Amazon is narrowing the list of cities for its second headquarters, announcing last week that it will pick two locations for what’s been dubbed “HQ2.” The list reportedly has been narrowed to Crystal City, Va.; Long Island City, N.Y.; and Dallas.Property frenzies have been sparked in Crystal City and Long Island City in anticipation that they’ll be the chosen two. Real estate brokerage Redfin reports that online views of listings in the t
Tom Ferry’s tips to “wow” your database and create raving fans -- plus a top performing script Creating a business based on regular and recurring referrals is the ideal for any real estate professional. But it doesn’t just happen. It takes work. It requires you to be different, be proactive and provide extraordinary levels of service.In today’s coaching corner, I’m sharing with you five ways to “wow” your database between now and
How working on my personal development saved my life and my business A little over two years ago, I nearly hit rock bottom.My life was in a downward spiral. I was going through home foreclosure; I was incapacitated from a car accident, where I lost my car and then I lost my job. I felt like the world was collapsing around me. I was a single mother without another source of income and I was 60 days away from losing my home.I needed to act — and
Mortgage rates were on the rise this week, and as a result, home buyers faced higher borrowing costs. The 30-year fixed rate rose to its highest average in seven years, averaging 4.94 percent this week, Freddie Mac reports.“The economy continued to show resilience as strong business activity and the growth in employment” drove mortgage rates higher, says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Higher mortgage rates have led to a slowd
The Federal Reserve voted on Thursday to keep its key interest rate on hold, but signaled that rate hikes and tightened borrowing costs are likely on the horizon.The Fed kept its benchmark target for rates unchanged in the 2 percent to 2.25 percent range. The Fed’s rate does not directly influence mortgage rates but does tend to have an effect.“The labor market has continued to strengthen and … economic activity has been rising at a strong
Credit scores often take about 11 months to fully recover after a consumer purchases a home, according to a new study by LendingTree, an online loan marketplace.After a buyer purchases a home, their credit scores fall by an average of 15 points, but it takes 160 days—or slightly over five months—for the full impact to take effect.The analysis showed that after the full drop, recovery takes an average of another five months. For most borrowers
Wells Fargo blamed a calculation error for resulting in foreclosures on hundreds of homeowners who instead should have been helped by the bank. The finance giant acknowledged this week that it had improperly foreclosed on 545 distressed homeowners after they had requested assistance with their mortgages.In total, Wells Fargo said 870 homeowners were wrongly denied help. More than half of that total ended up losing their homes.An internal review
The real estate industry is being increasingly targeted by cybercriminals. A new report from the cybersecurity firm eSentire shows that real estate was the second highest industry hit with malware events in the second quarter of 2018.The real estate–related attacks usually center around internet communications and insecure connectivity to the internet. Real estate also sees a high volume of attacks aimed at D-Link home routers. If a hacker ta
Rising home prices are helping homeowners get richer and richer. Equity-rich properties represented 25.7 percent—or nearly 14.5 million—of U.S. properties in the third quarter, a record high, ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate research firm, reports. “Equity-rich” means the combined estimated amount of loans secured by the property was 50 percent or less of the property’s estimated market value.“As homeowners stay put longer, they c
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