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LOL Friday: A Blonde’s Unique Password…

During a recent password audit, it was found that a blonde was using the following password:

“MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofySacramento”

When asked why she had such a long password, she said she was told that it had to be at least 8 characters long and include at least one capital.

January 15, 2010 Posted by | humor | , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Mortgage Applications Up After New Year’s Day

Mortgage application volume increased 14.3 percent last week compared to the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

On an unadjusted basis applications rose 66 percent. The increase reflects a shortened week due to the New Year’s holiday. 

Most of the increase was in refinances, which rose 73.9 percent from the previous week’s unadjusted index. The unadjusted purchase index rose 48.8 percent compared to the previous week and was down 24.9 percent compared to the same week a year ago. 

Interest rates slipped: 

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.13 percent from 5.18 percent.
  • 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.45 percent from 4.62 percent.
  • 1-year ARMs increased to 6.83 percent from 6.42 percent.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (01/13/2010)

January 14, 2010 Posted by | economy, real estate | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Trends in Green Building and Living

The Earth Advantage Institute, a non-profit that certifies sustainable homes, identified these green-building trends, based on its relationships with builders, architects, real estate practitioners, and lenders.

Read the whole list here.

Smart grid and connected homes. The development of custom and Web-based display panels that show real-time home energy use, broken out by individual appliance will increasingly drive consumer behavior.

Energy labeling for homes and office buildings. Accurate energy rating systems for homes and office spaces will make it easier for home owners and buyers to compare and could galvanize owners to make needed energy improvements.

Building information modeling software. The increasing sophistication and lowered cost of CAD software with more accurate algorithms for energy modeling will encourage greater use.

Financial community buy-in to green building. Lenders and insurers will get behind green building because it’s good for their bottom lines.

“Rightsizing” of homes. A larger home no longer translates into greater equity.

Eco-districts. The creation of walkable, low-impact communities in the suburban setting is gaining steam.

Water conservation. The Environmental Protection Agency finalized the voluntary WaterSense specification for new homes in December of 2009, which reduces water use by about 20 percent compared to a conventional new home. Water will be the essential resource in the next decade.

Carbon Calculation. With buildings contributing roughly half the carbon emissions in the environment, the progressive elements in the building industry are looking at ways to document, measure, and reduce greenhouse gas creation in building materials and processes. This effort will be heightened once a federal cap-and-trade mechanism is launched in this country.

Net Zero Buildings. A net zero building is a building that generates more energy than it uses over the course of a year, as a result of relatively small size, extreme efficiencies and onsite renewable energy sources. We are close to being able to do this routinely.

Sustainable building education. This will create opportunities for professionals involved in the building industry, from real estate to finance and insurance.

Source: Earth Advantage Institute (01/08/2010)

January 13, 2010 Posted by | real estate | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Chinese Investors Explore U.S. Properties

Groups of investors from Mainland China are touring the United States in search of potential investment properties.

Practitioners, who are showing them around, say that so far they are mostly “Lookie Lous”—checking out the properties but not buying.

When market conditions stabilize, the Chinese will buy, says Paul Brewbaker of TZ Economics, a research and consulting company in Honolulu.

The stable prices in the U.S. market attract Chinese buyers, says John Wu, president of the Chinese American Real Estate Professionals Association. Houses that can be rented or sold are particularly appealing to them, Wu says. “They really buy houses with more flexibility. They understand the market here.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Kevin Brass (01/07/2010)

January 12, 2010 Posted by | economy, real estate | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Tax Law Change Gives Builders a Boost

Some home builder companies are posting gains, thanks in large part to a change in tax laws that allowed companies to apply losses incurred in 2008 and 2009 to income earned in any five years through 2007. Home builder Lennar Corp. posted its first quarterly profit since 2007.

Previously, losses could be counted against profits over just two previous years.

Lennar also had a 3 percent increase in new orders in 2009, its first since 2006.

Toll Brothers said last month that it expects a $162 million income tax refund when it files its 2009 taxes, thanks to the change in the law. And last month, Wall Street analysts upgraded KB Home’s shares because of an expected refund.

In a paper by John R. Graham and Hyunseob Kim for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Graham and Kim estimated that the tax-loss carrybacks would cost the government $53 billion, with the beneficiaries “concentrated in the home-building, automobile, and financial.

Source: Fortune, Colin Barr (01/07/2010)

January 11, 2010 Posted by | economy, real estate | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Cutting Mortgage Principal Decreases Defaults

Borrowers whose loan modifications reduced their loan balances – not just their interest rates – are most likely to avoid re-defaulting on their mortgages, according to a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

These findings contradict the government’s recommendation, which focuses on reducing monthly payments by lowering interest rates and extending the loan terms.

The New York Fed concludes that a borrower’s probability of defaulting within one year when interest rates are lowered is reduced by 11 percent. But when the loan balance is reduced by 25 percent and the interest stays the same or is reduced slightly, the borrower’s probability of default within one year is reduced by 26.5 percent.

The New York Fed also found that borrowers who owe 15 percent or more than their homes’ values have a 51 percent greater risk of defaulting in any given month.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos (01/04/2010)

January 8, 2010 Posted by | economy, real estate | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Nashville’s December Real Estate Statistics Released

Nashville’s December Real Estate Stats Released: Good news continues… via http://www.gnar.org/mlsrelease.htm.

January 7, 2010 Posted by | Brentwood, economy, Nashville, real estate, relocation, tennessee | Leave a Comment

Sellers Should List Homes Early

Selling a home in the dead of winter might seem ill-advised, particularly considering the state of the economy, but some experts think that making the decision to wait until spring to list the property could be a mistake.

Government incentives will likely have a big impact in 2010, with many buyers determined to sign a contract before the April 30 tax credit deadline.

“This year, we’re anticipating sales will peak earlier,” says Nicole Hall, editor in chief of Lendingtree.com, an online mortgage comparison service. “The best time to get your house on the market will be February or early March, and maybe even earlier if you want to avoid competition.”

Traffic on real estate Web sites begins to rise right after the New Year, says Ken Shuman, spokesman for real estate Web site Trulia.com.

Source: Forbes.com, Francesca Levy (12/24/2009)

January 7, 2010 Posted by | economy, real estate | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Open House Sunday in Christiansted Valley of Nashville, Tennessee

Please view images at http://www.bargers-solutions.com/Open-House-Feature.html

Kenneth Bargers, REALTOR® | Prudential Woodmont Realty | (615) 512-9836 cellular | (615) 661-7800, x1880 office | kb@bargers-solutions.com email | http://kennethbargers.com blog | www.bargers-solutions.com web | www.woodmontrealty.com web

Kenneth Bargers offers the consumer and client advice and guidance as he steers them through the real estate process for buying, selling, property management, relocation and destination services, lease/rental applications and land acquisition.  Mr. Bargers’ concentrated market is in the Green Hills and Oak Hill areas of Nashville located in Davidson County and Brentwood located in Williamson County.

January 6, 2010 Posted by | Brentwood, Nashville, open house, relocation, tennessee | , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Companies Could See Tax Breaks Yanked

Communities all over the country are taking back the property and other tax breaks they offered businesses to locate there, according to the watchdog group Good Jobs First.

In DeKalb, Ill., when Target Corp. came up 66 jobs short of the agreement to waive taxes, the taxing bodies sent the company an unexpected $600,000 tax bill.

In St. Louis County, Mo., officials warned Pfizer Inc. that if it follows through on its plan to cut 600 jobs, the county will rethink the $7 million in tax breaks it promised.

While no one collects data on these “clawbacks,” it’s clear that the latest offers communities are making to woo businesses are being strongly worded. “There is much more (language) tied to jobs now because of economy,” says Lee Garrity, city manager in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Source: Associated Press, Don Babwin (01/02/2010)

January 6, 2010 Posted by | economy | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

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