Mortgage and Real Estate News Feeds

Real Estate and Mortgage News Feeds

$300Billion Housing Bill Passes
It’s official. Will buyers come out to play? What’s it mean to you and me? It all depends on where you live and what your situation is. One sure thing, although we are silly-putty pounded by media reports referring to the “National Housing Market”, there is no such thing. The national average for Month’s Supply of For Sale Listing Inventory is 11 months. In The Woodlands, it’s less than 5 months. Real estate markets are local, hyper-local in fact. For example, the Phoenix, Arizona housing market in not like the Austin, Texas market. Real estate sales and listing inventory in Stockton, California is not similar to San Francisco, California. Miami Beach, Florida is not comparable to Houston, Texas. Hyper-Local means that in township like The Woodlands, real estate market activity will be different that the entire city of Houston. Inside The Woodlands, the real estate market statistics are different from Village to Village, sales velocity, listing inventory, Days On Market and months supply of inventory also varies from individual neighborhood to neighborhood, street to street and even house to house. What’s the take away. If you want to know where you stand, what your property is worth, how long would it take to sell, are prices going up or down, you will want to consult with your favorite, trusted Realtor. They can research and create an up to the minute hyper-local statistical report (called a CMA or Comprehensive Market Analysis) and share their real-time perspective, what the data means and what their interactive experiences are with the real clients and customers in today’s market place. Back to the Housing Bill. It’s signed and it’s official. In my opinion it’s a big deal for citizens buying and selling real estate. Why? Because it bolsters Fannie and Freedie Mac, which provides consumer and institutional confidence and the assurance of mortgage money availability. It also raises the conforming loan limits from $417,500 to $625,500, providing lower interest rate loans to more people. It provides a Tax Credit for first time home buyers. Bottom line, it provides confidence, security and cheaper mortgage money to more people, ergo consumers can buy homes at less expensive rates. All good and positive. Want to read the whole CNNmoney.com article - Click Here Here’s the summary A stronger regulator for the GSEs. The new regulator will have a greater say over how well funded the two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are - a major concern in the markets that has sent stocks in both companies plunging in the past two months. A permanent increase in “conforming loan” limits. The law will permanently increase the cap on the size of mortgages guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie to a maximum of $625,500 from $417,000. The FHA maximum loan limits for high-cost areas would also increase to a maximum of $625,500. Higher loan limits will make it easier for borrowers to get mortgages, because those mortgages are more likely to be traded if they are considered conforming. A new home-buyer credit....

Out with the Old, in With the New...New Home that is.
About 1/3 of all the home buyers who buy in The Woodlands, choose to buy a New Home. Our experience, about 76% of the home buyers who buy a property in The Woodlands, look at new homes and pre-owned homes. Here's some 411 on New Home Inventory: THERE ARE 248 SPEC INVENTORY HOMES AVAILABLE IN THE WOODLANDS – The Woodlands features a variety of new home choices from condominiums, townhomes, patio homes, single-family homes, active-adult residences, urban living, custom homes to golf course estates, priced from the $150’s to more than $3 million. There are currently 248 spec inventory homes available throughout The Woodlands. FYI, there are just over 900 homes listed for sale in The Woodlands, in all price ranges...this number includes new homes that are marketed through the MLS (note: not all new homes are listed in MLS). 62 custom inventory homes are offered in this master-planned community Ready for move-in is the custom estate at 35 Player Bend in the neighborhood of Gary Glen in the Village of Sterling Ridge. Built by Hahnfeld-Witmer-Davis, this home overlooks the Gary Player Signature golf course. At 7,070 square feet, this residence features five bedrooms; wood floors; library with a fireplace; gourmet kitchen; separate wine room; upstairs media room with a wet bar and a game room, both leading to a covered balcony; second utility room upstairs; five full baths with two half baths; and a four-car garage. Other amenities include a veranda with a summer kitchen. This home is priced at $1,899,000. For more information, call The Woodlands Custom Homes, Robyn Brand at 281-367-4550. There are 16 inventory homes available in East Shore, the “Garden District” of The Woodlands Town Center, bordering 200-acre Lake Woodlands. Carmel Builders has seven, three-story townhomes (middle photograph), many with elevators, available in East Shore. Residences feature Southern Coastal architecture, 2,579 square feet of living space, and front porches and balconies overlooking Rafter’s Row Park and Lake Woodlands. These homes are priced from $437,590 and up. If you'd like more information about this one, give me a call, Ken Brand - 832-797-1779. There are 154 inventory homes offered by production homebuilders throughout The Woodlands. Available now is the two-story Brazelton plan (model pictured, bottom photograph) at 79 Chipwyck Way in Montfair in the Village of Sterling Ridge. This home features four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, huge covered front and back porches, faux wood blinds, extensive tile throughout the downstairs, sod and a sprinkler system. This residence is priced at $248,990. For more information, give us a call @ 281-367-3531 any one of our smile wearing, world class Realtor Icons can help. Wondering what's for sale in the Pre-Home market? Every home in the MLS can be viewed at TheWoodlands411.com. Need anything at all, questions, call me, Ken Brand @ 832-797-177

Inman Connect 08' - Open Mind, Insert Ideas. Open Eyes, See The Future.
Toy Airplane Originally uploaded by Cavutto My Friends, I'm flying to San Francisco. I'll be attending Inman Connect 08'. It's a Web 2.0, Social Media, Whiz-Bang, OMG, WTH, No Way, WOW, I Don't Get it, Gotta have IT, Real Estate Technology Conference. Tuesday - Friday. Lots of weird, cool, useful and useless stuff like we talked about last week. Back in the Bee Hive on Monday. Blogging will be light as a feather. While away, I'll be jacked into the digital cloud. Email me @ Ken@Kenbrand.com or call @ 832-797-1779 or follow me on Twitter. Here's an interesting quote: "I don't know whether this is the best of times or the worst of times, but I assure you it's the only time you've got." - Art Buchwald Something else to consider:

Real Estate Market Reports for The Woodlands Texas - July/August 2008
Here's the collection of reports for July/August, click on the links to view and download. Month To Month Listing and Sales Comparison + Inventory and Sales by Price Range Months Supply Of Inventory + Average Sold Prices + Market Share by Broker Thanks for all you do. Ken

PoppyCock = The National Housing Real Estate Market, Leprechauns, WMDs, Unicorns, etc.
Unicorns, Leprechauns and WMDs are myths...so is the the notion of a National Housing Market. Don't read me wrong. Yes, nation wide housing data can be lumped together like an overweight, crappy tasteing merry Christmas Fruitcake, but guess what? It's a myth and it's as useful as a Merry Christmas Fruitcake. Real Estate markets are local and hyper-local, period. Don't let the talking media bobble heads and jaded journalists hypnotize you into a depressing, misinformed stupor. Talk to a trusted, in-the-know, feet on the street, real estate agent about what exactly is going on in your community, neighborhood and street. It may or may not be what you want to hear, but it will be accurate, meaningful and useful. Amen brothers and sisters....that's all I have to say about that. For now. PS. If you'd like to pursue a passel of real estate market statistics for The Woodlands, Texas, you can download this .PDF. I'll update these stats over the weekend

Team Meeting Notes - July 29th, 2008
Thought I'd share the agenda and some of the notes from our Team Meeing. Fun stuff included - Birthday Party Plans Real Estate Market Reports - Inventory, Sales Pace, Months of Supply, etc. Marketing Strategies - Staging, Pricing, Prospecting, Networking and the like. Training Opportunities. Legal Updates. There you have it. If I can help, let me know. Sales Meeting Notes for July 29th, 2008 Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors, The Woodlands, Texas - Upload a Document to Scribd Read this document on Scribd: Sales Meeting Notes for July 29th, 2008 Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors, The Woodlands, Texas

Linknet Articles are part of the Linknet Network of websites and blogs. Other resources you might be interested in include Real Estate Radio, For Sale By Owner Canada, Cottage and Vacation Homes in Canada, Inexpensive Virtual Tours, a Real Estate blog called Inside Real Estate, as well as numerous websites and blogs that are part of The Linknet Network of websites.