Friday, August 30, 2013

The COST of a Home: Last Year, This Year & Next Year

The COST of a Home: Last Year, This Year & Next Year

by The KCM Crew on August 26, 2013 · 0 comments
Same Price, Lesser CostThe cost of a home is determined mainly by two components: price and mortgage rate. Today, we want to show how the monthly cost of purchasing a median priced home has changed over the last twelve months and how it might change over the next twelve months. For the first two examples, we will be using the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Existing Home Sales Report to establish median price and Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey to establish mortgage rate. We also assumed a 20% down payment in all examples.

LAST YEAR

The median priced home in the country was selling for $187,800. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was at 3.5%. Here is what it would cost to buy a home last year:
Last Year

TODAY

The median priced home in the country is selling for $213,500. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is at 4.5%. Here is what it would cost a purchaser to buy a home today:
This Year
The monthly cost increased by: $190.78!

NEXT YEAR

Projecting into the future in real estate can be rather tricky. To establish future pricing, we depended on the over 100 housing experts surveyed for the Home Price Expectation Survey who called for an approximate appreciation rate of 5% over the next twelve months. For the interest rate, we took the average of the projections from the Mortgage Bankers’ Association, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Here is what these experts project will be the approximate cost of a home a year from now:
Next Year
The monthly cost will increase by about: $97.32!

Bottom Line

From a financial perspective, why wait if you are thinking about buying?

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Carpe Diem...Real Estate Update


 Carpe Diem...Real Estate Update
   
GENERAL News & VIEWS
Feature Photo  
BUILDERS CONTINUE OPTIMISM
Builders have experienced a continued rise in customer interest and willingness to buy. The low inventory of existing homes has also helped to boost demand for new homes and competition from foreclosures has diminished.
 MORE


Feature Photo  
SHADOW INVENTORY: BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT
Shadow inventory is down 18.2% from the same time last year. The decline in seriously delinquent loans is phenomenal news. Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic explains why.
 MORE


Feature Photo  
TOP 10 FEATURES FOR UPSCALE HOMES
A recent article reports on the top features for an upscale new home. The article is based on a statistical analysis of approximately 120 features home buyers rated on a consistent scale for what they really want.
 MORE



 
   
 
Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? These 8 ugly houses answer that age-old question with a resounding: Yes! These prideful homes all have redeeming qualities that endear them to their owners. Which is your favorite?.
 


 
BUYER
SELLER
AT HOME



Ron Goldstein

MBA, EcoBroker, QSC

phone: (312)264-5846
mobile: (312)771-7190


Logo

LISTINGS UPDATE
Featured Properties



I'D RATHER BE A:
HAMMER THAN A NAIL
FOREST THAN A STREET
SPARROW THAN A SNAIL

Featured Videos
Video Home Inspection
Video New Shower Head
Video Cloud House








This message was sent to adamkleinman@yahoo.com
Ron Goldstein | 980 N. Michigan Ave. Suite 900 | chicago, IL 60610

Unsubscribe from future mailings.
PropertySource Network   



Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Home is where your story..Begins

HOUSES THAT DON'T SEEM REAL, BUT ARE!
By John Riha

Article from HouseLogic.com

Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? These 8 ugly houses answer that age-old question with a resounding: Yes! Despite some odd proportions, strange building materials, and off-the-wall colors, these prideful homes all have redeeming qualities that endear them to their owners. For one, they’re all unique. And in this cookie-cutter world, that’s saying a whole lot! Which is your favorite?


Credit: JSome1, photographer

A House that Rocks

If you’re looking for a rock-solid investment, how about this house in Portugal? Situated between two giant boulders, the house walls are formed of mortared masonry, and the living area is covered by concrete tile roofing. Fireproof, windproof, and impervious to insects, a house like this might qualify you for lower home owners insurance rates.




It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s My Home!

Insect-proof, fireproof, and able to withstand 575 mph winds, this Boeing 727 features more than 1,000 square feet of living area, and there are plenty of storage solutions in the cargo hold and in the overhead compartments. The jet body cost about $100,000 (without engines). Moving the decommissioned jet to its final resting place and outfitting it for living cost another $100,000.

Credit: From www.AirplaneHome.com, republished with permission




Make Homes, Not War!

Can your home survive a direct nuclear strike? This one can. Made from a decommissioned missile silo in upstate New York, it’s one of the strongest structures ever built. The 2,300-sq.-ft., below-ground portion includes a full kitchen, entertainment center, and two private suites. Entrance is gained via an 1,800-sq.-ft. log home on the surface, and there’s a private runway. Buy-in price? About $750,000.

Credit: ColdWarMissileSilo.com




Horton Hears a House

Choosing the right colors for your exterior paint job is critical to preserving your home’s value, unless you happen to think like Dr. Seuss, in which case just about anything goes. This bright and fantastical house is located in (where else?) North Pole, Alaska, where a bit of colorful whimsy is a welcome sight.

Credit: Peggy Asbury




A Mud Home That’s Dirt Cheap

With its green roof and rural flavor, this 200-square-foot cottage in Missouri has its, um, roots in the centuries-old art of cob construction—earthen walls formed of clay, sand, and straw. Cost of construction was about $4,000, or a modest $20 per square foot. Of course it includes a mudroom addition.

Credit: Brian “Ziggy” Liloia and April Morales / photograph by Stephen Shapiro




A House Out Standing in its Field

With its multiple balconies, twisting staircases, and oddly shaped rooms, this whimsical house in Wyoming is a local curiosity. Although it’s no longer occupied, the original owner/builder used locally harvested logs and plenty of salvaged building materials to produce a one-of-the-kind cowboy mansion that towers above the plains.

Credit: Robert Elzey




People in Glass Houses...

These home owners are obviously into self-reflection. Clad in pieces of glass and mirror, this enlightened folk art cottage in Florida requires a lot of window cleaning. For a more maintenance-free exterior, try vinyl or fiber-cement siding.

Credit: Gordon Borman




This House is a Real Steel

Think twice before you bang your head against the walls of this Gainsville, Fla., house. Built from salvaged steel shipping containers ($2,500-$5,000 each), this 2,200-square-foot flight of fancy features three bedrooms and two and a half baths. It’s fireproof, sustainable (repurposed materials!), and you sure won’t have to worry about termites.


John Riha has written seven books on home improvement and hundreds of articles on home-related topics. He’s been a residential builder, the editorial director of the Black & Decker Home Improvement Library, and the executive editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

SHADOW INVENTORY: BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT

SHADOW INVENTORY: BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT

 
One of the key obstacles to a housing recovery over the past five years has been the overhang of distressed properties about to come to market which has come to be known as shadow inventory.  Shadow inventory numbers are comprised of three separate categories of properties:
  1. Properties where the home owner is 90+ days behind on their mortgage payments
  2. Properties that are already in the foreclosure process
  3. Properties already foreclosed on and owned by the banks but not yet on the market

The great news is that shadow inventory is down 18.2% from the same time last year. According to the latest National Foreclosure Report released by CoreLogic:
  • Completed foreclosures are down 27% from a year ago
  • National foreclosure inventory is down 29% from a year ago
  • Seriously delinquent loans (90+ days behind) are down 22.7% from a year ago
The decline in seriously delinquent loans is phenomenal news. Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic explains why:

"The stock of seriously delinquent homes, which is the main driver of shadow inventory, is the lowest level since December 2008. Over the last year, it has decreased in 42 states by double-digit figures, resulting in rapid declines in shadow inventory for the first quarter of 2013."

How Does Compare to Historic Norms?

In their latest Mortgage Monitor, LPS Senior VP Herb Blecher sheds some light on where we stand compared to historic norms:

"Though they are still approximately 1.4 times what they were, on average, during the 1995 to 2005 period, delinquencies have come down significantly from their January 2010 peak. In large part, this is due to the continuing decline in new problem loans — as fewer problem loans are coming into the system, the existing inventories are working their way through the pipeline. New problem loan rates are now at just 0.73 percent, which is right about on par with the annual averages during 2005 and 2006, and extremely close to the 0.55 percent average for the 2000-2004 period preceding."

RealtyTrac also recently reported:

"A total of 127,790 U.S. properties had foreclosure filings in June, down 14 percent from the previous month and down 35 percent from a year ago to the lowest monthly level since December 2006 — a six and a half year low."

Going Forward?

A survey of industry experts produced by The Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA) shows that the fall in delinquency rates is projected to continue in the future:

"For the first time in survey history, the number of respondents predicting that mortgage delinquencies would decrease (46.9%) exceeds those who believe the level will stay the same (40.7%)."

Original Source: The KCM Blog

TOP 10 FEATURES FOR UPSCALE HOMES

TOP 10 FEATURES FOR UPSCALE HOMES
A recent NAHB article reports on the top features for an upscale new home.  The article is based on a statistical analysis of a long list of (approximately 120) features that home buyers rated on a consistent scale in the survey for What Home Buyers Really Want.  The features spanned many aspects of the home, including windows, doors, kitchens, baths, specialty rooms, decorative features, accessibility, energy savings, and type of development in which it’s located.

From this list, the statistical analysis grouped together a number of features that tended to be luxury or upscale items—which was evident from the nature of the items, as well as the way buyer preferences varied depending on the price they pay for their homes.

For example, 42 percent of buyers expecting to pay at least $500,000 rated the top item on the list—a warming drawer in the kitchen — essential or desirable, compared to only 15 percent of buyers expecting to pay under $150,000.  At the other end of the preference scale, only 14 percent of the $500,000-plus buyers say they do not want (are unlikely to buy a home with) a warming drawer.




After the warming drawer, the rest if the top 10 list is as follows:


2. Two story family room

3. Kitchen with a Wine cooler

4. An Outdoor kitchen

5. Two story entry foyer

6. An Elevator

7. A Wet bar

8. An Exercise room

9. Home in golf course community

10. A Game room

These are not features in strong demand by all home buyers, but luxury features usually appropriate in upscale homes, and usually inappropriate at the more affordable end of the price spectrum.  See the full article for a discussion of each of these features and the methodology used to identify them.

Original Source: National Association of Home Builders