Archive for December, 2008
Happy New Years 2009 from InfoTube
We would like to thank all of your for your business over these past 20 years and wish each of you a safe and Happy New Year.
Our office will be closed on January 1st, 2009 and will reopen at 9:00 a.m. on January 2nd.
Thank you and all the best from everyone at InfoTube.
| Metro Area | October 2008 | Change from September | Year-over-year change |
| Atlanta | 119.77 | -2.4% | -10.5% |
| Boston | 159.17 | -1.1% | -6.0% |
| Charlotte | 128.02 | -1.8% | -4.4% |
| Chicago | 145.49 | -1.6% | -10.8% |
| Cleveland | 108.76 | -1.0% | -6.2% |
| Dallas | 120.60 | -1.1% | -3.0% |
| Denver | 129.05 | -1.5% | -5.2% |
| Detroit | 86.10 | -4.5% | -20.4% |
| Las Vegas | 142.57 | -2.7% | -31.7% |
| Los Angeles | 179.82 | -2.6% | -27.9% |
| Miami | 173.42 | -3.0% | -29.0 |
| Minneapolis | 135.71 | -3.4% | -16.3% |
| New York | 190.04 | -0.9% | -7.5% |
| Phoenix | 135.18 | -3.3% | -32.7% |
| Portland | 166.44 | -1.9% | -10.1% |
| San Diego | 159.12 | -3.0% | -26.7% |
| San Francisco | 139.44 | -4.2% | -31.0% |
| Seattle | 170.45 | -1.4% | -10.2% |
| Tampa | 165.44 | -3.4% | -19.8% |
| Washington | 184.92 | -2.7% | -18.7% |
Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale website. Have a safe and Happy New Year
2009 Spells Good News for First Time Home Buyers
The phrase 
“One man’s loss is another man’s gain”…is certainly true when it comes to real estate. A number of factors have converged to make 2009 a great year for the first time home buyer.
- 1. Interest rates are at their lowest levels in decades. With Fixed rate mortgages hovering at or below 5 percent fixed for a 30 year loan, homeownership is within the grasp of many people that were priced out of the market.
- Home Prices are down in all area’s of the country, and it is unlikely they have much further to fall. This means that bottom fisher’s can lock in a great price on a home.
- The FHA has a first time buyer program that requires only 3 percent down and is available to people with less than perfect credit.
- Tax rebates and incentives. First time buyers will receive a tax credit up to $7500 on the purchase of a home.
The weak housing market and economy have presented quite an opportunity for individuals who have never owned a home. If you are a first time buyer, everything you need is in place to make the deal of a lifetime.
Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net. Happy New Year and House Hunting!
November Housing News. No Surprises, but Are we at the Bottom?
Housing stat’s were just released for November home sales. While the news isn’t great, it isn’t a surprise to anyone either. The question is, do these numbers signal the bottom? Is now the time to buy?
Here is a look at the numbers for November 2008:
- At the end of November the supply of unsold homes on the market was at 11.2 months. (A healthy housing market has a 5-6 month supply of unsold homes.) While the inventory of unsold homes number is twice what it should be, there is No surprise here. Buyers: Keep a close eye on your local market housing supply to determine if your town has reached a bottom.
- The average home sales price dipped to $181,300, which represents a decline of 13.2 percent from 2007 levels.
- New home sales declined to a level last seen in 1997.
Do these numbers Signal a BUY?
- Interest rates on a 30 year fixed mortgage were quoted at 4.75 percent today, compared to 6+ percent one year ago.
- Prices have declined another 13 percent from 2007-2008.
- Builder incentives and free upgrades are at record highs.
Our Opinion: While we can’t promise that home prices are at their rock bottom, they are close. More bullish news for buyer’s is that low interest rates and steep price declines mean that housing is more affordable than we have seen in years. In addition, plentiful home inventory means it is a fantastic time to select the home of your dreams.
With prices and interest rates at rock bottom, what we need is a clear signal from the government to get the market moving. Buyer’s and investor’s need to know what buying incentive’s will be going forward, before they will buy. They also need reassurance that the government isn’t going to force interest rates lower, before they jump off the sidelines.
Our wish for this holiday season is decisive action in Washington that will end the meaningless, negative speculation and shut down the rantings of the news pundits. If we get our wish, thousand’s of would be home owners and investor’s will snap up the deals of a lifetime, improving our economy as they do.
Season Greetings and Thank You for Visiting InfoTube.net.
Renters can Stay is Good news for Homeowners
The unfolding mortgage crisis ushered in some good news for home sellers and renters, alike. Fannie Mae will allow paying tenants to stay in their rental homes, after a defaulting borrower’s property is foreclosed on.
The new policy brings some much needed relief to tenants, who find that they are often innocent victims of the foreclosure crisis. Landlord’s often use tenants as a revenue stream, long after they quit making mortgage payments. As a result, thousands of renters, who were unaware that their landlord was in foreclosure, have been evicted through no fault of their own.
The new policy is historic because lender’s want to get foreclosed property ready for a new buyer, as soon as possible. Typically, renters make this difficult to do. But, in this environment, thousands of homes sit vacant and fall into disrepair, because the tenant is gone and no one is buying.
This policy is a win-win for lenders and neighboring homeowners, as well. Vacant properties pull down prices and the appeal of any neighborhood, even the good ones. By leaving the paying tenant in place, the lender’s home’s are occupied and maintained, while they collect rent. Homeseller’s benefit from a stable neighborhood, and they don’t have to compete against the vacant foreclosure’s, as they try to sell their owner occupied homes.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions through January 9, 2009. The hold on holiday evictions has allowed 10,000 families to stay in their homes, and the new policy means that thousands of renters may escape eviction after the first of the year.
Thank you for visiting InfoTube and Happy Holidays to all.
Madoff and Banking Schemes Make Real Estate Look Safe
In light of the numerous frauds, schemes and lack of regulation in the “once revered” securities and banking industry, real estate is beginning to look like the only safe haven for your money.
Unlike stocks, bonds and other exotic investment vehicles, real estate investors own something that they can see, touch, smell and enjoy. In other words, “Real estate is Real”.
While many unfortunate victims of the Madoff and banking ponzi schemes, may be forced to fire sale their mansions on millionaire road, I don’t see a huge negative impact on area’s like Palm Beach, FL. There are simply too many ultra rich people on this planet, licking their chops at the prospect of getting a deal on trophy property, that was at one time unattainable. These individuals are simply waiting on the sidelines, with cash in hand, to swoop down on a deal of a lifetime, with bragging rights included.
We are also beginning to see “the real estate is real” phenomenon take hold in other parts of the US, as well. Housing sales are up in Las Vegas, Palm Springs and other desirable second home communities.
Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale website. Please feel free to anonymously post any comments or questions you may have.
Proof that Photo’s Sell Houses
InfoTube receives a number of questions about buying and selling property. But, the two questions ask most often are “Are there any photo’s of this property?”, closely followed by “Is there more than one photo of this home?
The importance of providing quality, multiple property photo’s and video tours can not be understated. By referencing the Point 2 chart above, you quickly see that the more photo’s equal more interest. And where you find interest, you find more offers and more sales.
When observing buyers who are shopping for a home on the internet, the following pattern is obvious and consistent.
- Ad’s with NO Photos: Buyer’s completely ignore these listings and move onto the next house.
- Ad’s with One Photo: Buyers’s click on these ad’s, but when they look for more pictures and find none, they become immediately disappointed and skip to the next house.
- Ad’s with Multiple Photo’s: These ad’s are viewed 10 times more (exposure) than those without photo’s. Buyers stay focused on these ad’s (interest) for 5 times as long, as those without multiple photo’s. These ad’s are bookmarked 90 percent more often (offers), which drives the buyer back to your listing.
- Ad’s with Multiple Photo’s and Video Tours: These ad’s receive the most attention, by far. They are also more “sticky”, with Buyer’s spending an average of 4 minutes gazing at these home ad’s. For seller’s who know they need to make their listing memorable, nothing does the job like a simple Video and multiple photo’s.
If you have a home to sell, don’t under estimate the power of visual media when it comes to web appeal. 90 percent of all home buyer’s shop on the internet, which is a multi-media platform. If you aren’t supplying a lot of high quality pictures and a good video, buyer’s simply ignore your property and spend their time researching your competition.
If you are not providing great photo’s or video of your property, then you are not doing the marketing, which is necessary to sell the home. If your agent isn’t providing these things, they aren’t marketing your property, either.
Take some sage advise. Grab your digital camera and start shooting today. If you don’t know how, make it your New Year’s Resolution to learn something new. In any type of market, pictures and video can make the difference between selling or not.
InfoTube.net offers Featured Home Listings with video tours and a 20 photo slideshow for only $19.95. The upgrade never expires and is good until your home sells. If you don’t have a computer or digital camera, InfoTube will create your Featured Home listing for only $10 more, so no excuses. Upload those photo’s and video’s today, or let InfoTube do the work. Buyer’s are waiting.
Reach Millions of Home Shoppers in One Easy Step
Selling real estate is a lot like fishing. It is a number’s game. More lines in the water mean more bites. More bites mean that you greatly increase your odds of landing the big one, in record time.
One option for increasing the odds of selling your home is to maximize the internet. 95 percent of all home buyers search for property on the web, so it is crucial to have as many lines (or links) as you can possibly have.
One way to reach 8 million home shoppers each month is with a turbo charged internet marketing package, like one offered by Why 6 Percent. The Y6 listing package advertises your property until it is SOLD, on the most popular, heavily trafficked sites for real estate on the world wide web.
For only $299, the WHY 6 Listing Package includes:
- A listing on Realtor.com, the most visited real estate website in the world. Also included, Y6 will upgrade your listing on R.com with 25 photo’s, remarks and attention-grabbing scrolling text.
- A listing on Craigslist.com, another great website for real estate, drawing millions of home shoppers each month.
- A Featured Home listing on InfoTube.net, one of the top “by owner” sites in the country. Listing includes 20 photo slideshow, video tours, free legal forms, free color brochures, map based searches and more. Listings placed on InfoTube are automatically uploaded to Google, Youtube and other sites that accept by owner listings.
- A Personal Web Address to use in all your print advertising.
- Phone Hotline provides your contact information to home buyers 24/7.
- Podcast- Add one to your webpage for even greater exposure.
- All listings remain Active until your home is SOLD.
- Low one-time fee of $299 for the entire package.
For more information, call 1-800-381-9496 from 9-5 EST, Monday – Friday, or email haline@why6percent.com to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity.
Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net and best of luck on the sale of your home.