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Home Value News Archive
RISMEDIA, October 19, 2010—Often, our first encounter with mold at home occurs in that infamous spot between the shower curtain and tub. It’s pretty disgusting, but it’s easy to wipe up. Unfortunately, in most homes, this isn’t the extent of the mold—the more problematic mold is the insidious kind, hiding behind walls and in floorboards, and potentially contributing to a range of allergies and other illnesses. In fact, a 1994 study by the Harvard University School of Public Health, which involved 10,000 homes in the U.S. and Canada, found that half of those homes had mold levels that participants said caused a 50-100% increase in distressing respiratory symptoms.
RISMEDIA, October 15, 2010—(MCT)—Ken and Linda Bolsch put their five-bedroom, five-year-old Mahwah, N.J., colonial on the market in January, sure that buyers would appreciate its low taxes, wooded lot, and impeccable decor and landscaping. But after nine months—and a price cut from $925,000 to $749,000—the house is still on the market, with the couple looking at a substantial loss at that price. "We fell in love with the house from the moment we saw it, and we don't know why other people aren't doing the same," Ken Bolsch said.
RISMEDIA, October 15, 2010—(MCT)—In a new foreclosure crisis that has gone national, attorneys general in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have launched a sweeping probe of the country's lenders, even as new figures showed banks repossessed a record number of homes
RISMEDIA, October 14, 2010—RealtyTrac, a leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for the third quarter of 2010, which shows that foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions—were reported on
RISMEDIA, October 15, 2010—(MCT)—Ken and Linda Bolsch put their five-bedroom, five-year-old Mahwah, N.J., colonial on the market in January, sure that buyers would appreciate its low taxes, wooded lot, and impeccable decor and landscaping. But after nine months—and a price cut from $925,000 to $749,000—the house is still on the market, with the couple looking at a substantial loss at that price. "We fell in love with the house from the moment we saw it, and we don't know why other people aren't doing the same," Ken Bolsch said.
RISMEDIA, October 12, 2010—Trulia.com, a leading site for home buyers, sellers and renters, recently released the results from its Rent vs. Buy Index, which tracks whether buying a home or renting is less expensive in America's 50 largest cities, based on current market conditions. "Choosing to buy a home or continuing to rent is a highly personal financial and life decision that many people are grappling with right now," said Pete Flint, CEO and co-founder of Trulia. "In the wake of the foreclosure crisis and ongoing struggles in the industry, we created the Rent vs. Buy Index to provide a bit more context about current marketplace conditions to help prospective buyers make the right decisions for their own personal situations."
RISMEDIA, October 11, 2010—Got an accountability problem at your organization? There are two main ways to tackle it. First, you need to forestall excuse-generating problems upfront by creating conditions that make it more likely people will follow through. Second, you need to help
RISMEDIA, October 8, 2010—Always on the lookout to provide its customers—broker, agent or consumer—with the best service and latest information, HSA Home Warranty has teamed with mobile technology innovator Mobile Real Estate ID to provide something never seen
RISMEDIA, October 7, 2010—This year’s NAR Realtors® Conference & Expo, “NARdiGras 2010,” is expected to draw about 20,000 Realtors® and guests, NAR reports. Realtors will be joined by industry experts, lawmakers, federal agency officials and other guests for a program that
RISMEDIA, October 6, 2010—Sunnyvale, Calif.-based MLSListings, Inc. is one of the first multiple listing service (MLS) organizations in the country to make Realtors® Property Resource™ (RPR) available exclusively for its members, the organization has announced. RPR provides
RISMEDIA, October 5, 2010—The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator, rose 4.3% to 82.3 based on contracts signed in August 2010 from a downwardly revised 78.9 in July, but is 20.1% below August 2009 when it was 103.0. The data reflects contracts and not
RISMEDIA, October 4, 2010—(MCT)—The face. The hair. The voice. Why does that real estate agent seem so familiar? Because, in that only-in-L.A. kind of way, there's a good chance the agent is also an actor, reality show personality or has had some other brush with fame. The last decade's real estate bubble and bust spawned more than 20 reality cable television shows devoted to home buying, selling and flipping, so the odds are that some of those agents will end up at an open house near you. Broaden the spotlight to music and acting, and the recognition factor climbs even higher.
RISMEDIA, October 1, 2010—(MCT)—Wendy and Robby Haun had to sell their home near Cary, N.C., to make way for a state highway project, but the comfortable ranch house did not go to waste. It went to Builders of Hope, a pioneering Raleigh, N.C., nonprofit that has found new life and new families for more than 60 discarded dwellings in the past four years. Since 1999, the Hauns had lived in the house next door to Wendy's childhood home. The N.C. Turnpike Authority bought both houses for the 18-mile Triangle Expressway which is now under construction.
RISMEDIA, September 30, 2010—The real estate industry has seen a huge number of changes over the past 20 years with the advent of pagers, cell phones and the Internet, and a new one coming out now for search engine optimization will do the same thing with how agents market
RISMEDIA, September 29, 2010—New research from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reveals that the benefits of housing-related tax deductions, such as the mortgage interest deduction, generally decline in value as individuals age. Using Internal Revenue Service Statistics of Income (SOI) data, NAHB was able to report for the first time how various tax deductions are used by different age groups. The analysis demonstrates that the biggest beneficiaries are younger households, who typically have large mortgages, small amounts of equity in their homes and growing families.
