Last week's economic news included readings from Case-Shiller on home prices, pending home sales, construction spending and a post-meeting statement from the Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve.
Why Do People Stage Homes To Sell?
If you're selling your home, your real estate agent has likely advised you to stage your home to sell. But why exactly do people stage homes to sell? Some people go to great lengths to stage their home too, even going so far as moving possessions into storage units or renting furnishings!
Case-Shiller: Home Prices Growth Slows in March
Home price growth slowed again in May according to Case-Shiller home price indices. Home price growth slowed for the 14th consecutive month to its lowest rate in 12 years. Case-Shiller's National Home Price Index showed 3.40 percent growth year-over-year in May as compared to April's year-over-year reading of 3.50 percent.
What Is Eminent Domain?
Eminent domain is a law that gives the federal, state, county, and municipal governments in the United States the legal right to "condemn" property and then seize it to allow its use for development. Eminent domain is supposed to be used by the government at the various levels to do things for the public benefit, such as to build new roads or construct new public schools.
The Community Reinvestment Act Explained In Simple Terms
The federal government adopted the Housing and Community Development Act in 1977, and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) portion was designed to prompt lending institutions to provide mortgages for low- and moderate-income Americans. The underlying reasoning for the CRA was to discourage discriminatory lending practices that inhibited low-income communities and neighborhoods.
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – July 29th, 2019
Last week's economic reports included readings on sales of new and pre-owned homes and weekly reports on mortgage rates and first-time jobless claims.
Innovative Home Security Technology
For market value and the comfort of a home's occupants, home security is just as important as energy-efficiency. Innovation in smart home technology focuses on both of these areas.
The Monopoly Technique – How To Build Value By Acquiring Adjacent Properties
Have you ever played the classic board game called Monopoly? The object of the game is to collect all the properties until one winner bankrupts all the other players. The other part of the game is that accumulating properties adjacent to each other increases the value of the individual properties. When a player acquires all the properties of the same color (two or three), then the rents go up and property development can begin.
What’s The Value Of Water?
When investing in real estate, few people think about water as a high priority. All of us have become used to water being readily available and rarely give it a second thought. Most would think that water is only a consideration for farmers who need it to irrigate agriculture. However, due to climate change and population growth, the world is experiencing large impacted areas and major cities that are running out of water.
What Is A 1031 Tax Exchange?
A 1031 tax exchange is a legal way to defer paying capital gains when selling a property and then buying a "like-kind" property within the allowed period. The time limits allowed are 45 calendar days after the close of the sale of the first property to identify the like-kind property for acquisition and then close the purchase transaction to complete the 1031 exchange within 180 calendar days.
