With so many choices out there, it’s important to not only find an agent that has the same desires as you, but one who can attend to your needs throughout the entire process. I pride myself in giving my clients the one-on-one attention they deserve. I will guide you through the entire buying and/or selling process, taking the time to make sure you understand every step of the transaction. I am absolutely committed to giving you unsurpassed service with the […]

Sixteen Ohio and Michigan lawmakers have written President Barack Obama a letter, urging federal intervention in handling the swell of abandoned, vacant homes that are battering home prices in the states. The bipartisan group of lawmakers are concerned that the vacant homes will attract crime and further deteriorate neighborhoods. In the letter to Obama, the lawmakers said their local governments need “federal support to demolish the decaying properties on a large scale,” the Associated Press reports. In Ohio, state officials […]

A home price bottom could stimulate real estate demand, but contrarians are betting against a recovery in 2012. In fact, Lance Roberts, CEO of StreetTalk Advisors, is pushing back at reports claiming affordable home prices will lure consumers. Despite affordable prices, Roberts says consumers are too over-leveraged to buy a home and unable to qualify for a mortgage or save for a 20% down payment. Roberts says a recent National Association of Realtors housing affordability index is overly optimistic in […]

Fallen home prices and record-low mortgage rates have pushed housing affordability to a 40-year high. Meanwhile, rental prices are continuing to rise at a fast pace, according to a new report released by Hotpads.com, a rental listing service. Rental prices in 20 of the largest metro areas increased 3.75 percent in 2011, and prices are expected to continue to rise in 2012. Meanwhile, home prices fell by 1.83 percent in 2011, according to the report. “In a lot of cases […]

The good news is the number of homes that went through foreclosure in the Phoenix area tumbled 16% in 2011, but the bad news is home prices still took a significant hit, according to year-end housing numbers from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Foreclosures completed in the year fell to 35,855 from 41,625 in 2010. The amount of foreclosures as a percentage of overall housing transactions also improved, dropping to 34% in 2011, down from […]

I have purchased and sold homes for well over 20 years now. I have had the privilege of working and enjoyed living in San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago and for the past 5 years Orange City, Florida located in Volusia County, Central Florida. Throughout my travels, I have been blessed to meet and work with a wide variety of people. I appreciate diversity in this world and strongly believe the world is a much better place because […]

On Location: Tamara Hendershot describes her aesthetic as a mashup of Caribbean colors and Asian textiles. She makes a living by renting out every part of Magic City Farm, a one-acre compound with seven bungalows and a boathouse, as a location for print, television and film shoots Tamara Hendershot shares Magic City Farm, her home here, with four dogs, seven cats, 20 Muscovy ducks, eight chickens and a 350-pound Vietnamese potbellied pig that was just 40 pounds when he arrived. […]

The median home sales price in the San Francisco Bay area plummeted 47% in the past four years, hitting $351,500 in December, compared to $665,000 in the middle of 2007, DataQuick said. The steep drop shows how far prices have fallen in a metro area where sellers used to record high profits by offloading real estate. DataQuick attributes half of the peak-to-trough drop to declining home values, while the rest is tied to a shift in the sales mix. The […]

An early mortgage payoff can net substantial interest savings compared to making scheduled payments for 15 or 30 years. Paying off your mortgage might sound like an ambitious plan, especially if you have recently refinanced into a 30-year term. But it’s still smart for homeowners to give some serious thought as to how they’ll pay off their home loan; if not in 2012, then sometime. An early mortgage payoff can net substantial interest savings compared to making scheduled payments for […]

Legal settlement over alleged foreclosure abuses could help about 1 million The government and banks are “very close” to reaching a legal settlement over alleged foreclosure abuses that could help about 1 million underwater borrowers get mortgage relief, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said on Wednesday. “We’re very close to a settlement that would both fix the servicing problems, but also help over a million families around the country stay in their homes and get help,” Donovan […]