Consumer real estate news featuring articles on market conditions, hot buying and selling issues and more. http://www.homes101.net/news/ en-us Homes101 Copyright © 2009 Homes101 and partners. All rights reserved. 2009-07-10T05:00:00-00:00 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Homes101RealEstateNews/~3/mBfb3f7NRRk/n4650 For real estate investors buying houses at discount prices, it could be a hot new trend. Instead of simply doing the usual renovations, paint jobs and landscaping to turn around properties for resale or rental, growing numbers of investors are emphasizing energy efficiency improvements to increase market values and cut marketing times. Realty Times 2009-07-10T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.homes101.net/news/n4650 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Homes101RealEstateNews/~3/NXOg-_Xr2V4/n4651 McLean, VA -- Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS ) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM)averaged 5.20 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending July 9, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 5.32 percent. Realty Times 2009-07-10T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.homes101.net/news/n4651 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Homes101RealEstateNews/~3/YdJ_Ft9ieNw/n4652 Forbes.com has published its report on America s Best and Worst Cities for Families. These are metros where people have enough money for everyday living and places where families daily budgets take a chunk out of their incomes. Realty Times 2009-07-10T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.homes101.net/news/n4652 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Homes101RealEstateNews/~3/b-UPuKJwr0o/n4648 [Note:To follow is an excerpt of an interview with several bloggers from Real Estate Investment Club.com: Scott Carson, a full time real estate investor and real estate investment coach, Halle Eavelyn, a specialist in private banking and investing for real estate, loan modifications, short sales, rehabbing homes, pre-construction real estate, and lease options; and Jack Sternberg, 30 years plus of experience and a track record of thousands of successful real estate transactions. To listen to the show archive or download an MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com/060309.] Realty Times 2009-07-09T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.homes101.net/news/n4648 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Homes101RealEstateNews/~3/X7W4SYaW2qI/n4649 Job-loss mortgage insurance is available from a host of sources and policies vary in coverage, cost, benefits and requirements, so you'd better shop around. Realty Times 2009-07-09T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.homes101.net/news/n4649 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Homes101RealEstateNews/~3/YVGqdfviJTE/n4646 The 544-unit Alexan CityView, the largest LEED for Homes multifamily community in the country, is officially open with the recent move-in of the first residents of the luxury rental community, according to Richard Murphy, managing director of Trammel Crow Residential (TCR), developer of the property. Alexan CityView, offering studio to three bedroom units, is situated on 297 acres on the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor at 302 Constitution Avenue in Bayonne, New Jersey. Realty Times 2009-07-08T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.homes101.net/news/n4646 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Homes101RealEstateNews/~3/sYO5JCSd9KA/n4647 A reserve study identifies a homeowner association's future repairs and replacements like a snapshot in time. Imagine that you could picture the buildings and grounds as they would be in five, ten, even thirty years. A reserve study acts just like that by estimating the useful life of the common elements and the cost to replace them in the future based on current cost adjusted by inflation. Realty Times 2009-07-08T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.homes101.net/news/n4647 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Homes101RealEstateNews/~3/OMohDsK3ze8/n4644 When even the Case-Shiller index, which ranks as the gloomiest of all the measures of house price movements, starts reporting gains then you know something is stirring out there in real estate. Realty Times 2009-07-07T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.homes101.net/news/n4644 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Homes101RealEstateNews/~3/LZMXbyNlReE/n4645 Canadians love their cottages and chalets. According to a recent report by Scotiabank, the rate of second homeownership rose from seven per cent of Canadian households in 1999 to nine per cent in 2005. Up until the end of the housing boom last year the recreational property market was very active across the country. Realty Times 2009-07-07T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.homes101.net/news/n4645 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Homes101RealEstateNews/~3/dOdPzj78Ma0/n4639 Here's a real estate investment idea that's so new that a lot of people have never even heard of it: Buying multi-unit property with an FHA reverse mortgage -- living in one unit, renting out the others, and NEVER paying a dime in monthly principal or interest costs. Realty Times 2009-07-03T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.homes101.net/news/n4639