Pete Montero listed his Ann Arbor, Mich., home nearly a year ago at $379,000.

The 2,600-square-foot home didn’t attract buyers, so Montero dropped the price in $10,000 increments — he’s down to $329,900 — and has considered remodeling the kitchen.

“We really didn’t think any individual thing about the house would make it difficult to sell,” said Montero, whose four-bedroom home has a finished basement and sits on a cul-de-sac.

Spring is typically the busiest time of the year for home sales. But with 

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Source: The Seattle Times: Real Estate

Q: What can you do with the investment property you have obtained by way of a Starker exchange? No one I know who has done an exchange has, in my opinion, kept the property as investment.

 

Three examples:

? A person buys a house as a second home. His lawyer tells him that as long as he runs an ad in the paper showing that he tried to rent the property he can satisfy the IRS questions. He has used the house as a second home for the entire time he has owned it. He runs the ad in an out-of-the-area newspaper and no one has called.(Read More)

Source: Washington Post

It’s the No. 1 complaint that real estate agents make about the home mortgage lending process. And it bugs their home buyer clients as well: The failure of settlement or escrow officials to provide a copy of the final settlement sheet before the closing.

In a new nationwide survey of real estate agents, 50 percent said their biggest gripe was the absence of HUD-1 closing documents for review a day ahead of the settlement. The HUD-1 is the form that lists settlement charges. Real estate agents told pollsters that although “required by government regulations,” settlement sheets rarely arrive in advance, thereby denying home buyers an opportunity to see an itemized list of all their charges and fees. (Read More)

Source: Washington Post

Rates on 30-year mortgages reached their highest point in nearly four years, a factor that is taking some oomph out of the housing market. (Read More)

Source: Baltimore Sun

In some cities, dropoff in sales, rising supply could cause prices to fall

Todd Linsley, a 37-year-old investor, bought a three-bedroom house in Stuart, Fla., for about $318,000 in late 2005. His original plan was to quickly flip the property — which is in a new housing development about 40 miles north of West Palm Beach — by selling it for as high as $425,000. But when he saw that the market was turning, he decided to list the home for $379,900. It’s been on the market since early January with no takers. (Read More)

Source: Baltimore Sun