Tagged : military

Built for Military Home Sellers

Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 2:00pm. 31679 Views, 0 Comments.

Since the height of the market in the summer of 2006, homes prices across the United States have fallen a great deal.  Many homeowners who purchased prior to that summer, and now have orders to move, are faced with the prospect of selling a home that may now be half the value it was when purchased.  Fortunately, there is hope.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the Department of Defense (DoD) expanded the Housing Assistance Program (HAP) to provide benefits to service members who are moving (in military jargon, PCSing – Permanent Change of Station), among others.

To be eligible for HAP, military members must have, 1) Purchased their home prior to 1 Jul, 2006, and 2) Have PCS orders dated 1 Feb 2006 thru 30…

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How Did You Determine That Listing Price?

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 3:04pm. 30313 Views, 1 Comments.

Successfully selling homes isn’t rocket science.  Or, is it? 

Does a home sell itself, or is smart marketing the key?  Or, is it a little of both? 

While most of us realize that targeted marketing is a sound sales strategy, it is tough to sell a lemon in any market.  But most would agree, rarely is a buyer willing to pay more than an item is worth, unless of course, there’s more to the item than meets the eye.  But, that is seldom, if ever the case.  Wouldn’t you agree?

Attempting to accurately price homes requires consideration of various factors including:

1.  Home Inventory

2.  Current Market Conditions

3.  Recent Comparable Property Sales

4.  Condition of the Property

As many who provide valuations of property will tell you, any good…

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Appraisal Changes Come Due

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 10:19am. 552 Views, 0 Comments.

In September of last year, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) announced a change to FHA appraisal validity periods.   The announcement was met with unanimous approval from all sectors; lenders, home owners & buyers, and yes, even appraisers.

The change to appraisal periods involved decreasing the validity time for FHA appraisals from six to four months for both existing homes and those under construction.  Since the first of this calendar year, 2010, the new standard has been in effect.  Why does the change matter?

For those of us that have faced selling properties, only to encounter difficulties with the appraisal, this reduced turn around time, or reduction of validity time, couldn’t have come sooner.  Because, no matter…

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