Real Estate Local FAQs.

There are many frequently asked questions and any local real estate area. In our area here at the local Delaware Beaches, the most frequently asked questions are how to get a good deal and if there are any fixer-uppers available.

We are constantly asked if there any good deals available. The ironic part of this is the person who asked that would not have enough data or awareness or knowledge or information to know if a property is a good deal or not. In our area fixer-uppers are seldom good deal. Frequently the land value of real estate here is 75 to 100% of the price of the property.

We have a cute little cottage for sale now in the second block from the ocean for $1 million, and the land is worth $1 million. Ten miles west of the beach we have a home for sale a large lot for $180,000. The lot is worth $200,000. However, the house needs to be torn down, so we have reduced the price of a lot by the amount you will take to remove the house. Is either one of these homes, a good deal? No! In each case, the land is a good deal. In the first case, the home is worth zero and in the second case, the home is a liability.

Another question, I am asked us if we are buying at the top of the market now. I have been asked that question for 35 years, and I have heard it asked for 30 years before that. When I first heard the question, beach lots were selling for $25 that are now going for $1 million or more. Every year, there have been people who think the market has topped out, and they will wait and get a better purchase price.

My answer to the question of whether the market will go down or not is that it will not go down. And if you want a good deal the best deal is to buy now before the price goes up, because it will continue to go up, as it has in the past.
Copyright 2005 by Jody Hudson www.JodyHudson.com and www.Kate-Jody.com

Jody Hudson has been a realtor in America and Delaware for 35 years.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.