Real Estate News

Redfin is Leaving NAR

How a Government Shutdown Could Impact the Industry

Realty Report: Is home staging worth it? - buyers reasonably come with expectations of what they want their new home to look like, sellers benefit from looking at their home with a buyer’s lens. remove visual distractions from your home

The home improvement items real estate agents say they recommend most to their clients before listing a property include:

· Decluttering: 96 percent

· Entire home cleaning: 88 percent

· Remove pets during showings: 83 percent

· Professional photos: 73 percent

· Minor repairs: 72 percent

· Carpet cleaning: 71 percent

· Depersonalize home: 65 percent

· Painting: 58 percent

· Landscaping: 50 percent

· Grouting: 30 percent

Source: “2023 Profile of Home Staging,” National Association of REALTORS®

NAR Report of Staging

Appraisals

What to Know About an HOA

Real Estate Investors Pull Back, Buying 45% Fewer Homes Than A Year Ago

Pickleball Courts Serve an Ace for Vacant Malls, Retail Stores

Home buying ideas for hard core renters

What Is a Broker Price Opinion (BPO) in Real Estate?

7 Bathroom Renovations Under $1,000

KW to slash profit sharing for former agents 

New NC legislation comes after real estate firm found enforcing 40-year agreements

As demand has risen for self-storage in the US, so have prices

How Much Does it Cost to Build a House in Atlanta, GA in 2023?

Seven typical buyer questions answered

Appraisal Gap Waivers

What are real estate fixtures? Fixtures are considered real property: They “belong” to the estate. In contrast, personal property belongs to the individual owner (seller or family member) and is generally portable. Fixtures typically transfer their ownership along with the home while you’re free to take personal property with you when you sell. - a feature, item or object that is permanently attached or affixed to the property in some way - it’s been installed to stay in place; it’s not easily portable

The MARIA test

To identify whether something is a fixture, agents and other real estate pros apply a sort of test — a set of measures or characteristics to judge whether something counts as a fixture. Each letter in MARIA is an acronym for these criteria, any one of which can affect fixture status:

• Method of attachment: Items permanently attached to the property, such as by cement or screws are usually considered fixtures.
• Adaptability: Items adapted to a specific purpose in the home and that have become an essential piece of the home, such as floating flooring or a pool cover, are fixtures.
• Relationship of the parties: The status of each party can determine whether something is a fixture. If a homeowner installs something, it’s more likely to be considered a fixture than if it was put there by a tenant who is renting the home.
• Intention: The intent of the person who put the item in the home matters. If they clearly intended it to be a permanent (or sufficiently long-term) addition to the home, such as a stove or washer/dryer, it’s a fixture.
• Agreement: Anything itemized and identified in a certain way in the purchase and sale agreement gets its status from that agreement. If the contract states something will remain in the home or is a fixture, it becomes one.

How Zillow Group is thinking about AI and the future of real estate

The Real Estate Appraisal Process 

The Next Generation of Appraisals: Revolutionizing Real Estate Valuation with Computer Vision

Termite Inspections: Cost and What to Expect

Selectboard considers real estate transfer fee to support affordable, workforce housing

Mass. real estate lawyers must disclose pay from title insurance to homebuyers

Which HOA Rules Can Be Enforced – and Which Can’t? - comply with local, state, and federal laws
Your Guide to HOAs

https://humrealestate.com/blog/the-impact-of-inflation-on-mortgage-rates - Don’t let headlines about the latest decision from the Fed confuse you. Where mortgage rates go from here depends on what happens with inflation. If inflation cools, mortgage rates should tick down as a result.

Zillow shutters closing and title division - Despite its efforts to be a one-stop shop for homebuyers from search to close, Zillow has determined that its Zillow Closing Services division has become a weak link in the chain.

NAR: Contract Signings Flat, More Inventory ‘Critical' - contract signings flat in April compared to March. Nevertheless, contract signings are 20.3% below last year’s bustling pace.

Zombie Foreclosures Keep Increasing But Remain A Tiny Presence Around Most Of U.S. - 1.3 million (1,285,633) residential properties in the United States are vacant. That figure represents 1.3 percent, or one in 79 homes, across the nation.

-311,508 residential properties in the U.S. are in the process of foreclosure in the second quarter of this year, up 4.3% from the first quarter of 2023 and up 20.2%from the second quarter of 2022. A growing number of homeowners have faced possible foreclosure since a nationwide moratorium on lenders pursuing delinquent homeowners, imposed after the Coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020, was lifted in the middle of 2021 (Note: But the income tax burden on cancelled mortgage debt has expired, so double whammy.)

Tax Implications Following Foreclosure: What You Need to Know - it’s vital to understand that the IRS considers most canceled debt income because you benefit from not having to pay the additional amount owed on a loan.

What is meant by the word Escrow? - simply put, escrow means "setting aside money for any number of purposes related to closing a real estate trasnaction - normally homeowner's insurance, property taxes, and mortgage insurance, but it could mean setting aside funds for repairs after closing, or to pay other debts, liens, or related costs that are not typical to closing agent or lender.

What Is a Real Estate Excise Tax? (And How Much Does It Cost Buyers and Sellers?) By Meera Pal

What Out-of-State Buyers Should Know About California Real Estate Transfer Taxes

A mid-year real estate report for metro Atlanta

Mortgage fee changes raise costs for some, lower costs for others

Avoid Legal Snafus Around Canceled Contracts

Foreclosures Jump—Is Another Wave About To Flood the Housing Market?

Real estate investors selling more homes at a loss

Real Estate Investors Are Losing Money on Roughly 1 in 7 Homes They Sell—The Highest Share Since 2016

BUILD-TO-RENT INDUSTRY: A SMART INVESTMENT DESPITE CHALLENGES

9 MORE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT BUILD-TO-RENT

The cost of affordable housing: Does it pencil out?

Subsidies are essential to closing the gap between profit and loss.

Measuring the Cost of Real Estate Wire Fraud

Business Email Compromise in the Real Estate Sector: Threat Pattern and Trend Information, January 2020 to December 2021

Association Foreclosure In This Current Housing Market

Update 5-18-2023:

Real estate company accused of tricking customers into 'oppressive' 40-year contracts - North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is sharing new details about a lawsuit he filed against real estate company MV Realty, alleging the company tricked customers into signing unfair and predatory contracts while buying homes.  Realty group’s 40-year listing agreements causing pain

A controversial real estate company has been signing up thousands of Georgians for its 40-year listing agreements.

But since a Channel 2 Action News investigation in the fall, that all appears to have been put on pause.

Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray has found since our investigations into MV Realty started, there have been no new signed agreements filed here in Georgia.

Talk about the Federal Government being out of touch...

FHA approved 40-year mortgage for homebuyers in MayFHA approved 40-year mortgage for homebuyers in May

The Federal Housing Administration announced it's increasing term options to include a 40-year mortgage in May. Dan O'Connell, a Valley mortgage broker with OC Home Loans, works with people looking to buy homes or refinance. "The short term is just that you're going to get a lower payment and a payment that you can afford," he said.

CAN YOUR CREDIT LIMIT DECREASE? : SAVINGS CORNER PRESENTED BY COOSA VALLEY CREDIT UNION

U.S. real estate brokerages must face home sellers’ class action over commissions

A federal judge in Chicago on Wednesday ruled that home sellers accusing the National Association of Realtors and a group of real estate brokerages of conspiring to inflate commission rates can move forward as a class action.

U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood's decision grants class-action status to past home sellers seeking more than $13 billion in damages and creates a separate class of current and future sellers who want a court injunction that bars subsequent violations of U.S. antitrust law.

The lawsuit challenges a requirement that sellers make "blanket unilateral offers of compensation" to buyers' brokers when a home goes on sale via a multiple listing service. That system puts pressure on sellers to offer high commissions to attract buyers' brokers, the sellers claimed.

The class seeking money damages includes certain home sellers who paid a commission between March 2015 and December 2020 in states including Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Colorado, court filings show.

My comments: sellers enlist listing brokers and are given the opportunity to agree or disagree with total commission rates to pay for the sale of their properties…its the approach that listing agents discuss options of not paying the total commission or different rate…did these agents and brokers give the sellers an option or did they force them into a standard fixed rate?

Lawsuit could shake the landscape for buyer’s agents 

Question: Will this class action lawsuit end up paying more to attorneys than plaintiffs?

NAR Finds Share of First-Time Home Buyers Smaller, Older Than Ever Before

the great mortgage bank consolidation wave is underway

Shepard's Men website

This nationally renowned program focuses on assessment and treatment for American military veterans who have sustained mild to moderate Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during post-9/11 service.

Is Cherokee’s Real Estate Market Crashing?

Buyers Embrace Adjustable Mortgages as Rates Surpass 7%

Online real estate company Zillow lays off 300

Top 10 ZOMBIE ZIPS in Q4 2022

What is a BAFO - Best and final offer

How secure is your local government deeds and property records?

NAR Urges Mortgage Insurance Premium Reduction and Ending Life of Loan Requirement - reduction of the annual mortgage insurance premium and ending the life of loan requirement.

Build-to-rent housing gaining market share in North Texas - anywhere from a 675-square-foot, single-family cottages with no garage all the way up to a 1,500- to 1,600-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-car-garage homes.

Homebuyers are rejecting more offers than ever for 'tiny' issues. What's a seller to do?

Jefferson Parish man convicted of killing real estate agent during Facebook Marketplace sale sentenced to life

Violent Crimes Against Real Estate Agents

8 Red Flags to Help You Spot a Rental Scam

Forbes  -  Housing Market Trends: What’s Happening With Mortgage Rates And Housing Prices Right Now?

Fraudsters Shift Focus to Big-Ticket Real Estate Closing Scams

What is a ‘betterment’ in real estate?

Buckle Up: Home Prices Are Expected To Fall by a Lot—Even If There Isn’t a Recession

How will Hurricane Ian impact home insurance costs in Florida? Insurance rates have already been going up in past years in Florida, even as six companies went insolvent and another 27 are on a state financial watch list. "We anticipate rates will go up significantly next year," Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute said. "We're not making a prediction at this point, but based on the trend we have seen over the past several years where rates have gone up double-digit, we will see continued double-digit increases if not higher going forward." Florida's insurance industry has been plagued by litigation issues and rising reinsurance costs, which have led to many large carriers limiting policies and leaving many smaller companies financially exposed.

Citizens Insurance, the insurer of last resort, is now the dominant insurer in Florida with more than a million policies and growing. Insurance experts said Hurricane Ian will likely drive up costs — not just by the large claims — but also the rising costs for re-insurance, basically insurance for the insurance companies. residents should expect a 30-40% rate increase next year.

Most economists see the U.S. turning into a buyer’s housing market in 2023. Here’s where you’ll see the biggest declines in value.

High mortgage rates, tight supply and economic uncertainty: Here’s what’s happening with home prices - CoreLogic also released a home price report this week that showed home prices in August still 13.5% higher than August 2021.

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) released the 2023 Community HOME Investment Program (CHIP) grant application for approximately $5 million in available grant awards.

It's a terrible time to both buy and sell real estate

4 Reasons residential real estate contracts are falling through

How Much Are Closing Costs?

Real estate agents urge more options for HOA disputes

Georgia Association of realtors notice warning of potential wire fraud in real estate transactions

5 top economists and real estate pros on what will happen to mortgage rates now

Home Inventory: What Is It and Why Do You Need One?

Florida state senator proposes special tax on out-of-state homebuyers and real estate investors

Metaverse land prices down 80% in six months

How Does the Housing Market Affect Real Property Division in Divorce Proceedings?

Real Estate Titan Zillow Sees Tough Times Ahead in Housing

Real Estate Investing: Is House Flipping a Huge Waste of Time?

Bill headed to Murphy would help low-income bidders buy foreclosed homes in NJ more easily

Housing market sees rise in canceled contracts

The Other Shoe Drops: Blackstone Landlord Halts Home Purchases In 38 Cities As Market Crashes

The housing correction intensifies—Blackstone to stop buying homes in these 38 regional housing markets

10k of student loans forgiven; what does this mean for real estate and mortgage rates?

10k of student loans forgiven; what does this mean for real estate and mortgage rates?

Homeowner says scammer listed Lawrenceville home for sale on Zillow

Port St. Lucie resident discovers house put up for sale on Zillow without her knowledge

Bracy proposes special tax on out-of-state homebuyers and real estate investors

The citizen of each State shall be entitled to all of the Privileges and Immunities of Citizens of the several States. U.S. Const. Art. IV § 2.

Amdt14.S1.5.2.9.3 Foreign Corporations and Nonresidents - Cases for and against different taxation

Constitutional Restrictions on Taxation of Nonresidents

BidMyListing met with questions, skepticism as it enters Phoenix real estate market

1. 9 THINGS CLIENTS EXPECT FROM THEIR REAL ESTATE AGENT
2. The nation's largest homebuilder says more buyers are cancelling deals amid growing real-estate market pessimism
   
3. Massachusetts legislation proposed A statewide optional transfer fee of up to 2% on high-end real estate sales would provide a local tool allowing any community that has a problem and chooses to participate to determine the kind of housing relief they want and need.  On $1 Billion annual sales, that's 20 million - given cost to construct each unit to be $200,000, then about 100 units could be built...that's a drop in the Nantuckett bucket!
4. What the Fed’s July rate hike means for homebuyers and sellers - The Federal Reserve does not set mortgage rates, and the central bank’s decisions don’t move mortgages as directly as they do other products, such as savings accounts and CD rates. Instead, mortgage rates tend to move in lockstep with 10-year Treasury yields.  But the Fed does set the overall tone for mortgage rates. Mortgage lenders and investors closely watch the central bank, and the mortgage market’s attempts to interpret the Fed’s actions affect how much you pay for your home loan.
5. Foreign buyers remain absent from U.S. housing market
6. US homebuyers are backing out of deals at the highest rate since the start of the pandemic
7. Foreclosure filings are up more than 150%. Here’s what that tells us about the housing market - much of the overall foreclosure activity we’re seeing right now is on loans that were either already in foreclosure or were more than 120 days delinquent prior to the pandemic,
8. Real estate company operating in Raleigh fined $62M for ‘cheating’, ‘misleading’
   Opendoor has now agreed to the following:

• Pay $62 million back to customers
• Stop deceiving potential home sellers
• Stop making baseless claims and instead use competent and reliable evidence to support any representations made about the costs, savings, or financial benefits

This week, a Missouri federal judge denied a motion by the National Association of Realtors, HomeServices of America, RE/MAX and Keller Williams to compel arbitration in a class action lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of thousands of people who have sold their homes.

At issue is an NAR policy that the seller’s agent of a home must split their commission equally with a buyer agent. The rule has been around since 1913, and, according to the consumers and their lawyers who filed the lawsuit (the lead named plaintiffs are homebuyers Rhonda and Scott Burnett), it has artificially inflated real estate commissions to 5-6% total of the home sale price.

Related 2021 topic:  Justice Department withdraws from Settlement with the National Association of Realtors

Local real estate developer constructs ‘micro homes’ as solution for housing crisis in South Fulton - His development of the micro homes is the “different way.” The one- and two-bedroom micro homes are between 350 and 600 square feet. There are 29 units and they all sold out within two months of their launch at a price point between $200,000 to $230,000.

Recession Coming says RCLCO Survey  

Canadian news headed to the United States - Auction platform launches $25-million lawsuit against real estate associations?

US homebuyers are backing out of deals at the highest rate since the start of the pandemic

What you need to know about backing out of a home purchase when you’re under contract

Foreign buyers remain absent from U.S. housing market

Induce your autophagy

Decoupling broker commissions could be coming

Metro Atlanta’s housing boom to bolster bigger government budgets

Rising Mortgage Rates Continue to Cut Into Home Sales

Rising interest rates are crushing the US housing market: Morning Brief

Homebuyers retake the upper hand