Lately the $64 question for many people is whether to rent or buy a home. I think by now everyone knows that, as a result of the collapse in home prices and dirt-cheap interest rates, buying a home is now more affordable than ever, but for a lot of people there are still doubts or concerns that need to be addressed before making the decision whether or not to buy. Many of these issues stem around financing including; how much down payment will be necessary, what can I afford, etc. The American’s Banker Association (ABA)came out with five questions every potential buyer should ask when deciding to buy or rent a home that, along with the helpful online calculators they offer, I think may be very helpful: Continue reading “Should I Rent or Buy a Home?“
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Are you ready to tackle that bathroom renovation you’ve been putting off? Before you pick up the phone and hire a contractor, why not save some cash and try your hand at it. Considering the cost of renovations for homeowners, DIY has gained popularity. The following list, created by Construction Management Degree.com, contains 100 of the top DIY websites to help guide your home improvement projects, in no particular order. We arrived at this list through our own research, and for the benefit of our readers. The list is organized by area of the home including; General Remodeling, Interior Decorating, Kitchen and Bathroom, Office and Workspaces, Landscaping and Exterior, Basement, Storage, and Closets. Continue reading “Top 100 web sites for do it yourself home improvement“
If you feel you were a victim of an improper foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010 by one of the companies below, you may apply for an independent foreclosure review and receive compensation if the independent review finds evidence of direct financial injury to you due to servicer error. Time is running out however as the deadline to apply is July 31, 2012. To make it easier to understand the process, the fed’s have produced a video on how to apply which I have included below. Continue reading “How to apply for independent foreclosure review“
Spring Maintenance
Continue reading “Helpful Spring Maintenance Tips for Homeowners“
Have you ever thought about the similarities between houses and the human body? For example as our bodies age, things are not quite as straight, square and firm as they once were in our younger years. At one time I had a 44 inch chest and now with age it seems that chest dimension is closer to my waist line. In most cases, this aging in homes translates into floors not being totally level and windows and doors being skewed slightly or not latching. While this may create slight operational issues these conditions are quite common in older homes, some more so than others depending on the age, floor plan, design etc. While one could, in theory go through and re-level the floors, in my opinion in most cases this would be an unnecessary expense and cause additional problems. Quite frankly many look at these conditions as part of the “character” and “charm” of an older home. Continue reading “Houses and the human body have a lot of similarities“
Candidate positions on housing will be important considerations to nearly seven of 10 Americans (69.6%) in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections, according to a new national survey on housing released today by Move, Inc. This is especially true for Millennials(1) (70.7%), the next generation of homebuyers and the segment expected to play as important a role in the 2012 elections as they did in 2008. Continue reading “2012 Presidential Elections: 69.6% of Americans Said Housing Will Influence Their Vote“
Today U.S. News Media Group unveiled The 10 Best Places to Retire in 2012 with top locations in 10 key categories that are most often considered as key factors by people when choosing where to retire. St. Louis didn’t make the top of any of the 10 categories, but I’m sure must be on one of the top ten cities within one of the categories. Many of the categories focus on how to achieve the retirement lifestyle you want on a fixed income, such as the best place for water views on a budget (Traverse City, Mich.), an affordable mountain town for retirees (Boone, N.C.), and the best place to find affordable housing (Port Charlotte, Fla.). Continue reading “The 10 Best Places to Retire in 2012“
As far as I’m concerned, the Internet is one of the greatest inventions of all time, and ranks right up there with flush toilets, sliced bread, and basketball! For real estate investors, the Internet is the single best property due to diligence research tool available. Especially for investors who are located in counties where property tax rolls are online. If your county’s property records are available online, you can quickly find out who owns a property, when it was purchased, how much it costs and its tax-assessed Continue reading “How To Use The Internet To Perform Due Diligence On Real Property“
1. Temperament, knowledge, skill and experience needed to implement the strategy.
2011 will be remembered for having a wet spring and being the 4th hottest summer of record (calculated by having the highest average temperature). What is significant from a property and real estate viewpoint, however, will be that we have had little or no rain since the middle of June. We have been watering our lawn during that time and really do no want to see the next water bill. Continue reading “The St. Louis Drought of 2011 and the effect on homes“
It is not uncommon when performing an inspection, not be able to have ready access to the electric panel cabinet. Items are stored in front of it, it is located behind the laundry equipment, it is covered by a finished wall, it is located in a closet with limited space and yes even it may even be located in or behind cabinetry in a “remodeled” basement. Search St Louis Homes For Sale HERE
There were a total of four places in Missouri that made the top 100 list, they were: Continue reading “Where is the best place in Missouri to live? Liberty, according to CNN Money.“
KANSAS CITY, MO—Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former real estate agent and a former loan officer are among five co-defendants who have pleaded guilty in federal court to their roles in an $11 million mortgage fraud scheme that involved upscale homes in Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, Liberty, Parkville, and elsewhere. Continue reading “Real Estate Agent, Loan Officer Among Five Defendants to Plead Guilty to $11 Million Mortgage Fraud“
A recent survey conducted on behalf of Money Management International (MMI), the largest nonprofit credit counseling agency in the U.S., showed that the majority of Americans still view home ownership as the “American Dream“. The survey found that 81 percent of people still put a lot of value in owning a home however the number of people who rent has increased from 34 percent to 38 percent since December. Continue reading “Owning a home still the ‘American Dream’“
Following last week’s somewhat encouraging Pending Home Sales report from the National Association of REALTORS which showed increased home sales activity, Radar Logic issued a much less encouraging report. Their report, titled “Don’t be Misled by Gains in Home Price Indices and Pending Homes Sales; Housing Recovery is Still a Long Way Off” pretty much says it all in the title. Continue reading “Report says recent good news on housing market is misleading; recovery is a long way off“ As we celebrate the 235th birthday of our nation I would hope that we would all take a moment and remember all the men and women that have served, and thank those that are serving, in our armed forces to protect and preserve our freedom! Below are photos I shot of a couple of them flying a Harrier and and Osprey in an Independence Day Celebration this past Saturday at Fair St. Louis. Continue reading “Happy Independence Day!“
I am not a “misery loves company” guy, nor a “grass on the other side is always greener” guy, but in this case, it’s good to know the grass is greener in the U.S., at least as it relates to the housing market. Granted, I may be getting a little desperate for some good news, but a study I saw on the housing market in Britain by Zoopla.co.uk got my attention when I saw that 80 percent of the 4.32 million homes bought in Britain since 2006 are now worth less than the buyer paid. My first thought was, “wow, our market may be bad, but at least not that bad”, my next thought was, “am I sure about that?”. Continue reading “80 Percent of homes bought in last five years are worth less now…“
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Last November I wrote about
Shortly after finishing my 
Affordable Cost of Living and Top-Notch Amenities are Key 
Unfortunately, there are no cookie-cutter strategies, which will work for all investors in every single real estate market nationwide. And that’s exactly why, when you’re starting out in this business, you must take your time and carefully analyze a real estate investment strategy and take into account, the:
A report released by Trulia shows that, based on current market conditions, it is cheaper to buy a home than rent in 74 percent of major U.S. cities. At the top of the list is Las Vegas with a price rent ratio of 6 (the lower the number, the more affordable it is). At the other end of the spectrum, New York city leads the list of cities where it is cheaper to rent than buy with a price rent ratio six times higher than that of Las Vegas. 
Typically from early spring until late summer is a busy season for the real estate market with increased home sales as people try to make their move without fighting winter and in time to have their kids in place before the new school year. Now, thanks to a report by Intersections, Inc., a company that provides address monitoring and credit monitoring services, I realize that it is also a season of increased identify theft. They say the risk of identity theft during a move is a result of personally identifiable information being shuffled around from one home to the next and buyers and renters becoming preoccupied with the move and simply overlooking protecting their sensitive documents. 
Would you like to buy one of those foreclosure or REO bargains, but don’t have the cash to have the necessary work done? There’s a 
Weekly I produce a short (roughly 5 minute) video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that is published on various web sites. I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the week, then an overview of the St Louis housing market itself. The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices, average time to sell a home in the St Louis area as well as other data and charts to show where the St Louis real estate market is and where it is headed. (Check out all our market update videos on our