The Hawaii Team Real Estate Blog
Builders Say Smaller Homes Are The Way To Go
Home builders are reducing the size and options available to appeal to buyers with less money to spend and who are facing a harder time getting financing. Los Angeles-based KB Homes had shrunk its homes from 3,400 square feet, selling for $450,000, to 2,400 square...
US Considers Bank-Debt Guarantees
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson reportedly is fast-tracking a plan to guarantee debt issued by banks after a similar move was made by European policy makers over the weekend. Such a step would be part of a three-pronged strategy to free up credit markets that...
More On The Credit Collapse: You Asked, I’m Answering
Quite a few folks responded to my column entitled “The Credit Collapse Blame Game.†And that’s a good thing. It’s always nice to know someone’s listening, whether you agree with me or not. In response to your comments, I have a couple...
Housing Conference in Chicago To Help People Buy Homes
Rising home prices, increased housing costs, and today’s tightened mortgage market have put homeownership out of reach for many working families. In fact, nearly 40 percent of Americans believe there is a shortage of available affordable housing, according to...
Bank of America Will Help People Stay In Their Homes
Bank of America on Monday said it is launching a "home retention program" on Dec. 1 to modify troubled mortgages for nearly 400,000 customers of Countrywide Financial Corp. Bank of America acquired Countrywide on July 1. The program, which can reduce up to $8.4...
Some Markets Are Still Thriving
Prices are holding up nicely in the ZIP codes of the rich and famous. Forbes magazine examined the top 100 most expensive ZIP codes in the United States and concluded that most saw strong price appreciation in the last 12 months. Here are the top-10 most expensive ZIP...
The Credit Collapse Blame Game
These past few weeks we’ve witnessed a collapse of credit in this country like most of us have never seen. Former Federal Reserve Chief Alan Greenspan in a recent interview called it a “once-in-50-years event.†Greenspan failed to mention that...
Cities and People Most Exposed to Credit Crisis
Wall Street's woes are going to have an impact on communities all over the country. Not only because the $700 billion bailout will most likely result in higher taxes for most Americans, but because people who work in industries related to the financial sector will be...
What Adds Value To Your Home?
From this title, you may already suspect that I’m going to suggest updating your bathrooms and kitchen. And you’re right. If you plan to sell your home in the near future for top dollar, updating these spaces is a given. But what else can you do to...
Mortgage Applications Fall
Mortgage application volume fell 10.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis to 591.4 compared with 661.7 the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey. Mortgage applications had risen after the U.S. government took over Fannie Mae and...
No More Property Flyers
I love new technology, especially when I think I’ve found something cool that helps people sell their homes. Today, I’m excited about a company called Access U2 Global Property Info. It launched about three years ago, and here’s the scoop....
Banks Are Trying To Help
Top U.S. banks and thrifts tried harder in the second quarter to modify problem loans, but that didn’t keep more home owners from falling into foreclosure. Lenders modified 112,353 first-lien mortgages, an increase of 56 percent from the previous quarter,...