We finally have a reason to celebrate!!  There is an avalanche of positive news regarding an upturn in the real estate and housing market in 2012.   

1. Foreclosure activity in 2011 is down more than 50% lower in several states, including New Jersey, Maryland and Florida.  Realty Trac
2. The much feared “shadow inventory” of foreclosures declined dramatically in 2011.  In December 2012, 2.2 million properties were in some stage of foreclosure.  In September 2011, that number dropped to 1.5 million units…or a whopping 32% in nine months.  Realtytrac
3. Realtors in some hard hit area’s, such as Michigan and southern California, are reporting a shortage of housing inventory and a return to bidding wars in tight markets.  
4. Wall Street thinks the worst is over.  Stocks of the nation’s five largest, publicly traded, home builders are at 52 week highs, signaling an upswing in home construction in 2012.  In addition, the home builders have been snapping up deals on land and abandoned subdivisions, in anticipation of increased buyer demand.  CNBC
5. Home sellers, Realtors and home builders are getting help from rising rents, as Americans realize that owning a home is often less expensive than renting one.   And, while future rent increases have no ceiling on how high they can go, ownership locks in housing expenses and equity is created as the loan balance decreases each month.
6. Legal issues, property maintenance and other issues complicating the foreclosure process will push banks and lenders to approve more short sales in 2012, further reducing housing inventory.
7. Interest rates will remain at historical lows in 2012, which allows more people to qualify for a home and cheap money buys more house for the same monthly payment. 
8. Overall, foreclosure activity was dropped more than 30 percent in 2011.   Fewer than 2 million properties foreclosure notices were filed in 2011, down from 2.9 million property filings in 2010.  Realty Trac

If you need to sell your home, things haven’t looked this favorable in years.      Arm yourself with an MLS listing and exposure on Realtor.com and all the major search engines for real estate.   Millions of home buyers search these websites, daily.  If your home isn’t there, they will buy the one that is. 

Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com.  We have helped thousands of home sellers and we can help you, too.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

National Home Improvement Stores Outsource American Jobs to China    Home Depot, Lowe’s vendor ignores U.S. patents, outsources popular INFOBOX®  

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (May 10, 2011)—Recently, Hillman Group, vendor to national DIY home-improvement retail giants Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Menards, replaced the store’s popular American-made INFOTUBE® and INFOBOX® products with Chinese factory replicas. 

INFOTUBE® literature boxes were invented 23 years ago in a garage in Dallas, TX, to provide Realtors®, builders and homeowners with an affordable way to sell their homes. Today, millions of these patented real-estate literature boxes are being used in neighborhoods across America. 

In March, Hillman informed Crow Erickson it was replacing INFOTUBE® and INFOBOX® products effective immediately, leaving thousands of boxes stranded on the docks and effectively closing the doors of the Asheville, NC-based manufacturer and inventor. Caplugs® factory jobs in Erie, PA and Buffalo, NY will also be affected, two areas already hard hit in this economy. 

Crow Erickson’s patent attorney has inspected the Chinese product, currently available on Home Depot’s website, and it does appear to be copy of the INFOBOX® design, something Hillman insiders have conceded. The Chinese knockoff provides no cost savings to the consumer. 

This is not the first time Hillman has ignored U.S. patents and put American jobs in jeopardy, including the hundreds of disabled and handicapped American workers that Crow Erickson has employed at competitive wages in partnership with vocational rehabilitation centers.

 In the 1990s, Hillman tried to outsource INFOTUBE® products, a patent violation against which Crow Erickson took legal action. The settlement required Hillman to renew its contract for INFOTUBE® and agree not to compete in its product niche. 

Apparently Hillman is banking on the rising cost of lawsuits to deter the small, woman-owned business from pursuing legal remedy this time around. 

Crow Erickson has made numerous direct appeals to the Hillman Group and senior management at Lowe’s and Home Depot, citing its 20+ year successful partnership, patent concerns, and a desire to work with all parties for a mutually beneficial and cost-competitive resolution. 

To date, Crow Erickson has not been able to engage Hillman, Lowe’s or Home Depot in any meaningful discussion and has been left with no recourse other than pursue costly legal action or close its doors and watch another American-made product fall victim to Chinese factories. 

Crow Erickson is currently launching a public media campaign to save American jobs. More information can be found on www.infotube.net and the company’s blog. INFOTUBE® is also sponsoring an online petition to save American jobs from export to China which can be viewed and signed on The Petition Site at Help-Save-American-Jobs.

 Contact:

Tommi Crow

President, Crow Erickson, Inc.

800-858-6000 (o) 828-230-2260 (cel)

tommi@infotube.net

The lack of first-time buyers is hurting the housing market and their absense is hampering the recovery.

In normal markets, first time buyers make up 40%-45% of all home purchasers.  Since January of 2011, purchases made by first time buyers averages only 32%

Why is this important for existing home sales? 

First time buyers are crucial to the market because they buy starter homes so those owners can step up to a more expensive property.   Despite low mortgage rates and deeply discounted prices, they are remaining on the sidelines…at least for now.

What may be keeping first time buyers out of the housing market?

Some experts point to a hangover from the  Expired Tax Credit of 2009 and 201o, which may have lured buyers into a home sooner than later.   Some point to tighter lending standards and increased down payment requirements.  The best loan terms now kick in with a down payment of 20% or more, which may be very difficult for a first time homeowner.

The Silver Lining — The National Association of Realtors reported that a record 33% of all existing home sales in Febuary were to Cash Buyers.  In some parts of the country, cash buyers accounted for more than half of all the existing homes sold.

Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com.  We have helped thousands of home sellers and builders market their homes and save money.  We can help you, too!  Visit our website for facts and details.

Home Sellers should check out  InfoTube.NET a FREE homes for sale and rent website.  Visit the site to  place a free ad on your property, view listings or to purchase a Made in America InfoTube or InfoBoxe to help you market your home on the street.

We can also arrange for your property to be shown on your local MLS and/or Realtor.com and all major real estate websites.  CLICK HERE for details.

Foreign buyers are turning to the U.S. to buy “trophy properties,” according to a recent Wall Street Journal blog which added that demand is so strong, leading real estate website Realtor.com plans to add features, including a translation service, to help the influx of international buyers find real estate.

“They’re feeling that investing in U.S. real estate right now may be a more stable option than investing in their home countries,” Julie Reynolds, a Realtor.com spokesperson said.

Reynolds cited a National Association of Realtors survey that showed that 55% of foreign buyers paid cash in 2009, compared with about 8% of overall respondents.

In her WSJ blog, S. Mitra Kalita concluded that, “Given the shaky state of some markets and a still-tight lending environment, real-estate agents say the rush to market to foreign buyers only makes good business sense.”

And the National Association of Realtors findings back her up: It reported that between April 2009 and March 31, 2010, $66 billion of residential property — 7 percent of the total U.S. residential market — was sold to foreign nationals, recent immigrants and temporary visa holders.

“We have definitely seen an increase in international clients this year,” said Miami realtor, Ines Hegedus-Garcia. “What’s exciting is the fact that they are not interested in just single residential properties, but multiple properties as well as commercial and industrial. They are savvy cash buyers who do their homework and pull the trigger fast once the numbers make sense.”

On Realtor.com, traffic from countries in Western Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia has increased by more than 50% over the past two years with the foreigners targeting properties in Florida, California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, New York, and Nevada.

At a local level, Realtors have also noticed the surge of interest from abroad: Last year 28% of them reported working with at least one international client in the previous year (2009 – 2010), up from 23% in 2008.

Here’s how the foreign interest in U.S. property breaks down: Canadians have make up the bulk of international buyers during the past 3 years; Mexicans the fastest growing; and buyers from the UK, stung by their own housing market collapse, have posted the steepest decline.

About 50 percent of international homebuyers said they wanted to move here and make the homes their primary residences; 25 percent bought vacation homes for their own use; 14% were bought residential rentals for investment; and another 14% said they wanted their purchases to double as their own vacation home and a rental.

Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com.   Our customers receive all the benefits of advertising on the MLS and Realtor.com for a fraction of the money.  Visit our website for details and FAQ’s.    If you have a home to sell, it is time to Spring into action!!!

The aging boomers have finally worked up the courage to sell the family house, depreciated as it is, and roll the home equity into their last ever home purchase.   Ironically, the catalyst for this trend has nothing to do with real estate.   The motivation is age, quality of life and the stock market.  The stock market is back, bringing with it the net worth of the boomer generation, who controls 80 percent of the financial assets in the United States. 

If you own a one level, low maintenance home…you are already sitting in tall cotton…but you can do some simple things to sweeten the pot even more…if you know what to emphasize and what needs to be done.

Capitalize on the needs of the 65+ year olds, who are looking for place that they can grow old in.  They are naturally drawn to homes that are easy and safe to live in, even if managing stairs and home maintenance is hard to do.

• Replace door knobs with levered handles.
• Replace knob-type plumbing fixtures and cabinet pulls with levers or open handles.
• Today’s house only needs one bathtub.  Offer at least one,  barrier free shower on the main floor, even if means taking out a bathtub.
• Put a laundry room on the main floor, even if you have to eliminate a closet or half-bath to do so.
• Consider making entryway staircases longer and more gentle.  Create an option to add a wheelchair ramp to one side, if needed.
• Consider adding grab bars in glass enclosures or  if your bathroom has wide open space.
• Replace carpeting with tile, hardwoods or laminate flooring for easier maintenance, durability and a smoother surface.
• Provide ample indoor lighting and don’t forget the outdoor security lights.
• Provide outdoor handrails on stairs, inclines or wherever necessary

Marketing Insight:  Most home improvements, suggested above, offer easy living appeal for all ages.  Just because your house is senior friendly doesn’t lessen the appeal to everyone else, but always be tactful.  Design two InfoSheets for Buyers.  Offer one in a standard format and create another that highlights senior-ready amenities.  

Why 6 Perent has been helping home sellers’ reach home buyers while saving thousands of dollars in commissions and fee’s.  If you have the ability to show your own home to buyers’, then you should seriously consider a low flat fee MLS listing or an ad on Realtor.com.   Our specialized program reachs 10 million home shoppers each month for pennies a day.

Thank you for visiting our blog!

But, if you’re still debating…consider the following:

• Winter, spring, summer or fall…if you’re priced above the rest of the market, your home will help sell the well priced listings, but not yours.
• There is less competition from competing homes during winter and less inventory benefits sellers’.
• Buyer’s who are househunting during winter are serious and truly motivated.
• Interest rates trend lower during winter months, when loan demand is low.
• Gardens and landscape don’t look as appealing in winter.   If your home won’t exactly win ”yard of the month” during summer…a snowy winter may actually level the playing field for you.
• Don’t believe that if you pull your home off the market during winter, you can bring it back in the spring as a new listing.   No one is fooled by this trick.  Your listing will still appear as canceled and relisted in the MLS.
• If it’s not on the market, the right buyer may come and go.

Thank you for stopping by Why6Percent.com.  We have helped thousands of home seller’s market their properties and save thousands of dollars in commissions and fee’s.  We can Help You, too.  Click HERE to review our marketing packages.

According to the companies research, the top 10 markets had two fundamental things in common.  First, homes prices never rose to nosebleed levels like they did in the hard hit area’s such as Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona.  Secondly, these area’s are experiencing fewer foreclosures and loan defaults than other regions of the United States.

            The 2011 Top 10 Housing Markets in the U.S. are:

                           City                                                Forecast

• 1.  Portland, ME                                           3.6%
• 2.  Kansas City, KS                                       3.5%
• 3.  Tri-Cities, WA                                          3.4%
• 4.  Omaha, NE                                                3.3%
• 5.  Fargo, ND                                                  3.3%
• 6.  New Orleans, LA                                     3.2%
• 7.  Iowa City, IA                                            3.2%
• 8.  Columbia, MD                                           3.1%
• 9.  Bellevue, NE                                              3.1%
• 10 Bismark, ND                                               3.1%

Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com..    If you are interested in learning more about placing a property ad on Realtor.com or the MLS in your area, CLICK HERE!!!

Home Seller Tip:  Check out  InfoTube.net FREE homes for sale and rent website.  Search for competing homes in complete privacy or list your property and reach thousands of additional home buyers each month….FOR FREE!!!

In 2010, Realtor.com was the #1 search site for homes, multi family and land.  If you are selling property, you need to be present on Realtor.com.  Why6Percent.com can assist you in placing your property listing on Realtor.com for only $299…even better…your listing will stay active until you SELL or Cancel!!!   Click Here for More Details!!!

PS Sellers can place a FREE home listing without popup ad’s or spam at InfoTube.net!!!

Click here to See how Your Home Will Fare in the Next Boom  

Thank you for visting Why6Percent.com  We have a complete solution for home sales.  Visit the website and learn what we can do for you.

The act defines seven different classes that are protected against discrimination, these include: 

Race

Color

National origin

Sex

Religion

Handicap

Familial status 

(You may notice that Age is not a protected class, in and of itself.  Sellers of property that are zoned 55+, adult only, etc. can discriminate on the basis of age, if it violates deed restrictions, zoning or restrictive convenants.

Attention Home Sellers:   You put yourself at serious risk of violating this act, if you refuse to sell or show your home to an interested buyer.  Remember that ignorance of the law is not a viable excuse or defense.  You will be held legally liable, even if you accidentally violate these laws without realizing it.

Review the following list of words that cannot be included in advertisements of your home, because they are in violation of the Fair Housing Laws.  

Bachelor apartment

Children welcome

Couples

Gentlemans Farm

Golden Agers

Handicapped

Integrated

Married

Mature

Mother-in-Law quarters

Professional

Section 8

Seniors

Singles only

Sports-minded 

Why6Percent.com encourages all home sellers to avoid any form of discrimination, at all costs.   The financial penalities and fines for violating the Fair Housing Act are Severe!   If you have any questions, send us an email and we will try to help you.