By Amy Hoak
From MarketWatch
If you're planning to sell a home in 2008, it's time to start thinking about how to make that home stand out from the rest.
But beware: Homeowners aren't able to recoup as many improvement costs as they did in recent years, according to a recent study by Remodeling magazine. In selling a home, it's more important that it's neat, it's clean and it looks spacious, rather than making sure it's the top of the line.
The thing found with a lot of sellers -- if they do a lot of remodeling – is that they will take the cost of the remodeling and add it to the cost of the home and ask the buyer to pay for it. But often they're not going to get that higher price.
To keep costs down and remodel wisely, consider the following tips:
Ask for advice. When Realtors first meets with clients -- sometimes six months before listing the home -- they make a list of improvements that will make a difference. Cleaning the carpets, painting the walls and removing wallpaper are common fixes -- if they're needed.
But prior to any remodeling, declutter your home and rent a storage unit if necessary to hold extra stuff while the home is on the market..
Dig deeper. It also could pay to look below the surface by getting a home inspection before listing the property. That way, problems that could hold up a sale are addressed in advance. Some estimate that for every dollar of perceived defect, buyers want a $2 to $3 discount. If that's true, it might pay to spend $2,500 replacing an old furnace.
If there's a problem with an essential element of the house, a buyer might think "if that was neglected, what else was?" Look outside: Pay attention to exterior details such as the condition of siding and windows. According to Remodeling magazine, a wood window replacement recovers an average 81% of cost at resale and a siding replacement recovers an average 83%, some of the best payoffs in the survey.
by M. Anthony Carr
Price of houses and rents in the San Antonio, Texas, area continue to move upward even while sales volume has pulled back in the in the region.
Whether you're a renter or a buyer, you'll pay more for your house this time of year than you did last year. That's according to stats from the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
The city added more than 15-thousand jobs in the last 12 months, taking its unemployment rate to about 4 percent for September 2007 -- near it's all time low of 3.5 percent just a few months earlier.
On the housing front, except for a dip in the third quarter of 2006, prices have continued to increase steadily since 2004.
Realty Viewpoint: Conforming Loan Reform on the Table For Months
by Blanche Evans
If consumers would like some positive proof of what the National Association of Realtors does to promote homeownership, the recent agreement between the White House and House leaders to include higher conforming loan limits in an economic stimulus package is a perfect example.
The NAR has been lobbying since 2005 to raise the limits on FHA loans to $625,000 because high-cost areas such as California and Florida have many areas where the median home is out of conforming range. Relief on the coasts could be enough to calm the markets across the nation.
Any loan that doesn't conform to government guarantee limits costs more than a conforming loan, so when the subprime crisis came to a head last summer, all non-conforming loans were curtailed by lenders, including "jumbo" loans. Jumbo loans serve consumers borrowing more than $417,000 to buy a home.
Today's Interest Rates from Realty Times are based on a 30 year amortization rate, with good credit and no origination fees.
With no economic news today to report, mortgage rates are stable.
5.75% Stable
How do we get our rates?
Most mortgage rate surveys contain old data, sometimes a week old, as in Freddie Mac's weekly interest rate survey. Still other mortgage rate services poll different lenders in such a confusing format that it's hard to understand with such polls being nothing more than lenders advertisements.
Beginner's Guide To Mortgage Shopping
by Broderick Perkins
It's not everyday you go looking for a mortgage.
It's not a trip to the mall.
It's a methodical, step-by-step process requiring planning, time, effort and attention to details.
Here are some guidelines for beginners -- assuming you've already laid the groundwork by inspecting your credit report.
Inspecting your credit report and getting it in the best shape possible is your first step to the best mortgage. In today's tight money world it behooves you to take the time necessary to carefully scrutinize your credit report and to be prepared to explain to creditors any dings you can't fix.
Shop around for a mortgage from a variety of sources to determine what's available. Shop mortgage brokers, mortgage lenders, banks and credit unions. Don't forget to examine your local and state mortgage programs as well as community service and housing agency mortgages and mortgage assistance programs.
