From the monthly archives:

February 2010

Cash for Caulkers: Appealing to Home Shoppers?

by John TayebFebruary 5, 2010 Home Buyer Tax Credit 2009

Congress is about to approve a program to put contractors back to work doing energy retrofits. If “Cash for Caulkers” passes, home owners will be eligible for a tax credit worth up to $12,000 or half the cost of the retrofits, whichever is lower. A home owner who spends $24,000 to cut his energy use [...]

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Mortgage Applications Jump Last Week

by Tayeb Realty GroupFebruary 5, 2010 Foreclosures

Mortgage applications shot up 21 percent last week compared to the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. On an unadjusted basis, applications rose 23.5 percent. The unadjusted purchase index increased 17.5 percent compared with the previous week, but was down 11.2 percent from the same week a year [...]

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Can a Bike Generate Your Home’s Energy?

by Tayeb Realty GroupFebruary 3, 2010 general

A wind turbine marketed by Honeywell could make generating electricity a home-based business. The compact turbine resembles a 6-foot in diameter bicycle wheel that sits on a suburban roof. It can function at wind speeds as low as 2 mph, doesn’t make loud noises or vibrate excessively – two objections to competing turbines. The average [...]

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S&P Predicts Housing Prices Will Fall Further

by John TayebFebruary 2, 2010 Housing Market News Update

The oversupply of homes on the market in many regions is likely to reduce home prices still further, rating agency Standard & Poor’s said in a statement Friday. “While home prices have been trending up since spring 2009, existing, new and pending home sales are waning, which suggests that lower prices are on the horizon,” [...]

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FHA Relaxes Anti-Flipping Rule

by Tayeb Realty GroupFebruary 2, 2010 Foreclosures

Beginning Feb. 1, the Federal Housing Administration will provide mortgage insurance for some purchases in which the seller bought the property and held it for fewer than 90 days. The agency is changing what is known as the “anti-flipping rule” to speed up sales of renovated homes in communities with too many bank-owned and foreclosed [...]

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10 Home Features Buyers Want

by John TayebFebruary 1, 2010 Home Renovations

Home designers and builders speaking at the recent International Builders Show in Las Vegas say that buyers are seeking cost-effective features and rejecting things that don’t have lasting value. “It’s all about family togetherness – casual living, entertaining and flexible spaces,” says Carol Lavender, president of the Lavender Design Group in San Antonio. Paul Cardis, [...]

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