California has banned home insurers from dropping policies in areas vulnerable to the effects of wildfire risk. The new policy places a one-year moratorium preventing insurers from dropping customers in or alongside ZIP codes struck by recent wildfires. The moratorium covers some 800,000 homes around the state. The state has also asked insurers to voluntarily […]
Airbnb Income Counts for Refi
With the backing of Fannie Mae, home-sharing giant Airbnb has announced a new partnership with select lenders, including Quicken Loans, Citizens Bank, and Better Mortgage, that will allow homeowners to report rental earnings as part of their income when applying to refinance a mortgage. Owners who rent rooms on Airbnb had been facing delays, higher […]
California Owners Get Real About Home Values
The gap between homeowners’ and appraisers’ perceptions on the value of properties is continuing to close. While Southern California homeowners are slightly underestimating their home’s value, homeowners, in general, still tend to slightly overestimate the price of their home–but not by nearly as much as they did a year ago. Home appraisals were, on average, […]
11 Reasons For Sale by Owner Is a Bad Idea
Agents can save sellers time, money, liability and hassle FSBOs are more costly than homeowners realize — including lower sales prices and hidden fees. Selling a home is a complicated transaction — sellers and buyer alike can get burned with FSBOs. Time costs money — a FSBO costs the seller valuable time, and it takes […]
Zillow Tests ‘Instant Offer’
Zillow Group is testing a new service called “Zillow Instant Offers,” allowing sellers to receive bids on their properties within 24 hours, and if they choose to accept it, close in as little as a week. Unlike Opendoor, Zillow doesn’t buy the homes and flip them, it merely connects sellers with investors, acting as a […]
Trump Tax Proposal Impact on Homeowners
Analysts are examining who will benefit from the President’s Tax Reform proposal. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (right) said the plan will eliminate all personal tax deductions other than the mortgage interest deduction and charitable contributions. The tax plan would reduce individual and corporate income tax rates, from 35% to 15%, and repeal state and local […]
Is This the New Normal for Homeownership?
The homeownership rate is on the decline again. The latest numbers reflecting the fourth quarter of 2016 show the homeownership rate fell from 63.8 percent a year earlier to 63.7 percent, the Census Bureau reported. While the drop may seem slight, it reflects an overall trend for homeownership in the country for the past few […]
Client Tip: Get Money Back After Foreclosure
Your client might be entitled to money back after a foreclosure auction, if the house sells for more than the lender is owed. Because of the demand for affordable residences in markets such as ours, where home prices are surging, some homes sold at foreclosure auctions are netting more than what the lender is owed. […]