Rebekah Collins

It's a tool used by house flippers all across the nation. Stagers know its power. Real estate agents push its importance. What is this not-so-well-kept secret of real estate? A kitchen can sell a house. 

A kitchen is the heart of a home. This is true all across the globe. The old saying that the "stomach is the way to the heart" carries a lot of truth. Kitchens are where we spend much of our time and most of that is with our families. It's the room where we nourish our bodies and our spirits. 

Kitchens are integral to entertaining and in today's age of open floor plans, they're a focal piece of many family rooms. It's because of this that kitchens play such an important role in the buying and selling process. 

This one room is the showpiece of the house. You'll see it every day and your guests will see it during most visits. This means buyers want homes with up-to-date kitchens. 

Kitchens, however, can be one of the most expensive rooms to renovate. These projects can also be the most labor and time intensive of all home renovations. It's not just a new layer of paint. 

Instead you find a complicated array of flooring, tiling, cabinets, and counters. This means buyers may want a home with an up-to-date kitchen but they aren't willing to tackle this problem themselves. Most buyers want a kitchen that is ready to use the day they move in. 

What do buyers look for in up-to-date kitchens? A lot of this depends on what price range your home is in. 

The main thing to remember as a seller is to not price yourself out of your market. If homes in your neighborhood are selling for $100,000 with tidy, but not luxury kitchens, then this is no time to upgrade to granite, travertine, and marble at the price tag of $40,000+. You simply won't find a buyer. 

Scope out the competition. Use open houses in your area or MLS listings to find out what your competitions' kitchens look like. 

Do area homes have new solid wood cabinets and granite counters in today's designer colors? You'll be wise to consider making the same move. Are they including new stainless steel appliances and add-ons like dishwashers, wine-coolers, and trash compactors? 

Are you in a higher-end neighborhood? It's time to think high-end. Your older home may have a highly functional kitchen, but a buyer will take one look at your formica counters and white appliances and become lost in the stress of how much money and time it would take to remodel. If you don't want to put in the time yourself to make upgrades then you'll have to make concessions in the price. 

Don't become overwhelmed, though. Sometimes a kitchen update can mean doing just a few minor changes. Change the paint color to a warm, neutral tone. Get rid of any clutter. Update your appliances, paint your cabinets, change the pulls, or get a high-end looking counter for a fraction of the cost (faux-granite or lower end granite). You might even save a bundle by doing much of the work yourself. 

The bottom line is a kitchen can sell a home. Do a little research and find out what your kitchen needs to make it competitive with area listings.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

       Even though, with this year's La Nina winter experience that is happening here in St. Tammany Parish, we at Ron Lee Homes would like to show you a way to make sure that you are prepared for any cold snap that we may have for the rest of this winter.  Your home is your biggest and best investment, so follow these tips to make sure that you protect your investment and save yourself any money you could spend in repairs.

       The fall Equinox is a good time of year to start thinking about preparing your home for winter, because as temperatures begin to dip, your home will require maintenance to keep it in tip-top shape through the winter.

       Autumn is invariably a prelude to falling winter temperatures, regardless of where you live. It might rain or snow or, as David Letterman says, "Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees." Did you know there is only one state in the United States where the temperatures have never dipped below zero? Give up? It's Hawaii.

Here Are Ten Tips to Help You Prepare Your Home for Winter

1) Furnace Inspection

• Call an HVAC professional to inspect your furnace and clean ducts.
• Stock up on furnace filters and change them monthly.
• Consider switching out your thermostat for a programmable thermostat.
• If your home is heated by a hot-water radiator, bleed the valves by opening them slightly and when water appears, close them.
• Remove all flammable material from the area surrounding your furnace.

2) Get the Fireplace Ready

• Cap or screen the top of the chimney to keep out rodents and birds.
• If the chimney hasn't been cleaned for a while, call a chimney sweep to remove soot and creosote.
• Buy firewood or chop wood. Store it in a dry place away from the exterior of your home.
• Inspect the fireplace damper for proper opening and closing.
• Check the mortar between bricks and tuckpoint, if necessary.

3) Check the Exterior, Doors and Windows

• Inspect exterior for crevice cracks and exposed entry points around pipes; seal them.
• Use weatherstripping around doors to prevent cold air from entering the home and caulk windows.
• Replace cracked glass in windows and, if you end up replacing the entire window, prime and paint exposed wood.
• If your home has a basement, consider protecting its window wells by covering them with plastic shields.
• Switch out summer screens with glass replacements from storage. If you have storm windows, install them.

4) Inspect Roof, Gutters & Downspouts

• If your weather temperature will fall below 32 degrees in the winter, adding extra insulation to the attic will prevent warm air from creeping to your roof and causing ice dams.
• Check flashing to ensure water cannot enter the home.
• Replace worn roof shingles or tiles.
• Clean out the gutters and use a hose to spray water down the downspouts to clear away debris.
• Consider installing leaf guards on the gutters or extensions on the downspouts to direct water away from the home.

5) Service Weather-Specific Equipment

• Drain gas from lawnmowers.
• Service or tune-up snow blowers.
• Replace worn rakes and snow shovels.
• Clean, dry and store summer gardening equipment.
• Sharpen ice choppers and buy bags of ice-melt / sand.

6) Check Foundations

• Rake away all debris and edible vegetation from the foundation.
• Seal up entry points to keep small animals from crawling under the house.
• Tuckpoint or seal foundation cracks. Mice can slip through space as thin as a dime.
• Inspect sill plates for dry rot or pest infestation.
• Secure crawlspace entrances.

7) Install Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

• Some cities require a smoke detector in every room.
• Buy extra smoke detector batteries and change them when daylight savings ends.
• Install a carbon monoxide detector near your furnace and / or water heater.
• Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they work.
• Buy a fire extinguisher or replace an extinguisher older than 10 years.

8) Prevent Plumbing Freezes

• Locate your water main in the event you need to shut it off in an emergency.
• Drain all garden hoses.
• Insulate exposed plumbing pipes.
• Drain air conditioner pipes and, if your AC has a water shut-off valve, turn it off.
• If you go on vacation, leave the heat on, set to at least 55 degrees.

9) Prepare Landscaping & Outdoor Surfaces

• Trim trees if branches hang too close to the house or electrical wires.
• Ask a gardener when your trees should be pruned to prevent winter injury.
• Plant spring flower bulbs and lift bulbs that cannot winter over such as dahlias in areas where the ground freezes.
• Seal driveways, brick patios and wood decks.
• Don't automatically remove dead vegetation from gardens as some provide attractive scenery in an otherwise dreary, snow-drenched yard.
• Move sensitive potted plants indoors or to a sheltered area.

10) Prepare an Emergency Kit

• Buy indoor candles and matches / lighter for use during a power shortage.
• Find the phone numbers for your utility companies and tape them near your phone or inside the phone book.
• Buy a battery back-up to protect your computer and sensitive electronic equipment.
• Store extra bottled water and non-perishable food supplies (including pet food, if you have a pet), blankets and a first-aid kit in a dry and easy-to-access location.
• Prepare an evacuation plan in the event of an emergency.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

       With the current real estate market conditions, most people wonder if it is a good time to buy a home. Many also wonder about Buying vs Renting a home. These are both good questions, and they are fair questions. Considering the fact the owning a home is the largest investment that most people will make in their lifetime. In this article, we will go over some of the advantages of buying a home now rather than waiting. We will also go over some facts to see if it is a good time to buy vs rent a home.

“Now could be the best time in history to buy a home” -Market Watch.com, article titled, Now Might Be The Best Time Ever to Buy a Home.

It is no secret that the price of real estate in The US has softened over the last few years. If you are considering buying a home, you may think that it will make more sense to wait, rent, or even continue to rent until the real estate market hits the bottom and rebounds. The image above shows MSN Money.com and Case Shiller’s study (January 2000 to November 2011) which show that real estate still yield the highest return on investment over the stock market. So, even if home prices go down further, understand is that with interest rates at record lows, the cost of buying a home has decreased.

“It’s hard to see the possibility of losing on a home purchase right now, with these mortgage rates.” -Dean Baker, Business Week article titled -Crazy home deals await the creditworthy

Here are some facts shared by our friends at Keeping Current Matters in a recent blog post as they compared the difference in monthly cost on a home purchased for $250,000: “According to the most recent S&P Case Shiller price index, residential real estate values have returned to 2003 1Q PRICEs. That, in itself, says something. However, when you factor in mortgage rates, the case for buying a home today becomes even more compelling. In 2003, 30 year mortgage rates stood at 5.88%. Today, they are 4%. How does that impact the actual COST of a home?”

As you can see, it is important not to just look at price, but rather consider the cost of owning a home in today’s housing market. Hopefully, we are not expecting interest rates to stay at these record lows forever because they won’t. Once interest rates go up, so will the cost of owning a home.

“It’s an excellent time to buy a house, either to live in for the long term or for investment income.” … Wall Street Journal

Unless someone is still staying at home with their parents, most people already have a housing (rent) expense. What you have to decide is, does your housing expense go up or down if you buy a home. The image below shows a Forbes.com research on Housing Cost Over the Next 30 years if you get a normal fixed rate mortgage vs. renting at a normal annual appreciation of 3.2%. Forbes estimates that in 30 years, the renter would have paid $900,000 vs. $540,000 for the buyer with a normal fixed rate mortgage. Also, if the buyer bought a $300,000 home, at an annual appreciation rate of only 1%, they would have a $400,000 retirement fund created from their equity after 30 years vs. $0 for the renter. How many landlords do you know that will give you your money back after 30 years?.

“The previous declines in house prices and the more recent drop in mortgage rates to record lows have created an unusual situation in which the median monthly mortgage payment is more or less the same as the median rental payment.” -Capital Economics

“By the 3rd quarter of this year, we estimate that the implied median mortgage payment had fallen to just 78% of the median asking rent…” – JP Morgan

Bottom Line:

Waiting to get a better price on a home could end up cost you more when you finally buy a home. Along with the other costs is also the cost paid in rent while you wait. After adding up all the costs, how much will you actually be saving by waiting?

“My answer to those who ask whether now’s the time to buy a house is that the American Dream is and always was alive and well. It has nothing to do with the direction of housing prices but everything to do with your financial situation, income stability, ability to shoulder the costs, and if the home you have your eye on is your version of the American Dream— a home you love that you hope to live in for an extended period.”  Forbes.com

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

       An optimistic showing from U.S. housing markets over the last month has been revealed by new data released by the Obama administration. The October Housing Scorecard Report showed that sales of new homes rose to 26,100 in the last month, but while this is more sales than August’s total of 24,700 new home sales, it’s down from September 2010’s total of 26,300 new home sales.

       On the plus side however, sales of existing homes did grow, rising to 409,200 for September 2011, a 10% increase on September 2010’s total of 367,250. The previous month saw more existing home sales though, with 421,700 transactions recorded in August 2011.

       Also in September, Raphael Bostic, of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, revealed that foreclosure prevention programs contributed to a decline in the number of mortgage defaults, as these programs were expanded to reach more borrowers:

Altogether, September 2011 saw 70,700 default notices filed against delinquent borrowers, as compared with 102,400 in September 2010. This is a drop of almost 31% year on year. This figure is also a decrease from the previous month’s total of 78,900 foreclosure starts.

       Refinance originations for September were also lower than a year ago, recorded at 964,000 compared with 1,341,000 in September 2010, a decrease of 28%.

       There were also more first-time buyers getting themselves on the property ladder last month. 217,000 homes were sold to first-times, compared with 196,000 in the same month last year.

       Bostic said that the Obama administration had done much to make it easier for borrowers to refinance their mortgages at more affordable interest rates. Refinancing at rates close to 4% is now a lot more common, meaning that homeowners now have more money to spend, something that will help to boost the U.S. economy.


Click Here for the Source of the Information.

MID: Witnesses Say No Cuts Now

      On October 6, 2011, the Senate Finance Committee held another in a series of hearings on tax reform, this time focusing on housing incentives. Five witnesses testified from a variety of perspectives, but they were unanimous on one point: Now is not the time to make any changes to the mortgage interest deduction (MID). Witnesses included representatives from the Pulte Corporation (housing construction), the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), retired Senator John Breaux (D-LA) and two academic economists.

      Senator Breaux advocated the approach that had been taken by the 2005 Bush Tax Reform Panel, recommending that the MID be gradually converted from a deduction to a 15% tax credit. Pulte and NAHB delivered the same message that NAR provided in a written statement: housing changes should be retained intact. Both economists believed that the MID should be reduced at some future time, but not presently. All five witnesses emphasized that the market is far too fragile and that any changes to housing incentives, especially MID, would cause greater instability and price declines.

      Almost all of the discussion during the Q&A period was about MID. A few references were made to second homes, but the witnesses emphasized that changes to MID for second homes would have serious jobs and revenue impact on second homes communities. NAR and NAHB noted the importance of the $250,000/$500,000 exclusion in written comments, but no Senator made any inquiry related to it. 

Read NAR's press release following the hearing and NAR's written submission.

       For the second time in as many years, St. Tammany Parish voters will decide a referendum that seeks to double the homestead exemption for veterans who are disabled from their military service.

       Last November, voters in St. Tammany and statewide approved a constitutional amendment that gave parishes the option to hold local elections to ask voters if they want to double the homestead exemption for veterans whose service injuries render them entirely unable to work.

       The issue will come before St. Tammany Parish voters again Oct. 22; passage this time would make it the rule in St. Tammany.

       In the metro area, voters in St. Charles Parish have approved the increased homestead exemption for disabled veterans. Like St. Tammany, voters in Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes will decide the issue in those parishes Oct. 22.

       The St. Tammany Parish Council, at the urging of Assessor Patricia Schwarz Core and council members Marty Gould, Al Hamauei, Steve Stefancik, Reid Falconer and Gene Bellisario, approved legislation this spring to bring the issue to parish voters.

       The measure only affects veterans considered 100-percent disabled by the U.S. Department of Military Affairs due to service-related injuries. If approved, the homestead exemption for these veterans would increase from the usual $75,000, to $150,000. The benefit would extend to spouses after the disabled veterans die.

      Core, a supporter of the measure, said the tax break would affect a small portion of taxpayers and estimated it would cost the parish around $30,000 annually.

"So it won't really cost that much," she said.

       Robin Keller, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Veterans Affairs, said information on the specific number of disabled veterans in St. Tammany is confidential due to privacy laws. She said there are more than 23,000 veterans living in St. Tammany, but that the number of veterans who would be impacted by the referendum, if approved, is "significantly lower."

       The idea for the increased homestead exemption came from the Baton Rouge chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, where the commander wanted to help disabled veterans and saw that Texas offered a tax break.

       Last fall, the government watchdog group Bureau of Governmental Research estimated that 2,500 veterans statewide would qualify. The BGR opposed the constitutional amendment, in part saying it was the federal government's role to provide benefits to veterans and noting that a provision in the amendment prevents local governments from replacing lost revenue through other measures.

       The Northshore Legislative Alliance, a collaboration of the St. Tammany West and East chambers of commerce and the Northshore Business Council, is set to discuss the measure on Wednesday.

       If the vote on the constitutional amendment last November is any indication, the measure is likely to find a sympathetic electorate in St. Tammany. The constitutional amendment paving the way for the local election passed here by a margin of 64 percent to 36 percent.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

Pittsburgh and New Orleans Among Those Included

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its first NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI), a new economic index revealing metropolitan areas that have shown improvement for at least six months in three key economic areas—housing permits, employment and housing prices.

The list of metropolitan areas includes:

• Alexandria, LA
• Anchorage, AK
• Bangor, ME
• Bismarck, ND
• Casper, WY
• Fairbanks, AK
• Fayetteville, NC
• Houma, LA
• Midland, TX
• New Orleans, LA
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Waco, TX

“Despite the challenging conditions in the national economy and housing sector, there are areas throughout the country where we are seeing pockets of improvement” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. “Housing conditions are local, and do not always reflect the national picture. We created this new index to shine a light on those housing markets across the country that have stabilized and have begun to show signs of recovery.”

“By examining key indicators of home prices, employment and housing permits data, we are using a comprehensive, but conservative method in determining which markets are improving,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Last year at this time, there was not a single market that showed improvement using these criteria, and now we can point to 12 examples of growth.”

“It’s not surprising that many of the states represented are energy rich areas,” Crowe continued. “Those are the regions still experiencing relatively strong employment, supporting housing demand.”

The IMI is designed to track housing markets throughout the country that are showing signs of improving economic health. The index measures three sets of independent monthly data to get a mark on the top improving Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The three indicators that are analyzed are employment growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, house price appreciation from Freddie Mac, and single-family housing permit growth from the U.S. Census Bureau. A metro area must see improvement in all three areas for at least six months following their respective troughs before being included on the improving markets list. NAHB uses the latest available data from these sources to generate the list of improving markets.

Please visit www.nahb.org/imi for additional data, tables and a list of 2011 future economic release dates.


Click Here for the Source of the Information.

       Over the past five years, Louisiana saw the second-largest increase of any state in the number of new jobs. There were 1.9 million jobs in the state in June, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That was up nearly 56,000 jobs from June 2006. Only Texas added more jobs during that period, adding 537,500 jobs to boost the number of nonfarm jobs to nearly 10.6 million. American City Business Journals, which did the report, says North Dakota had the biggest percentage gain over the five-year period: Non-farm employment in that state was up by nearly 12%, bringing the number of jobs to 394,000.

       Texas is the big winner in On Numbers’ midyear analysis of employment trends.

       Texas added 537,500 nonfarm jobs between June 2006 and June 2011, based on the latest seasonally adjusted figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

       That’s nearly 10 times larger than the second-biggest increase by any state over the five-year span, Louisiana’s gain of 55,900 nonfarm jobs. North Dakota was third with a raw increase of 41,700. (Statistics for every state can be found in the database below.)

       On Numbers used BLS data to calculate raw and percentage changes in employment between the midpoints of 2006 and 2011. Subsequent reports this week will look at the business-service, leisure, retail and government sectors.

       North Dakota topped the percentage rankings with a five-year gain of 11.84 percent in nonfarm employment.

       On Numbers also measured year-by-year trends since 2006. North Dakota was the only state to increase its nonfarm employment each year during that span. Five states, including Texas, registered four increases and one loss.


Click Here for the Source of the Information.

       Mortgage applications rose 15.5% last week as refinancing activity surged, according to a leading trade association.

       The Mortgage Bankers Association said its market composite index on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended July 15 climbed 15.5% from the prior week, which included the July 4 holiday. The index rose 44% on an unadjusted basis.

       The MBA said the refinance index increased 23.1% last week. Refinancings accounted for 70.1% of all mortgage applications up from 65.6% the previous week and at the second-highest level of the year, according to the MBA.

       "Ongoing turmoil in the financial markets primarily due to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe has brought mortgage rates back to their lowest levels of the year," MBA Vice President of Research and Economics Michael Fratantoni said.

       He said one factor contributing to higher level of refinancings is "borrowers potentially impacted by impending decreases in the conforming loan limit may be opting to lock in fixed-rate financing now."

       The MBA said the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage inched down to 4.54% last week from 4.55% a week prior. The average rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.66% from 3.68%.

       In four-week moving averages, the market index is up 0.3%, with the purchase index down 0.3% and the refinance index 0.5% higher.


Click Here for the Source of the Information.

The 2011 Raffle House for the St. Tammany/Washington Parishes Home Builders Association not only awards a new home to the grand prize winner of the raffle drawing, but it also has other awards that are handed out on the day of the drawing.  Below is a list of the winners of the ST/WHBA 2011 Raffle House Drawing.  Ron Lee Homes Congratulates Our Winners!! Thanks so much for your participation!

Congratulations to Brandt Quick, Winner of the 2011 Raffle House!!

Other Raffle House Ticket Winners

Early Bird Drawing

5-Day Caribbean Cruise

Joseph LeBlanc

Winning Number: #1606

Robert Rucker

Painting: “Boys at Lake Verrett”

James Cole

Winning Number: #1845

KDI Mountain Brook Water

3 Months Delivery Service

Christine Early

Winning Number: #3121

Lowe's Home Improvement

Winning Number: #2091

Shell Gasoline

 Mortons Seafood Restaurant & Bar

$25.00 Gift Card

Anne Sarphie 

Winning Number: #1241

 Mortons Seafood Restaurant & Bar

$25.00 Gift Card

Betty Huett

Winning Number: #2639

 Mortons Seafood Restaurant & Bar

$25.00 Gift Card

Miriam Miller

Winning Number: #3386

Mortons Seafood Restaurant & Bar

$25.00 Gift Card

Myra Duplantis

Winning Number: #3120

WASHINGTON -- Despite many homes in foreclosure, a high jobless rate and a shaky economy, most U.S. adults say they are living the American dream, a survey indicates.

The Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll indicates 59 percent say they are living the American Dream. Seventy-five percent percent surveyed say it is still possible for people like them to achieve the American Dream, which the poll defined as the ability to advance as far as their talents will take them and live better than their parents did.

Survey respondents say after raising a family, owning a home is the second most critical part of the American Dream. Nearly nine out of 10 U.S. homeowners say they would buy their homes again -- even if its value has declined, the survey says.

Three-fourths of homeowners say they have not benefited from any federal program to promote ownership, although 71 percent of those owners acknowledged they take the mortgage interest deduction -- a program to promote home ownership.

Fifty-two percent blame the housing crisis on banks and lending institutions for misleading borrowers and approving bad loans, 32 percent blame those who took out mortgages they couldn't afford and 12 percent blame government policies that encouraged too many people to own their own homes.

The survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, conducted March 4-8, has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. 

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

       Homeowners in the Washington area can uncross their fingers -- 2011 is expected to be the best year for home prices the region has witnessed since the recession, with experts saying the area's market recovery will be tops in the nation.

       The region's relatively strong uptick in prices over the last year -- second in the nation -- gives analysts reason to believe the Washington market could see a 6.5 percent increase in home prices over the next 12 months, according to a new report by Clear Capital, which tracks real estate trends. It's the biggest increase the firm is predicting across the country.

       "D.C. prices are already going up for all homeowners who have purchased a home in last two years," said Alex Villacorta, senior statistician at Clear Capital. "So they are likely to see positive equity in that purchase."

       It's a different story, however, for those who bought a home at the height of the housing boom in the summer of 2006. The area's home prices on average are back to their 2004 levels, while houses in the rest of the nation are averaging prices closer to 2001 levels.

Annual price changes for 2011's top markets

       Strong employment and the relatively low percentage of bank-owned foreclosures on the market are two big factors that have contributed to the Washington area's ability to stay ahead of the curve, experts said. Roughly 15 percent of properties on the market in the region are bank-owned compared with more than 40 percent in other major markets, according to Clear Capital. Unemployment is a little more than half the national average of 9.8 percent.

       That helped propel Washington-area home prices in 2010 to a 5.3 percent increase, second only to Honolulu, where prices increased by 7.2 percent, according to the report.

       Meanwhile neighboring markets suffered significant declines. Prices in Richmond fell last year by more than 10 percent and Baltimore-area prices fell by more than 8 percent. Clear Capital expects both markets to see losses again this year.

       Nationally, prices fell by 4.1 percent in 2010. Much of it was because of the false boost the federal homebuyer tax credits gave the market during the first half of the year, which created a highly volatile atmosphere.

       "They probably did as much harm as they did good because the dramatic falloff of purchases ... seems to have had the effect of further depressing prices," Rick Sharga, executive vice president of foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac, said last month.

       Real estate agents say it's a relief to hear the positive prediction for Washington -- but it's not surprising.

       "The average length of time a property stayed on the market once we got through the tax credit [has been] declining," said Joanne Darling, president of the Prince George's County Association of Realtors. "Properties are actually staying on market less than 90 days ... [whereas] at its worst, it was longer than six months."

       But location is key and real estate is highly local. Darling said she's seeing multiple offers on homes in places like Capitol Hill, Northwest D.C., Bethesda and Chevy Chase. But towns farther away from the city -- and where residents have to be more reliant on cars -- have been slow to come back, she said.

       The market volatility in 2010 created a shift toward rental properties, with potential buyers in the region being afraid to invest in a home that might continue to drop in value. But Villacorta said 2011 may see a shift back toward homeownership.

       "As rents start to increase, that could provide an opportunity for investors to come in and ... rent those properties back," he said. "That would drive prices up and that can swing the tide back into the favor of 'maybe it's a good time to buy.'"


Click Here for the Source of the Information.

       Data from the University of New Orleans shows home sales in the five-parish North Shore region climbed slightly in the first nine months of 2010. The numbers indicate a slight nudge for the market that saw a slowdown in activity during the height of the national economic collapse.

       UNO’s Institute for Economic Development Director Ivan Miestchovich said the trends through the first three quarters of 2010 signal upward momentum in the single family housing market and a slowdown in the rate at which home prices in the region are falling.

       Between January and September, 3,019 single family units were sold in the North Shore region compared with 2,845 in the same span of 2009. Average prices fell just less than 3.5 percent, or from $200,426 in 2009 to $193,435 last year.

       The report also provides an overview of economic trends along the Interstate 12 corridor, which includes St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Livingston, Washington and St. Helena parishes.

       The region lost 3,430 jobs, or 2.3 percent, between the first quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010. Tangipahoa Parish accounted for the largest share with 1,395 jobs, followed by St. Tammany with 1,170 jobs.

       Those job sectors with the largest jobs losses were construction (1,051) retail (997) and manufacturing (986).

       During the same time frame, industries adding jobs on the North Shore were health care and social assistance (594) and professional, scientific and technical services (154).

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

       The US dollar is expected to rally against other major currencies during the upcoming session as recent economic data sheds hope for the US economy’s weakest markets. Both the labor and housing markets have been two of the biggest concerns regarding the economic recovery and yesterday’s data suggest that they have surpassed growth projections. Claims for jobless benefits decreased more than expected during the past week as the Department of Labor reported that only 404,000 new people filed for unemployment insurance. The figure is a 37,000 drop from the revised 441,000 two weeks ago and is the biggest fall since February 2010.

       Existing home sales in the US rose to an annual rate of 5.28 Million in December, greatly surpassing the 4.88 Million projections. The actual figure is a 12.3 percent gain from November’s upwardly revised 4.70 Million. Although last month’s sales were 2.9 percent lower compared to a year ago, it is still held as a vast improvement considering the housing market was at a fifteen-year low in mid-2010.

       The developments in both the labor and housing markets are definitely positive for the US economy as they are likely to improve growth outlook as well as speed up the recovery.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

       The home building industry coined the phrase green building in the late 1980s, turning a niche movement of resource-efficient homes into a quiet revolution – one that is increasingly becoming a preferred way to build and remodel.

       Whether you're a home building professional looking to go green or a prospective green homebuyer, the reasons for going green are numerous.

       Green building means incorporating environmental considerations and resource efficiency into every step of the home building and land development process to minimize environmental impact. It’s a practical response to a variety of issues that affect all of us – like increasing energy prices, waning water resources, and changing weather patterns. It means making intentional decisions about:

• Energy efficiency improvements such as high levels of insulation, efficient HVAC systems, high-performance windows and energy-efficient appliances and lighting
• Water conservation measures such as water-efficient appliances and fixtures, filtration systems, and drought resistant or low-maintenance landscaping
• Resource conservation using materials and techniques such as engineered wood and wood alternatives, recycled building materials, sustainably harvested lumber, and more durable products
• Indoor environmental quality considerations such as effective HVAC equipment, formaldehyde-free finishes, low-allergen materials, and products with minimum off-gassing or low volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
• Site design planning such as minimizing disruption and preserving open space
• Homeowner education through manuals and operating guides
• Green business practices that adopt ideas from other industries for saving resources and money in the home office

       The first official green home building program began in 1991 in the city of Austin, Texas. The movement has grown slowly but surely since then and today, new homes are significantly more energy and resource efficient than they were even 20 years ago. A past survey of NAHB members showed that more than two-thirds are incorporating at least some of these green features into the homes they build -- and that as the home building industry begins to revive, it will be significantly greener. With the 2009 ANSI approval of the ICC 700 National Green Building Standard, builders, remodelers, and homebuyers now have a clear definition of green residential construction and a credible certification to that standard by a qualified third party.

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       Here’s a contrarian view for you.  Credit Suisse says the fears about housing are well overdone.  In their analysis they cite 6 different bullish factors that should help to bolster house prices in the USA:

• The government now owns or guarantees about 70% of US mortgage debt ($11.5trn), thus any knock-on impact from a fall in house prices should be much lower than in 2007-2008 and the flow of foreclosure onto the market can be managed well (recall that since April 2009, 3.1 million trial loan modifications have been made).
• Valuation is extremely cheap on all measures (price to income, price to rent, affordability index, rental yields).
• Delinquency ratios, charge-off and foreclosure rates seem to have peaked.
• Housing starts are about 1m below trend demand of housing units – based on household formation and replacement demand. The question is: What is the level of excess inventory? The number of unsold new and existing homes have fallen by 63% and 14% from the peak, respectively; if we then assume half the foreclosed property becomes vacant (i.e. half of the 2.3m homes currently foreclosed), this amounts to 2.7m homes, which should take 2 ½ to 3 years to absorb.
• Distressed sales (short-sales, foreclosures and REO sales) are less than a third of the total, after peaking at almost half in 2009.
• Housing as a proportion of GDP is now just 2.2%, compared with a long-run average of 4.5%.

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Enough with the doom and gloom about homeownership.

      Sure, maybe there's more pain to come in the housing market. But when Time magazine starts running covers that declare "Owning a home may no longer make economic sense," it's time to say: Enough is enough. This is what "capitulation" looks like. Everyone has given up.

       After all, at the peak of the bubble five years ago, Time had a different take. "Home Sweet Home," declared its cover then, as it celebrated the boom and asked: "Will your house make you rich?"

But it's not enough just to be contrarian. So here are 10 reasons why it's good to buy a home.

1. 1. You can get a good deal. Especially if you play hardball. This is a buyer's market. Most of the other buyers have now vanished, as the tax credits on purchases have just expired. We're four to five years into the biggest housing bust in modern history. And prices have come down a long way– about 30% from their peak, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Index, which tracks home prices in 20 big cities. Yes, it's mixed. New York is only down 20%. Arizona has halved. Will prices fall further? Sure, they could. You'll never catch the bottom. It doesn't really matter so much in the long haul.
2. Where is fair value? Fund manager Jeremy Grantham at GMO, who predicted the bust with remarkable accuracy, said two years ago that home prices needed to fall another 17% to reach fair value in relation to household incomes. Case-Shiller since then: Down 18%.
3. 
   
4. 2. Mortgages are cheap. You can get a 30-year loan for around 4.3%. What's not to like? These are the lowest rates on record. As recently as two years ago they were about 6.3%. That drop slashes your monthly repayment by a fifth. If inflation picks up, you won't see these mortgage rates again in your lifetime. And if we get deflation, and rates fall further, you can refi.
5. 
   
6. 3. You'll save on taxes. You can deduct the mortgage interest from your income taxes. You can deduct your real estate taxes. And you'll get a tax break on capital gains–if any–when you sell. Sure, you'll need to do your math. You'll only get the income tax break if you itemize your deductions, and many people may be better off taking the standard deduction instead. The breaks are more valuable the more you earn, and the bigger your mortgage. But many people will find that these tax breaks mean owning costs them less, often a lot less, than renting.
7. 
   
8. 4. It'll be yours. You can have the kitchen and bathrooms you want. You can move the walls, build an extension–zoning permitted–or paint everything bright orange. Few landlords are so indulgent; for renters, these types of changes are often impossible. You'll feel better about your own place if you own it than if you rent. Many years ago, when I was working for a political campaign in England, I toured a working-class northern town. Mrs. Thatcher had just begun selling off public housing to the tenants. "You can tell the ones that have been bought," said my local guide. "They've painted the front door. It's the first thing people do when they buy." It was a small sign that said something big.
9. 
   
10. 5. You'll get a better home. In many parts of the country it can be really hard to find a good rental. All the best places are sold as condos. Money talks. Once again, this is a case by case issue: In Miami right now there are so many vacant luxury condos that owners will rent them out for a fraction of the cost of owning. But few places are so favored. Generally speaking, if you want the best home in the best neighborhood, you're better off buying.
11. 
    
12. 6. It offers some inflation protection. No, it's not perfect. But studies by Professor Karl "Chip" Case (of Case-Shiller), and others, suggest that over the long-term housing has tended to beat inflation by a couple of percentage points a year. That's valuable inflation insurance, especially if you're young and raising a family and thinking about the next 30 or 40 years. In the recent past, inflation-protected government bonds, or TIPS, offered an easier form of inflation insurance. But yields there have plummeted of late. That also makes homeownership look a little better by contrast.
13. 
    
14. 7. It's risk capital. No, your home isn't the stock market and you shouldn't view it as the way to get rich. But if the economy does surprise us all and start booming, sooner or later real estate prices will head up again, too. One lesson from the last few years is that stocks are incredibly hard for most normal people to own in large quantities–for practical as well as psychological reasons. Equity in a home is another way of linking part of your portfolio to the long-term growth of the economy–if it happens–and still managing to sleep at night.
15. 
    
16. 8. It's forced savings. If you can rent an apartment for $2,000 month instead of buying one for $2,400 a month, renting may make sense. But will you save that $400 for your future? A lot of people won't. Most, I dare say. Once again, you have to do your math, but the part of your mortgage payment that goes to principal repayment isn't a cost. You're just paying yourself by building equity. As a forced monthly saving, it's a good discipline.
17. 
    
18. 9. There is a lot to choose from. There is a glut of homes in most of the country. The National Association of Realtors puts the current inventory at around 4 million homes. That's below last year's peak, but well above typical levels, and enough for about a year's worth of sales. More keeping coming onto the market, too, as the banks slowly unload their inventory of unsold properties. That means great choice, as well as great prices.
19. 
    
20. 10. Sooner or later, the market will clear. Demand and supply will meet. The population is forecast to grow by more than 100 million people over the next 40 years. That means maybe 40 million new households looking for homes. Meanwhile, this housing glut will work itself out. Many of the homes will be bought. But many more will simply be destroyed–either deliberately, or by inaction. This is already happening. Even two years ago, when I toured the housing slump in western Florida, I saw bankrupt condo developments that were fast becoming derelict. And, finally, a lot of the "glut" simply won't matter: It's concentrated in a few areas, like Florida and Nevada. Unless you live there, the glut won't have any long-term impact on housing supply in your town.

Newly built properties can offer fewer hassles, higher efficiency, and increased customization

       As the mortgage crisis continues to inundate the market with distressed properties, today's house hunter has no shortage of cheap, foreclosed homes to pick through. But despite all those deals in the previously-owned home market, consumers shouldn't overlook the potential benefits of buying a new home. "New homes usually sell higher per square foot then resale homes," says Jack McCabe of McCabe Research & Consulting. "But their selling points, I think, are pretty strong." To help consumers better understand the advantages of new home buying, U.S. News spoke with a handful of experts and compiled a list of 9 reasons to choose a new home over a resale:

1. Customization: Many home builders allow buyers to participate in the process of designing their property, which helps create a living space specifically tailored to the consumer's tastes. New home buyers, for example, can often decide where their bathroom might go, choose their favorite type of flooring, or pick the color of the exterior paint. Buyers moving into a subdivision can sometimes even pick the lot they like best. "There is a lot of flexibility for [new home buyers] to kind of put their personal signature on the product," says Patrick Costello, president of Forty West Builders. "Those kind of things you can't do with a used house—it's just not possible."

2. Building Envelope: Building codes have mandated increasingly higher energy efficiency standards since they began to address the issue in the late 1970s, says Kevin Morrow, senior program manager for the National Association of Home Builders' green building programs. "The most recent International Energy Conservation Code came out in 2009 [and] required roughly 17 percent more efficiency than the codes of three years prior," he says. "So using that as sort of a gauge to how newer homes should perform from an efficiency standpoint compared to older homes, it's pretty clear that just as homes meet code, they are going to be more efficient."

Newly constructed homes use energy more efficiently in two ways, Morrow says. First, they tend to have a tighter-sealed building envelope that helps prevent conditioned air—cool air in the summer, warm air in the winter—from escaping. Features that create this envelope include higher-efficiency insulation, doors, and windows. "Gone are the days of the single pain window … now I think you are starting to see triple- and quadruple-paned windows," Morrow says. "These are windows that are designed to really minimize the transfer of heat either from warm to cold or vice versa, and they of course will help the building envelope."

3. Green Appliances: The more energy-efficient mechanics of the house also help reduce utility bills for new home buyers, Morrow says. Newly-constructed homes often include green systems and appliances—like high efficiency stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, water heaters, furnaces, or air conditioning units—that homes built years ago might not. "The conditioning equipment is usually considered to be one of the larger energy consumption devices, but certainly those kitchen appliances matter," Morrow says. Existing homeowners can always retrofit their property or buy higher-efficiency appliances, but doing so requires a potentially significant expense.

4. Fewer Repairs: The features of newly constructed homes should also hold up better than those of existing homes, which may have experienced years of wear and tear, says Evan Gilligan of Mandrin Homes. "People will buy [previously-owned] houses and then the carpet needs to be replaced or it needs to be repainted, or it needs new appliances, or the flooring is shot," Gilligan says. "When they buy a new home in today's market, it really is new."

5. Less Maintenance: At the same time, today's new homes are engineered specifically to minimize maintenance requirements. For example, Costello says his company uses composite products for a home's exterior trim instead of wood, which could rot or need repainting. "You buy a used house you don't know what you are getting, you might have to do a lot of maintenance," Costello says. "We are trying to look down the road and make things as easy as possible for the homeowner so they can enjoy living there and not have to be saddled with maintenance."

6. Warranty: In addition, builders often agree to take care of the repair work that becomes necessary in your newly constructed home for at least the first year. “A new home is generally fully warrantied by the builder for a minimum of a year and most of all the other components are warrantied for extended periods,” says Jack McCabe. So if your roof starts leaking or the heater breaks during the warranty period, your builder will pick up the tab for the repairs. “When you buy a resale home, even if you have a home inspection done, it still does not turn up hidden defects that you don’t find out about a lot of times for two years,” McCabe says.

7. Fire Safety: Newly constructed homes often include fire safety features that may not be present in properties built years ago, Gilligan says. "We use fire retardant in our carpeting and in our insulation," he says. In addition, all newly constructed homes are required to include hard-wired smoke detectors. These devices can provide better protection than battery-operated smoke detectors, which can fail to perform if their battery runs out, Morrow says. "Hard-wired [smoke detectors] run on the electricity of the house and then have a battery backup for if the house power goes out," he says.

8. Concessions: Especially in today's sluggish housing market, buyers may be able to squeeze more concessions out of a home building company than an individual seller. That's because individual sellers often have an emotional attachment to their property that can blind them to its true value. "People usually think that their home is worth more money than it is," McCabe says. At the same time, builders often have greater financial wherewithal to absorb a loss on a sale than individuals. "I'll put it to you this way: a $30,000 hit [spread] over 30 lots hurts a lot less than a $30,000 hit on one existing house," says Christopher Rachuba of Rachuba Home Builders. "So I think [buyers] may get more bargaining [power] that way."

9. Financing: New home buyers may be able to take advantage of mortgage financing perks made available through their builder. "New home builders, in many cases the larger ones, have their own mortgage companies or they will offer paying points or closing costs and buy down certain rates for you," McCabe says. "The seller of a resale home is generally not going to do that for the buyer."



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