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Although all the news about real estate, housing and lending isn’t particularily bullish, there are some compelling new motivations for buying now.   Rising interest rates, Inventory Decreases and the $8000 tax credit which expires December 1.

1. Interest rates are soaring, as the dollar falls.  Economists predict that the low rates we saw only a month ago, aren’t likely to return anytime soon.   In April, 30 year fixed rate mortgages averaged 4.5 percent.  Last week, rates hit 4.98 percent.  And, this week, Bankrate.com is quoting 30 year fixed rates for prime borrowers at just over 5 percent.  Note: An increase of only 1/2 percent in interest rates raises the mortgage payment for a $170,000 loan by $52/month, $624/year or $18,720/over the life of the loan.
2. The deadline for qualifying for an $8000 tax credit is rapidly approaching.   Although, the December 1st deadline may seem a long way off, in real estate terms it really isn’t.  A lot of people are sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see if prices will drop another 1 or 2 percent over the next 6 months.   Lenders are already warning us that when all those buyers rush into the market in August or September, the backlog in loan applications will mean a wait of 60-90 days to close an average loan.  Note:  Given that the average buyer in this market looks at over 30 homes, over a 3 month period, buyers who don’t want to miss the boat on their $8000 gift, should get serious now.

For those buyer’s hoping to time the market perfectly, we think their ship may be sailing by.    Home inventories are dropping, prices are stabilizing, interest rate increases erase potential gains made by a further fall in prices and $8 grand is on the line, if the December 1 closing deadline can’t be met.   Serious buyer’s should jump on board now, before they find out that the ship has sailed and they missed the boat!!

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale or rent website.  Sellers can place a free property listing, download legal forms, print brochures and more.   Buyer’s can search for great deals on property from the privacy of their own homes and benefit from dealing directly with the owner or builder.  Check advantage of FREE today!!!

Sales for existing homes increased nearly 3 percent, on average, in April, slightly exceeding forecasts and expectations.  The report offered hope that home sales were stabilizing and we may be at the bottom of the housing recession.   Watch the short 1 minute video for more information about your local and national housing market.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale or lease website. Please search our database for some great properties or place a FREE property listing and reach thousands of buyers everyday!

A delight for commuters and motorcycle enthusiasts alike, The Zero is a new electric motorcycle with sharp style and enough speed to embarrass other bikers at stop lights. 

Made in California, the Zero is fast, agile and a joy to ride.   “People have waited decades for these things to be practical”, said Neal Saiki, inventor and founder.  “We make every part of the bike”, said Saiki, “It’s very light and half the weight of a normal motorcycle.”  In addition to being pollution-free, the street and dirt versions of the bike are silent when running. 

One limitation for consumers may be the bike’s range and price.  It runs between 40 and 60 miles, before it needs to be re-charged.  And, the price is a bit steep at $13,500, which is about double the cost of a gas powered equivalent.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale or rent website.  Seller’s can post property information on InfoTube.net for FREE.  Buyers can search the database for thousands of properties often seen no where else on the web.

On Thursday, the government announced two programs that may help thousands of homeowners that are sinking in debt avoid foreclosure.

Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, said “Today we are announcing a new program component to help homeowners obtain modifications in areas suffering from price declines.  If a modification is not possible, we are announcing steps to encourage the quick private sale or voluntary transfer of property, which will save homeowners money and protect their financial future.”  Geithner went on to say that, “These are critical steps in stemming the foreclosure crisis and stabilizing the housing market, both of which are critical to your economic recovery”

The Program in a Nutshell:

1. Foreclosure Alternatives:  The program increases the odds of closing a short sale by streamlining the process and offering incentives to lenders for participation.  The program is designed for homeowners who are eligible for a loan modification, but can not qualify for one.  Under the new program, lenders may receive compensation up to $1000 for completing a short sale.  Borrower’s may receive up to $1500 for relocation expenses.  Holders of 2nd mortgages will receive up to $1000, if they agree to the terms of a short sale.

Why This New Program May Help:

1. A short sale is the last step before foreclosure, and is far less costly for lenders and borrowers.   Selling short is less damaging to the homeowners credit and they are less costly for banks and lenders.   Survey results show that losses from short sales average 19 percent versus losses of 40 percent in the case of foreclosure.
2. Currently, more than 75 percent of short sale contracts fall apart, despite sometimes heroic efforts on the part of the borrower.  Lenders have for the most part been uncooperative when responding to offers on short sales, which means the properties sit vacant and pull down values in the entire area.
3. The new program may provide a much needed boost to the current Making a Home Affordable program.  Despite good intentions, the program has only helped 55,000 homeowner’s modify their loans.   In comparison, there were 342,000 foreclosure filings in the month of April, alone.

  Stop The Sinking Feeling.   If you are struggling to pay your mortgage or you are falling behind on your payments…CALL YOUR LENDER TODAY!!   Don’t procrastinate, the problem will only become larger if you wait.   You may also waste valuable time in stopping a foreclosure on your property, which is the worst case scenario for borrower and lender alike.

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Being raised in rural Missouri, the concept of using goats (goating out a property) to clear and maintain land is not a new one.  But, for many people, the idea of using goats, instead of noisy mowers, to help with the chores is an option they never considered.

Goats, What’s Not to Love?  In addition to being very cute and smart, goats are great at clearing brush and weeds without using gasoline, polluting the air or disturbing the peace.  Mowing by goat means less work for busy people, it is chemical free and the little darlings automatically fertilize as they work. 

Even Silicon Valley and other metro area’s are looking to the environmentally, friendly goat as a non-tech means of maintaining their grounds and property.  Google “hired” 200 goats to maintain the grounds at its Mt. View, CA headquarters.  Yahoo, located just a stones throw away, must have loved the idea because they also rented goats to cut their grass.  Even cities are joining in the goat movement.  Mesa, AZ has used goats to maintain the land around their water reclaimation plant for quite some time.

All “Kidding” Aside….  If Rent-A-Goat appeals to your lazy and green side, renting one is as easy as locating your nearest goat farm.  Or, you can visit GoatFinder.com, which has a directory for goat rentals for 10 states.  But beware before you rent, using goats has risks, like a deep attachment.  Goats are so cute and friendly, it can be very hard to say Goodbye when the work is done. 

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale and rent website.   Please search our fresh listings for some great deals or place a FREE property listing about your home.

Cluck, Cluck…Do the funky chicken.  A new movement is occurring across urban area’s and cities in the country, namely raising chickens for “pure” food, fun and profit.  

Not just a hobby for hippies.  Today, urban Chicken farming has caught fire in some of the most sophisticated cities from coast to coast.  Madison, WI was among the first cities to allow limited numbers of chickens.  New York city has allowed chickens for years.  Other major metro area’s which give a thumbs up to fresh eggs from suburban back yards include:  Chicago, IL; Albuquerque, NM; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; and many other major area’s.

• Don’t Run Afowl of the Law:  If raising cute little chicks appeals to you, make sure you know the laws in your area before you buy a cool coop.  Many cities, or nosy neighbors, may take issue.  For example, in Kansas City, MO, the birds can’t roam or be raised within 100 feet of a home or business.  No Crowing Roosters in Madison, only layers are allowed.  Some cities limit the number of chickens on residential property to 5 or 6.  So, please check the law before you get too excited about raising your own omelet.

Birds Eye View:  After looking into the new trend, we give a thumbs up for the chickens coming home to roost.   With Americans ripping up sod to grow victory gardens, aren’t chicken’s a natural next step?  And, who doesn’t think fresh eggs are better for your family and better tasting?  What do we have to lose?  Chickens are cool and advocates for urban chickens say that they are quieter and cleaner than dogs.  And, children of all ages love feeding them and gathering their own breakfast eggs.  

Chickens are a Good Thing.  For more information about raising chickens in your backyard, visit BackYardChickens.com, which boasts 30,000 members or urbanchickens.org.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net, your homes for sale or lease FREE website.   Please search through our listings for some great deals, and find a roost of your own!! For an MLS and Realtor.com listing for owners, builders and investors, click here.

Pictures are crucial in motivating buyers and showcasing your property.   In fact, homes advertised with great pictures attract 50 percent more interest and sell much faster than other homes that are poorly marketed.

Taking great pictures of your home is easy for the most novice do-it-yourselfer, if they follow these tips from the pro’s.  

1. Staging the Shot is Critical:  No People and no pets in the picture help the buyer imagine themselves in the room.  Flowers always help.  Remove all clutter and evidence of anything personal.  Move furniture to look good in the picture, even if you don’t live that way.
2. Lighting:   Turn on all the lights, but leave the fluorescents off because they distort colors.  Light candles in the fireplace (shown top left) to punch up ambience.  Shoot one exterior shot at twilight (shown below) with all the interior and exterior lights on.

     3.  Camera Angle:  Stand in Corners of the room and aim the shot toward the other corners.  The room looks bigger, if there are no more than 2 walls in the picture.   Crouch down and take the shot from a kids height (may explain why houses get smaller as we get older) to make any space appear larger.   Try to keep the back of the camera parallel to walls or doorways to make the room feel taller.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale or rent website.   If you are serious about selling a home, remember that a picture paints a thousand words and each one should motivate buyer to take a look inside for themselves.  If you aren’t using 20 good photo’s in your InfoTube.net home ad, please do yourself a favor, grab your camera and upload some new ones.  You will be very glad you did!

PRICE REDUCED.  JUST REDUCED.  PRICE DROP.  PRICE SLASHED.   These are the Signs of the Times, but why?  Who cares, really?

Although, Realtors love the phrase and evidentally believe it to be  a powerful message, PRICE REDUCED, means only one thing…the listing was overpriced.   It doesn’t mean it still isn’t.

So, why do Realtors hang banners advertising that a price has been dropped?  Do they believe that buyers care that an asking price was reduced from $250,000 to $200,000, if comparable homes in the neighborhood are priced at $175,000?   

Maybe, the hoopla is all about the agents themselves.  Maybe, it is a secret way of gloating to one another that they finally got their unrealistic seller to drop their price.  Woo Hoo, We Were Right. 

In any case, I find signs with swinging distress messages very unmotivating, somewhat negative and kind of sad.  They are the antithesis of salesmanship.  And, when I see these type of signs, my mind immediately conjures images of a stale listing, a probably dated interior, repair issues and a difficult seller.   

In my opinion, a good salesperson, who works on behalf of the seller, would post signs that gave buyers important, exciting news about the property.  “Seller Financing”, “Zero Down”, “Lowest Price in Area”, ”Free Appliances” or “Special Financing.  Positive messages, such as these, are informative and helpful to buyer and seller, alike.

Before Realtor’s spends any more of their hard earned money on negative messages, or homeowner’s allow another one to be posted, I hope they stop and ask themselves, “Why are we doing this and Who really cares???  

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net.  We have been helping buyers and sellers for 20 years and we are here to help you sell and market your home.  Please visit our site to post a Free Property Listing or Search for Great Deals from the Privacy of Your Home.

Finally, the house is under contract.  The inspections are done.  Repairs have been negotiated.  Everyone is ready to move…then, the buyer’s appraisal comes in below the agreed upon sales price. 

Don’t Panic.  It’s Not the End of the World.  Read this helpful article about how to keep the deal alive.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale and rent website.   Place a Free Property Listing or Search our database for great deals found no where else on the web.

With all the housing and finance related news these days, it is hard to stay focused on where the real problems are and what specific issues affect the real estate market.   

Today, we outline the issues and target in on facts about the specific problems in housing and real estate in the U.S.  

1. Real estate markets are Local:   The University of Virginia studied foreclosures in all 50 states; 35 metro area’s and 236 counties.  They found that 85 percent of the lost value in homes occured in only 4 states - Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada.
2. Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida rank 1,2,3 and 4 in all foreclosure activity.    Combined together, these 4 states account for 55 percent of all foreclosures in the U.S.
3. The 4 sunbelt states, representing 55 percent of all foreclosed property, were also the playing grounds of investors, second home buyer’s and “flippers” who rode the out the bubble in search of riches.
4. 19 million homes are now vacant in the United States.  
5. Lenders forecast another 2.5 million home foreclosures before the end of the year.
6. The average value of a home today has fallen to less than $170,000, which is now well within the budget of the majority of workers in the country.  At the top of the bubble, the average home price in the US was $220,000, and hit $300,000 in California.
7. Uptrends:  Home sales have increased dramatically in California and Nevada in recent months.  Discounts of 50 percent or more are bringing the inventory of unsold homes to their lowest levels since the crash began.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale and rent website.  Users can take advantage of a variety of services, (flat fee MLS and Realtor.com) for buyers and sellers.   Free services at InfoTube.net include home searches  including video tours and multiple photo’s; free legal forms and contracts; real estate buying and selling tips;  community question and answer forum; no buyer registration; no pop ups or dead links; google mapping and more.

In the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder’s meeting, Warren Buffett, the oracle of Omaha, predicted that inflation will hit the US economy due to the financial crisis.  Buffett told shareholders, “I haven’t had my taxes raised.  My guess is the ultimate price will be paid by a shrinkage of the value of the dollar”.  

If Warren is right, and he usually is, the average person can use his wisdom to profit with a smart real estate investment.    

• To invest safely, a home buyer should put 20 percent down and take out a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, locking in an interest rate around 4.5 percent.   If you haven’t owned a home over the past 3 years, you can cash in immediately with the $8000 tax credit.   When inflation hits, your mortgage costs will remain the same, as your salary increases.  This means that you have even more money to save and invest later on.
• If you are currently renting, there is another compelling reason to invest.   During periods of inflation, rents will rise.  If you don’t own a home, your monthly rent obiligations will soar. 
• Another reason to invest in real estate is that during times of inflation, home prices appreciate, if even at a slower pace.  History shows that during inflationary periods, real estate appreciation tends to beat inflation by 2-3 percentage points.
• Leveraged assets, such as real estate, outperform other asset classes.  Leverage magnifies gains because as your income rises, your debt payments will not.   You’ll be able to pay off the mortgage with money that is worth less than it was when you borrowed it.
• With home prices and interest rates hovering at historic lows, now may be the perfect time for investor’s to withdraw the cash they have sitting in savings accounts that is paying only a 2-3percent and buy a piece of property.   If you buy a property where the tenant covers the expenses and costs of ownership, then the investor can relax and wait for inflation to move up rents and home prices.

InfoTube.net and Warren Buffett agree that inflation, over the next 5 years, is a sure bet.   And, when we get rampant inflation, real estate is the perfect hedge.   Throw in low prices, cheap money, ridiculously low returns on cash investments and thousands of dollars in tax savings, and you have a powerful case for buying a home now.   

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net.  Seller’s can place a Free Property listing on the site or add an MLS listing to their by owner strategy with the click of a button.  Bonus:  Buyer’s can search for thousand’s of homes in complete privacy.  We do not sell or distribute user information and there are no pop up’s or dead links anywhere on our site.

In a bad economy, housing con’s, scams and fraud are on the rise.   The increase in real estate related scams is up so much this year that the Obama administration is involved, and promises “We will shut down fraudulent companies more quickly”.

Here are some of the most common scams seen in the housing industry and tips about how to protect yourself and your family.

Promise to Stall or Halt Foreclosure

Foreclosure scammers are the worst of the worst.  Like vultures, they swope down to pick at the flesh and bones of weak and vulnerable.   These companies promise to stall, avert or stop the foreclosure process.  Many families which are facing the loss of their homes interupt their “pitch” as an answered prayer.   Don’t Fall for It. 

Homeowner’s can identify these companies because they always ask for an upfront fee for their service.   In addition to losing thousands of dollars to these con men, the victims also waste precious time in working with their lenders, which means that this scam can actually speed up the foreclosure process.

Homeowner’s are advised to check with the Better Business Bureau, their lender and the Hope Now organization, before doing business with any company promising the stop a Foreclosure.  

Loan Modificiation

The state of California issued permits to real estate agents for loan modifications.  The state now has almost 600 Realtors, so far, that can collect upfront fee’s for negotiating loan modifications and short sales with lenders on behalf of the homeowner.

We have heard reports that some of these companies charge $2500-$3000 to negotiate with lenders, saying they provide more service and expertise than overworked non-profits do.

Consumers should ALWAYS be on High Alert if they are ask to pay upfront fee’s to anyone, especially when the service provider can not guarantee results.   There are a lot of starving real estate agents out there, so beware and always verify credentials before paying for any upfront service.

Where to go for Real Help.

1. Homeowner Preservation Foundation.  1-888-995-4673 
2. Hope Now    Website Link
3. Making Home Affordable. gov   Website Link
4. Your Lender
5. Beware:  Don’t be fooled into working with companies because they have official sounding names and copy cat websites.  The government recently shut down 5 companies and issued warning letters to 71 others who are operating under names that sound legit, but aren’t. 

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