• 54% of the market is seeking primary housing, rising sharply from 38% a year ago
• 32% of the primary market is “Upsizing”, reversing the trend for smaller residences
• 66% of vacation home buyers are moving for “Geographic Relocation”, with 68% of this market ages 45-64 years old
• 33% must sell their current home to make a move, a reduction from 42% a year ago
• Only 12% of survey participants state “Investment/Rental Income” as their motivation, continuing a four-year steady decline from 23% in 2009.
• 53% of the respondents with over $100,000 household income believe we have reached the bottom of the market

For the first time in its history, The Cotton Report also analyzed the impact of technology on the real estate sales environment. Although the Internet captures 70% of the market as the initial research tool for available homes, newspapers rebounded from 3% share in 2009 to 8% in 2011, a further indicator of the primary market return. Social networks have reached critical mass with Facebook interaction now encompassing 66% of the overall respondents. More importantly, 78% of the Facebook respondents were over age 45, indicating the significant penetration into the mainstream residential real estate market. While 54% of the respondents indicated their communication with family and friends happens via telephone, 39% indicated email as the primary point of contact. Bad news for the US Post Office as only 1 respondent out of 1,418 indicated the use of traditional mail for this purpose.

The security of owning the roof over your head, the feeling of contentment, satisfaction, fulfillment, it is the wish of most, if not all, Americans, it is what they call the classic American dream, it is called Homeownership.

NWA Arkansas is one of the best places to live. Owning a home is the biggest and best investment a person can ever make and so he has to manage that investment to the best of his ability. It requires extraordinary commitment not only of funds, but time and attention as well.

There are disadvantages that come with owning a home like maintenance, financial matters, risk of losing equity and the risk of foreclosure.But above all these, there are also a lot of benefits that comes with owning your own home.

-It is the best investment.The value of your home appreciates which means that if you decide to sell it, its price will be much higher than your purchase price. Homes appreciate about 5% every year.

-It is a form of forced savings because you’ll have to allot a certain amount of money for monthly payments or risk losing your home. You also need to set aside money for future repairs or improvements.
-It can help you plan for the future with regards to your finances because mortgage rates are fixed unlike yearly increase in rent.

-It gives a sense of permanence where your family can live and grow.Emotional security goes with this.

-It gives you and your family security and piece of mind knowing that you have a home to call your own.

-It develops lifelong friendships.

-it develops the sense of roots of your family especially the children.Your family becomes a part of a community
-It increases self-esteem knowing that you possess something of value.

-It eliminates landlord hassles.You will have no more worries with regard to lease not being renewed and increase in rent.

-It gives you the freedom to redecorate, remodel, make improvements, have pets, change the color or the décor of your home to your own taste and as you desire.

-It gives privacy. Not unlike renters wherein landlords can have access to the place.

-It gives more space – like larger rooms, laundry area, storage area.

-It develops a sense of community.Homeowners become attached to neighbors, become interested and involved in events and work towards the betterment of the community to protect and preserve property.

-you save on taxes.All of the interest and property taxes you pay in a given year can be deducted from your gross income to reduce your taxable income.

-you can borrow against your equity because the value of your home increases against what you owe on it.

-you may have a better credit rating.Mortgage payments paid on time contributes to an outstanding credit history.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO AVOID BEFORE BUYING A HOME

HOME BUYING BLUNDERS – How do you avoid them?

Looking for a home to buy is a very exciting experience.Your emotion balanced with logic is the wisest thing to do. Educating yourself about this long and stressful process of home buying will result in the biggest investment that you will be making in your life.Wrong decisions may lead to an irreversible and costly mistake.

So, what should you avoid so as not to make this mistake?

-AVOID USING YOUR HEART OVER YOUR HEAD. You might fall in love with a home instantly forgetting that you are making a huge financial investment and that someday you might want to sell it, only to find out, when it is too late that your home is tough to resell.

-AVOID VIEWING HOMES ALONE. Bring your spouse, your children or a friend with you.You might miss out on some imperfections because of your excitement.Their point of view will surely be of great help.

-AVOID LOOKING AT HOMES YOU CANNOT AFFORD. Buying a home does not only mean a down payment and fixed monthly mortagages.There will also be expenses for repairs, maintenance, new appliances and furniture, property taxes, insurance.A clear understanding of your finances prevents wasted time.

-AVOID VIEWING HOMES WITH NO CHECKLIST ON HAND. You should have a list of everything you need and what you would like to have according to your priorities.

-AVOID PURCHASING A HOME IN AN UNFAMILIAR NEIGHBORHOOD. Spend some time in the area, ask questions regarding criminal activities, accessibility to schools, supermarkets, or churches.It is not only a home you are purchasing but the location as well.

-AVOID PURCHASING A HOME ON YOUR FIRST VISIT.buy cialis Do not rush.Visit the home that you like twice, thrice or even more than that.Make sure that this is the home that you really want to settle in.Have a professional home inspection done to eliminate future headaches like the exterior components which includes roofing, gutters, downspouts and the interior systems which includes electrical, plumbing, flooring.

-AVOID LETTING THE SELLER OR THE AGENT KNOW THAT YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH THE HOME. Because in doing so, they could ask for a higher price.

-AVOID GETTING TOO PERSONAL WITH THE SELLER. Be friendly, but treat the transaction as professionally as possible.Remarks about changes and future repairs might not be taken well by the seller.

-AVOID MAKING MAJOR PURCHASES. A new car, jewelries, expensive appliances can wait until after you have purchased and settled in your new home.Because if you do so before the home purchase it will increase your “debt-to-income ratio” and it will affect the amount of loan you qualify for, be difficult to get your loan approved because a huge debt may hamper your ability to pay mortgage, or worst, your loan may be denied.

-AVOID CHANGING JOBS unless you are going to earn more or if the line of work is within the same field.Constant job changes may be an issue in qualifying for a loan.A stable job history is a plus.If you really want a new job, wait until after the home is yours.

-AVOID SWITCHING BANKS. Problems in the verification process may occur when you move your money to another bank.

-AVOID GIVING EARNEST MONEY DEPOSIT DIRECTLY TO THE SELLER. An attorney can hold the deposit or it can be placed in a trust account until closing day.Your contract should state what will happen to the deposit in case the transaction does not push through.

-AVOID VERBAL AGREEMENTS. Put everything in black and white.Whatever was agreed upon verbally does not count in the eyes of the law.

-AVOID SIGNING DOCUMENTS WITHOUT FIRST READING THEM.Read, familiarize, understand, then sign.

Fayetteville Arkansas is nestled in the Ozarks of Arkansas,and seems to be one of the best kept secrets. It was ranked by Forbes Magazines # 8 for the best places for business and careers, Inc. magazine ranked Fayetteville Arkansas as number 4 best city for doing business, Money magazine ranked Fayetteville Arkansas as # 15 out of the top 25, and Fayetteville was ranked as the second best cities to retire and the second best city for business to recover from the recession.

That can be a bit of a blessing and a bit of a curse at the same time for prospective buyers that have fallen in love with a property. They want to know everything about it, but they don’t want to hear that it’s got significant problems that might be a barrier to purchase. Because of this dynamic, inspections can be a bit of a daunting prospect, but they certainly don’t have to be.

Forget The Notion Of A Perfect Home
Many prospective home buyers have walked through a property only to fall in love with it. Maybe it has the perfect amount of space for a particular family or maybe it has the right kind of amenities for a new couple. Whatever the case, rose-colored glasses may immediately be put on and seeing flaws in the property can then prove difficult.

Throw out the notion that a particular home is perfect and you will find it much easier to accept the possibility that an inspector will turn up something that needs to be addressed. Through no fault of anyone’s time can simply wear down aspects of a home like a foundation and repairs may be necessary. This is not a deal-breaker and a settlement is likely to be reached in the event of an issue. Prepare for your perfect home to not be so perfect.

Own The Process
A home inspector is working for you, giving you the information you need to either reach a settlement on key issues or take care of things after a real estate transaction has been completed. Don’t let this valuable resource slip through your fingers without getting full explanations on every item on the inspector’s checklist. Don’t let the burden of information lie on the inspector and your real estate agent. Instead, take that burden on yourself.

Committing to the process and pledging to understand what needs to be done to a home after purchase will greatly ease your transition into a new home and remove the prospect of headaches down the road. Many consumers have gotten into homes to find problems they didn’t expect either because they didn’t listen to the inspector or commit to understanding what was told to them.

Enjoy Yourself
This might seem like an odd piece of advice, but keep in mind that you are embarking on a real estate transaction that will bring a new home to you or your family. That is an exciting prospect and treating it as some dour event that you have to trudge through will only fulfill that perspective.

Yes, there will be issues with the home you want and yes, there might be complications, but don’t let that detract from the joy you should be feeling about finding the right home for you and getting to work on building a new life within it. The real estate process should be a fun one and the inspection process is no different. Go with it and enjoy yourself as you pick apart your new toy.

Hearing bad news will always be an uncomfortable part of life, but in the great scheme of things, hearing that your prospective new piece of real estate might need a new furnace is not the worst that could happen. By keeping in mind these three bits of advice, you can take control of your inspection process in your own mind to ensure an easy transition into the new home you’ve selected.

For many prospective home sellers in NWA and all over, going through the process of a home inspection can be a painful process that entails letting a stranger into the home to judge every nook and cranny. As the biggest and most prized possession of most consumers, having the home inspected in this way is a bit like having the inner sanctum of your life on display. Inspections certainly do not have to be like this.

By maintaining an even perspective and keeping in mind three core tenets, you can keep your home inspection process easy and calm. As with most business transactions, getting yourself to view the transaction as someone from the outside might can be difficult, but will ultimately take a lot of the stress out of the situation.

Keep Your Feelings Grounded In Reality
Everyone wants to think that they have the best home on the block, a spotless testament to a diligent work ethic and family prosperity. As homes age, the reality is that they will develop problems here and there that a home inspector is trained to uncover. These problems are certainly not your fault as time has all it needs to damage a foundation or roof all on its own.

No matter how great a condition your home is in, the very nature of a home inspection is to uncover issues that a prospective buyer might have a problem with, so prepare for that eventuality. These problems are no reflection on your care of the home but more its initial construction and degradation over time, two things you have nothing to do with. This is just another step in a real estate transaction and preparing for a few issues here and there will greatly reduce your stress.

Emotions Are Great, Just Not For Inspections
After living in a particular piece of real estate for a long time, there will always be memories and emotions tied to that property. As a seller, you have chosen to move on from those emotions and memories, committing to create new memories in a new property. Keep this in mind as a home inspector goes through your home and comes back with problems or issues.

You might have done a lot of work on a furnace, for example, and remember fondly the day that you got it working again in top shape. If an inspector comes back after looking at the furnace and declares that you need a new one to pass inspection, don’t let anger be your first response. No matter what energy and time you’ve put in to a home, there will always be factors outside of your control, like aging issues and local regulations, which dictate an inspector’s actions.

Put Yourself In A Buyer’s Shoes
Above all, imagine that you are stepping into your home for the first time, looking at it with a critical eye to determine whether you’d want to live there and what you’d fix if you did. This is the kind of mentality a buyer is bringing to your real estate transaction and the inspector will help them bring to light just the kind of property they are purchasing.

Don’t begrudge a buyer of this step as you are going to go through it on your new home purchase and wouldn’t have it any other way. Each point brought up on the inspection is a point brought up to protect the buyer and provide as much information as possible, two things you would love to benefit from on your own home purchase.

Having your home picked apart by a home inspector will most likely never be a heart-warming experience, but taking these three tenets to heart will help you get through the situation with class. Real estate transactions represent an important transition period and getting through a simple and easy inspection will only easy that transition for both you and your prospective real estate buyer.

The thought process of what to improve should be done before ever getting involved with a real estate transaction. Visualize how a property will look with some of the improvements you want to do to it. Will it look better and draw more interested buyers? This is the key component to consider when trying to decide what to fix and what to leave as it is.

Curb appeal, for example, exists as a term because it does help the value of your home. A few small steps that improve the outward appearance of a home such as new flowers, a cleaned up front porch and other superficial improvements that can be done with minimal cost if you do your own work will help sell a potential buyer on even considering your property.

Inside, small touches like outlet covers and curtains can give the home a brighter, more modern feel that communicates value to a potential buyer. With minimal effort and minimal cost, these types of things can be taken care of and while you may not think they add much tangible value to the home, they show well to the buyer and that’s really what home improvements in a fixer-upper are all about. Always keep in mind what a potential home buyer will see when they entire the home.

You’ve heard it before and it is indeed true, bathrooms make a big statement to a potential home buyer. Spending a couple thousand dollars in a bathroom to make it look cleaner and more modern can add significant value to a home.

Add value to a home that would appeal to the broadest range of potential buyers possible. Would most buyers like floral wall paper? Probably not, so skip that improvement. Would most buyers value a fresh coat of paint in a neutral color? Most likely, so maybe that is an area you can spend money in.

Of course, many fixer-uppers will need larger repairs and sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and make those investments. While you may not see an exponential increase in value by adding a new furnace, those kinds of steps have to be made and you will see an increase in value by making the home more livable than it was when you purchased it.

Always be sure to keep in mind that the value you’re looking to add should be easily communicated to the customer and when the time finally comes to sell the property, make sure you list all that you did in order to get as much good faith with potential buyers as possible. Did you add sealant to the windows? Note that and talk about the benefits sealant can have on insulating a home properly. Especially in a climate of rising energy prices, such an improvement might take on greater meaning if you put it in context of just how much energy it saves. Selling a home is marketing and after doing all the work you’ve done on a fixer-upper, make sure you get credit. It would be a shame to go around a property adding small touches that are unseen by a buyer because you fail to mention them.

Plainly stated, your renters will pay you more for a nicer place to live. That concept has been proven over time and as long as your location remains viable and the renting market in your area remains steady, the renovations you put into your property can come back to you as increased rent payments over time. Proactive real estate investors that maintain rental properties continuously improve their holdings not only to have a more attractive property for an eventual sale, but to gradually increase rent payments in the mean time.

Take Advantage of Lost Tenants
While losing the revenue stream rent provides when a tenant moves out of your property is negative, it is also an opportunity to go into the unit and renovate it to command more rent from your next tenant. Just as a home buyer looks at common features such as the bathroom and kitchen amenities, so too do renters. By adding features to your property like updated appliances or a new dishwasher, you increase the value of your property and the amount of rent you can charge.

Of course, as you gradually increase the amount of rent you can charge, you also make your real estate property a stronger investment and a more attractive target for buyers should you ever choose to sell the property. The number one feature investors look at for an existing property is cash flow and if you can gradually inch that cash flow upwards, you can reap a bigger reward should you decide to eventually sell.

Be More Proactive Than Reactive
The common tendency for investors that own rental properties is to be a reactive landlord, only fixing those things that break and only tending that needs that are voiced. As you maintain your property over time, this can be a losing proposition as you see no benefit from having to replace a toilet for a renter that is locked into a particular rent payment.

As tenants move in and out of your property, think about updating fixtures both within individual units and in common areas to not only save yourself money by preempting possible problems down the road, but building a more attractive environment that new renters can enjoy (and pay for). This proactive approach will leave you in a better situation down the road as you can present a unified, updated appearance to your property instead of a random collection of updated items that were repaired as they broke.

The concept behind fixer-upper properties is not limited to consumers looking to buy a new home and flip it for profit. Publicity and coverage of fixer-upper techniques has never been hotter in the media than it is right now and as a rental property investor, you can take advantage of those same bits of advice and techniques. Keeping up to date on the ways you can improve your investment is unique.

For example, you cannot go down to your portfolio manager and perform maintenance on your mutual fund to improve its value. Take advantage of the unique nature of real estate investment and engage in all of the measures you can to gradually improve the cash flow of your real estate investment and the overall worth of your investment.

Real Estate Agents Matter
Some think that buying a fresh home from a builder does not require a real estate agent, but there are some great reasons to include one in your transaction. At the very heart of the hammer is the experience a real estate agent has with the contracts you will be asked to sign and the negotiating process you will be asked to go through as you consider purchasing a new construction piece of real estate.

As a way of protecting yourself, having a real estate agent as a part of your purchase process will give you a more professional face in front of a builder and will reduce your stress level as you go through what can be a very complicated process. Additionally, if you choose a real estate agent with experience in new construction homes, you can perhaps benefit from established relationships your realtor might have with individual builders to get you a better deal on your new home.

Don’t Doubt The Value Of An Inspection
For some reason, home buyers sometimes think that if a home is brand new, it doesn’t require an inspection. You wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it first, so simply buying a home blindly on the good faith of the builder is certainly a risky move. Yes, you will receive a warranty on your home but as any home owner knows after going through the warranty process, that is not always a great benefit and can often be an immense hassle.

Simply put, you want to start out with the best possible home, keeping you from headaches down the road when things need to be fixed or replaced. In fact, a good inspector can turn up problems with your property that most likely would not show up to a typical home owner until well after the warranty has expired. Invest in an inspection and you can save yourself some problems down the road.

Know Your Builder
Most every major builder has a reputation and they have that reputation for a reason. Not all builders are the same and doing some research into the track record of the company you’re considering for a home purchase will help you as you make your ultimate decision. You real estate agent can be a great resource in this step, particularly if your agent has experience in dealing with new home construction deals.

Keep in mind that your builder holds the key to a lot of the economic future of your property. Does your builder make a practice of building low value homes around a few upscale areas? That can drive down the price of your home should you ever want to sell it. These things can be tough to turn up, but simply delving into the established history of your potential builder can turn up things to make your decision to buy or not to buy much easier.

It should go without saying, but buying a home, no matter if it is brand new or not, is not like going to the store to pick out a head of lettuce. Even new homes need to be researched fully and inspected to make sure that you are investing your hard earned money in a product that is solid and will maintain value over time. You real estate agent can be a great resource for this type of research but no matter how you accomplish it, make sure you do your homework on any home purchase, even a brand new construction.

There are two distinct stages where over-spending can ruin your chances of getting a profit out of your fixer-upper property and keeping a watchful eye on your own pocketbook during those two critical times will make all the difference between real estate flop and real estate profit. While the real estate transaction process will always have a lot of twists and turns, navigating properly through these two key times will help you out immensely and give you a positive real estate investing experience.

Make Your Purchase Price Make Sense
Though there will be many parts of the real estate transaction you can use to improve your end profit, no time is more important than the purchase of your investment property. Doing the proper math on a particular property before ever even entertaining the prospect of purchasing it will lay out your potential profit and the sale price you need to achieve that level of success.

Many real estate investors tend to forget about extra fees that eat away at a profit margin like closing costs on both the purchase and sale of the home, real estate agent commission fees and taxes that may need to be paid while you are in ownership of the property. All of these little costs add up to a big chunk of the potential selling price of your home and we have not even discussed the amount of money you’re going to put into the home through renovations.

The best way to determine your maximum purchase price is to work backwards from the amount of money you hope to get out of the home, subtracting out every cost you can think of, including your renovation expenses, to arrive at a purchase price for the property that makes the most sense for your investment plan. No one ever said real estate investing was easy, so prepare to make extensive plans if you want to pursue only the best opportunities.

Do Not Overdo Your Renovation
There is a great temptation amongst real estate investors, especially those new to the practice, to pour money into every aspect of a home to give it a completely new feeling and décor. While those types of thing that are nice, overspending on your renovation costs will eat away at your potential profit.

You must quickly decide what improvements will add real value to the home and which will only have the chance to add value for a particular interested buyer. Concentrate on those things that appeal to all prospective home buyers. Bathrooms and bedrooms will always make a statement to a buyer but an asphalt driveway may not.

Further, you have to keep in mind that no renovation will ever go perfectly so building some cushion into your profit plan for unexpected minor increases in various parts of your project is a smart real estate investing practice. If costs escalate slightly, you will be able to absorb that cost and still hit your profit point. If they don’t, you have that much more breathing room when it comes to selling the real estate.

By keeping a firm grasp on the money out of your pocket and into your fixer-upper, you can better control the profit you’ll see as you go to sell off your investment. By not overpaying and by making sure you don’t over-renovate the home, you can ensure yourself a smoother, more fulfilling and more profitable real estate investing experience.

In fact, as any real estate investor will tell you, a few quick calculations will give you at least a rough idea of your chances for profit, be it large or small. Doing these quick and dirty calculations will not only give you that forecast of the future but determine whether a particular investment is worth the hassle, a step that many real estate investors skip that deserves adequate attention.

Target Your End Value
You can never, ever use the amount of money you put into a particular piece of real estate as the basis for a price increase. If you bought the home for $100,000 and did $20,000 worth of work to it, you are never guaranteed to get $120,000 out of it. The real estate market simply does not work that way and recognizing that is the first step towards pegging down an accurate end sale price for your profit calculations.

An appraiser is your best resource at pegging an end sale value as the appraiser will be able to tell you the kind of value you will add to a property with a given renovation. If you are going to add a certain amount of square footage or a finished basement or any other improvement, take what the home will look like after you are done and compare it against other similar homes that have recently sold in the area.

That is the only way to determine the kind of value you might receive and an appraiser will keep you grounded in reality when your head starts swelling with the prospect of potential profit.

The Big Minus
Of course, those renovations cost money and you will have to calculate every piece of dry wall, every nail and every hour of labor that you think will be necessary to get a home to the level you need it to be at. After those costs, you have to factor in transaction costs like your realtor’s fee, closing costs, potential property taxes over the course of your ownership and loan fees that some real estate investors neglect to think about.

Your expenses are not limited to the amount of money you put into renovations, giving you much more to think about than lumber and nails when you are calculating potential profit. This can be a complicated process and getting expert help from someone that has been through the process once or twice before will be invaluable towards projecting potential profit.

Is It Worth It?
This is the big question that some real estate investors forget to ask themselves as they pursue a potential investment. If your profit window is extremely tight and your potential profit may be $10,000, perhaps that investment is not worth the hassle of renovating the home, putting it on the market and finding a new buyer. You have to decide for yourself what your time is worth but just because there is profit to be had does not mean that your time is best spent on that project. Everyone’s threshold is different so determine yours and you will go a long way towards picking out projects that you will ultimately be successful with and enjoy.

These simple steps can save real estate investors from getting involved with properties that they are simply not ready for. Think about all of the costs before ever getting involved with an investment and learn to value your time. Doing the math is one thing, but using it to make an informed decision is what separates the real estate investors that fail and those that ultimately thrive.