RISMEDIA, September 3, 2010—Following a sharp drop in the months immediately after the expiration of the home buyer tax credit, pending home sales have modestly risen, according to the National Association of Realtors. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator, rose 5.2% to 79.4 based on contracts signed in July from a downwardly revised [...]

RISMEDIA, September 2, 2010—“The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is giving homeowners and buyers until October 4, 2010 to lock in a low monthly insurance premium,” said Gibran Nicholas, chairman of the CMPS Institute, an organization that trains and certifies mortgage bankers and brokers. “After October 4, the monthly insurance premiums on FHA loans will increase [...]

If you are not celebrating the last big hurrah of summer by heading to the beach or some other relaxing destination, now is a great time to tackle some projects before fall hits. My good friend and co-worker, Jule, passed this great article along to me the other day. It’s full of projects that can [...]

RISMEDIA, September 1, 2010—With existing U.S. home sales diving to 15-year lows and millions of homes stagnant on the market, home sellers are suffering increasing anxiety, uncertainty and financial stress. To address these symptoms, motivational author Joan Gale Frank has published Home Seller’s Blues (And How To Beat Them). “This is the first book of [...]

RISMEDIA, August 31, 2010—A home buying guide published recently by the Appraisal Institute teaches home buyers when to buy, how to find a real estate agent, how to choose the best home on the market and more—all from the uniquely unbiased perspective of a real estate appraiser. An Insider’s Guide to Home Buying by Mark [...]

RISMEDIA, August 30, 2010—Are more Americans positioning themselves for home purchase? Although May’s data showed that home sales were down 26.8% as the home buyer tax credit concluded, a new survey conducted by Relocation.com suggests some families are opting for renting while they research—cash in hand—for deals on a new, more desirable home in their [...]

This Week’s Redding Real Estate Update: Residential Market Statistics Active Listings:  1,654 (from 1,640 last week and 1,635 two weeks ago) Pending Listings:   457 (from 441 last week and 438 two weeks ago) Closed so far in August: 105 Closed in July: 168 Closed in June: 201 Closed in May: 182 Closed in April: 173 [...]

RISMEDIA, August 27, 2010—(MCT)—Everywhere you look, July was not ideal for real estate—that’s one thing on which the economists and the statistics agree. Sales figures released recently for the first month in 19, not invigorated by government tax credits, offered a poor prognosis for the housing sector. Nationally, sales of previously owned homes plunged 25.5% [...]

RISMEDIA, August 23, 2010—The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury has released the August edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard (www.hud.gov/scorecard), a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. In July, housing prices remained level after 30 straight months of decline, while some price predictions [...]

Here’s a tip for marking large arcs. Instead of using a beam compass, or a nail, string, and pencil, use a thin piece of stock or rip a thin strip. I like to keep thin strips ripped from 8-foot stock because I design many projects that call for 2 1/4-inch parts. Once a 1 x [...]