Author Archives: Minda Reves

Over/Under: The Housing Game

 Les Christie, at CNNMoney.com wrote an interesting article, “Most over- and under-valued housing markets” discussing why investors are returning to the real estate market, “Home price declines have sent affordability soaring. Prices have fallen so far that the average U.S. home is now undervalued … Continue reading

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Realtors Are On Our Side

Last Thursday the California Association of Realtors met in Sacramento, CA. CAR Executive Vice President, Joel Singer, rallied his downtrodden troops, “In a sense, what has occurred is probably in our best interest.” The California house price median drop from nearly $600,000 to … Continue reading

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November 30th Deadline Spurs Pending Home Sales

The breaking news in real estate is that pending home sales are up and have been for the past three months!  Why? Lawrence Yun, Chief NAR Economist, has the answer, “Housing affordability conditions have been at historic highs, but now the $8,000 first-time … Continue reading

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No Need to Live ‘House Poor’ to Land a Luxury Property in the OC

Yesterday’s news that first-time homebuyers can take immediate advantage of the $8,000 HUD tax credit for use towards their down payment and closing costs may have you eager to join other SoCal residents in getting more house for their money by entering … Continue reading

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Hip, Hip, HUDray! Use That $8K Today

So, you’ve probably heard about the $8,000 tax credit available to first-time homebuyers. Well, the real drag about this offer was that buyers had to wait until tax refund time to see that eight grand and didn’t get it right away to … Continue reading

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And Now a Message from the California Association of Realtors

In April, California home sales were up and prices were down, and C.A.R. has the stats to prove it, “Home sales increased 49.2 percent in April in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing … Continue reading

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What the Glink Are You Talking About?

Ilyce Glink over on ’s MoneyWatch.com blog is bellyaching that home prices are still falling. While, this is not the best news, it has increased affordability and made it possible for many young families to buy their first homes. In these tough times, … Continue reading

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Almost 1-in-2 of All New Neighbors Bought a Bargain!

The Wall Street Journal had this interesting factoid in its latest article on home sales, “About 45% of the 4.68 million in April sales were foreclosures and short sales.” So, that means if any families recent moved onto your street, the odds are … Continue reading

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Short Sale and Foreclosure “Homes Almost 20% Cheaper”

The reports are in and CNNMoney.com has this to say about the first quarter of 2009’s housing market, “the S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price index, a bellwether of real-estate market direction, plunged a record 19.1% during the quarter compared with the first three months … Continue reading

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Don’t Bank On It: Banks Struggle to Sell Properties in Cali

This probably isn’t news to our devoted Orange County readers, but I’ll put it out there anyway, Mathew Padilla over at the OC Register’s Mortgage Insider is reporting “bank owned homes sell slowly on the coast.” He lists a few reasons for … Continue reading

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