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It’s Been Well Received in the Industry. How Will It Work?

Housing is in short supply. Home prices are unbearable. The plot keeps getting more dire, with the prices of building materials up 19% from last year, and mortgage rates hitting a 12-year high. 

And it’s not as though people can just rent some place and wait for things to normalize, given the surging costs of U.S. rents. Rising costs are leaving potential buyers stranded. Market inflation is crushing ordinary working people and minority communities. And now, massive increases in rents are battering residents of mobile home parks, where residents fear losing their homes and having no housing options at all.

Something’s got to give.

In May, the Biden administration announced “the most comprehensive all of government effort to close the housing supply shortfall in history.” The Housing Supply Action Plan from the White House aims to create options for people who desperately need them, and to rein in costs for renters and homeowners.

Here’s what the administration is doing.

Continue reading “The Biden Administration’s New Housing Supply Action Plan”

Four Major Reasons…

Houses are expensive. Many people trying to buy homes today are finding they need significantly more income than they thought they would need to qualify for a mortgage.

Going for a townhouse in a multi-unit development, rather than a free-standing house, makes sense for many buyers for this reason alone. There are other reasons, too — environmental and social benefits. Let’s take a look.

Continue reading “Buying a Townhouse Makes Sense in 2022”

Why are all those staged photos and information about your home still open for all to view online, along with the history of the home’s pricing? If you haven’t looked since you bought your home, it’s likely to be easy enough to find. Just do a search for your address.

Whether the internet puts your home in a laughable light, fails to show its real current state, or makes you feel exposed to friends and “frenemies” who might be snooping, you might not be thrilled about the exposure. Just how long is all that information going to hang around the internet? Can you take it off?

To an extent, you can change your home’s information online. Here, we explore what the internet says about your home, and steps you can take to control the narrative.

Continue reading “We Bought Our Home Years Ago. Why Is It Still on the Internet?”

An Intro to Solar Easements

Solar electricity changes real estate. When a homeowner adopts solar energy, other homeowners are impacted. Solar systems create aesthetic changes. Because of community resistance, they also create a need for solar access rights.

Does any of this affect the title or property value? It can — in the form of a solar easement for unobstructed sunlight.

In this article, we take a look at how basking in the rays can affect homes, communities, and real estate titles.

Continue reading “Going Solar: Does It Impact My Title?”

The Register of Deeds does essential work. It’s the office of the county deed recorder (some counties call it the Register and Recorders Office), where vital records are filed. Title transfers and home loans can’t happen without the Register of Deeds.

Have you ever thought about becoming a recorder of deeds?

Continue reading “Would You Run as a Candidate for Register of Deeds?”

Buyers are frustrated. Many have worked hard for years to get into the position to buy a home, only to find absolutely nothing that’s accessibly priced, or to lose a nice find to better-funded bidders. Now, the vast majority of listings are above the $200K mark. Would-be buyers must keep paying ever costlier rent, rather than saving more for the investment they really want.

On top of it all, here come the rising interest rates. Interest on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is above 5% for the first time in years.

It’s understandable that some are giving up. Still, there are reasons for patience, persistence, and hope.

Continue reading “Rent or Buy? Is There Even a Choice in 2022?”

What’s the Status?

In 2020, the Biden administration announced an intention to limit the 1031 Exchange, which helps investors save on real estate taxes. Two years later, has there been any follow-through? If the limit occurs, 2022 could be the last year for investors to use a 1031 exchange for all it’s worth.

Here’s our update.

Continue reading “The 1031 Exchange in 2022”

Prices Up, Mortgage Rates Up…

It’s tough to find a home these days. Some hopeful buyers just won’t give up. Some are buying with housemates; others are searching online for REO homes. (Foreclosed homes go into auction and become real-estate owned, or REO, if the bank hasn’t managed to sell them at auction.)

Looking for REO sales can be one way to get a house in some markets. And many foreclosed homes have come into the market in 2022. While millions of homeowners received mortgage forbearance during the pandemic, in 2022 that assistance is winding down.

Is buying one of these homes a good idea? It depends. A foreclosed home comes with its own set of potential risks and rewards.

Some buyers will ask what they really have to lose at this point. Rents are skyrocketing. The high monthly housing costs are ravaging renters’ incomes — making it harder and harder, the longer this goes on, to ever buy a house. REO is the best answer for some buyers. Knowledge and preparation is, of course, vital.

Continue reading “Should I Buy a Foreclosed House?”