Homes For Sale

How you present a listing online and the words you choose to describe it may be turning off some buyers. Bankrate.com recently asked real estate professionals to weigh in on what listing red flags are turning off their buyers.

1. No photos. “One red flag in many buyers’ eyes is the lack of photos for a listing,” says Don Tepper with Long & Foster in Burke, Va. “There can be some legitimate reasons for few (or no) photos in a listing: The sellers want privacy, or they have valuables they don’t want in the photos. But many would-be buyers–rightly or wrongly–assume that there’s something wrong.” Tepper recommends about a dozen photos for listings and photos that match the home’s description and showcases its best features.

2. Outlandish claims. Referring

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The tax rate of $4.46 per $1,000 of taxable value includes a levy for debt service.

Village property owners also must pay $3.46 per $1,000 of taxable value to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Including the fire-rescue tax, village property owners will pay $7.92 per $1,000 of taxable value.

In August, 7 homes sold in the Cashmere area.

107 Lincoln Street, Cashmere

List price: $99,510.  Sold price: $101,199.

Days on Market:62

2 bedrooms | 1 bath | 942 sqft | .08 acres

Cute cottage on a quiet one way street in Cashmere.  This home was bank owned.  It had been listed a few times in the past couple of years starting in 2007 with an asking price of $187,000.

100 Oak Street, Cashmere

List price: $154,900.  Sold price: $134,900.

Days on Market:138

3 bedrooms | 1 bath | 1120 sqft | .22 acres

Rambler in a neighborhood off Mission Creek.  This house was originally listed for $162,900 and was a foreclosure.

105 Perry Street, Cashmere

List price: $156,900.  Sold price: $145,000.

Days on Market:158

2 bedrooms | 1.5 bath | 1696 sqft | .09 acres

Classic 1920s home on a small lot in downtown Cashmere.

300 Pioneer Avenue, Cashmere

List price: $219,900.  Sold price: $202,000.

Days on Market: 323

4 bedrooms | 2 bath | 2372 sqft | .27 acres

This 1910s home has a full basement with lots of bedrooms and nice yard.  The home had an additional kitchen in the basement.

5755 Evergreen Drive, Cashmere

List price: $295,000.  Sold price: $280,000.

Days on Market:82

3 bedrooms | 3 bath | 2812 sqft | 1.32 acres

This large home on the edge of town has a nice view and large yard.  Main floor had nice updates and the lower level could be used as a separate apartment.  The home was previously on the market in in 2009 with an asking price of $374,000.

408 Division Street, Cashmere

List price: $329,000.  Sold price: $299,000.

Days on Market: 135

4 bedrooms | 2.5 bath | 3707 sqft | .33 acres

A 1950s rambler with a large basement, this home has an awesome view of the mountains.  The house had many updates including new roof and kitchen and beautiful wood floors.

5211 Majeska Lane, Cashmere

List price: $450,000.  Sold price: $330,740.

Days on Market:150

3 bedrooms | 3 bath | 6032 sqft | 1.40 acres

A large newer construction home across the highway from Anjou Bakery.  This home was a foreclosure and had been on the market with the previous owner in 2008/2009 for a list price of $699,000.

Should Banks keep their tough mortgage lending criteria in place to help prevent another house price bubble building up in the future?

Some finance experts argue that Mortgages should be capped at 90% of a propertys value, while people should also be prevented from borrowing more than 3.5 times their income. By doing this, borrowers will have both “skin in the property” and not be over extended from the beginning.

The US has experienced several housing bubbles but none as damaging as the most recent. While there were many factors that led up to the bubble, some of these could have possibly been mitigated with the above policy. They blame the most recent house price boom, which saw property values rise between 1996 and 2006, on loose mortgage lending, which allowed poorly qualified buyer to purchase homes they never should have been able. Exo

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WASHINGTON When you spent $2,000 to $3,000 to buy title insurance and closing services on your home purchase or refinance, did you really know where your money was going?

Did you shop for competing prices? Or did you end up using the title, escrow agency or lawyer your realty agent or loan officer recommended?

Consumers’ answers to these questions involve billions of dollars a year $10 billion in title insurance premiums alone in 2010. Yet buyers and refinancers often don’t shop for the most expensive item on their settlement sheets. They don’t know how little of their premiums are actually paying for an insurance policy, and they’re in the dark about who ends up with their money. These are not idle opinions; they’re among the findings by the Government Accountability Office in a critical study of the industry and its practices.

But now, in fits and starts, the landscape appears to be changing.

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