http://www.highersgrouprealty.com Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:52:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Smart investors in all parts of the country are picking up fabulous housing bargains. Bill Leon, president of Florida’s Broward (County) Real Estate Investors Association, has been buying and selling investment property for years, but he thinks today’s deals are unprecedented. “People are afraid not to sell because they don’t ... http://www.highersgrouprealty.com/where-buyers-are-picking-up-housing-bargains/.html Building inspector and syndicated columnist Barry Stone urges real estate sales professionals to be forthright about a property’s shortcomings. Taking a laissez-faire approach can increase a practitioner's liability if something goes awry after the sale has closed. He particularly urges brokers to insist that associates be proactive about haveing properties ... http://www.highersgrouprealty.com/inspectors-advice-disclose-everything/.html So-called "trash-out" businesses that clean up foreclosed homes are a big growth industry. While there are no official numbers on how many trash-out businesses have opened, a Internet search turns up hundreds of listings, and Entrepreneur Magazine put foreclosure cleaner Cyprexx Services of Brandon, Fla., on its 2008 "Hot 100 ... http://www.highersgrouprealty.com/its-a-dirty-job-but-someones-got-to-do-it/.html The decline in residential property prices appears to be slowing, according to preliminary data from First American CoreLogic. A preview of its November report shows that home prices fell 9.6 percent last month, compared with 10.4 percent in October and 11.2 percent in September. "The consistent deceleration over the past ... http://www.highersgrouprealty.com/signs-of-letup-in-home-price-slide/.html A December 2008 survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults reveals which pop culture celebrities and politicians Americans think would make the most appealing neighbors ... and who isn't welcome anywhere near the backyard. The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive for real estate Web site Zillow.com, found that U.S. adults ... http://www.highersgrouprealty.com/want-to-be-neighbors-with-sarah-palin/.html First-time homebuyers in 2008 can take an income-tax credit on their purchase, thanks to passage in Congress earlier this year of the first-time home buyer tax credit. The definition of first-time homebuyer is generous. To get the credit, the homebuyer cannot have owned a home in the previous three years. ... http://www.highersgrouprealty.com/home-buyer-tax-credit-how-it-works/.html Overall housing news in 2009 could continue to be grim if – as predicted – a flood of Alt-A and option adjustable-rate mortgages reset and push homeowners with previously strong financial situations into foreclosure. "We're in the middle of the game here," said Joseph Seneca, professor of economics at Rutgers ... http://www.highersgrouprealty.com/housing-in-2009-up-as-well-as-down/.html With interest rates approaching reaching historic lows, the application volume for mortgages jumped a seasonally adjusted 48 percent last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey. Application activity for the week ending December 19th was 124.6 percent over the same period a year ... http://www.highersgrouprealty.com/amid-rate-drops-mortgage-applications-soar/.html There are some big cities in the United States that nobody ever talks about. Forbes magazine says it’s because they are boring. We won’t make that judgment. But Forbes says that these are cities that many had never heard of until now. Many of these cities grew quickly because of ... http://www.highersgrouprealty.com/forbes-calls-these-cities-a-bore/.html Mortgage lenders are seeing a deluge of applications for refinancings as borrowing costs decline due to a recent cut in the federal funds rate by the Federal Reserve, and many are hiring temporary workers or reassigning employees to handle the swelling volume. Some experts believe the jump in refis could ... http://www.highersgrouprealty.com/mortgage-applications-surge-on-falling-rates/.html