Real Estate Decoded - Page 3 of 7 -

August 10, 2018

The Truth About Prices When You Sell FSBO (For Sale By Owner)

Does this tweet from the National Association of Realtors seem at all believable to you? Do real estate agents really sell homes for 30% more than “For Sale By Owners”?

August 3, 2018

Zillow Zestimate Accuracy Calculator – 2018

Thinking of selling your home and wondering what it’s worth? Be careful about falling in love with home value estimates you see online. Some are WAY too high (or way too low).

July 28, 2018

5 Reasons Home Prices Are Falling In Australia

Australian home prices are up sharply since 2000 but it looks like the tide is turning. Here are 5 reasons why Australia home prices will likely fall over the next several years.

July 25, 2018

The 0.25% Fed Rate Increase Does NOT Mean Mortgage Rates Will Increase 0.25%

The Federal Reserve increased the federal funds rate (Fed rate) last month and currently many expect they’ll increase the rate another 0.5% by the end of the year. I suspect when most home buyers see a headline that says, “The Fed raised interest rates 0.25%,” they think the 30-year mortgage rate went up 0.25%.

July 24, 2018

The 6 People Who Help You Buy Your First Home

Advice for first-time home buyers often focuses on all the steps involved in buying a home. To simplify things, let’s look at the people involved, not the steps. If you’re a people person, focusing on the people might help you visualize the whole home buying process better than trying to remember the details. Okay, besides…

July 24, 2018

3 Hottest and 3 Coldest Real Estate Markets

It’s easy to compare home price appreciation between the 20 cities covered by the Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

June 1, 2018

Pre-School Mom Finds Her Dream Home – Jenn Murphy’s First Home Story

After their second daughter was born, Jenn and Ben decided it was time to buy their own home. Here’s their First Home Story.

May 25, 2018

A Flame Shooting Out Of The Wall – Bobbie Scopa’s First Home Story

This hilarious first home story from my great friend Bobbie Scopa reminds me how much the home buying process has changed over the years. Back in the day, professional home inspectors didn’t even exist.

May 18, 2018

2015 Condo Buy – Michael Leonard’s First Home Story

Michael’s timing was great when he bought his condo in 2015. First, he learned a ton about personal finance, then he saved a ton and decided he was ready to buy a place.

May 4, 2018

8 Problem Locations – Know Before You Fall In Love With A House Online

If you’re thinking of buying your first home (or your second home or your third home), you’re probably having a lot of fun/stress looking at homes for sale online. You’re probably spending a lot of time on Zillow searching for neighborhoods you like and seeing if there’s anything good in your price range. If you…

May 1, 2018

The Untold Truth of Home Appraisals

“You can’t overpay for the house because you’re going to get an appraisal.” That’s what some real estate agents and mortgage loan officers tell their clients but is it true?

April 25, 2018

Home Price Charts Updated – Case-Shiller

At first, many years ago, I didn’t like the Case-Shiller index. I wanted to see dollars and cents home prices, not an index. The advantage of an index is that it’s easy to compare home price appreciation in two different cities or between your city and the U.S. as a whole.

April 24, 2018

Top 3 Mortgage Calculators – “How Much House Can I Afford?”

If you’re just starting to think about buying a home, you’ll have a zillion questions. Here’s a huge one. “How much house can I afford?” Before you get too deep into looking at individual homes online, you need to get a ballpark idea of how much money you can borrow so you can figure out…

April 20, 2018

Top Tips for First-Time Home Buyers – Kristin LaVanway’s First Home Story (Part 3)

Kristin sums up with her top tips for first-time home buyers.

April 13, 2018

First Home After Divorce – Kristin LaVanway’s First Home Story (Part 2)

Kristin jumps into the story of buying her first home after divorce. The story takes a dramatic turn when it turns out Kristin bought the home at the top of the real estate bubble

April 6, 2018

Why The Black Homeownership Rate Is The Same 50 Years After The Fair Housing Act Became Law

The next few days you’ll probably see a lot of news stories about the Fair Housing Act being signed 50 years ago on April 11, 1968. What those stories likely won’t tell you is the percentage of U.S. blacks who own their own homes today compared to back then. The 1970 census found 42% of black households owned their own homes. Today, the number is also 42%. That seems impossible!