Buying & Selling Homes with The Collura Team

    Applying For A Mortgage: Why So Much Paperwork? We are often asked why there is so much paperwork mandated by the bank for a mortgage loan application when buying a home today. It seems that the bank needs to know everything about us and requires three separate sources to validate each and every entry on the application form. Many buyers are being told by friends and family that the process was a hundred times easier when they bought their home ten to twenty years ago. There are two very good reasons that the loan process is much more onerous on today’s buyer than perhaps any time in history. The government has set new guidelines that now demand that the bank prove beyond any doubt that you are indeed capable of affording the mortgage. During the run-up in the housing market, many people ‘qualified’ for mortgages that they could never pay back. This led to millions of families losing their home. The government wants to make sure this can’t happen again

                                                                                                                                                   352-279-0899   Buying a Home Remains 35% Less Expensive than Renting! In the latest  Rent vs. Buy Report  from Trulia , they explained that homeownership remains cheaper than renting with a traditional 30-year fixed rate mortgage throughout the 100 largest metro areas in the United States. The updated numbers actually show that the range is from an average of 16% in Honolulu (HI), all the way to 55% in Sarasota (FL), and  35% Nationwide! The other interesting findings in the report include: Interest rates have remained low and even though home prices have appreciated around the country, they haven’t greatly outpaced rental appreciation.  “In the past year, these two trends have made homeownership even more affordable compared with renting.” Some markets might tip in favor of renting if home prices increase at a great

                             352-279-0899 Some interesting facts: 25 states are forecasted to achieve higher levels of appreciation in the next 12 months than already achieved in the last year. 25 state and the District of Columbia are forecasted to experience a slow in appreciation. All 50 states & D.C. are forecasted to achieve some level of positive price appreciation. Even though each state is appreciating at different levels, you need to know the Cost of Waiting until next year to buy your dream home!

                                                                                                                                                              352-279-0899 Fla.’s foreclosures down 17% in 3rd quarter   IRVINE, Calif. – Oct. 15, 2015 – According to the third quarter foreclosure report issued by RealtyTrac, Florida is clearly on the way to recovery as the number of foreclosure starts drops 28 percent and the number of auctions declines 46 percent year-to year. Overall, Florida foreclosure activity in the third quarter decreased 17 percent year-to-year. However, the number of homes that have completed the foreclosure process – ones now owned by banks, or REOs – increased 34 percent year-to-year. The state still has the second-highest foreclosure rate in the nation, RealtyTrac finds, but part of the reason is a recovery across the U.S. Five Florida cities posted third quarter foreclosure rates amo

                                                            352-279-0899   How Quickly Are Homes Selling In Your State? [INFOGRAPHIC] by The KCM Crew on October 2, 2015 Some Highlights: The National Association of REALTORS® surveyed their members for their Confidence Index The REALTORS® Confidence Index is a key indicator of housing market strength based on a monthly survey sent to over 50,000 real estate practitioners. Practitioners are asked about their expectations for home sales, prices and market conditions. Homes sold in less than 60 days in 39 out of 50 states and Washington D.C. Only Vermont had a median sold date longer than 90 days.

                                                               352-279-0899          #1 Reason to List Your House Today If you are debating listing your house for sale this year or even early next year, here is the #1 reason not to wait! Buyer Demand Continues to Outpace the Supply of Homes For Sale According to the National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) Foot Traffic report , there are more buyers out in the market right now than at any other time in the past three years. The graph below shows the significant increase in foot traffic experienced this year compared to 2014. The latest Existing Home Sales report shows that there is currently a 5.2-month supply of homes for sale. This remains lower than the 6-month supply necessary for a normal market and well below August 2014 numbers. The chart below details the year-over-year inventory shortages experienced so far in 2015: Bottom Line Meet with a local real estate professional who can show you the supply cond

                                                                          Pending Home Sales Remain Steady Posted: 08 Oct 2015 04:00 AM PDT The National Association of REALTORS’ just released the results of their latest Pending Home Sales Index , which showed a small 1.4% decline in signed contracts in August. Pending sales remain strong year-over-year as they were 6.1% higher than August ’14 and have now risen for 12 consecutive months.   What is the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) ? NAR’s PHSI is “a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings”. The higher the Pending Home Sales Index number, the more contracts have been signed by buyers that will soon translate to sales. In every major region of the country, pending sales are up year-over-year as shown by the graph below: What does this mean for the market? Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for NAR explained: "Pending sales have leveled off since mid–summer, with buyers being boun

                                                                                                                            Real Estate To Stay Strong For 2 More Years NEW YORK – Oct. 7, 2015 – Expect at least three more years of favorable real estate conditions, with the overall housing market projected to continue expanding at steady levels through 2017, according to a new survey from the Urban Land Institute Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate. The results are based on predictions from 49 of the real estate industry's top economists and analysts. Compared to previous forecasts, the latest ULI forecast is less bullish on its outlook, however. Overall, real estate indicators are expected to be better than their 20-year averages through 2015 – but the economists predicted that a few real estate indicators won't perform as well: commercial property price growth, equity REIT returns, retail availability rates and single-family housing starts. "

                      #1 Reason to List Your House Today   If you are debating listing your house for sale this year or even early next year, here is the #1 reason not to wait! Buyer Demand Continues to Outpace the Supply of Homes For Sale According to the National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) Foot Traffic report , there are more buyers out in the market right now than at any other time in the past three years. The graph below shows the significant increase in foot traffic experienced this year compared to 2014. The latest Existing Home Sales report shows that there is currently a 5.2-month supply of homes for sale. This remains lower than the 6-month supply necessary for a normal market and well below August 2014 numbers. The chart below details the year-over-year inventory shortages experienced so far in 2015: Bottom Line Meet with a local real estate professional who can show you the supply conditions in your neighborhood and assist you in gaining acce