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Showing posts from January, 2019

8 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying and Selling at the Same Time

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Plenty of people find themselves buying and selling a home simultaneously, but knowing that others have gone through the same stress does not make it one bit easier. After all, the stakes are so high: If your buyer backs out, you don't have any cash to land your next home! Or if your own purchase falls through but your current home sells, you're homeless! It's all like walking across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope: The tiniest thing goes wrong, and you fall. Breathe in. Don't panic. It turns out that most buying-and-selling mistakes are easily avoidable—or at least predictable. Follow these eight tips to enter escrow with eyes wide open. 1. Waiting too long to prep your home for selling Every home needs a little work before selling. You might need to repaint some scratched walls, fix broken decking, or add grout in a rarely used bathroom. Don't wait until the last minute to kick-start this process, otherwise you could wind up in a bind

Elliman Report: Q4 2018

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Produced in conjunction with Miller Samuel, a leading independent appraisal firm, our market report series is the benchmark for residential real estate market information and an essential reference source for consumers, the media, financial institutions, government agencies, researchers and other market professionals. Each report provides an analysis of price and sales trends as well as many other metrics to give readers an idea of current conditions as well as historical and emerging market trends.  Overall price trend indicators and the number of sales continued to rise year over year in Miami Coastal Mainland. Full report:  https://www.elliman.com/pdf/807608cfc8f700da5d3e8803efdbfd04d18a7e21

Millennial borrowers taking out larger FHA loans

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Millennial homebuyers are taking out larger FHA-backed mortgage loans year-over-year, according to November data from the Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker: 26 percent of all closed loans to millennials were for FHA loans. They had an average loan size of $186,454, up from $178,862 year-to-year and $170,167 in two years. Conventional loans accounted for 69 percent of closed loans made to millennials during the same period, with an average loan amount of $211,268. 2 percent of loans were for VA loans; three percent were unspecified. Men were listed as the primary borrower for 56 percent of FHA loans. Women were listed on 35 percent, and nine percent were unspecified. It took an average 43 days to close both FHA and conventional loans across the country compared to an average of 42 days for all loans. In November, 89 percent of all loans closed by millennials were for purchases, 10 percent for refinances. Interest rates on all loans rose to 5.1 percent, the highest per

Lower interest rates stabilize builder confidence

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Buoyed by falling mortgage rates, builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose two points to 58 in January on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). "The gradual decline in mortgage rates in recent weeks helped to sustain builder sentiment," says NAHB Chairman Randy Noel. "Low unemployment, solid job growth and favorable demographics should support housing demand in the coming months." "Builders need to continue to manage rising construction costs to keep home prices affordable, particularly for young buyers at the entry-level of the market," says NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. "Lower interest rates that peaked around 5 percent in mid-November and have since fallen to just below 4.5 percent will help the housing market continue to grow at a modest clip as we enter the new year." Due to the partial government shutdown, there will be no government figures released

Eighty Seven Park Flythrough

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A selection of private Miami beach front residences designed to seamlessly embrace park and ocean in Miami Beach’s newest neighborhood. The first residential project in the United States created by master architect Renzo Piano. For more info: http://malenyshernandez.com/project-details/121

2019 economic forecast: Slower but no recession

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Last year is likely a high-water mark for the U.S. economy, but 2019 won't be anything close to the plunge into the abyss that recent stock market gyrations have suggested. If the economy were a jet that reached cruising speed in 2018, it will throttle back moderately next year before slowing further in 2020, economists say. And if it keeps growing past July, it will mark the longest expansion in U.S. history. After notching an expected 3 percent gain this year – which would be its best showing in more than a decade – the nation's gross domestic product is projected to grow 2.6 percent in 2019, according to the average estimate of 51 economists surveyed by Wolters Kluwer Blue Chip Economic Indicators. While job growth is poised to slow, wage increases are accelerating. And healthy consumer spending is likely to offset a slowdown in business investment growth and a sputtering housing market. "This is still a robust economy," says Barclays economist Jonathan