Monthly Archives: November 2014

Home Buying, Housing, Interesting Facts, Real Estate, Real Estate Investing, Seller

Factors Influencing Urban Buyers’ Neighborhood Choice

64% – Quality of neighborhood

58% – Convenient to job

42% – Overall affordability of homes

36% – Convenient to friends or family

32% – Convenient to entertainment / leisure activities

29% – Convenient to shopping

27% – Convenient to parks / recreational facilities

26% – Design of neighborhood

20% – Convenient to schools

19% – Quality of school district

12% – Convenient to health facilities

8% – Availability of larger lots or acreage

7% – Convenient to airport

5% – Other

4% – Home in a planned community

Source: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, 2013 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

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Financing, Home Buying, Interesting Facts, Mortgages

Tips For a Smooth Loan Approval

•Don’t apply for new credit

•Don’t co-sign on a loan

•Don’t dispute anything on your credit report

•Don’t change bank accounts

•Don’t close any credit card accounts

•Don’t finance any elective medical procedure

•Don’t make a major purchase (car, boat, jewelry, etc.)

•Don’t max out or over charge your credit card accounts

•Don’t open a new credit card account

•Don’t take out a new loan

•Don’t transfer balances from one account to another

If you encounter a special situation, it is best to discuss it with your lender.

Source: Mortgage Options Lending

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Housing, Interesting Facts, Real Estate

Community Preference Survey

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® 2013 Community Preference Survey reveals the following preferences in neighborhoods and where people want to live:

86% value privacy from neighbors when choosing a home.

75% of small town and rural residents would still live in a rural area if they could choose any plave to live.

60% prefer a neighborhood with a mix of houses, stores and businesses that are easy to walk to.

42% complain that there are too few shops or restaurants within an esy walk of their house.

Sources: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® & The Council of Residential Specialists

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Home Buying, Housing, Interesting Facts, Real Estate, Seller

2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

This information was obtained from an annual survey that was conducted by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Here are the highlights from the latest report:

•Thirty-three percent of recent home buyers were first time buyers.

•For 43 percent of the home buyers, the first step in the home-buying process was looking online for properties.

•Ninty-two percent of buyers used the internet in some way in their home search.

•Real estate agents were viewed as a useful information source by 98 percent of the buyers who used an agent while searching for a home.

•Seventy percent of home sellers only contacted one agent before selecting the one to assist with their home sale.

•The share of home sellers who sold their home without the assistance of a real estate agent was nine percent.

Source: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

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