Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips - Lena Hovanesian - iPro Real Estate

Senate Bill Cuts Property Tax Deduction, Keeps MID

Yesterday, Senate Finance Committee Republicans released their version of the tax reform bill. Although it goes one step further than the House bill by preserving the $1 million cap on the mortgage interest deduction—rather than cutting it to $500,000—it eliminates the deduction for property taxes. These are among the important differences between the plans, both versions of which will lead to higher taxes for many middle-income homeowners

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Housing Bubble Fears Too Inflated

Mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac devotes its entire November Insight report to exploring the warning signs from last decade’s housing price bubble and weighs it against the current housing market. Economists, however, are quick to say today’s market is not currently overheating.“The evidence indicates there currently is no house price bubble in the U.S., despite the rapid increase of house prices over the last five years,” says Sean B

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Glitch in Messaging Apps May Expose Calls

A glitch in nearly 700 iOS and Android apps could expose your private messages and calls.Appthority, a mobile threat protection firm, discovered the flaw in the development of apps often used for communications by businesses. It published a report on its findings Thursday. The firm believes up to 180 million Android users could be affected by the hack, dubbed “Eavesdropper.” An unknown number of iOS devices also are at risk.The vulnerabilit

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Mortgage Rates Take Slight Dip This Week

Mortgage rates were down across the board this week, lowering borrowing costs for potential home buyers and refinancers.“After holding steady last week, rates dipped slightly this week,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The 10-year Treasury yield fell roughly 7 basis points, while the 30-year mortgage rate dropped 4 basis points to 3.90 percent.”Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates f

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REALTORS: Master the Art of Asking Questions

Meetings with clients should be conversations rather than interrogations. Agents can always be asking open-ended questions to solicit more than a yes or no response. But John Asher, author of Close Deals Faster and CEO of Asher Strategies, has more concrete ways you can train your agents to be tactful interviewers, starting with active listening.Active listening is listening with the intent to understand, as opposed to passive listening, whi

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Consumers Rank Their Lender Satisfaction

Consumers are less satisfied with mortgage lenders this year, with complaints surfacing of a slow purchase process even though more are using digital mortgage applications that were touted as being faster and easier, according to J.D. Power’s 2017 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Study. The study is based on responses from more than 5,800 customers who originated a new loan or refinanced within the past year. Still, some mortgage lenders—li

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Newbie Buyers Make Smaller Down Payments

About 60 percent of first-time home buyers put down 6 percent or less on a home purchase in September. The median down payment has dropped from 6 percent to 5 percent for first-time buyers, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.But there are still many potential buyers on the sidelines who may be under the impression they need a bigger down payment before they can buy.NAR conducted a survey

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Are 5,000-Square-Foot Homes Too Big?

The share of new homes that are 5,000 square feet or more is dropping. It’s now at its lowest point since 2012, during the Great Recession.The percentage has dropped from 3.9 percent in 2015 to 3.1 percent in 2016. In absolute terms, that’s 28,000 units reduced to 24,000, respectively, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction.In 2015, the share of 5,000-plus–square-foot homes skyrocketed to its highest number since 20

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Consumers More Jittery To Buy, Sell

Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index receded from its all-time high set last month, as Americans showed less confidence about buying and selling in October. But the dip may be seasonal, according to Fannie Mae’s chief economist.The index, which measures consumers’ perceptions on the housing market, showed an 8 percentage point decrease month over month on the net share of respondents who said now is a good time to sell; it decreased 6

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Senate Tax Bill Another Shot at Homeowners

Senate Republicans released their version of a tax reform bill Thursday, and although it differs from the House’s plan, it calls for the elimination of the deductions for property taxes and other state and local taxes.“While we are still reviewing the outlines of this proposal, we are watching closely for changes to current law that might leave middle-class homeowners—and homeownership broadly—in a worse place than it is today,” NAR Pre

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