Merry Christmas Everyone!

Flawed Appraisals Killing Home Sales, Hampering Housing Recovery

December 8, 2011 - One out of three builders are reporting losing signed sales contracts during the preceding six months because appraisals on their homes are less than the contract sales price, according to a recent nationwide survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

“The inappropriate use of distressed and foreclosed sales as comparables in determining new home values is needlessly driving down home prices, killing home sales, causing more workers to lose their jobs and delaying a housing and economic recovery,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nev.

Too often, due to faulty appraisal practices, brand new homes with sparkling appliances and interior upgrades get compared to a distressed property that has been sitting vacant and in disrepair. The result, in many cases has been that the new house winds up getting appraised at less than the cost of construction.  (read more)

Holiday Home Decorating

Get out the ladder and lights; it’s that time of year again to show the neighborhood your holiday and Christmas spirit!

The plan would be to make it safe and make it look good.  Make sure you have the right lighting and plugins for the outside weather.  Use the new LED lights; they are cheap, look good and easy to place.  Using outside extension cords need to be GFI capable either with the cord or the plug receptacle. 

Using the ladder on level ground and watch the icy conditions.  Here is a list of what you will need.

v  LED Lights

v  Light Hangers

v  Extension cords

v  Wire and tape

v  Ladder

v  Hammer

v  GFI Plugs

Have a very good time and enjoy the family times together.

Market Changes?

It is always exciting to be able to give good news with the real estate business.  The numbers for the past few weeks are certainly better than they were couple months. 

We need to have caution when dealing with any changes one way or another.  Just like the stock market, the real estate market is subject to ups and downs of everything.  The other fact is that we are still listening to the same outlets for all of the data. 

What we know now is this is still a good time to buy and interest rates are still low.  Beyond that only time passing though the hour glass will reveal any sustainable changes.

Pending home sales soared more than 10% in October

Pending home sales soared more than 10% in October and remain above year-ago levels, in a hopeful sign for the nation's housing market, according to the National Association of Realtors.

NAR's pending home sales index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, surged 10.4% to 93.3 in October from 84.5 in September. The index is 9.2% above October 2010 when it stood at 85.5. (read more)

Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!  From all of us at Boise House and Home, enjoy your time with family and friends.

Celebrate our Veterans

Have a wonderful day to all of the Veterans and their families!