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Americans are feeling less discouraged about the housing market, according to a new national survey by FindLaw.com. ...

There are approximately 30,000 home inspectors nationwide today. Only about half of the states require any kind of certification or licensing for home inspectors. So how do you know you are recommending the best home inspectors to your clients? Hiring the right home inspector is as important as the actual home inspection itself. As with most professions, both qualified and unqualified individuals can claim to be “professionals,” but what makes the home inspection industry especially vulnerable is the fact that it is currently unregulated in most states. Here are some ways you can protect your clients from hiring an unqualified inspector:

A recent real estate survey reported that 27 percent of the homebuyers during the fall season are first-time homebuyers. Although spring is traditionally the peak season for real estate activity, this year's buyer's market should lead to a healthy spike in real estate activity this fall. "For a prospective new homeowner, this fall's market is shaping up to be an opportunity to capitalize on a great blend of low rates, consistently low home prices, and a recovering economy," notes John L. Heithaus, CMO of Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. (MRIS), one of the largest MLS's in the country. "First-time homebuyer or not, all potential buyers can benefit from good information - even in a buyer's market - as they gear up to begin bidding on real estate."

The Internet is full of checklists and resources to use if you are planning to move. There are packing timelines. There are lists of packing supplies. There are even directions on how to pack boxes. But moving is much more than purging and organizing your personal affects. There are legal tasks you need to take care of too. Here are 5 legal tasks to complete when you move:

Used to thriving economies and strong employment rates, baby boomers played a critical role in stimulating the housing market prior to the Great Recession, but the economic realities of the last few years have shifted the focus to Generation Y

Regional Spotlight—Wells Fargo & Company has invited nearly 40,000 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Wells Fargo Financial, and Wells Fargo Home Equity customers facing financial hardships to a New York City Home Preservation Workshop to be held next week in Brooklyn. Other sessions will be held in Secaucus, N.J. and Philadelphia in August and one was held last week in Uniondale, N.Y. at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The purpose of the counseling sessions is to discuss possible options with homeowners that could help them stay in their home. Those in attendance will receive personalized answers to questions such as:

Victor O. Schinnerer's "War Stories" are actual claims from company files with the names and some details changed for confidentiality. Here, read about a foreign buyer who sued his agent after his legal residency status resulted

According to the National Association of Realtors®, more than 4.25 million homes sold in 2011. That's a lot of real estate and such numbers raise the question: How are sellers doing it? "Because individual homes are unique, there isn't one single strategy that works equally well for every property," says Wendy Forsythe, the executive vice president of a real estate company. "The real trick is understanding that today's marketplace is cash driven, quick and highly competitive. Owners who understand their local markets and work with a knowledgeable agent are those most likely to succeed."

Are you looking to buy your home for the first time? Congratulations! While this is an exciting time, knowing what you are in for can ease the process exponentially. Below are a few steps you can take to find your dream house, and make it into your new home. Learn About Homeownership Owning a home requires a large investment of time, money and energy, so make sure you are careful when making your decision to buy. To answer all of the questions you may have, participate in a first-time homebuyer class at a local non-profit agency in your community.

A ProPublica–NPR news story recently suggested that a mortgage financing vehicle utilized by Freddie Mac may be preventing homeowners from refinancing. While FHFA does not typically comment on its supervisory activities, the circumstances here require some clarification, according to the FHFA, who issued the following response: Freddie Mac has historically used the structuring of Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs) as a tool to manage its retained portfolio and to address issues associated with security performance. A particular CMO structure employed by Freddie Mac resulted in the creation of “inverse floaters.”

Everyone knows that the housing market has been a little daunting for the last several years. Ups and downs, talk of good news and bad news, and a confusing amount of information about rising and falling mortgage rates has rendered the market all but inaccessible for a lot of prospective buyers. Good news! Times are changing. Whether you want to buy a home as your long-term residence or as an income property, things are looking up. Remarkably low mortgage rates are making houses more affordable than they have been in decades.

Editor's Note: The below article, which originally appeared in the December 2011 issue of Real Estate magazine, features updated information regarding the National Flood Insurance Program. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) is a leading advocate regarding federal legislative and regulatory issues affecting the industry and homeowners. NAR’s efforts drove these accomplishments in 2011:

The UFA Default Risk Index for the fourth quarter of 2011 edged lower to 131 from last quarter’s revised 133, which suggests that residential mortgage default and prepayment risks are continuing their return to normalcy. According to the latest UFA Mortgage Report by University Financial Associates of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the stage is set for a recovery in the housing market. Under current economic conditions, investors and lenders should expect defaults on loans currently being originated to be only 31 percent higher than the average of loans originated in the 1990s, due solely to the local and national economic environment.

Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates changing little and remaining near their historic lows while adjustable-rate mortgages averaged new record lows.

When the Obama administration rolled out the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) in 2009, officials estimated 3 to 4 million borrowers would seek relief from their mortgages through the program amidst the worst recession and housing market collapse in decades. More than two years later, those projections have proven to be optimistic, to say the least. According to the Treasury Department, about 700,000 homeowners had sought aid from HAMP through the third quarter of 2011.