South Carolina's governor and attorney general are considering legal action because a deadline looms for the state to comply with new federal security standards for driver's licenses.
Governor Mark Sanford's staff has begun talking with Attorney General Henry McMaster about a possible lawsuit. No decision has been made.
South Carolina has until March 31 to seek an extension to comply with a 2005 law known as Real ID.
It was created in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The Department of Homeland Security is warning states that don't seek an extension that their citizens will no longer be able to use their driver's licenses as valid ID to board airplanes or enter federal buildings.
Such travelers would instead have to present a passport or be subjected to a secondary screening.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Which is the better buy - Bear Stearns or the London residence?’”
Just as the financial news is buzzing with reports of the $236 million Federal Reserve-backed bail-out of Bear Stearns by JP Morgan Chase, The Times of London reports that a flat in central London has sold for a record-setting price of between £115 million and £120 million ($230 million to $240 million). By comparison, former financial giant Bear Stearns changed hands at about the same time for about the same price.
The flat is one of six apartments yet to be carved out of a seven story office building located at 8 St. James’s Square, which the Times reports is “equidistant between 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.”
Who will be the new resident sharing the neighborhood with the Queen and the Prime Minister? The buyer’s name is unreported. “However, you can bet your $2 Bear Stearns’ stock that it is one of the world’s billionaires who wants bragging rights for the most expensive residence,” said Laurie Moore-Moore, founder of the Dallas-based Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.
“This sale is one more indication that in the rarefied air of the very, very top of the housing market, the search for trophy properties continues, despite the growing housing and financial market troubles,” added Moore-Moore. “I suppose the multi-million dollar question is, ‘Which is the better buy - Bear Stearns or the London residence?’”
The flat is one of six apartments yet to be carved out of a seven story office building located at 8 St. James’s Square, which the Times reports is “equidistant between 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.”
Who will be the new resident sharing the neighborhood with the Queen and the Prime Minister? The buyer’s name is unreported. “However, you can bet your $2 Bear Stearns’ stock that it is one of the world’s billionaires who wants bragging rights for the most expensive residence,” said Laurie Moore-Moore, founder of the Dallas-based Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.
“This sale is one more indication that in the rarefied air of the very, very top of the housing market, the search for trophy properties continues, despite the growing housing and financial market troubles,” added Moore-Moore. “I suppose the multi-million dollar question is, ‘Which is the better buy - Bear Stearns or the London residence?’”
Thursday, March 20, 2008
banning automated political phone calls
A bill banning automated political phone calls is before a Senate panel today.
Automatically dialed phone calls already are illegal in the state, but the calls were made frequently anyway during the presidential primary season.
Pickens Senator Larry Martin says he wants to close any loophole in the law.
His bill would make the recorded messages illegal even if a live operator is involved in the call.
Martin says he got fed up with the robotic phone calls that bombarded his home before the Republican primary in January.
But officials in the state Republican and Democratic parties say they'll fight the proposal and think federal communications law trumps the state law anyway.
Attorney general spokesman Mark Plowden says the current law has too much gray area on what's legal.
Automatically dialed phone calls already are illegal in the state, but the calls were made frequently anyway during the presidential primary season.
Pickens Senator Larry Martin says he wants to close any loophole in the law.
His bill would make the recorded messages illegal even if a live operator is involved in the call.
Martin says he got fed up with the robotic phone calls that bombarded his home before the Republican primary in January.
But officials in the state Republican and Democratic parties say they'll fight the proposal and think federal communications law trumps the state law anyway.
Attorney general spokesman Mark Plowden says the current law has too much gray area on what's legal.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Variable-rate credit cards and home equity lines of credit are pegged to the prime rate
The central bank's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee cut the target for the federal funds rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, to 2.25 percent.
The prime rate will fall three-quarters of a percentage point, also, to 5.25 percent. Variable-rate credit cards and home equity lines of credit are pegged to the prime rate, so they will drop, too. The goal is to encourage consumers to borrow and spend more to revive the economy.
The prime rate will fall three-quarters of a percentage point, also, to 5.25 percent. Variable-rate credit cards and home equity lines of credit are pegged to the prime rate, so they will drop, too. The goal is to encourage consumers to borrow and spend more to revive the economy.
3/4% Rate Cut = Better Loan Rates?
All eyes were on the Federal Reserve Tuesday as its policy-making committee tries to spark the sick U.S. economy back to health, slashing short-term interest rates by three-fourths of a percentage point. The cut brings the federal funds rate to 2.25 percent.
As recently as Friday, investors were signaling that they expected the Fed to cut rates by half a percentage point. But that was before the spectacular weekend collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns, whose value stood at $3.5 billion on Friday before it was sold Sunday night for just $236 million to J.P. Morgan Chase after a run on it by investors.
The Fed brokered the $2-a-share sale of Bear Stearns. Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase, which purchased it, rose 11% on Monday, pulling the Dow Jones Industrial Average into positive territory. The Dow closed Monday up 21.16 points to 11,972.25.
Sunday night the Fed also widened access to credit like never before in a muscular bid to keep banks and other institutions lending and corporations and investors borrowing.
“These moves by the Fed are a prelude to additional bold action to reduce rates,” said Brian Bethune, U.S. economist with forecaster Global Insight in Lexington, Mass. He predicted a full percentage-point cut.
As of Tuesday morning, Wall Street was all but certain that a cut of at least three-quarters of a percentage point was coming and hopeful for a full percentage point, which would have put the Fed’s bellwether short-term “federal funds” rate at 2%. That would bring the prime rate, which banks charge to their best customers, down to 5%.
“We continue to expect the funds rate eventually will reach 1.5 percent,” said Mickey Levy, chief economist of Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, in a note to investors.
What such low interest rates would mean for consumers isn’t clear, since turmoil in the credit markets means that banks aren’t lending. Instead, they are hording capital to shore up their balance sheets.
Lower rates could bring down some variable rates on credit cards, but credit card companies have been raising rates out of fear that the economic downturn will lead to more loan defaults.
The falling rates could help ease the sting for homeowners whose adjustable-rate mortgages are about to reset higher. But many of these loans adjust based on factors not directly affected by the Fed’s benchmark rate.
The Fed has already cut the funds rate from 5.25% last September to 3% in January. So far that’s done little to revive the U.S. economy, which has been in increasing turmoil since August.
The Fed has also made available more than half a trillion dollars in credit to banks and securities dealers in hopes of spurring lending and preventing credit markets from seizing up.
There were glimmers of hope Monday as the difference between yields on mortgage bonds and other safer financial instruments-called the spread-narrowed. One day does not make a trend, but it’s a possible sign that the fear gripping credit markets could be easing.
“These areas have tended to lead other areas of credit, so if we can hold onto these recent gains, there should be improvement in the tone of risk in general,” said Michael Darda, chief economist for MKM Partners, a stock trader and research firm in Greenwich, Conn.
Lyle Gramley is less optimistic. He’s a former Fed governor and has spent more than 50 years studying financial markets.
“If you look back at post-war recessions, I thought I knew that when the Fed pushed the accelerator, we’d leave problems behind. We just don’t know that now–that’s one of the most scary parts of the situation that we find ourselves in,” Gramley said. He believes that taxpayer dollars and more government intervention are needed.
President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have made clear that they’ll oppose bailouts of lenders. In a brief statement after meeting with his economic team on Monday morning, Bush said, “One thing is for certain, we’re in challenging times. But another thing is for certain: We’ve taken strong, decisive action.”
Monday could have been a far different day if not for bold action by the Fed to broker the sale of Bear Stearns in order to prevent its bankruptcy.
“To allow this to go to bankruptcy would have allowed systemic problems that could have been massive,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said in a conference call to U.S. reporters from Belgium.
The Fed on Sunday night also made a quarter-point cut in its discount rate, which it charges as the lender of last resort to banks. It extended the loan repayment time frame to 90 days from the normal 30-day terms, accepted as collateral a broad range of financial instruments including mortgage bonds, and made credit available to not just investment banks but also securities dealers.
Although U.S. stocks averted disaster Monday, share prices for financial sector players were hammered as concerns persisted about whether other big players were vulnerable to a run by investors, as Bear Stearns was.
“You know the old saying about cockroaches, there’s never just one,” said Howard Simons, president of Rosewood Trading, an economic research firm in Glenview, Ill. “One thing we’ve learned the hard way over the past year is, just when you think there’s no more bad news, there’s more bad news.”
As recently as Friday, investors were signaling that they expected the Fed to cut rates by half a percentage point. But that was before the spectacular weekend collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns, whose value stood at $3.5 billion on Friday before it was sold Sunday night for just $236 million to J.P. Morgan Chase after a run on it by investors.
The Fed brokered the $2-a-share sale of Bear Stearns. Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase, which purchased it, rose 11% on Monday, pulling the Dow Jones Industrial Average into positive territory. The Dow closed Monday up 21.16 points to 11,972.25.
Sunday night the Fed also widened access to credit like never before in a muscular bid to keep banks and other institutions lending and corporations and investors borrowing.
“These moves by the Fed are a prelude to additional bold action to reduce rates,” said Brian Bethune, U.S. economist with forecaster Global Insight in Lexington, Mass. He predicted a full percentage-point cut.
As of Tuesday morning, Wall Street was all but certain that a cut of at least three-quarters of a percentage point was coming and hopeful for a full percentage point, which would have put the Fed’s bellwether short-term “federal funds” rate at 2%. That would bring the prime rate, which banks charge to their best customers, down to 5%.
“We continue to expect the funds rate eventually will reach 1.5 percent,” said Mickey Levy, chief economist of Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, in a note to investors.
What such low interest rates would mean for consumers isn’t clear, since turmoil in the credit markets means that banks aren’t lending. Instead, they are hording capital to shore up their balance sheets.
Lower rates could bring down some variable rates on credit cards, but credit card companies have been raising rates out of fear that the economic downturn will lead to more loan defaults.
The falling rates could help ease the sting for homeowners whose adjustable-rate mortgages are about to reset higher. But many of these loans adjust based on factors not directly affected by the Fed’s benchmark rate.
The Fed has already cut the funds rate from 5.25% last September to 3% in January. So far that’s done little to revive the U.S. economy, which has been in increasing turmoil since August.
The Fed has also made available more than half a trillion dollars in credit to banks and securities dealers in hopes of spurring lending and preventing credit markets from seizing up.
There were glimmers of hope Monday as the difference between yields on mortgage bonds and other safer financial instruments-called the spread-narrowed. One day does not make a trend, but it’s a possible sign that the fear gripping credit markets could be easing.
“These areas have tended to lead other areas of credit, so if we can hold onto these recent gains, there should be improvement in the tone of risk in general,” said Michael Darda, chief economist for MKM Partners, a stock trader and research firm in Greenwich, Conn.
Lyle Gramley is less optimistic. He’s a former Fed governor and has spent more than 50 years studying financial markets.
“If you look back at post-war recessions, I thought I knew that when the Fed pushed the accelerator, we’d leave problems behind. We just don’t know that now–that’s one of the most scary parts of the situation that we find ourselves in,” Gramley said. He believes that taxpayer dollars and more government intervention are needed.
President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have made clear that they’ll oppose bailouts of lenders. In a brief statement after meeting with his economic team on Monday morning, Bush said, “One thing is for certain, we’re in challenging times. But another thing is for certain: We’ve taken strong, decisive action.”
Monday could have been a far different day if not for bold action by the Fed to broker the sale of Bear Stearns in order to prevent its bankruptcy.
“To allow this to go to bankruptcy would have allowed systemic problems that could have been massive,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said in a conference call to U.S. reporters from Belgium.
The Fed on Sunday night also made a quarter-point cut in its discount rate, which it charges as the lender of last resort to banks. It extended the loan repayment time frame to 90 days from the normal 30-day terms, accepted as collateral a broad range of financial instruments including mortgage bonds, and made credit available to not just investment banks but also securities dealers.
Although U.S. stocks averted disaster Monday, share prices for financial sector players were hammered as concerns persisted about whether other big players were vulnerable to a run by investors, as Bear Stearns was.
“You know the old saying about cockroaches, there’s never just one,” said Howard Simons, president of Rosewood Trading, an economic research firm in Glenview, Ill. “One thing we’ve learned the hard way over the past year is, just when you think there’s no more bad news, there’s more bad news.”
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
HUD’s proposal reforms
In an effort to significantly improve the complicated, unclear and costly home buying process, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson proposed mortgage reform designed to help consumers better understand their loan terms so that they can shop more effectively for the largest purchase of their lives.
HUD’s proposal reforms the more than 30-year old rules of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), and improves disclosure of the loan terms and closing costs consumers pay when they buy or refinance their home. For the first time ever, HUD is proposing that mortgage lenders and brokers provide consumers with a standard Good Faith Estimate. By more openly disclosing the key elements of the loan and by controlling fee inflation, the Department seeks to provide consumers with enough information to allow them to shop more effectively for the lowest cost loan. HUD’s economic analysis finds that by offering consumers clearer, more certain cost estimates, the average borrower will save nearly $700.
“A lot of the mortgage problems we see today are directly related to the fact that few people fully understand this process,” said Jackson. “Buying a home can be very intimidating. Consumers have had no assurance that the loan terms and closing costs they are offered will reflect what they confront at the settlement table, and that’s been one of the factors driving the current housing downturn. Our proposal fixes that. We owe it to the American homebuyer to give them the information they need to make smart choices.”
Brian Montgomery, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Housing, added, “It’s not right that millions of consumers go to the settlement table without fully understanding the mountain of paperwork they’re asked to sign and, on top of that, expected to pay thousands of dollars in closing costs for services they’ve never heard of. This new Good Faith Estimate will give families the tools they need to understand what they’re getting into before they sign on the dotted line.”
In light of recent increases in loan defaults and foreclosures, the need for reform is imperative. When President Bush announced his comprehensive plan to address rising foreclosures last August, he pledged to offer new mortgage rules that would help families to avoid getting into trouble in the first place. This proposed RESPA rule makes good on that pledge.
HUD is proposing to offer consumers a standard Good Faith Estimate (GFE) that will substantially enhance disclosure of all important aspects of the loan, including:
- The interest rate and monthly payment;- Whether the interest rate and principal balance can increase and by how much; and- Whether the loan has a prepayment penalty or balloon payment.
The proposed Good Faith Estimate would consolidate closing costs into major categories to prevent “junk fees” and display total estimated settlement charges prominently on the first page so the consumer can easily compare loan offers. In addition, HUD’s new proposed rule would specify the charges that can and cannot change at settlement. If a fee changes, HUD proposes to limit the amount it can change. HUD also proposes to modify the HUD-1 settlement statement to help consumers compare the anticipated charges on the Good Faith Estimate and their actual charges.
The Good Faith Estimate would also require that lender payments to mortgage brokers (often called Yield Spread Premiums) be disclosed. It is HUD’s belief that these payments are directly dependent on the interest rates that consumers agree to and therefore ought to be disclosed. To ensure that HUD’s new proposal would not create a consumer bias against brokers, the Department did rigorous consumer testing and found the proposed Good Faith Estimate helped consumers to select the lowest cost loan more 90% of the time, regardless of whether the loan was originated by a lender or a broker.
Finally, HUD is proposing that settlement agents read a “closing script” to borrowers at the settlement table and that a copy be provided to the borrower. This closing script would ensure that the settlement agent not only compares the borrower’s estimated and actual charges, but would detail the key terms of the loan. HUD’s extensive consumer testing found borrowers appreciated the enhanced disclosures, believed the loan details on the closing scripts were clear and understandable, and reacted positively to having the scripts read out loud.
Legislative Changes to RESPA
To further bolster consumer protection and to ensure uniform and consistent enforcement of RESPA, HUD intends to seek legislative changes to the Act that will complement the regulatory improvements made by the rule. Currently, RESPA does not provide HUD with enforcement mechanisms for some of the most important consumer disclosures and protections. A lack of enforcement authority and clear remedies for violations of critical sections of RESPA negatively impact consumers and diminish the effectiveness of the statute.
HUD will seek the authority to impose penalties for violations of specific sections of RESPA, including Section 4 (provision of uniform settlement statement); Section 5 (GFE and settlement costs booklet); Section 6 (loan servicing); Section 8 (prohibition against kickbacks, referral fees, and unearned fees); Section 9 (title insurance); and portions of Section 10 (regarding escrow accounts). In addition, HUD proposes the authority for the Secretary and State regulators to seek injunctive and equitable relief for violations of RESPA; require delivery of the HUD-1 to the borrower three days prior to closing; and establish a uniform statute of limitations applicable to governmental and private actions under RESPA.
HUD’s proposal reforms the more than 30-year old rules of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), and improves disclosure of the loan terms and closing costs consumers pay when they buy or refinance their home. For the first time ever, HUD is proposing that mortgage lenders and brokers provide consumers with a standard Good Faith Estimate. By more openly disclosing the key elements of the loan and by controlling fee inflation, the Department seeks to provide consumers with enough information to allow them to shop more effectively for the lowest cost loan. HUD’s economic analysis finds that by offering consumers clearer, more certain cost estimates, the average borrower will save nearly $700.
“A lot of the mortgage problems we see today are directly related to the fact that few people fully understand this process,” said Jackson. “Buying a home can be very intimidating. Consumers have had no assurance that the loan terms and closing costs they are offered will reflect what they confront at the settlement table, and that’s been one of the factors driving the current housing downturn. Our proposal fixes that. We owe it to the American homebuyer to give them the information they need to make smart choices.”
Brian Montgomery, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Housing, added, “It’s not right that millions of consumers go to the settlement table without fully understanding the mountain of paperwork they’re asked to sign and, on top of that, expected to pay thousands of dollars in closing costs for services they’ve never heard of. This new Good Faith Estimate will give families the tools they need to understand what they’re getting into before they sign on the dotted line.”
In light of recent increases in loan defaults and foreclosures, the need for reform is imperative. When President Bush announced his comprehensive plan to address rising foreclosures last August, he pledged to offer new mortgage rules that would help families to avoid getting into trouble in the first place. This proposed RESPA rule makes good on that pledge.
HUD is proposing to offer consumers a standard Good Faith Estimate (GFE) that will substantially enhance disclosure of all important aspects of the loan, including:
- The interest rate and monthly payment;- Whether the interest rate and principal balance can increase and by how much; and- Whether the loan has a prepayment penalty or balloon payment.
The proposed Good Faith Estimate would consolidate closing costs into major categories to prevent “junk fees” and display total estimated settlement charges prominently on the first page so the consumer can easily compare loan offers. In addition, HUD’s new proposed rule would specify the charges that can and cannot change at settlement. If a fee changes, HUD proposes to limit the amount it can change. HUD also proposes to modify the HUD-1 settlement statement to help consumers compare the anticipated charges on the Good Faith Estimate and their actual charges.
The Good Faith Estimate would also require that lender payments to mortgage brokers (often called Yield Spread Premiums) be disclosed. It is HUD’s belief that these payments are directly dependent on the interest rates that consumers agree to and therefore ought to be disclosed. To ensure that HUD’s new proposal would not create a consumer bias against brokers, the Department did rigorous consumer testing and found the proposed Good Faith Estimate helped consumers to select the lowest cost loan more 90% of the time, regardless of whether the loan was originated by a lender or a broker.
Finally, HUD is proposing that settlement agents read a “closing script” to borrowers at the settlement table and that a copy be provided to the borrower. This closing script would ensure that the settlement agent not only compares the borrower’s estimated and actual charges, but would detail the key terms of the loan. HUD’s extensive consumer testing found borrowers appreciated the enhanced disclosures, believed the loan details on the closing scripts were clear and understandable, and reacted positively to having the scripts read out loud.
Legislative Changes to RESPA
To further bolster consumer protection and to ensure uniform and consistent enforcement of RESPA, HUD intends to seek legislative changes to the Act that will complement the regulatory improvements made by the rule. Currently, RESPA does not provide HUD with enforcement mechanisms for some of the most important consumer disclosures and protections. A lack of enforcement authority and clear remedies for violations of critical sections of RESPA negatively impact consumers and diminish the effectiveness of the statute.
HUD will seek the authority to impose penalties for violations of specific sections of RESPA, including Section 4 (provision of uniform settlement statement); Section 5 (GFE and settlement costs booklet); Section 6 (loan servicing); Section 8 (prohibition against kickbacks, referral fees, and unearned fees); Section 9 (title insurance); and portions of Section 10 (regarding escrow accounts). In addition, HUD proposes the authority for the Secretary and State regulators to seek injunctive and equitable relief for violations of RESPA; require delivery of the HUD-1 to the borrower three days prior to closing; and establish a uniform statute of limitations applicable to governmental and private actions under RESPA.
Monday, March 17, 2008
judge a book by its cover
When it comes to purchasing a home, buyers do indeed judge a book by its cover, according to a new nationwide survey of real estate agents commissioned by JELD-WEN® Windows & Doors.
Curb appeal has traditionally been an important part of the sales process; however, the recently released Real Estate Agent Community Trends (REACT) survey found that it is absolutely essential to getting buyers in the door and fostering a sale. Specifically, 82 percent of agent respondents said they have had potential buyers decline to look at the interior of a home based on the exterior appearance.
To find out what it takes to attract buyers in today's tough market, JELD-WEN went straight to the source. Nearly 500 real estate agents weighed in on the most important exterior and performance features of selling a home. Often that means replacing old windows and doors with new designs that are both stylish and energy efficient. JELD-WEN discovered in the study that more than half, 56 percent, of agents have advised sellers to update windows and doors.
"Real estate agents told us that home buyers today are looking for energy efficiency, increased property values and to see if a home has been updated," said Souders. "Windows and doors are keys to all these attributes, which is why JELD-WEN makes such a broad range of products for remodeling and enhancing curb appeal."
Other notable findings from the REACT survey include:
First impressions: Nearly all respondents, 90 percent, felt a buyer's first impression of the front entry was important to their ability to sell a home; 91 percent of agents agreed that a prospect's impression of a home's outer shell is equally important as the interior.
Help me sell: Other than first impressions, real estate agents pointed out the amount of a home's natural light (75 percent), overall appearance of windows and doors (71 percent), energy efficient products (63 percent) and environmentally friendly materials (29 percent) helps them appeal to potential home buyers.
Energy efficiency is hot: With rising gas prices and a tight economy, a majority of agents have used energy efficiency as a selling feature. Two-thirds, 66 percent, said they have mentioned energy efficient doors and windows in their home listings.
Universal design booming: The baby boom generation and those planning for retirement are driving demand for easy-to-use features and floor plans. Sixty five percent of agents in the REACT survey said that the number of buyers looking for universal design features, such as a master bedroom on the main floor or a single story home, has increased in the last few years.
Doors add value: Given the importance of the front entry in the sale of a home, agents were shown pictures of an average 2,000-square-foot home and asked to estimate its value in their area. When shown the same home with updated entry and garage doors, agents estimated the property to be worth an additional $16,000.
Curb appeal has traditionally been an important part of the sales process; however, the recently released Real Estate Agent Community Trends (REACT) survey found that it is absolutely essential to getting buyers in the door and fostering a sale. Specifically, 82 percent of agent respondents said they have had potential buyers decline to look at the interior of a home based on the exterior appearance.
To find out what it takes to attract buyers in today's tough market, JELD-WEN went straight to the source. Nearly 500 real estate agents weighed in on the most important exterior and performance features of selling a home. Often that means replacing old windows and doors with new designs that are both stylish and energy efficient. JELD-WEN discovered in the study that more than half, 56 percent, of agents have advised sellers to update windows and doors.
"Real estate agents told us that home buyers today are looking for energy efficiency, increased property values and to see if a home has been updated," said Souders. "Windows and doors are keys to all these attributes, which is why JELD-WEN makes such a broad range of products for remodeling and enhancing curb appeal."
Other notable findings from the REACT survey include:
First impressions: Nearly all respondents, 90 percent, felt a buyer's first impression of the front entry was important to their ability to sell a home; 91 percent of agents agreed that a prospect's impression of a home's outer shell is equally important as the interior.
Help me sell: Other than first impressions, real estate agents pointed out the amount of a home's natural light (75 percent), overall appearance of windows and doors (71 percent), energy efficient products (63 percent) and environmentally friendly materials (29 percent) helps them appeal to potential home buyers.
Energy efficiency is hot: With rising gas prices and a tight economy, a majority of agents have used energy efficiency as a selling feature. Two-thirds, 66 percent, said they have mentioned energy efficient doors and windows in their home listings.
Universal design booming: The baby boom generation and those planning for retirement are driving demand for easy-to-use features and floor plans. Sixty five percent of agents in the REACT survey said that the number of buyers looking for universal design features, such as a master bedroom on the main floor or a single story home, has increased in the last few years.
Doors add value: Given the importance of the front entry in the sale of a home, agents were shown pictures of an average 2,000-square-foot home and asked to estimate its value in their area. When shown the same home with updated entry and garage doors, agents estimated the property to be worth an additional $16,000.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
watching reality home shows
You'd hardly know there was a housing crisis by watching reality home shows. The properties on these shows are still getting bought, sold, flipped, updated and dated (as in TLC's new show "Date My House").
According to HGTV, nine of its top 10 series deal with buying and selling homes, including "House Hunters," "My First Place," "Hidden Potential," "Buy Me" and "Designed to Sell." This is a departure from the craft and garden shows that populated HGTV's early years.
And the property shows increasingly reflect market reality.
It's now a buyer's market, thus the focus on "dating" a house or sleeping on it, the theme of another new show. Remember back when houses got multiple offers within the first hour? Back then, you'd barely have time to shake a home's hand, much less spend a night with it.
In my opinion, the house-flipping shows (which are still popular) should reveal more reality, as in: How much did the house sell for after the upgrade? In the past, I've felt ripped off when, at the end of a flipping show, the house didn't sell. What's the point of the show if we don't see the outcome? Did they lose money? Or make money? Or was it a wash? What were commission and closing costs?
"Flip That House" will become more reflective of the economy, said Brant Pinvidic, TLC's senior vice president of programming. Not every "flipper" gets rich quick. The show will make sure every time at the end to clearly outline how each investor did, he said.
According to HGTV, nine of its top 10 series deal with buying and selling homes, including "House Hunters," "My First Place," "Hidden Potential," "Buy Me" and "Designed to Sell." This is a departure from the craft and garden shows that populated HGTV's early years.
And the property shows increasingly reflect market reality.
It's now a buyer's market, thus the focus on "dating" a house or sleeping on it, the theme of another new show. Remember back when houses got multiple offers within the first hour? Back then, you'd barely have time to shake a home's hand, much less spend a night with it.
In my opinion, the house-flipping shows (which are still popular) should reveal more reality, as in: How much did the house sell for after the upgrade? In the past, I've felt ripped off when, at the end of a flipping show, the house didn't sell. What's the point of the show if we don't see the outcome? Did they lose money? Or make money? Or was it a wash? What were commission and closing costs?
"Flip That House" will become more reflective of the economy, said Brant Pinvidic, TLC's senior vice president of programming. Not every "flipper" gets rich quick. The show will make sure every time at the end to clearly outline how each investor did, he said.
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