6 Web Sites That Make Decorating Fun

6 Web Sites That Make Decorating Fun

For many people, one of the most fun parts about buying a home is redecorating it.

Most of these sites are trying to sell products, but they are free to use and could give new home owners some good ideas.

• DesignMyRoom.com- This is a sophisticated and complex site. It opens with a series of brief videos with Robert Verdi, a charming "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"- style guide to the art of interior decoration. The site allows you to choose furniture, art and accessories for 30 generic rooms.
• BHG.com - Choose from Color-a-Room or Color-a-Home (exterior).
• AndersonFloors.com- The Image Builder Design Center is a basic program that will change the color of the flooring, walls, ceiling and trim.
• WoodFloors.org- From the National Wood Flooring Association, Design a Room is another basic wall and floor site.
• Mohawk.Swatchbox.com - Mohawk DreamVision allows you to choose a room type (kitchen, bedroom, bath) and style (traditional, modern, etc.) then start designing.
• Corian.com- The My Room Designer offers a good choice of cabinets, wall colors and of course, countertops.

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, David Bonetti (08/23/2008)

Existing-Home Sales Hit 5-Month High

Existing-Home Sales Hit 5-Month High

Existing-home sales rose in July to the highest level in five months, although they continue to be well below the numbers from last year at this time, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – increased 3.1 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million units from a downwardly revised level of 4.85 million in June. Sales were 13.2 percent lower than the 5.76 million-unit pace in July 2007.

NAR President Richard F. Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif., said the up-and-down pattern may break soon.

“We hope the new tools in the hands of home buyers from the recently enacted housing stimulus package will spark a sustained sales uptrend in the months ahead,” he said. “Buyers who’ve been on the sidelines should take a closer look at what’s available to them now in terms of financing and incentives. Given some of the inventory on the market, we also strongly encourage buyers to get a professional home inspection.”

Median Price Down 7.1% from Year Ago

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $212,400 in July, down 7.1 percent from a year ago when the median was $228,600.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home prices in some regions could soon increase.

“Sales have picked up significantly in several Florida and California markets. Home prices generally follow sales trends after a few months of lag time,” he said. “Still, inventory remains high in many parts of the country and will require time to fully absorb. We expect more balanced conditions in 2009 and will eventually return to normal long-term appreciation patterns.”

Analysis of NAR price data since 1968 shows home prices normally rise 1 to 2 percentage points above the overall rate of inflation, building wealth over the typical period of homeownership.

11-Month Supply of Homes for Sale

Total housing inventory at the end of July rose 3.9 percent to 4.67 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 11.2.-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 11.1-month supply in June. The rise in supply results from a sharp increase in condo inventory; the single family supply declined.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.43 percent in July from 6.32 percent in June; the rate was 6.70 percent in July 2007.

Single-family home sales rose 3.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.39 million in July from 4.26 million in June, but are 12.4 percent below the 5.01 million-unit level a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $210,900 in July, down 7.7 percent from July 2007.

Existing condominium and co-op sales increased 3.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 units in July from 590,000 in June, but are 18.6 percent below the 749,000-unit pace in July 2007. The median existing condo price4 was $223,400 in July, which is 2.7 percent below a year ago.

In Detail: Regional Sales, Prices

West. Regionally, existing-home sales in the West jumped 9.7 percent in July to a level of 1.13 million and are 0.9 percent higher than July 2007. The median price in the West was $273,200, down 22.2 percent from a year ago.

Northeast. In the Northeast, existing-home sales rose 5.9 percent to an annual pace of 900,000 in July, but are 11.8 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $278,700, which is 4.9 percent lower than July 2007.

Midwest. Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 0.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.12 million in July, but are 17.0 percent lower than July 2007. The median price in the Midwest was $175,400, up 1.0 percent from a year ago.

South. In the South, existing-home sales slipped 0.5 percent to an annual pace of 1.85 million in July, and are 18.1 percent below a year ago. The median price in the South was $179,300, down 3.5 percent from June 2007.

— NAR

Presidential Candidates Spar Over Homes

Presidential candidate John Mc Cain triggered a media fuss this week when he couldn’t immediately answer a question about how many homes he and his wife own.

Property records reviewed by The Associated Press show McCain and his family appear to own at least eight homes and condos in three states.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama tried to make a little hay out of the news, saying that McCain was out of touch with Americans who were struggling to pay the mortgage. But the McCain campaign was quick to point out that Obama has his own questionable housing background, having bought his Hyde Park, Chicago home from a seller who had been convicted of influence peddling.

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle (08/22/2008)

HUD Study: Home Costs Up 128 Percent

Between 1985 and 2005, the median monthly housing costs for a U.S. family rose 128 percent from $345 to $798, according to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development study.

The good news is that the portion of income that families spent on housing during that period was nearly flat, increasing from 19 percent to 22 percent during those 20 years.

According to the HUD report on trends in housing expenses, when the costs are figured in constant 2005 dollars, whether a homeowner had a mortgage or not, housing costs in that same 20-year period rose 25 percent, including utilities, water, trash and real estate taxes.

Housing costs for renters in the same time period rose only 8 percent.

Download the full report from HUD.

Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition (08/15/2008)

Trump Saves Ed McMahon From Foreclosure

Donald Trump says he will bail out Ed McMahon by buying his foreclosed home and leasing it back to the show host.

The 85-year-old McMahon was Johnny Carson’s sidekick on "The Tonight Show" for three decades. He hasn’t been able to work for 18 months after breaking his neck. During that time, he defaulted on a $4.5 million mortgage from Countrywide Financial Corp.

Trump says he doesn't know McMahon personally, but acted out of compassion. "When I was at the Wharton School of Business I'd watch him every night," the mega-developer said. "How could this happen?"

Source: The Associated Press (08/14/08)

Economists Predict Fannie, Freddie Bailout

The odds are greater than 50/50 that the U.S. government will spend tax dollars to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal.

Economists put the probability at 59 percent that the Treasury Department will have to step in to bailout one or the other of the government-sponsored enterprises.

"Blank checks almost always get filled in and cashed," says Stuart Hoffman of PNC Financial Services Group.

About 40 percent of the economists say concern over inflation should take precedence over slow economic growth, but they are nearly unanimous in predicting that the Federal Reserve will hold the key federal-funds rate steady at 2 percent through 2008, raising it to at least 2.5 percent by June 2009.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Phil Izzo (08/15/08)

10 Most Expensive States for Closing Costs

A slowing housing market isn’t stopping closing costs from rising, according to a study by Bankrate.com.

The 2007 average closing cost of $2,736 has gone up to an average of $3,118 in 2008, a 14 percent increase. New York City at $4,016 is the most expensive place to close. North Carolina is the least expensive area with an average fee of $2,650.

Here are the top 10 most expensive states to pay closing costs.

New York: $4,016
Texas: $3,975
Florida: $3,683
Oklahoma: $3,558
New Mexico: $3,465
New Jersey: $3,432
Pennsylvania: $3,411
Alaska: $3,409
Colorado: $3,358
California: $3,321

Source: Bankrate.com (08/07/08)

New TLC Fix-Up Show Offers Dose of Reality

TLC’s newest real estate reality show, “Hope for Your Home,” which debuted Saturday at 8:30 p.m., gives financially strained home owners $10,000 to make practical improvements that could help make the house sell and get them out of a hole.

The families, who are all based in Southern California, confer with real estate practitioners, mortgage brokers, and contractors then use the cash to do things like fix the bathroom plumbing, reseed the front yard or – in one family’s case – get the washing machine out of the back yard.

After the fix-up, the property is reappraised. In some episodes the result will seem disappointing, says show host and veteran real estate professional Kirsten Kemp Becker.

"There are certainly episodes where it's not necessarily feel-good TV at the end, but it's a real profile for what's going on," says Becker. "Sometimes, there's nothing to do except try hard and hope to be rewarded."

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Michelle Kung (08/09/08)

What's Fair Got to do With it?

Is it fair that prudent taxpayers and home owners should bail out people who borrowed foolishly and companies whose executives were responsible for the credit crunch?

The answer is “no,” but that doesn’t make the bailout a mistake, says Zvi Bodie, finance professor at Boston University. "My own view is that the world isn't fair," says Bodie. "But would it be fair to put the economy into a deep recession or depression? I don't think so."

If the monetary and fiscal authorities are right in their judgment that the risk of an economic plunge of frightening proportions is real, then the actions they're taking are fair to all of us, Bodie contends.

The U.S. economy in 2008 — with a 5.7 percent unemployment rate and economy expanding at a 1.9 percent average annual rate — is far from Depression-era statistics and only time will tell whether monetary and fiscal authorities exercised sound judgment or panicked. In the meantime, history rewards the bold — not the timid — when the financial system is threatened with collapse, according to Bodie.

Source: Business Week. Chris Farrell (08/05/2008)

Most Consumers Pleased With Real Estate Agent

A survey published in the September issue of Consumer Reports shows that most consumers are pleased with the services of their real estate practitioner.

The survey of 9,141 readers who bought or sold a home (or tried to) found that 71 percent were very or completely satisfied with their practitioner, while only 12 percent said they were dissatisfied.

Practitioners with most of the larger real-estate chains and independent brokers earned reader scores of 79 or higher, which indicated that respondents found these professionals provide "very satisfying" service.

Eighty-six percent of those surveyed who put their homes on the market made a sale; only 8 percent of would-be sellers eventually gave up and took their homes off the market. (The rest were still trying to sell when the survey was completed.)

What Sellers Said

Eighty-two percent of respondents who sold with the help of a practitioner received $5,000 less, on average, than their original asking price.

Almost all of the 17 percent who sold their homes without professional help said they received about what they originally asked.

What Buyers Said

Sixty-six percent of Consumer Reports' readers who used a practitioner to help them buy a home paid an average of $5,000 less than the listing price, and the 34 percent of buyers who negotiated their own deals, without representation, paid close to the asking price.

Lower Commission = Happier Seller

The survey also found that many real estate professionals would negotiate commission rates if sellers haggle. Sellers who paid commission rates 3 percent or lower were just as satisfied with their brokers' performance as those who paid 6 percent or more, the survey reported.

Forty-six percent of sellers surveyed attempted to negotiate a lower commission rate. About 71 percent succeeded.

Source: Consumer Reports (08/04/2008)

Getting a Mortgage Tougher for Buyers

Difficulty in landing a mortgage is keeping many buyers out of the market.

At the peak of the housing boom, about 20 percent of the mortgage market was subprime, and nearly 20 percent was "Alt-A loans” or "A-minus" loans, typically offered those with good credit but with high debt-to-loan ratios or little or no proof of income.

Both categories are now nearly extinct. That means about 40 percent of the residential mortgage market has all but disappeared, according to David Olson of Wholesale Access Mortgage Research and Consulting.

"The underwriting has really tightened up," Olson says, "Before, if you could fog a mirror, you got a loan. Now, that's not the case.

"Nationwide, practitioners say they are encountering more potential buyers who can’t get financing.

"Buyers come in with confidence, and once they have talked with a lending practitioner, it's like they've been hit over the head with a ton of bricks," says Dean Moss, an agent at Keller Williams Fox and Associates Realty in Chicago.

A study conducted using data from a Reno, Nev., multiple listing service, found that about 30 percent of sales haven’t closed after 90 days. Practitioner Guy Johnson, who analyzed the data, suggests that buyers stay on top of their loans, checking in with their lender frequently to make sure the loan for which they’ve been approved is still the same.

"A loan commitment letter," he adds, "isn't really as solid as it once was."

Source: USA Today, Anna Bahney (08/05/2008)

How the New First-Time Buyer Tax Credit Works

Under the new housing bill, home buyers who have not owned a home in the last three years will be eligible for a tax credit equal to 10 percent of the property up to a maximum of $7,500.Here’s how it works:

• The credit is $3,750 for married couples filing separately. Unmarried people who jointly purchase a home will be able to divide the $7,500 credit.
• This program is actually a loan, which home buyers must repay over 15 years at zero percent interest beginning in the second year after they purchase the home. A home buyer who qualified for the whole credit would pay $500 for 15 years or about $41.67 per month.
• The credit applies only to homes purchased on or after April 9, 2008, and before July 1, 2009.
• High-income home buyers don’t qualify: Eligibility begins phasing out for single filers with adjusted income of more than $75,000 and $150,000 for joint filers. It completely phases out at $95,000 for singles and $170,000 for married couples filing jointly.

Source: The Washington Post, Michelle Singletary (07/03/08)

Neighborhoods Where the Bubble Hasn't Burst

Neighborhoods Where the Bubble Hasn't Burst

In a report for Forbes.com, Hotpads.com, an aggregator of rental listings, produced a price-to-earnings spread for each ZIP code in the country's 40 largest cities by comparing rental costs with buying costs for similar properties, based on number of bedrooms, location, and price per square foot.

A price-to-earnings ratio, or P/E, expresses how much a buyer has to pay for each dollar of return. Buyers in high P/E neighborhoods pay a huge premium to live in the area relative to how much it costs to rent a similar property there.

A high P/E can simply mean a neighborhood is overpriced, but it can also indicate where buyers have gambled that the area will ultimately appreciate further, turning an overpaying buyer into a smart investor.

Here are 10 neighborhoods, by ZIP code, where P/E is highest, but so is the confidence that the area will appreciate further:

New York, TriBeCa, ZIP code 10013, Purchase-to-rent spread: 36.3
Boston, Chinatown, ZIP code 02111, P/E spread: 30.5
Seattle, Downtown, ZIP code 98104, P/E spread: 30.3
Los Angeles, West Hollywood, ZIP code 90038, P/E spread: 30.2
San Diego, Calif., Mission Hills, ZIP code 92103, P/E spread: 30
San Francisco, Outer Sunset, ZIP code 94122, P/E spread: 28.5
Phoenix, Coronado, ZIP code 85006, P/E spread: 27.1
Dallas, Greenway Parks, ZIP code 75209, P/E spread: 26.7
Portland, Ore., Rose City Park, ZIP code 97213, P/E spread: 26.6
San Jose, Calif., Willow Glen, ZIP code 95125, P/E spread: 26.1

Source: Forbes.com, Matt Woolsey (07/29/2008)