Buyer beware! This could be expensive WASHINGTON -- March 21, 2006 -- Rather than being enamored with the fashionable dcor, smart home buyers should pay attention to aspects of a home that really count in the long run, says Greg Haskett, vice president of HomeTeam Inspection Service Inc., an Ohio-based national franchiser. Here are Hasketts chief buyer bewares:   Driveways, walkways or low spots that pitch toward the home. Water should be directed away from the foundation, not toward it. The cost to regrade or repair: $1,000 to $10,000.   Wall cracks in the basement or interior rooms. As a foundation shifts, floors and walls can move with it. It could be a sign of age, sagging or bowed basement walls, or other factors. Cost to repair the foundation: $10,000 to $30,000.   Buckled or wavy roofing. Caused by aging shingles, heat trapped in an unventilated attic or ice dams. Cost to repair or replace faulty roofing: $2,500 to $20,000.   High utility bills. If the heating or cooling bills are whoppers, the insulation and drafty windows could be upgraded or replaced. Cost for new windows: $2,000 to $15,000 installed. Insulation costs: $750 for the attic.   Aging infrastructure. The furnace may be a relic and air conditioners may be aging or inadequate. Inefficient HVAC systems will probably need a total makeover. Cost to repair and replace major components: $5,000 and up.   Sagging or cracked floors or ceilings. May be evidence of past water damage or damaged support beams. Cost to replace: $1,500 to $7,500.   Source: The Washington Post, David Bradley (03/18/06)   Copyright 2006 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688 Housing Market Readjusting to Normal Balance (March 13, 2006) --   A lower level of home sales expected this year will create a more level playing field for buyers and sellers on the heels of a five-year sellers market, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS. David Lereah, NARs chief economist, said the number of homes on the market has been improving nicely. "The cooling from overheated sales conditions in recent months is helping to bring inventory levels up to the point where buyers have more choices than theyve seen in the last five years," Lereah said. "Annual price appreciation is still running at double-digit rates, but the cause of those sharp increases is going away. As the market readjusts, price appreciation should return to more normal rates of growth this year." The national median existing-home price for all housing types is projected to rise 5.8 percent in 2006 to $220,300. The median new-home price should increase 5.4 percent this year to $250,200. Existing-home sales are expected to fall 5.7 percent to 6.67 million in 2006 from the record 7.08 million last year. At the same time, new-home sales are forecast to decline 7.7 percent to 1.18 million from a record 1.28 million in 2005 each sector would be at the third highest year following the tallies for 2005 and 2004. Housing starts are likely to total 1.98 million this year, down 4.3 percent from 2.06 million in 2005. NAR President Thomas M. Stevens from Vienna, Va., said some home buyers and sellers have unrealistic expectations. "Some sellers in markets that have had rapid appreciation are listing the price of their home too high, but those homes are just languishing on the market," said Stevens, senior vice president of NRT Inc. "At the same time, some buyers who have believed hype about a housing bubble are hoping prices will drop, but thats not happening either. "Consumers need professional assistance to understand and negotiate the current market realities. Sellers should listen to their agents advice to competitively price and show the home, and buyers may want to choose a buyers agent to represent their interests and help them negotiate favorable terms. Todays market has changed a lot from the conditions weve seen during the last five years." The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage should increase gradually to 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter. Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index is projected at 3.3 percent this year. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income is expected to grow 3.7 percent in 2006. Growth in the U.S. gross domestic product is forecast at 3.5 percent in 2006, while the unemployment rate is seen to average 4.8 percent this year. --NAR Homebuyers can dress for success ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- March 15, 2006 -- Real estate agent Mark Nash, author of 1,001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home (Thomson, 2005), has come up with a list of fashion tips for house hunters.   Fashion tips? Who cares what you look like? "If you appear well-groomed and understated and wear home-price-range-appropriate clothes, you could pay less than the tattooed, big-hair, over-jeweled and torn-blue-jean buyer you're in competition with," Nash says.   "Buying a home is a business transaction," he says. "Think business wear when shopping for a home."   The worst he ever saw: a woman in frayed teeny-tiny cutoffs with slashed seams, a tube top that left nothing to the imagination, lots of tattoos and teetery spiked slides.   A buyer who sends mixed signals leaves a sales agent wondering what to do: Was this person serious? Or just passing through? "If you're just bopping through and you don't look very business-minded, the agent isn't going to know how to qualify you," said Nash, who sells real estate in Chicago and spends a couple of weeks' vacation every January in Naples.   Your fashion-victim "no-no" list:   * No muddy shoes. * No fur coats. * No bling, i.e., ostentatious jewelry. "You might end up paying more for a home because the sellers think you can afford it." * No spike heels. No bare feet. * No tube tops, no low-cut or revealing clothing for women. ("Very rarely do buyers get a discount for sex.") * No elastic underwear waistbands on view for men; no tank tops; no exercise wear that makes you look as if you stopped by on your morning jog. * No baseball caps. "They send the wrong negotiating message when purchasing the largest asset you'll own." * No portable coffee cups. * No cell phone conversations while you're inspecting the house. And never, never negotiate a contract on one property while you're visiting another. * No smoking. No kidding.   St. Petersburg Verdana,Arial. All rights reserved.                Renovating to Raise Sales Price? Beware ( February 21, 2006) --   Plenty of home owners have tapped into their home equity in recent years to finance improvement projects in the hopes of boosting resale value. However, it's important to avoid overimproving, as owners likely will not recoup their costs when they sell. If owners must unload their property quickly, there is even a chance that they could owe more than the dwelling is worth. "Over the last 10 years, we've seen a fairly significant core of the population spending more than half the value of their home on improvements," says Kermit Baker, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. Remodeling expenditures hit $127 billion in 2004, marking a gain of 6 percent from the previous year, according to the center. To avoid overimproving, home owners are encouraged to consult a real estate professional, who can conduct a comparable sales analysis and provide information about how certain projects would impact resale value. Experts also discourage unique designs that are not likely to be appealing to a wide range of buyers. The 2005 Cost vs. Value Report, which is published jointly by Remodeling magazine and REALTOR Magazine, shows that home owners can recoup more than 100 percent of the cost of upscale siding and mid-range bathroom upgrades, 95 percent of the cost of a two-story addition, and close to 99 percent of the costs of a minor kitchen remodel. Source: The Washington Times, Shelly K. Schwartz (02/17/06) Rules Help Home Buyers Haggling Over Real Estate Rejection is the first rule of real estate negotiation. "Never make an offer you think they will accept," says Thomas Early, president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. His second rule: more rejection. "Make the seller say no at least twice. It's too easy to say no the first time." Accept rejection. Unless it's truly the house of your dreams, don't be disappointed if a seller turns down your initial offers. Rejection is a normal part of the negotiating process. Some would even call it essential, Early says. Other tips for getting the best deal include: * Plan to buy in the off season. In many communities that is during the end of the year holidays and right before business picks back up. In warm weather resort communities, the dog days of summer can be a good time to buy. * Accept imperfections. Lots of buyers demand spacious, well-maintained homes in upscale neighborhoods. There are few bargains that meet that description. * Look for motivated sellers. The more desperate homeowners are to sell, the more likely they are to accept discounted offers. * Don't fixate on list price. The true value of a home might not be reflected in its listed price. A property's listed price simply reflects what a seller hopes to get. If you think the house is worth less, make an offer. Source: Bankrate.com, Holden Lewis (02/10/06) ( February 13, 2006)

Remodeling with an eye toward resale

Kitchen and bathroom remodeling projects are returning more of a homeowners investment than ever before, according to the 2005 Cost vs. Value Report published by the National Association of Realtors in Realtor Magazine and by Hanley Wood LLC in Remodeling magazine.

Many homeowners who complete midrange bathroom remodels can expect to make money; the cost on a national average for this project is $10,499, and the return is $10,727, or 102.2 percent, compared with 87.5 percent in 2002. On average, major midrange kitchen remodels cost $43,862 and return $39,920, or 91 percent of the costs to remodel, up from 66 percent in 2002.

Nationally, homeowners who add an attic bedroom spend an average of $39,188, and on resale, they recoup 93.5 percent of the cost. Master suites, however, do not fare as well; an upscale addition, which costs $137,891 on average, returns only $110,512 on resale, or approximately 80.1 percent of the remodeling expense.

The Cost vs. Value Report includes information provided by NAR members about the resale value of common remodeling projects in 58 U.S. housing markets. The report includes cost data, resale value and percentage recouped at sale for 18 projects, including a first this year: a home office remodel. Given that Americas homeowners spent more than $139 billion on home improvements and repairs over the past year, according to data from Harvards Joint Center for Housing Studies, the report contains valuable information for anyone who is considering embarking upon a remodeling project.

Realtors have industry expertise that goes beyond the initial real estate transaction, says 2006 NAR President Thomas M. Stevens. Our members experience and familiarity with the communities in which they work make them valuable resources. They understand what makes a good home investment, whether their clients are buying, selling or remodeling. Realtors not only sell housing; we also build communities.

The desirability of different remodeling projects varies by region and metropolitan area. In the West, window replacements are highly valued, perhaps due in part to insulation and cooling concerns in desert regions, with nearly 103 percent of costs recouped on sale. Westerners also prefer remodeled kitchens and basements; in this region, for example, a minor midrange kitchen remodel may return 112.3 percent, and a basement remodel is estimated to return 108 percent.

In the Midwest, however, the same kitchen and basement projects return only 85 and 73 percent, respectively. Midwest buyers appreciate homes with updated siding; midrange and upscale siding replacements return 96 and 98 percent of the project costs, respectively. Siding replacement projects fared well at resale in all four regions, likely because new siding is a relatively inexpensive way to update and refresh a homes curb appeal.

Buyers in the South are partial to upscale bathrooms, which return an average of 98.5 percent of project costs. When considering resale value, however, Southerners may want to think twice about midrange window replacements; this improvement, which is so popular in the West, only returns an average of 83.7 percent of project costs in the South.

In the East, a midrange attic bedroom addition returns an average of 98.1 percent at resale, but a home office remodel only returns 75 percent. In fact, remodeling projects that involved home offices were among the lowest returns on investment across all four regions.

Local and regional differences in the resale value of remodeling projects are not surprising -- the desirability of certain home features varies by neighborhood and is heavily influenced by buyers expectations in a given area, says Stevens. For example, adding a bathroom to a one-bathroom house in a neighborhood where most homes already have two may not return as much as remodeling an outdated bathroom in that same community.

In the final analysis, however, homeowners who are thinking about a remodeling project should consider their own needs and desires as well as those of the homes future inhabitants. Keeping up with the Joneses can be a savvy investment move, said Stacey Moncrieff, editor, Realtor Magazine. But ultimately, the best reason for a remodel is to enjoy it.

The entire remodeling report, including city-by-city data, is available to the public for $6.50 plus shipping and handling at www.realtorreprints.com.

WASHINGTON -- Jan. 5, 2006 --

2006 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

CURB APPEAL MAY GROW HOME VALUE