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• Holding rental properties now more profitable (and predictable) than flipping.

  Thinking about buying and a home on the cheap and flipping it for big profits? That dream is all but dead as sales of homes to investors have dropped by more than half over the past five years, according to CNNMoney.com . Plus, the number of those investors Read More... Posted Tuesday, September 20, 2011 2:18 PM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, For Rent/Lease, Open Houses, Announcements, Technology, Industry, Finances, Seller Information, Chester Springs, Malvern, Income producing property, Newtown Square, Philadelphia, Exton, Media, West Chester, Paoli, Broomall, real estate investing, rental properties, distressed properties, foreclosures, short sales, mortgages, West Goshen, Thornbury, Westtown, mortgage, West Whiteland, buying a home, East Goshen, East Whiteland, Phoenixville, Willistown, loans, financing, making money with real estate, positive cash flow

• So what are the possible short sale outcomes...?

  Many people do not know that short sales stand a much better chance of approval as oppossed to a loan modification. However, there are a variation of outcomes that can occur. Mainly, the inconsistency involves how the lender deals with the deficiency. Read More... Posted Monday, September 12, 2011 11:01 AM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, Announcements, Industry, Finances, Buyer Information, Seller Information, Community Information, Chester Springs, Malvern, Philadelphia, Exton, Media, West Chester, Broomall, distressed properties, foreclosures, short sales

• Strong Job Growth In July Trumped By Credit Downgrade

  Here is a great blog post from my Coach, Carl Rizzuto: More Americans are getting back to work. The latest Non-Farm Payrolls survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 117,000 net new jobs were created in July, thumping analyst estimates and Read More... Posted Friday, August 12, 2011 3:44 PM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, Announcements, Industry, Finances, Buyer Information, Seller Information

• Foreclosures are crushing home prices, but mortgage rates remain low.

  Home prices have continued to drop during the first quarter of 2011, dropping 4.6% from a year earlier according to CNNMoney.com and the National Association of Realtors. Condo prices fell ever harder by a rate of 10.4%. The main cause for this decline Read More... Posted Thursday, May 12, 2011 11:40 AM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, For Sale, Announcements, Events, Industry, Finances, Buyer Information, Seller Information

• Americans are shunning cheapest homes in 40 years.

  According to Kathleen Howley at Bloomberg Businessweek , the most affordable real estate in a generation is failing to lure buyers as some Americans are souring on the idea of home ownership. At the end of 2010, the share of people who said a home was Read More... Posted Tuesday, April 19, 2011 11:32 AM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, Industry, Finances, Buyer Information, Seller Information

• The best and worst home improvements for the money spent.

  Many people are under the impression that home improvements are good investments that pay for themselves when a home is sold. However, this is wrong according to Remodeling magazine and the National Association of Realtors. The sad truth is that most Read More... Posted Wednesday, February 23, 2011 12:20 PM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, For Sale, Announcements, Industry, Buyer Information, Seller Information

• U.S. housing construction surges, but permits tumble.

  According to REUTERS , U.S housing starts rose more than expected in January to their highest rate in four months, but permits for future home construction dropped sharply despite large gains in prior months. This data was sourced from a government report Read More... Posted Thursday, February 17, 2011 3:43 PM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, Events, Industry, Buyer Information, Seller Information

• Mortgage rates dip for second straight week.

  Rates on fixed mortgages dipped for the second straight week as Treasury yields fell, as reported by MSNBC.com and the Associated Press . Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 4.71% from 4.77% during the previous Read More... Posted Thursday, January 13, 2011 1:08 PM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, Announcements, Industry, Finances, Buyer Information, Seller Information

• Existing home sales jump 10% in September.

  Sales of previously occupied homes jumped 10% in September, which marked the biggest monthly gain in 28 years, according to MSNBC.com . The monthly gain was bigger than expected, indicating the housing market is stabilizing at weaker levels. This was Read More... Posted Monday, October 25, 2010 10:04 AM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, For Sale, Announcements, Industry, Community Information

• Unemployment rate drops in 23 states during September.

  According the the Associated Press and MSNBC.com , unemployment dropped in 23 states and Washington D.C. However, the unemployment rate rose in 11 states and remained unchanged in 16 per Labor Department statistics. The declines were nearly double the Read More... Posted Friday, October 22, 2010 1:09 PM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, Industry, Finances, Community Information

• Americans still believe buying a home is a good financial decision.

  According to the National Association of Realtors' housing opportunity pulse survey, nearly eight out of ten respondents believe buying a home is a good financial decision, despite the ongoing challenges with the housing market and economy. The survey Read More... Posted Monday, October 18, 2010 3:22 PM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, For Sale, Industry, Buyer Information, Seller Information

• Bank of America halts all foreclosure sales.

  According to CNNMoney.com , Bank of America is halting foreclosure sales in all 50 states as part of a widening investigation into the flaws in the foreclosure process. This announcement comes a week after BOA froze home foreclosures in the 23 states Read More... Posted Friday, October 08, 2010 1:57 PM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, Announcements, Events, Industry, Buyer Information, Seller Information

• Existing home sales rose 7.6% in August 2010!

  Sales of previously occupied homes rose 7.6% in August from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million per a statement from the National Association of Realtors, according to MSNBC.com . July was the worst month for sales in 15 years, so Read More... Posted Tuesday, September 28, 2010 2:21 PM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, Announcements, Industry, Buyer Information

• 10 great reasons to buy a home...

  Many people are getting sick of the doom and gloom surrounding the real estate markets right now (I am one of them). The consumers and media tend to forget about all of the great reasons to buy a property. Brett Arends of The Wall Street Journal wrote Read More... Posted Thursday, September 16, 2010 1:54 PM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, For Sale, Announcements, Industry, Finances, Buyer Information, Seller Information

• Pending home sales rise 5.2% in July.

  According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the Pending Home Sales Index (a forward looking indicator) rose 5.2% to 79.4 based on contracts signed in July 2010. The June 2010 index came in a 75.5. However, the July 2010 index is still 19.1% Read More... Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 9:33 AM by Tom Toole, III | (Comments Off) Filed under: Real Estate, Market Conditions, Industry