Tom's Blog

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 who quickly sell off those homes -- the flippers -- has fallen even ...

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.  Here are some of the current outcomes being seen in the market place:The lender ...

Most of the news about the housing market lately has been dismal.  However, the one bright spot is being overlooked by many - the rental market. Rental demand is up and and rental rates are rising.  Many foreclosures victims (estimated north of 4 million) are now renters.  Many prospective homeowners are concerned about losing their ...

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 surprising Wall Street investors. In addition, May and June’s ...

Everyone is very concerned about the debt rating downgrade right now.  However, the economy is the main driver for current housing market conditions.  Greg McBridge, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com, says that "as long as the economy continues to limp along, interest rates will not increase."  This is great news ...

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 is the sale of foreclosed properties, which accounted for 29% of the market - a 3% ...

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 a safe investment dropped to 64% from 70% in the first quarter of 2010.  The December ...

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 week.  Rates were at a 40-year low of 4.17% in November 2010.The average rate on ...

Ali Velshi, CNN chief business correspondent, believes that if a prospective Buyer has good credit and 20% to put down, it is a great time to buy according to CNNMoney.com.  Velshi feels that this has been the case all year and that we are probably closer to the end than the beginning.  In January, homes prices had dropped 28% from ...

U.S home prices fell 2% in the third quarter according to CNNMoney.com.  The S&P Case-Schiller Home Price INdex has recorded gains in four of the previous five quarters, including a 4.7% jump between April and June 2010.  This leaves national home prices down 1.5% year over year and off 2% compared to the second quarter.  Some ...