Real Estate Homes

Century 21 Franchise Sales Dept

2010-02-01T14:21:57Z

Century 21 Real Estate has appointed a new senior vice president of franchise sales, according to a company announcement. New York native James Ramsey, formerly the New Jersey-based organization's senior vice president of field services, joined the real estate franchisor in 2000.

]]> "The Century 21 brand is poised for strong growth. I am confident that Jim's talent, experience and deep knowledge of the Century 21 System make him ideally suited to lead our franchise growth strategy," said Tom Kunz, the company's president and CEO, in a statement.

The company credits him "with reorganizing and streamlining the service organization, renewing 97 percent of eligible companies and rolling out several key initiatives focused on incremental growth."

Ramsey has also been the organization's director of marketing, national director of broker relations, and vice president of franchise support.

A Realogy Corp. subsidiary, Century 21 is one of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organizations with more than 7,800 franchises in 67 countries and territories worldwide.

Real Estate Agents Industry Watchdogs Calls

2010-01-08T19:39:20Z

About 70 complaints are being followed up by the new real estate industry watchdog, less than two months after its launch. The Real Estate Agents Authority opened for business on November 17 and has been inundated with calls. It received up to 700 calls a week from the public and licence holders in the first weeks. That has now levelled off to about 200 a week, authority chairwoman Kristy McDonald said yesterday.

]]> Seventy complaints needing further inquiry had been identified. It was too early to reveal the nature of the complaints, but the whole gamut of problems faced by the industry has been covered, she said. "The complaints received so far cover a broad range of issues and it is too early to determine any trends."

They could include concerns about agents failing to disclose information, or the practice of "flipping" houses – in which a house is sold for a low price to people known to the agent, allowing the house to be on-sold for a profit soon after.

Both those practices have landed agents in hot water. In 2004, an agent was censured for selling a house to a couple without mentioning an apartment block being built next door.

In 2006, the High Court at Auckland found Premium Real Estate in Takapuna had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct when a couple sold their North Shore house for $2.5 million, only to see it resold five months later for $3.2m. Each complaint must now go before the Complaints Assessment Committee to determine if it warrants further investigation.

The committee held its first meeting before Christmas, and several investigations were now being carried out, Ms McDonald said.

The authority was launched as part of a shake-up of the industry, amid concerns the previous self-governing system was providing a feeding ground for "land sharks".

As well as handling complaints and enforcing punishments, which include a maximum fine of $10,000 for individuals or $20,000 for a company, the authority also deals with licensing and runs a public register of all real estate salespeople and agents.

U.S. Office Vacancy Rates 2010-2011

2010-01-08T19:33:44Z

The U.S. office vacancy rate hit a 15-year high in the fourth quarter and landlords slashed rent last year by the largest amount since at least 1980, real estate research firm Reis Inc said on Friday.

]]> The Housing Market - "This period marks the eighth consecutive quarter since the beginning of 2008 that office properties registered deterioration in occupied space," Victor Calanog, Reis director of research, said in a statement. "We should not understate the amount of pressure that office properties endured since the recession began."

During the fourth quarter the national office vacancy rate climbed 0.40 percentage point from the third quarter to 17 percent, the highest level since 1994.

Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the U.S. economy has shed 7.2 million jobs, drastically reducing demand for office space and flooding the market with sublease space. To lure or retain tenants, landlords have offered months of free rent and have kicked in for the cost of converting a raw space onto offices.

"Despite declining job losses, we have yet to observe clear, systematic evidence that the office market is bottoming out and has begun to recover," Calanog said. "We will need to see clear, systematic evidence of resumption in hiring before businesses begin leasing new space."

During the fourth quarter, asking rent fell 1.1 percent to $27.80 per square foot. But factoring free rent and other concessions, the net amount landlords received, known as effective rent, dropped 1.9 percent to $22.44 per square foot. For the year, effective rent fell 8.9 percent, the largest one-year decline since Reis began tracking it in 1980.

"Never before have landlords been under so much pressure to offer concessions to attract and retain tenants," Calanog said. "Asking rents have fallen at a lower rate, but this just implies further room to fall down the road if conditions do not improve soon. Landlords can only offer so much concessions, and at some point they will need to lower asking rents significantly in order to bring prospective tenants in the door."

The office vacancy rate rose in 63 of the 79 primary metropolitan areas that Reis covers. Effective rents fell in 70 of them.

That could make things tougher for landlords such as Boston Properties Inc, Vornado Realty Trust, Maguire Properties Inc and Kilroy Realty.

In the New York area, by far the largest U.S. office market, vacancy rose only 0.10 percentage point in the fourth quarter to 11.5 per square foot. But that came at a cost to landlords, who offered more concessions, driving effective rent down 5.3 percent for the quarter to $44.69 per square foot.

For the year, New York rents fell 19.8 percent, the largest 12-month decline since Reis began tracking them in 1981, wiping out gains from the peak year of rent growth in 2007 when rents rose 25 percent.

The California market of San Bernadino/Riverside, which is among the hardest-hit areas of the U.S. housing bust, had the highest office vacancy rate at 26.1 percent, up 2.4 percentage points from the prior quarter.

Silicon Valley Real Estate Vacancies 2010-2011

2010-01-08T19:31:44Z

Imagine 15 Empire State Buildings, all of them sitting empty. That real estate broker's nightmare comes to more than 43 million sq. ft., which is how much commercial space stood vacant in Silicon Valley as of the end of the third quarter, according to CB Richard Ellis Group (CBG). And though vacancy rates in the Valley have not reached the levels seen in the wake of the dot-com bust, property owners may be worse off today. That's because many defunct Internet companies back then continued paying rent through the venture capital firms that funded their leases. Now Valley players that have survived the hard times are fighting for and in many cases winning sizeable discounts on rents that are already off some 20% from last year's levels.

]]> By some estimates the rate of commercial foreclosures in the Silicon Valley area will at least double in 2010. That works out to about $1.5 billion in foreclosed properties, according to data compiled by New York-based research firm Real Capital Analytics. "Many of these assets have lost half their value," says Real Capital managing director Dan Fasulo. "That's a bloodbath."

California's info tech sector has lost more jobs in the past year than any other except construction and mining, state data show. Unemployment in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area hit a two-decade high of 12.1% in August and has since eased only slightly, to 11.8% in November. Applied Materials (AMAT), Sun Microsystems (JAVA), and Adobe Systems (ADBE) have announced more than 5,000 layoffs since October amid falling sales of computer chips, software, and equipment. Even stalwarts like Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Cisco (CSCO) have pared back their workforces over the past year to safeguard profits.

Meanwhile, developers added more than 4 million sq. ft. of speculative office space in the Valley since 2007, building gleaming towers on the expectation that startups would move into classier digs as they matured. Now 21% of the area's top-of-the-line office space is vacant, as is 20% of low-rise so-called flex space that can be adapted for offices or manufacturing, reports CB Richard Ellis. Some buildings in downtown San Jose, such as the Riverpark Tower II, a 318,372 sq.-ft. high-rise completed in July and owned by Foster City (Calif.)-based Legacy Partners Commercial, and a 381,000 sq.-ft. tower that Oracle (ORCL) acquired in the 2008 takeover of BEA Systems, sit empty. Legacy is showing the building to prospective tenants, says Lisa Morrissey, vice-president of marketing. Oracle didn't return calls seeking comment. "None of those towers will fill up anytime soon," says Jon Haveman, co-founder of Beacon Economics, a consulting firm in San Rafael, Calif.

Asking rates on Class A office space averaged $34.56 a square foot in the third quarter, a 21% drop from a year earlier, while rates on flex space averaged $14.16 a square foot, down 16%, according to CB Richard Ellis. That's great news for the likes of Facebook, which signed a lease on roomier quarters in December 2009. The company's new Palo Alto home will span 265,000 sq. ft. across four low-rise buildings that once housed the lathes and centrifuges of a medical device manufacturer. "We're at the end of a bubble," says Stephen Levy, director of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto. "It will take a long time to get the momentum going."

San Diego Jobs 2010-2011

2010-01-08T19:29:12Z

By Jose Pena - Experts shared a mixed economic forecast Thursday, erring on the optimistic and predicting slow job growth in 2010. A renewed threat of terrorism and the federal government’s rapidly accruing debt, however, could create a double-dip recession that would halt recovery, they said.

]]> Panelists on the 2010 San Diego County Economic Roundtable agreed on many points — namely, the recession has ended, and the economy is crawling out of dark days and a common thread was spread through their presentations: “Things are less bad than they were,” said Alan Gin, an associate professor of economics at the University of San Diego’s School of Business Administration.

Gin and colleagues shared the sentiment that things are less bad and outlined key indicators that may show the worst is behind us.

Gin, who said 2009 was the “worst year ever, as far as the local economy is concerned,” said in the waning days of 2009, the county was on track to lose 50,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate hovered in double digits for six consecutive months.

Gin, who, admittedly, gave a grimmer forecast than others, said if the economy hasn’t bottomed out yet, it will in the first half of 2010. Growth, he predicted, would be weak, but we will see an upturn, he said. He expects to see increases in housing prices and the number of building permits, and 3,000 to 5,000 new local jobs.

New Mexico Real Estate Construction Jobs

2010-01-08T19:27:25Z

The job picture for real estate and construction in 2010 in New Mexico appears slightly brighter than 2009. There most likely will be new construction jobs for road, bridge and home builders, while office and shopping center contractors could continue to shed jobs this year. In the white collar arena, commercial real estate brokerages made cuts in 2009, but hope to start rehiring in the second half of 2010 if business picks up. Residential real estate is improving, and there are current job openings for mortgage processors and brokers.

]]> The most significant job creation could come in the horizontal construction trades if the Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010 passes the U.S. Senate later this month. The House barely passed the $150 billion bill in mid-December, and contractor organizations are lobbying hard for its passage. Should the bill become law, it would mean $350 million for road and bridge construction in New Mexico, according to Mike Gibson, executive director for the Associated Contractors of New Mexico, who represents 200 construction companies and 15,000 construction employees.

Gibson is optimistic the bill will pass and create 2,500 to 3,000 construction jobs in the state this year. Last year’s federal stimulus package brought $270 million for road and bridge work and created fewer jobs than the new proposal would. Gibson said there currently are $130 million in shovel-ready projects.

Industry leaders were meeting with state officials this past week in Albuquerque at the New Mexico Paving Conference to determine other projects that could be part of any new funding coming out of Washington. The project many Albuquerque commuters want, a new interchange at I-25 and Paseo del Norte, is a $350 million project and will most likely not be part of the new stimulus package, Gibson said.

Among the contractors who could be in the running for new contracts and who might be hiring are: Fisher Sand and Gravel, Kiewit, Hasse Construction, Reiman Corp., David Montoya Construction, AUI Contractors, Mountain States Construction Co. and A. S. Horner, Gibson said.

“All signs say that this bill will pass and this will buy us another 12 months. If it doesn’t pass, it won’t be a pretty sight,” Gibson said. “To really get this economy humming, you need the residential and commercial builders back to work.”

The job outlook for residential building is better than the prospects for commercial projects. No significant speculative office or shopping center development is planned for 2010 in the greater Albuquerque area, but there should be an increase in home building.

Jim Folkman, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico, estimates about 1,200 new home builder jobs could be created this year, based on a conservative estimate of 500 more homes built in 2010 than 2009.

“That is not a lot of new jobs relative to 2005, but still, approaching 1,000 or so jobs in today’s economy, that’s an important addition,” Folkman said.

The extension of the federal government’s first-time home buyers program, coupled with lower housing prices and low interest rates, is fueling home building. Albuquerque’s impact fee reductions on builders are also encouraging home contractors.

There will be new jobs in residential brokerage as well. Vaughan Co. Realtors might hire 20 to 25 new brokers this year, according to Doug Vaughan, CEO. Of the new hires, 20 percent will be experienced brokers who come from other firms, while 80 percent will be trainees. Vaughan is also looking to hire two loan officers. The company is hiring because Vaughan has had four good months in a row of increasing home sales.

Also hiring is Albuquerque-based Frost Mortgage Banking Group, which is continuing its national expansion. It opened San Francisco, Denver and Baltimore affiliations recently and hired 60 for those operations. CEO Greg Frost hopes to start other branches nationally and add 100 employees to staff them this year. Locally, Frost will hire administrative help in the form of loan processors, underwriters and closers and expects to create six new jobs from his 2051 Wyoming Blvd. NE national mortgage processing center.

Commercial real estate firms are starting to see business come back and might loosen the purse strings and start rehiring in 2010. John Lewinger, CEO of the state’s largest commercial brokerage, Grubb & Ellis New Mexico, anticipates increased transactions by the second quarter.

2010 Real Estate Market Mortgage Jobs

2010-01-08T19:21:40Z

In the case of the homebuilding industry, that adjustment could take until mid-2013, when the National Association of Home Builders expects production and employment to return to something resembling normal.

"In housing, we 're going through an abnormal cycle," says David Crowe, chief economist at the trade group. "We started losing jobs almost two years before the rest of the economy, in late '05, early '06. We usually go in first, but come out first. That's not going to happen this time. We're expecting weak job growth in general in 2010."

]]> The industry has already lost about a third of the 3.5 million jobs it had during the peak employment period of early 2006. Employment in other parts of the housing/real estate industry shows a similar boom to bust pattern.

The number of members in the National Association of Realtors almost doubled during the 1998-2007 period, hitting 1.35 million in 2006. It's down 22 percent since then. The NAR isn't expecting existing home sales to return to their 2006 peak of 6.5 million units anytime soon. By 2011, they are forecast to hit 5.7 million.

Mortgage industry jobs doubled between the end of the last recession and early 2006 to 504,500, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By October of 2009, about half had been lost.

"People saying 'When are we going to get back to normal?' Tell me what's normal?" says Jay Brinkman, chief economist and EVP at the Mortgage Bankers Association. "Look at what drove the growth in past years. Easy credit, low interest rates, a low-risk premium, a combination of refinance, cash-out financing."

Brinkman says employment levels will reflect that, as refinancing demand falls and borrowing criteria remain tough, and the lending market returns to more of a buyer-driven one. For one, there will be fewer mortgage brokers.

The housing correction will be felt far and wide.

"All of its attendant and ancillary production-appliances, carpeting, furniture-is not going to add to what is typical in a recovery," says Crowe. Sales levels in some of those areas are at ten-year lows.

1st Time Homebuyer Home Ownership Demand

2009-11-12T15:51:00Z

Despite today’s challenging economy, demand for home ownership remains strong and first time buyers make up a significant segment of all potential buyers. Nearly ten percent (9.8%) of consumers say they plan to buy a home in the next two years, with 5.4 percent planning to purchase in the next 12 months. Of those planning to purchase a home in the near future, nearly half (48.3%) are first time buyers, with women (52.8%) slightly more interested in entering the housing market than men (44.1%).

]]> While affordability and foreclosure bargains have consistently been the primary reasons motivating homebuyers in the past four months, secondary reasons have changed. In June 2009, interest in taking advantage of low interest rates (21.1%) was cited as the second most important reason to buy. Today, buyers are motivated more by the great selection of homes for sale in their community (21.2%) as the leading secondary reason to purchase a home.

The Move.com survey also found that while perceptions related to affordability have improved in four months, most Americans are still unaware of how affordable homes are today. In June 2009, more than three-quarters (76.4%) of Americans said they thought a family earning the national median income of $52,029(3) could afford 50 percent or fewer of the homes for sale in their area. Today only half (50.4%) of all Americans say a median income family can afford 50 percent or fewer of the homes for sale in their neighborhood, a 26 percentage point improvement in just three months. In fact, a median income family today can afford approximately 70 percent of the homes listed for sale on the Move Network of real estate Web sites.(4)

"In the past year, affordability has improved significantly, especially for first time home buyers, and is higher now than at any time the past two decades(5)," said Samuelson. "Even more encouraging is that 34.1% of survey respondents said they expect median income families will be able to afford more than 50 percent of the homes in their neighborhood a year from now. This sentiment is especially true with people ages 18 to 34, the nation’s next group of first time homebuyers."

About Real Estate Investors Todays Housing Markets

2009-11-12T15:48:05Z

Affordable prices and foreclosures are attracting investors to the housing markets today, and the number of consumers interested in investing in real estate has doubled since March 2009, according to the new Move.com Homeownership Survey released today. Low prices and foreclosure bargains have also become the most important reasons motivating buyers today to purchase a home.

]]> According to the Move.com survey, one out of eight (12.1%) homebuyers today plan to purchase a home as an investment property, compared to 5.6 percent seven months ago(1). Of those interested in buying a home for investment, 15.8 percent were men and 8.1 percent were women.

Foreclosure buyers, accounting for 25.3 percent of consumers interested in purchasing a home, are a major source of potential investment activity for today’s housing market. Forty-two percent (42%) of potential foreclosure buyers regard their purchases as investments, while 57.6 percent plan to live in the foreclosed home themselves. Foreclosure investors, according to the Move.com survey, intend to convert their foreclosures into rentals (13.2%), fix them up for re-sale (11.3%), or house a family member until the home can be sold at a profit (17.4%). Of the forty-two percent interested in purchasing a foreclosure as an investment, survey respondents ages 35 to 49 (52.6%) were by far the largest demographic.

Expected Profits Gained From Purchase Discounts and Appreciation

The Move.com survey found foreclosure buyers expect to profit from both deeply discounted purchase prices, as well as healthy appreciation rates over five years. Most foreclosure buyers (58.2%) expect to pay 20 percent or less than market price for a foreclosure, while 38.5 percent expect a 25 percent or greater discount. While, 73 percent expect their properties to appreciate ten percent or more in five years, 28 percent expect their purchases to appreciate 20 percent or more during that same investment horizon. According to the Federal Housing Finance Administration’s Purchase Index, homes have appreciated an average of 15 percent nationally since 2004(2).

According to the Move.com survey, the most important reasons motivating prospective home buyers and investors to purchase a house include concerns that prices are as low as they will go (23.6%) and desire to take advantage of foreclosure bargains (18.7%). The second most important reasons motivating property purchases include taking advantage of the great selection of homes for sale in their community (21.2%) and concern interest rates will rise (14.2%).

"This latest Homeownership Survey validates what many had hoped to see in the housing markets -- affordable prices and ample inventories are restoring the appeal of real estate to investors while providing opportunities for first time home buyers to enter the market," said Move, Inc., Chief Revenue Officer, Errol Samuelson. "In today’s environment, regardless of whether you’re an investor or interested in purchasing a home to live in yourself, residential real estate is a more attractive investment today for many than it has been in recent years."

Tips Video Camera Real Estate Agent Recordings

2009-11-09T15:07:07Z

Mortgage Debt Higher than Home Values

2009-11-09T14:55:47Z

Hipotecas - November 2009 - The percentage of U.S. homeowners with mortgage debt that exceeds the value of their home declined slightly from the second to third quarters, in part because home prices are stabilizing but also because many homeowners who had been underwater lost their homes to foreclosure, Zillow.com reported today.

]]> An analysis of public records collected for the Zillow Real Estate Market Reports suggests that 21 percent of homes with mortgages were underwater at the end of September, down from 23 percent at the end of June, Zillow said.

An index measuring home values in 156 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) tracked by Zillow was relatively flat, declining 0.4 percent from the second quarter to the third. Looking back a year, the index showed the median value of single-family homes, condominiums and cooperatives in those markets falling 6.9 percent, to $190,400.

But the rate of year-over-year price declines shrank for the third quarter in a row. Only nine MSAs -- including the Merced, Calif., State College, Pa., and Salisbury, Md., MSAs -- showed increasing year-over-year declines.

The index showed home values increasing in the last year in 24 of 156 MSAs, including Boston and Milwaukee, and holding their ground in 16 others.

The best-performing markets in the last year were Fayetteville, N.C. (up 10.8 percent); Cumberland, Md. (up 9.1 percent); Gainesville, Ga. (up 7.7 percent); Rochester, N.Y. (up 6.2 percent); and Green Bay, Wis. (up 5.3 percent).

"The decline in the percentage of homeowners with negative equity is a positive sign, and is directly attributable to the stabilization of home values from the second quarter to the third," Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries said in a statement. "It is also attributable to many homeowners who were previously underwater on their mortgage losing their homes to foreclosure."

A majority of homeowners with mortgages in several markets hard hit by foreclosures had negative equity in their homes. According to Zillow's analysis, in Las Vegas 81.8 percent of homes with mortgages are underwater, and in Fort Myers, Fla., 60.5 percent of homeowners with loans have negative equity (some homeowners don't have mortgages because they have paid off their loans or purchased their homes with cash).

Foreclosure resales accounted for 21.4 percent of all U.S. home sales in September, Zillow said, and more than half of sales in several MSAs including Las Vegas (67.5 percent) and the California communities of Merced (74.2 percent), Stockton (69.3 percent), Madera (68.7 percent), and El Centro (68.1 percent)

New Home Sales 2009 September Tax Credit Expires

2009-10-28T16:27:30Z

New home sales fall a surprising 3.6%. September new US home sales post surprise drop as benefit of first-time buyer tax credit wanes. Sales of new U.S. homes dropped unexpectedly last month as the effects of a temporary tax credit for first-time owners started to wane.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that sales fell 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000 from a downwardly revised 417,000 in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a pace of 440,000.

]]> It was the first decline since March. Sales in September were off 7.8 percent from a year ago. Despite the surprising decline, the market is up 22 percent from the bottom in January, though down more than 70 percent from the peak in July 2005.

The median sales price of $204,800 was off 9.1 percent from $225,200 a year earlier, but up 2.5 percent from August's $199,900.

The drop in sales was driven by a nearly 11 percent decline in the West and a 10 percent drop in the South. Sales rose 35 percent in the Midwest and were unchanged in the Northeast.

The report reflects contracts to buy homes, not completed sales. It has been taking longer to close a transaction this year because it's taking longer to get approved for a mortgage and to have a property appraised.

Those time lags could make buyers nervous they won't be able to complete the deal before the Nov. 30 deadline to take advantage of a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time buyers.

The report "demonstrates the power of the first-time homebuyers tax credit," said Bernard Markstein, senior economist with the National Association of Home Builders, which has been lobbying Congress to extend and expand the tax incentive. "We just haven't gotten the economy back to the point where we can step back and say the housing market doesn't need any more support."

Congress is considering extending the tax credit through March 31 and gradually phasing it out over the rest of next year. The Senate could vote as soon as Wednesday.

"If they don't extend it, then I think the pullback could be quite significant," said Brad Hunter, chief economist with Metrostudy, a real estate research firm.

Critics, however, say many buyers would have entered the market anyway and call the credit an unnecessary subsidy for people who don't need it.

Low mortgage rates, the tax credit and more affordably priced homes have provided a big lift to the housing market this year. Sales of previously occupied homes, for example, jumped more than 9 percent in September. That report measures completed sales rather than sales agreements.

There were 251,000 new homes for sale at the end of September, down almost 4 percent from August and the lowest inventory in nearly 17 years. At the current sales pace, that represents 7.5 months of supply

Tips How to Selling a House Preparations

2009-10-23T15:57:11Z

Tips to Sell Your House - What do you do if you're on the wrong side of a slowing market? Selling in a slump is part mental adjustment, part common sense. Here are some critical pieces of advice for selling your home in this market:

]]> * Price it right. Most real estate agents agree that pricing your home correctly is one of the best strategies in a competitive market. But this is also one of the toughest hurdles for sellers who remember asking prices from several years ago. Because things have been changing in this market from month to month, it can be hard to get a handle on what kind of pricing the market will allow. This means you must rely heavily on the expertise of your real estate agent and a property appraiser.

* Remember: That was then, this is now. Simply forget that your neighbor sold his fixer-upper back in 2004 in three hours for $20,000 above the asking price. The new "normal" is likely to involve making concessions to your buyer, such as price adjustments, home repairs, or help with closing costs.

* Get picky. Invite a brutally honest friend to walk through your home and point out potential turnoffs for buyers. A fresh set of eyes may catch things (the spot on the wall where your three-year-old squashed PlayDoh, for example) that a proud homeowner no longer sees.

* Remove the clutter. Excess stuff is visually distracting, and it creates a bad first impression. Rent a storage unit to house non-essentials while your home is on the market. For just a few hundred dollars, you'll have given your house a mini-makeover that buyers will appreciate.

* Create neutral territory. While you don't have to paint everything white, it does help to tone down unusual color choices and to remove personal items from view (bye-bye, Elvis memorabilia!). You want potential buyers to be able to envision themselves in your home, not critique your taste.

* Sweat the small stuff. Repaint, replace fixtures, clean, plant flowers -- in short, do whatever you can do to make your home put its best foot forward to a potential buyer. With a glut of inventory, buyers can afford to be choosy.

* Think on your feet. Sellers need to stay alert in this kind of market. Another house comes on the market in your neighborhood? Ask your agent to visit it and see how the price and condition compare with yours. Get a lowball offer? Before you turn it down, get the latest comps for your area to see if prices have shifted. Getting traffic in your house but no offers? Make sure your agent is calling other real estate agents for their feedback. Staying on top of your home-selling process is the key to securing a good offer.

While the sellers of today must be made of sterner stuff than in years past, there's no reason to panic. People are still buying, just not with the same wild-eyed intensity of yesteryear. Follow these tips to optimize your position all the way to the closing table.

Home Re-Sales September 2009 Increase

2009-10-23T15:18:19Z

Home resales rose far more than expected last month to the highest level in more than two years as buyers scrambled to complete their purchases before a tax credit for first-time owners expires.

The National Association of Realtors says sales rose 9.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million in September, from a downwardly revised pace of 5.1 million in August. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 5.35 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

The median sales price was $174,900, down 8.5 percent from a year earlier, but the smallest annual drop in 13 months.

Increase in Home Sales September 2009

2009-10-23T15:09:05Z

Home resales are expected to show an almost 5 percent increase to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million, up from 5.1 million in August, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters. If the report meets forecasts it would be the best month for home sales in more than two years.

The sales jump, however, could be far larger than Wall Street expects, according to a monthly survey of 1,500 real estate agents for Campbell Communications, a research firm. That's because foreclosure sales are booming in cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas.

]]> "There's a mini-boom going on in the housing market," said Thomas Popik, who conducted the survey for Campbell and expects a double-digit increase.

First-time homebuyers and investors are snapping up those homes and taking advantage of low mortgage rates. These buyers can also take advantage of a tax credit of 10 percent of the sales price, up to $8,000, if the deal is completed by the end of November.

The tax credit is so important to some buyers that they are adding a clause to their contracts, allowing them to back out if the sale doesn't close by Nov. 30.

While home sales and housing construction have risen steadily after hitting bottom earlier this year, most economists believe that the worst isn't over for home values. In August, the median price was $177,700, down from the peak of $230,300 in July 2006, but still above the bottom of $164,800 in January, according to the Realtors group.

Prices could see a double dip because rising unemployment is having a ripple effect on foreclosures. The jobless rate, currently at 9.8 percent is expected to rise as high as 10.5 percent next year, causing more people to be unable to afford their monthly mortgage payment.

"There's more supply that's going to come into the marketplace," said Stan Humphries, chief economist at real estate Web site Zillow.com. "That additional supply will outpace demand."

Some signs of softer prices may already be appearing. A government index released Thursday showed U.S. home prices dipped 0.3 percent from July to August.

That drop "supports our view that the housing recovery will be slow and bumpy," wrote Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics.

With concerns about the housing market still prominent, Congress is considering several proposals to extend the tax credit for first-time buyers. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., want to extend it through June 30, and expand it to include all home buyers, at an estimated cost of $16.7 billion.

One potential roadblock, however, emerged this week. There are concerns that some of the 1.5 million applications for the tax credit are fraudulent.

At a hearing before a House subcommittee Thursday, J. Russell George, the Treasury Department's inspector general for taxes, questioned the legitimacy of some 100,000 claims for the credit, potentially including some illegal immigrants and 580 people under 18. The youngest taxpayers to apply for the credit were 4 years old, his office said.