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Home Is Where The Money Is
If it seems that home values represent more and more of your personal wealth, it's likely that you're right. A new study shows that for most of us real estate is plainly our largest financial asset, an asset which has grown by $1.5 trillion in value during just the past two years.
Housing's Rising Contribution, a new study written by Dr. Mark Zandi, co-founder of Economy.com and commissioned by the HomeOwnship Alliance, an industry group, provides some interesting reading.
"According to the Federal Reserve Board's Flow of Funds, households own over $12 trillion worth of housing and have
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$6.6 trillion in homeowners' equity. There is close to $90,000 in homeowners' equity in the average house and the median amount of homeowners' equity per house is estimated as close to $45,000. With the recent collapse in
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Ten Things To Do
After You Sell
Once escrow has closed without a hitch and you've handed the keys over to the new owners, you've probably written the selling process off as over. But
don't change your state of mind too fast.
In their book, "House Selling for Dummies (Hungry Minds Inc., 1999)," authors Eric Tyson and Ray Brown lay out a laundry list of what you can do
to ultimately save yourself money and peace of mind down the road.
Tyson is a syndicated columnist and the bestselling author of Personal Finance for Dummies. Brown is a real estate consultant and speaker.
Once you sell your house, they suggest you:
Keep copies of all the paperwork related to closing and settlement. Although it might be tempting to run the mountain of paperwork through the shredder or tuck it away in storage, you'll want to have it handy for April 15. When you file your taxes you'll need documentation for the expenses and
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Tips for Buying A Home
When You're Single
It appears fewer singles are buying homes. And competing against dual-income bids in a period of low interest rates and a dearth of available homes could spell more tough months ahead for single homebuyers.
In 2001, single women bought 15 percent of homes, while single men purchased 7 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors' survey, "2002
Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers," which evaluates marketing, demographic, and other characteristics of home buyers and sellers.
In 1999, singles made up 27 percent of the market share.
"Single buyers were a smaller component of last year's housing market due to the mild recession," said David Lereah, NAR's chief economist.
According to the NAR 42 percent of all homebuyers are first-timers; 53 percent of single men and 52 percent of single women are new to home buying.
The biggest factor for singles and families continues to center around location - the neighborhood, price, and proximity to work, school, family, and friends.
As economic uncertainty lingers, many single homebuyers' biggest concern is whether they can afford a
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Keeping Your House Cool
The scorching days are already here. Some of us are succumbing and switching our air conditioners into full gear. But installing air conditioners and
paying for the energy to run them can be costly.
With residential energy consumption expected to rise 22 percent by 2020, finding ways to keep energy use, not to mention your utility bills, down is vital.
The U.S. Department of Energy says steady growth in the hot southern states, the rise in consumer electronics, home office equipment, and security
systems will contribute to the mounting consumption level.
Newly built homes are, on average, 14 percent larger than the existing stock, so more heating, cooling, and lighting
Daily News and Advice
Read about the events shaping the Real Estate market today, find current interest rates, or browse the extensive library of advice and how-to articles written by some of the top experts in Real Estate. Updated each weekday.
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