Best-Kept Secret in Rural Housing
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service's Section 502 direct 
loan program is a longstanding loan product that's intended to help relatively low-income households get safe and affordable financing. The
agency has the flexibility to make loans to lower-income households
because it makes the loans directly rather than through a lender as a
guaranteed loan. The agency's director, Cathy Glower, came to the
National Association of REALTORS®' offices in Washington, D.C., last
week to talk about the opportunities that many rural home buyers might
be missing out on because of the program's low profile, read more.
Home Prices are Rising at a Rapid Pace
Existing-home
sales surged 9 percent year-over-year in March and home prices
were up 8
percent over last year, according to the National Association of
REALTORS®. Home prices are rising at a more rapid pace than they
were just a few months ago, as demand outpaces supply. What’s more, with tight inventories plaguing many markets, the median list price in March climbed 11 percent over last year, reaching $220,000, reports. With home prices heating up again, could the housing market be heading for another bubble? 'This Is No Housing Bubble,' read more.
Cost-Effective Renovations, Keep it Simple
When it comes to remodeling, it's best to keep it simple. Small cost-effective 
home
renovations will likely get the best return on investment, according to
surveys, appraisers, and real estate professionals. According to the 2015 Cost vs. Value Report, large-scale home remodeling projects are often a gamble, and aren't likely to return their full cost. Small home improvements like upgrading to a steel door, updating the garage door, replacing wood windows, and making small updates to the kitchen will recoup nearly 100 percent of their cost. Bottom line? Simple replacements cost a lot less and provide a bigger payback, read more.
Cost-Effective Renovations, Keep it Simple
When it comes to remodeling, it's best to keep it simple. Small cost-effective home
renovations will likely get the best return on investment, according to
surveys, appraisers, and real estate professionals. According to the 2015 Cost vs. Value Report, large-scale home remodeling projects are often a gamble, and aren't likely to return their full cost. Small home improvements like upgrading to a steel door, updating the garage door, replacing wood windows, and making small updates to the kitchen will recoup nearly 100 percent of their cost. Bottom line? Simple replacements cost a lot less and provide a bigger payback, read more.
What are Stale Listing?
Stale' Listings Are Finding Buyers: "A home that’s been sitting for 30 days is 
more likely to be overpriced, in need of renovation, or have other problems that prevent it from selling." A limited number of homes for-sale has been plaguing housing markets for months.
And despite recent gains, for-sale inventories remain a big concern,
particularly when you "take the quality of the inventory into account," according to a new report by the real estate brokerages. The number of both fresh and dated listings remains low, painting a bleak picture for buyers in many cities. When new buyers find out they're going to have to beat other offers on the newer stuff, they adjust and start looking for things on the market, read more.
New-Home Sales Tumble
Temporary Setback? Sales of newly built single-family homes plunged 11.4 
percent in March, led by large dips in the Midwest and South, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. It was the largest drop in new home sales since July 2013 and follows three consecutive months of large gains. "After two robust months of new home sales, some readjustment is inevitable," says David Crowe, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders.Still, "this is the best first quarter since 2008, and attractive mortgage rates and pent-up demand should keep the market moving in the right direction." Read more.
How to Finance Nontraditional Home
Earthship, Yurt, or Other Weird (i.e., Nontraditional) Home: (or, depending on 
your POV, downright weird) homes you can buy right now.
That is, if you have cash If not, you’ll need to get the right kind of financing to
step through your atypical front door. We looked at types of
unusual properties to see what kind of financing challenges to expect if
you’re looking to go the route of log cabins, Earthships, and
extremely remote locations. That’s why seller financing can be the way to go, Richter said. Just don’t expect to get market rates or
choose your loan type. Seller financers can (and will) charge higher
rates, set specific terms, and require a substantial down payment to make sure you have enough skin in the game.See how Students Build $500 House
Landlords Are Raising Rents Again
“In the 2015 rental season, we’re really seeing the ability to move rents,” 
David Singelyn, chief executive —the largest publicly-traded single-family landlord. CEOs of the largest companies renting out single-family homes say they plan to raise rents this year. Investors are switching their focus from buying properties to optimizing the revenue from the thousands of properties they bought, taking advantage of the increased demand for rental homes. “There’s a supply imbalance in some markets. See How Much.
Yes, This Housing Market Is Tight
Sales and Prices Suggest Housing is Gaining Momentum in Spring: April's 
target annual sales rate for existing homes is an increase of 2.3 percent from March and 11.8 percent from April 2014.
"Among
the factors contributing to the jump in March's existing home sales,
pent-up demand from weak sales in January and February probably played a
significant role," EVP Rick Sharga said. " Consumer psychology is likely also at play here: with talk of the Fed hiking interest rates as early as June, buyers who've been sitting on the sidelines may have decided to buy now and lock in today's historically low interest rates." Read more.
Flipping House Edges Out Renting
Price Jumps Leading to More Flips: More investors are flipping properties 
again,
a trend that started last year and is building momentum across the
country, according to First Quarter 2015 Real Estate Investor Activity
Report. Investors lately are showing more interest in purchasing a home to flip than renting it out. In fact there was a 6.5 percent quarter-over-quarter increase in favor of flipping in the first quarter of 2015. "It seems clear that the unusually low inventory of homes for sale has led to higher home prices, which makes it challenging for investors to rent homes out at a rate that’s profitable, and still affordable for tenants, Read more.
Credit Unions Offer Tempting Mortgage Deals,
Credit unions are aggressively expanding their mortgage business by more 
than quadrupling their share of total mortgage market volume in the last nine years, according to the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. More than half – 59 percent – of the loans it issued
went to first-time buyers too. Navy Federal is available to all
branches of the armed services, active and retired, civilian employees,
contractors, and relatives. Other credit unions are offering similar programs too in expanding their mortgage business, Read more.
Is Mortgage Credit Easing Up
Credit-worthy borrowers are being denied a chance at home ownership due to "unnecessary regulatory burdens" that are preventing 
them
from qualifying for a mortgage, leaders testified Thursday before the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and
Urban Affairs Committee. "REALTORS®
support strong underwriting standards to protect consumers from the
risky lending practices of the past, but we are concerned that the
pendulum has swung too far." In some cases, well-intentioned,
but over-corrective policies are severely hampering the ability of
millions of qualified buyers to purchase a home. Our members believe, that we have yet to strike the right balance between regulation and opportunity." Mortgage rates continue to hover near historical lows,Read more.
Remodel or Relocate?
Should Retirees: The decision on whether to renovate or relocate in retirement 
can be complex and emotional. A recent report revealed that as people edge towards retirement age, the more they value the emotional connection to their home rather than the financial value.
The Merrill Lynch and Age Wave report asked 3,600 people if they planned to stay in their homes after retirement. 36 percent of those surveyed said that they would. Most
respondents planned to stay put because they felt a strong connection
to their home and their neighborhood, and had relatives and friends
living in the area.
Reports have shown a lack of affordable housing options for baby boomers, and a lack of overall housing inventory remains a problem in many areas of the country.
First-Time Buyers May Request Up to 3%* Closing Cost
HomePath Ready Buyer Education Program, a comprehensive online 
homebuyer education course. First-Time Homebuyers who complete this education course by their initial offer may request up to 3%* closing cost assistance toward the purchase of a HomePath property and reimbursement of the HomePath Ready Buyer training cost. Must
be a First-Time Homebuyer (did not own a property in the past three
years) and plan to reside in the property as their primary residence, eligible.
When Selling Don't Overprice Your Home
Your Home’s First Price Should Be Its Best Price: Home owners can get 
emotional
about their home when it's time to sell. Here are a few mistakes
sellers often make in letting emotions override logic during a
transaction. A reasonable price would be based on comparable properties that are selling for and the home's appraised value. "No offers within a 30-day period means the price is too high." The longer the home lingers on a market, the more likely it will receive a deeper discount. 3 Mistakes Sellers Make.
Be a Little Bit Country to Get Your Mortgage Paid for a Year?
Mortgage Assistance Plays with Country Music. For fans of country music, they 
may
be able to get a mortgage payoff, at least for a year. Grammy
Award-winning country trio Lady Antebellum has teamed with Quicken Loans
to offer seven fans some help with their mortgage. The band is using the mortgage assistance contest to kick off its upcoming Wheels Up 2015 Tour. "You might even be able to use the money to pay extra on your mortgage and save money on interest in the long run. To apply for the band's 7FOR7 Sweepstakes, read more.
Cash Sales Rebounds From Seasonal Decline
This will be Fannie Mae's first bulk sale: Fannie Mae announced on Wednesday that it will make available for purchase to qualified bidders a bundle 
of approximately 3,200 non-performing single-family residential mortgage loans totaling about $786 million in unpaid principal balance. NPLs as the GSEs push to clear deeply delinquent loans from their mortgage portfolios at the behest of their conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Still,
REO sales had a small influence on overall cash sales were up from all home sales in January – marking the 25th consecutive
month of year-over-year decline, read more.
In Most Places Buying Is Cheaper Than Renting
Many renters would be better off buying a home than continuing to pay 
steep rental costs,
finds a new study. The monthly payment on a median priced home is more
affordable than the monthly fair market rent on a three-bedroom property
in 76 percent of the U.S. counties, according to Residential Rental
Property Analysis, which encompassed 461 counties nationwide with
populations of at least 100,000. Overall Researchers found that fair market rents represented 28 percent of the estimated median household income, read more.
It will take a Village to Close Your Mortgage
A Look at Mortgages In 2015, Home loan regulations will change in August:
The separate entities involved in the mortgage process needs to work together
as a “village” to make a closing happen. Instead of letting the process
undermine everyone’s hard work, it needs to be reconstructed into an
automated and collaborative system. The
mortgage industry needs to rethink the process of closing a home loan
in 2015 — on a fundamental level. And it needs to be ready to use that
new process by August. It will take a village. What would that look like?
Which States Have Lowest, Highest Property Taxes
Ask the Experts: Property taxes are an extremely important issue considering their impact on all of our lives. But
how should we incorporate them into our financial decision-making and
how should policy makers across the country approach them as well? For answers to those questions and more, we consulted a panel of leading tax and public policy experts. Property taxes can make up a big chunk of a household's annual expenses, and it can vary considerably depending on where you live. You can check out what we asked them as well as their responses below. See where your State Property Taxes Rank.
