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What's Driving Buyers
To Buy Homes?
  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that "affordability" is the top reason for home buying in 2010.
That makes sense, especially in unstable market conditions. Buyers, as always, are looking for a bargain but, more than ever, they’ve been enticed by low home prices and low interest rates, according to a survey by Weichert Realtors, Inc.
The survey gathered information from 1,261 of the company’s customers who bought homes between July 1 through December 31, 2010.
What about pride in homeownership? it appears that buying a home because
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they didn’t want to rent, was not the driving force. Instead, it came down to price. This differs from survey results five years ago when respondents (26%) said, "the desire to own their home and stop paying rent" motivated them to buy, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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It is the Best time in History to buy waterfront properties in Florida
Let me show you.
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How Much Home Can I Afford?
 Home prices skyrocketed in the early 2000's, with things really heating up between 2005 and 2007. According to the New York Times, HUD conducted a survey in 2007, finding that home values had risen 16 percent in just those two years. The housing bubble burst in the Spring of 2007 and markets tanked.
Now house values are resetting, with some areas still experiencing declines. In high boom areas, such as Florida, Arizona, and California, homes are having to correct from staggering rises of 20, 30 and even 40 percent in home values. This means values rose, and millions of homeowners bought at the top of the market, now finding themselves upside down in their loans.
Despite the crisis, there are still buyers on the market. But many are wary to make a mistake of buying a home they can't pay for. How much home can you really afford? Home affordability, in general, is dependant on a range of factors. These include:
Employment status: Do you have a stable job and income? Lenders will want to know if they can rely on you to make monthly payments for many years to
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Use Experts to Navigate Homebuying Process
 When millions of foreclosures suddenly flooded the market at the onset of the housing crash, home owners knew little to nothing about holding onto their homes or how to recover if they got the boot.
Misinformation and fraud compounded the effects of slow regulatory action and lackadaisical response from the lending industry.
Uncharted waters were submerged in rumors, speculation, conjecture and ignorance.
Years later, foreclosure myths endure.
Freddie Mac, one of the nation's largest home loan investors, initially charged with expanding opportunities for home ownership and now focused on the liquidity needs of the mortgage market, is also about myth busting.
To set the record straight on foreclosures, it offers "Top Foreclosure Myths" and the truth behind those false beliefs.
To wit:
 Myth: You should stop paying your mortgage so you can leverage assistance with your mortgage payments.
The approach, called a "strategic default," can become a tactical trap.
It isn't necessary to default on your mortgage payments in order to qualify for help.
If you are struggling to stay current
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Reduce, Reuse, and
Recycle Your Closet
 It's really no secret. We are a nation of consumers. Watch television for just one evening and you'll know of a dozen sales and promotions happening in your local area. Whether it's retail or sale, there are more than a handful of us that have consumed our ways to a stuffed closet.
Call it early Spring cleaning. Call it a simplification. Organizing and cleaning out your closet can be a great selling tip, because buyers do and will open your closet during a walk-through. And one stuffed to the rafters will appear small and cramped, no matter it's real size.
There is, however, the altruistic side. Today there is an unemployment rate of nearly 10 percent. This translates into around 15 million unemployed Americans. That is why it is important to lend a helping hand to members of your community. Unemployed families still
http://realtytimes.com/nlnews.htm?open&Vol=c&ID=bonniefagoh
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