcoming open houses. There are a variety of websites that will show you open house information as well. We're big fans of Zillow who has a special search feature for open houses, you just hover over the Homes link and click on Open Houses, from there you can specify an area. Just remember that more and more homes will be added to these lists as the weekend approaches so keep checking.

Here's the list for Colorado- http://www.zillow.com/co/open-house/

A few words of wisdom, if you're serious about scouting a property for actual purchase, unlike the looky-loos, (and we all know there are plenty of looky-loos wanting to canvas what their neighbors are really up to behind closed doors or those wanting a legal sneak peek at how the 1% live) make sure to do your due diligence ahead of time and get, at a minimum, a pre-qualification letter from your mortgage lender (even better get pre-approved). That way you can evaluate the home comparing your needs/wants to what you can realistically afford according to your lender and be prepared to make a legitimate offer as soon as you can. Buyers that have done their homework ahead of time will be in a better position to get what they want as an offer from a party that is already pre-approved is highly attractive to the seller. Keep in mind that since this is such a big event there will be a lot of people eyeing your favorite property, if it meets your needs your best bet is to act expeditiously!

Of course all of this can be explained in further detail by your real estate agent, it is most definitely in your best interest to secure a broker to handle the purchase of real estate. There is a lot of red tape involved in buying/selling real estate and the stakes are high, a lot of money on the line. While plenty of folks think they can easily handle the process themselves and save a little bit of money I can assure you that there can be some major bumps in the road and it is easy to get in over your head.

For all of our Colorado friends needing assistance, call us to speak with our in-house associate broker, we're happy to help. And don't worry we aren't here to rope you into a deal, we didn't attend used car salesman training, it's not our style and we find it just as repulsive as you do.

So head on out there early, you wont find another opportunity to get this kind of inside info. Get your map together, do some research a-la Google of the addresses you like to get an idea of the property and it's condition, perhaps print out a sheet of each home you want to see, and once you get there ask questions! Get as much detail as you can. And for all of the looky-loos with no interest in the home at all, at least give some feedback to the realtor on what you saw, that would be the nice thing to do!

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First Time Buyers: How to Shop for your First Home

Great article over at AOL Real Estate on tips for buying your first home. There's more to think about than square footage when you're debating about moving into a home, especially in this market. Here's a good gameplan to follow.

It's tempting to just go out and start shopping. After all, that's the ultimate goal and the most fun part. But doing your homework first will pay off in less stress and more savings. If you're house-hunting, whether for tax reasons, more space or just for the chance to have your own washer and dryer, here are tips to get you started.


1. Know how much you can afford
This should be the first step in buying a house so you don't waste your time, or a real estate agent's, by looking at homes that you can't afford a mortgage on. The Fitzsimmonses visited a real estate broker who helped them determine how much of a loan they would qualify for, based on their income and credit. They also factored in property taxes, maintenance, utilities, insurance and possible homeowner-association dues. They totaled those expected costs and set up an experiment: After paying the rent on their apartment, they set aside money equaling the difference between their rent and the projected cost of homeownership. They did this for a few months so they could get used to making the payments. A loan calculator will help figure out how much a home loan will be.
2. How long will you stay in the home?
The longer you live in a home, the better the savings because you're spreading out the upfront costs of buying a house. They include a real estate agent's fee, closing costs, inspection fees and loan fees -- which can add up to 10 percent of the sale price, or approximately 18 months of rent.

3. Get a loan
Getting preapproved for a home loan helps make buying a home faster and easier, especially if there are multiple offers on a home. Your mortgage lender or broker should be able to give you an estimate, down to the penny, of how much money you'll need in closing costs. Then you'll know how much of your savings to set aside for a down payment, which will help determine how much your loan -- and the monthly mortgage -- will be. Putting down 20 percent will eliminate the need for mortgage insurance, although your lender or broker might be able to find loans at good rates that don't require 20 percent down. This is where it really pays to shop around for the best loan rate and terms.
4. Know the market
After determining where your finances stand, the fun part begins in finding out what you can afford and where you want to buy a house . Research neighborhoods that interest you and find out the median price of homes there. You can research homes on websites such as AOL Real Estate, Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia.com or others you trust. Finding homes similar to the kind you want, and in the same neighborhood, will give you an idea of how fair the price is when you are ready to buy;
5. Shop around
Every house buy requires sacrifices, and you won't get everything you want. There are many factors to consider, such as how much room you need. Does it have to be a single-family home or will a condo work? Is it near transportation, good schools, parks, shopping and your other essentials? Does the home have the amenities you want, such as a fireplace, dining room, backyard, pool or deck?

Find a real estate agent to represent you, or if you're brave and want to do it on your own, go out and shop on your own. Either way, stick to these five steps and you should be fine.

Buying a house, whether your first home or severl down the line, is one of the most stressful and expensive transactions you'll ever undertake. But if you do your homework and prepare for it with the above steps -- figuring out how much you can afford, how long you'll stay, getting a loan, studying the local market, and shopping for a house -- it should be a lot easier.

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10 Cities with Fast Growing Home Buyer Interest

So a little bit of real estate info here thanks to CNBC

Florida seemed to sweep the list with several locations but taking the #1 spot was Fort Lauderdale with a nearly 100% increase in home sales over last year. Surprisingly, Beverly Hills took second place which is quite interesting given the economic recession. The average home sale price in the ritzy city is mere $1,350,000.

There were other unexpected cities that made the list. Detroit has seen a  39% increase in home buyer interest. Houston Texas and Mesa Arizona both have a growing interest and it's easy to see why when the average home prices are well below $130,000.

See if your city made the top 10 over at CNBC.

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6 Reasons the Housing Market Hasn't Recovered & Why You Should Renovate NOW!

Stumbled on a very insightful article from US News on the 6 Reasons the Housing Market Hasn't Recovered. I'll do my best to paraphrase the important parts but it calls to attention a great detail to keep in mind, now is the time to remodel and renovate your home.

It's pretty clear from the national news, economists, and government reporting that the United States economy is in some pretty bad shape and likely won't really start the uphill climb for a few years, if not more. So while we wait for the market to return you might as well get the most out of the home you're currently in. Not only does this benefit you but it also puts you in a better position to sell your home in the future. As an added bonus (and much to our dismay as professionals) construction costs are at an all time low which means that you can cash in on the savings and be able to complete projects that may have otherwise been out of the budget.

So keep that as food for thought and now onto those 6 Reasons the Housing Market Hasn't Recovered...

1. Record Unemployment. The unemployment rate is sitting at just under 10%!! That's a LOT of people out of work! It's a pretty simple concept, when there are no jobs no one can afford a house nor can they qualify for one. What's worse is that this knowledge destroys consumer confidence. The result? The people who are maintaining a job avoid homeownership like the plague for fear that they too may lose their job and be left with a mortgage they can no longer pay for. Until our job force returns the entire real estate realm is going to be in a holding pattern.

2. Household Formation. Typically people "form" a household and move into their own home. With the state of the current economy people are no longer forming new households and are instead combining them. Families are moving in together, children are moving back home, relatives are combining households, all as a result of the lack of income, which is directly related to the job market. In fact the number of new household formations over the last year has seen the second smallest increase since 1947!

3. Foreclosures. Not at all surprising, the number of foreclosures out there on top of typical new construction mean a highly oversaturated market. RealtyTrac execs expect the number of foreclosures to exceed 3 million properties by the end of the year with 1 million more in bank repos. And with the growing number of layoffs and families still struggling to meet their mortgages the numbers will only increase from there. See the vicious cycle here??

4. Tight Credit Standards. Mortgage rates are hitting all time lows so why isn't everyone jumping into new homes.... because they can't qualify for a mortgage in the first place. Banks have been hardened with the blow of bad loans so they're requiring some serious ante from prospective buyers outside of their first born son. To take advantage of these great rates you're going to need a FICO score of 720 or better, outside of FHA loans, and anywhere from 10-40% down. Not exactly the profile of most Americans right now....

5. Falling Home Prices. You'd think that cheaper prices would stimulate the market but here we go with the consumer confidence aspect again. With the news blaring about slumping home prices it drives in the message that owning a home is BAD thing right now. "Don't get yourself stuck in a home loan... do you see what's happening to people out there right now... they're upside down.... they're losing everything... they're stuck in their home forever." These implications aren't quite sending a positive message about homeownership! So those folks that would be prospective buyers are bailing from the sinking ship.

6. Selling your current home. If you're one of the millions out there committed to a mortgage already it's a daunting task to think about buying a new home because you have a giant black cloud looming over your head. In today's market 1 in 4 homeowners is upside down on their mortgage, they have negative equity. So in order to get out they would have to take a loss on the property and not too many folks are rushing in to do that!

It all goes back to the number one issue, the economy.... bad economy means no jobs, no jobs means no loans, and no loans mean no home sales. So as unfortunate as the situation may be it's not a bad idea to stay put while the dust settles and take advantage of some of the positives of the economy, like cheap construction costs to get your home improvement going.

~5280 Lady

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