What’s Up With Housing?

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How accurate are those Zestimates from Zillow? We put them to the test.

Zillow maintains that more than half the homes it lists sell within five percent of the home value “Zestimates” it gives for them. The Tampa Bay Times looked at 20 houses for sale on both sides of bay to see if that held up.

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Are You Considering Buying a Vacation Home?

People tend to be too optimistic about rental rates, vacancies, management fees, maintenance costs and home value increases.

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Drawing Buyers of All Ages to Florida’s Walkable Suburban Downtowns

With so many generations to serve in Florida’s increasingly attractive housing market, how can developers be sure their product supply will appeal to their target audience?

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CFPB Clarifies Rule: Real Estate Agents May See Closing Disclosure

The federal consumer bureau says it’s okay for lenders to share buyers’ Closing Disclosure with agents, and it’s announcing soon the how-to-do-it details.

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Underwater Homeowners Are Drying Up…

Report: The number of homeowners (about 1.8M) who still owe more on a mortgage than their home’s current value has hit its lowest point since 2006.

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http://www.TitleSecurityFL.com

Interesting Housing News From The Past Week

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Tampa Bay leads the state in home sales as prices jump 13.6%
The greatest demand continued to be for houses under $300,000, eagerly sought by first-time homebuyers.

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Freddie Mac: Pay no attention to the homeownership rate
People who worry about the homeownership rate’s 50-year low forget demographics. Millennials may be late to the party, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t coming.
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Don’t Disqualify Yourself… Over Half of All Loans Approved Have a FICO Score Under 750.
Potential home buyers, and even current homeowners, have an inflated view of what is really required to qualify for a mortgage in today’s market.

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Real estate news often confuses homeowners.
Reading or watching real estate news can make a homeowner’s head spin. In one day, they might hear that mortgage rates rose, sales fell and prices stagnated.

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Home Buyer Demand Remains Strong in September
Sales, as usual, retreat from August but hold up against the same month last year.
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Retirees Want Walkable, Urban Communities…
Interesting look at the shift of retirees from isolated gated sub-divisions or large home on golf courses to walkable urban communities.

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http://www.TitleSecurityFL.com

 

Housing News From This Past Week

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Reminder to all Realtors… Want to know everything about the “CFPB Integrated ‪Mortgage Disclosure‬ Rule” but were afraid to ask?  Please attend our Coffee Corner presentation on Tuesday at 9:30AM.

 

10 Reasons The Housing Market Could Go Ballistic This Spring…

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Investors are buying fewer single-family homes.   However, many investors continue to buy and seem committed to the business of renting out their portfolios of single-family homes.
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What Makes A City Beautiful?
A provocative new Video says beauty in Urban Settings must be objective—and to argue otherwise is a danger to our quality of life.

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The ‪Urbanization‬ of the ‘Burbs: How the Definition of “City” is Changing…
The right combination of urban amenities, transportation, and walkability will attract home buyers to nearly any suburban location.

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http://www.TitleSecurity.net