5 Signs You’re Real Estate-obsessed
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson
1. The Online House Hunting Tic. These are the folks who are always online, looking at listings, searching for houses — whether they are actually looking for homes or not! (Frankly, this is just an online extension of the behavior symptomized by an obsession with TV shows like “House Hunters” and “House Hunters International” — see a related article at Inman News: “Behind the scenes at ‘House Hunters International.’ “)
And there are several variants on this. Some people just want to know what’s on the market in their neighborhoods and their towns. Others take a more escapist approach, searching for homes in the areas they fantasize about living in, whether or not they actually have any sort of plan on moving. Life would be perfect if …
2. The Open House Tic. This is a hybrid online and offline version of the fixation exhibited by those who get online every Friday and Saturday to prepare their plan of attack for Sunday open houses. This behavior is completely normal and, even, advisable, in actual house hunters — people who are actually in the market to buy a home, or even home sellers who are (wisely) seeking to scope out the competition.
But it takes on a compulsive element when people who have just bought a home, or have no intention of buying a home anytime soon keep open-house hunting as a weekly habit.
To be fair, this goes on the list of relatively harmless vices, except to the extent that it signals or churns up that feeling of constant discontent, that sense that the home you have is never quite enough.
3. Interest Rate OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Chances are good that you know someone who suffers from these symptoms: obsessively checking online mortgage and news sites to see whether mortgage interest rates have gone up or down, often either (a) dropping an email to their mortgage broker afterward to see whether they’ve dropped low enough to warrant a refinance, or (b) freaking entirely out that they locked their interest rate or refinanced too soon to catch the very lowest rates.
Market conditions these last few years have only caused this epidemic to spread, as every time we think rates have gotten about as low as they ever have or ever will, it seems like a new “historic low” benchmark is set the very next week.
4. Amateur Appraiser Syndrome….
Read the rest here=> Inman News
By DEREK KRAVITZ
WASHINGTON — The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage held steady at a record low for a third straight week, offering more incentive to those looking to buy a home or refinance.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year home loan was unchanged at 3.87 percent. That’s the lowest level since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.
The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage was also unchanged at 3.16 percent. That’s up from a record low of 3.14 percent reached two weeks ago.
via msnbc.com.
If you’re looking for a house with a supersized backyard, you’re best bet is to search in the Eastern U.S.
Only one Western state — Montana at No. 2, with a median lot size of 73,616 square feet — ranked in the top 10 for states with the largest median lot sizes for sale, based on properties for sale at real estate search site Realtor.com in September.
Here are the Top 10 states with the largest lot sizes:
1. Vermont
| Median lot size (sq. ft.) | 75,794 |
| Median house size (sq. ft.) | 1,815 |
| Median price | $249,000 |
| Lot cost per sq. ft. | $3.29 |
2. Montana
| Median lot size (sq. ft.) | 73,616 |
| Median house size (sq. ft.) |
2,040 |
| Median price | $250,000 |
| Lot cost per sq. ft. | $3.40 |
TOPTEN Adds New Builder: DeNova Homes
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By: Mary Ann Azevedo
How Facebook ’s blockbuster IPO will impact Silicon Valley’s housing market is something Realtors, potential home buyers and sellers alike have been paying attention to for months.
This week, I talked to a few Realtors in the area and heard some interesting things about what this mega IPO could mean for folks looking to buy or sell a home. To sum it up, they predict: higher prices, multiple offers, unsolicited offers and crazy demand in already tight markets. Oh, and potential East Bay migration.
Alex Comsa, an Intero Real Estate Services Realtor, specializing in the Palo Alto market, said he knows of two homeowners in Palo Alto that are waiting for the social networking giant to go public before they list their houses on the market.
Ultra luxury New Homes for Sale
By Morgan Brennan, Forbes.com
Futuristic homes will ultimately sell to affluent buyers who collect art or at least appreciate architecture as an art form. Here are five worth checking out:
Loma Linda Drive
Location: Beverly Hills, CA
Recently Sold: $9 million
This Ed Niles designed home is transparently modern.
Designed by Ed Niles, this home’s structure features curved glass walls and curved stainless steel windows and doors, fitting six bedrooms, an elevator and a seven-car garage within its layout.
Mortgage Rates Probe New Lows
By Inman News
Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.87 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending Feb. 2, down from 3.98 percent last week and 4.81 percent a year ago. That’s a new all-time low in Freddie Mac survey records dating to 1971.
Rates on 15-year fixed-rate loans averaged 3.14 percent with an average 0.8 point, down from 3.24 percent last week and 4.08 percent a year ago. Rates on 15-year loans have never been lower since Freddie Mac began tracking them in 1991.
For five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans, rates averaged 2.8 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from 2.85 percent last week and 3.69 percent a year ago. That’s a new low in records dating to 2005.
Rates on one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.76 percent with an average 0.6 point, up slightly from last week’s record low of 2.74 percent. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 3.26 percent.
via Inman News
TOPTEN Adds New Builder: Legacy Homes
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Homebuilder Sentiment at 4-1/2-yr High
U.S. homebuilder sentiment unexpectedly jumped in January to its highest level in four and a half years, suggesting the housing market is starting to heal, the National Association of Home Builders said on Wednesday.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index rose to 25 from 21 the month before, the group said in a statement. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted the index would hold steady at 21.
It was the highest level since June 2007 when the housing market was crumbling. After stagnating in a tight range for about a year, the index has been improving since October 2011, reinforcing optimism the housing market is finding a bottom.
Top 10 States for LEED Green Buildings
By Jessica Fiur
Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently released its 2011 list of the top 10 states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita, based on the U.S. 2010 Census information. The number one ranking state was Washington, D.C. The top LEED states per capita, including Washington, D.C., are listed in the chart below.
“Green buildings are really about people: They’re the places we work, play, learn, live, heal, etc.,” Jennifer Easton, communication associate, USGBC, tells MHN. “They also underscore the human commitment to the environment and community prosperity. We chose to look at the hard data–LEED-certified square footage in each state – and stack it up against each state’s population in order to zero in on the human element of green building. The result is a relative snapshot of how much exposure each state resident has to LEED green building space, and an overview of the states that accelerated their portfolio of LEED-certified places in 2011.”
