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Here are some interesting statistics recently published in “The Residential Specialist” magazine. (Their source for the information was Harris Interactive.) This magazine is available to all real estate agents who have earned their Certified Residential Specialist certification through the National Association of Realtors.
Several of Hometown Realty agents in Hutchinson, MN have earned this CRS designation.
What percentage of Americans participated in energy-saving activities within the past year?
Installed more energy efficient light bulbs: 63%
Purchased energy efficient appliances: 36%
Started paying bills online: 46%
Switched to paperless financial statements: 40%
Donated an electronic device for recycling: 41%
Swithed from bottle to tap water: 29%
Installed a low flow showerhead: 17%
Installed a low flow toilet: 16%
Made home improvements that provided government tax credits: 14%
Bought a more fuel efficent car: 13%
None of thes: 13%
So, how do you and your family compare?
According to the National Association of Realtors “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2009″, 90 percent of buyers used the Internet as an information source in their home search, up 30 percentage points during the past six years. First-time buyers were even more likely to use the internet.
Also reported was that 47% of recent buyers were first-time buyers, 21% of recent home buyers were single females, and 10% were single males.
The housing market in Hutchinson, MN would be in line with these findings.
By now most of you have heard that the first time buyer tax credit has been extended to April 30, 2010.
In addition, there is now a tax credit for current homeowners who have used their home as a principal residence consecutively for 5 of the previous 8 years. This credit also runs to April 30, 2010.
This is good news for anyone who has been thinking about selling their current home and moving into another. The housing market here in Hutchinson, MN is well positioned for anyone wanting to buy another home.
There are some income restrictions to both credits, but most people will fall into the income limits.
If you have any specific questions about either of these tax credits, please call our office.
Renters aren’t immune to too-good-to-be-true pitches.
One popular scheme these days involves the perpetrators lifting a real estate agent’s online photos and information for an attractive residence that’s currently for sale — and then placing an ad on a free online classified-ads site that purports to offer the house for rent at below-market rates.
The pitch (from the ostensible landlord) is, ‘We’re leaving town quickly because we’re going to do missionary work in Africa’ ” and thus are offering the place at an excellent monthly rate.
In fact, the landlord says he’s leaving town so quickly there’s no time to show it, and so the tenant will have to go by what’s in the ad and wire the first and last month’s rent to the landlord (at an address that’s inevitably somewhere abroad) and the keys will be sent, he said.
Incredibly, this works (in the criminal’s favor) more often than you’d think. The price is so low, and people don’t want to pass it up. But they’re not doing their homework.
A couple of weeks ago, we had a renter contact us about a home that we have for sale here in Hutchinson, MN that was advertised for rent on Craigslist and unfortunately it was part of this scam. Luckily, the would be renter was smart enough to check things out before sending any money.
Yesterday our Regional Multiple Listing Service sent out a warning to all of us about this scam which apparently is being run out of Nigeria!
So, once again the phrase, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” holds true.
In Hutchinson, MN it seems in the last while that the process of short sales is getting shorter. Thank heavens. We have had buyers of homes for sale who have waited up to four months only to find out that the lender who holds the mortgage is not willing to accept the offer that they buyer made on the home that is for sale. Even though buyers know that the process will be long, many of them have decided to wait it out in hopes that the price they get the home they want for will be worth the wait. In the last couple of weeks, we have had faster response from lenders when offers are submitted on the short sales. I suspect that part of the reason is that we as real estate agents understand the process of the short sale better than we did a year ago. I also think that the banks are catching up on their work load and are getting better at doing their jobs to expediate the process of the short sale. Don’t misunderstand, it’s still a longer process than just buying a home when a short sale is not necessary. Everyone’s patience level is different and if you have the time, purchasing a home that needs to be a short sale can be beneficial.
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