IS THE ECONOMY DRAGGING UP REAL ESTATE?

Driven by strengthening private domestic demand, economic growth is expected to accelerate modestly this year and drag last year’s unspectacular housing activity upward, according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group.

Fannie’s analysts say that amid continued low gasoline prices, firming labor market conditions, rising household net worth, improving consumer and business confidence and reduced fiscal headwinds, the economy is expected to climb to 3.1% in 2015, up from the a previous estimate of 2.7% in the prior forecast.

The stronger economic backdrop should lead to improving income prospects, underpinning a higher rate of household formation in 2015.

“Our theme for the year, Economy Drags Housing Upward, implies that both housing and the economy will pick up some speed in 2015, but that the economy will grow at a faster pace,” said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. “We have revised upward our full-year economic growth forecast to 3.1% for 2015, which is not yet robust but still an improvement over last year’s growth. Consumer spending should continue to strengthen due in large part to lower gas prices, giving further support to auto sales and manufacturing. We believe this will motivate the Federal Reserve to begin measures to normalize monetary policy in the third quarter of this year, continuing at a cautiously steady pace into 2016 and 2017, likely keeping interest rates relatively low for some time.”

“Strength in the broader economy, accompanied by continued employment growth and meaningful income growth, should contribute to some improvement in housing activity this year,” said Duncan. “Given historically low mortgage rates and a gradual easing of lending standards, our forecast calls for a 5.8% increase in total home sales for the year. Most of that is likely to come from growth in existing home sales, but we expect the rising share of new home sales to lead to a healthy increase in single-family construction of about 19%, or 765,000 units. Although we don’t view this as signaling a breakout year for housing, we do expect to see broad-based improvement in 2015 following a disappointing and uneven year for the housing recovery in 2014.”

9 Foods to Help You Lose Weight

Delicious foods that help you diet? It sounds too good to be true.

No doubt: Weight loss comes down to simple math. You have to eat fewer calories than you burn."Certain foods can help you shed body weight," says Heather Mangieri, RD, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, "because they help you feel full longer and help curb cravings."

Some even kick up your metabolism. So take this list when you go to the supermarket:

1. Beans

Inexpensive, filling, and versatile, beans are a great source of protein. Beans are also high in fiber and slow to digest. That means you feel full longer, which may stop you from eating more.

2. Soup

Start a meal with a cup of soup, and you may end up eating less. It doesn’t matter if the soup is chunky or pureed, as long as it's broth-based. You want to keep the soup to 100 to 150 calories a serving. So skip the dollops of cream and butter.

3. Dark Chocolate

Want to enjoy chocolate between meals? Pick a square or two of dark over the milky version. In one study, chocolate lovers who were given dark chocolate ate 15% less pizza a few hours later than those who had eaten milk chocolate.

4. Pureed Vegetables

You can add more veggies to your diet, enjoy your "cheat" foods, and cut back on the calories you’re eating, all at the same time. When Penn State researchers added pureed cauliflower and zucchini to mac and cheese, people seemed to like the dish just as much. But they ate 200 to 350 fewer calories. Those healthy vegetables added low-cal bulk to the tasty dish.

5. Eggs and Sausage

A protein-rich breakfast may help you resist snack attacks throughout the day. 

In a study of a group of obese young women, those who started the day with 35 grams of protein -- that’s probably way more than you’re eating -- felt fuller right away. The women ate a 350-calorie breakfast that included eggs and a beef sausage patty. The effect of the high-protein breakfast seemed to last into the evening, when the women munched less on fatty, sugary goods than the women who had cereal for breakfast.

6. Nuts

For a great snack on the run, take a small handful of almonds, peanuts, walnuts, or pecans. Research shows that when people munch on nuts, they automatically eat less at later meals. 

7. Apples

Skip the apple juice and the applesauce and opt instead for a crunchy apple. Whole fruit blunts appetite in a way that fruit juices and sauces don’t. 

One reason is that raw fruit has more fiber. Plus, chewing sends signals to yourbrain that you’ve eaten something substantial.

8. Yogurt

Whether you prefer Greek or traditional, yogurt can be good for your waistline. 

A Harvard study followed more than 120,000 people for a decade or longer. Yogurt, of all the foods that were tracked, was most closely linked to weight loss.

That doesn't prove that yogurt caused weight loss, but it stood out among other foods.

9. Grapefruit

Yes, grapefruit really can help you shed pounds, especially if you are at risk fordiabetes. 

Researchers at Scripps Clinic in San Diego found that when obese people ate half a grapefruit before each meal, they dropped an average of 3 ½ pounds over 12 weeks. Drinking grapefruit juice had the same results. 

But grapefruit juice doesn't have any proven "fat-burning" properties -- it may just have helped people feel full.

Be careful: You cannot have grapefruit or grapefruit juice if you are on certain medications, so check the label on all your prescriptions, or ask your pharmacist or doctor.

Shop Smart

Load your shopping cart with lots of lean protein, fresh veggies, fruit, and whole grains, says food scientist Joy Dubost, PhD, RD. The most important thing, when it comes to lasting weight loss, is the big picture of what you eat, not specific foods.

HOW TO SELL YOUR HOUSE FASTER

HOW TO SELL YOUR HOUSE FASTER

Ask any realtor and they'll tell you: houses that sell within the first five weeks of their listing are most likely to fetch their asking price. The longer your house lingers on the real estate listings, the more pressure you'll feel to knock the price down - and the less likely it is to sell without some incentives from you, the home seller. Even if you don't have to sell your house fast, it's the best way of getting the price that you want for it. Put your home sale on the fast track with these tips and tricks from professional Realtors.

Find a Realtor

Your best option for selling quickly is to give the job to a professional, and let their experience guide you. A realtor knows all the ins and outs, as well as what selling strategies work best in your area. They can help you set the right selling price for your property (which is the second most commonly offered piece of advice to help your home sell quickly), offer concrete suggestions for improving the chances of a sale, hook your home into the Multiple Listing Service, and guide you through every step of the selling process.

Choose your Realtor carefully, and accept their advice. He or she knows what will sell your house. A good Realtor will suggest most of the house sell tips listed below.

Set The Right Price

Every Realtor asked said that the most important factor in selling a home quickly was to price it right. Further, the most common mistake sellers make is pricing too high. Experienced real estate agents strongly suggest starting from the average price in your area and working from there, rather than starting with your desired net gain. Your best gauge to determine the right selling price for your home is the recent selling prices of similar homes in your neighborhood. Your realtor is the best source of those prices - they have insider access, after all.

Prepare Your Property BEFORE Listing It

There are a number of things you can do to make your property more appealing, and they should be done before you start showing it - and this is called home staging. 'Staging' has been known to make home sell faster. The key is being sure that your house looks its very best from the start. Now is the time to make needed repairs. If it needs sprucing up, get that done first. Fresh paint, trimmed bushes, mowed lawns and immaculate cleanliness are all important factors in making your home attractive and saleable.

After Listing, Keep The House Immaculate

Be ready to show the house at a moment's notice. Make sure you pack up the junk and rent a storage unit as clutter and junk will erode the potential equity your house will bring. If there are too much 'junk' in a room it makes the room look smaller and distracts the buyer's attention. Perform a thorough house cleaning. Make the windows shine and wipe down the baseboards. Keep the sink empty and wiped, and make sure that the bathroom and kitchen are spotless. Don't forget to eradicate unpleasant odors. It's important that your house should look as close to move-in condition as possible - all the time!

Fade Into The Background

When the house is being shown, be as unobtrusive as possible. If you've contracted with a Realtor let him or her do the selling. If you're doing the selling yourself, be available to answer questions and conduct a brief tour - but give the prospective buyers plenty of 'alone time' to explore and kick the tires.

Offer Incentives To Make The Asking Price More Attractive

Got a buyer that just loves the house, but needs a little extra boost to make the commitment? There are a number of incentives you can offer as an alternative to lowering your asking price. This is another place that a good realtor can make valuable suggestions based on their own experience. An offer to cover buyer closing costs, for instance, can bring the up-front expenses of buying your home into range for a first-time buyer struggling to meet a down payment, points and closing costs.

Other common incentives include a 'decorating allowance' or including household items and appliances in the purchase price.

Take Advantage Of Employer Help If It's Available

If you're relocating for work, check your company's relocation assistance plan. Some may cover the cost of long-distance selling, or even purchase the home and resell it, depending on the circumstances.

There you have it. Apply these tips to sell your house fast as the peak home selling and buying season is upon us.

SELLING YOUR HOME THIS SPRING

If you want to sell your home this spring, prepare for pent-up buyer demand.

Spring might be an even livelier home-selling season this year because homebuyers want to act before interest rates or home prices rise.

Even so, buyers insist on good deals. Even in seller's markets, where the supply of homes for sale can't meet demand from buyers, the overpriced homes are at a disadvantage.

We're seeing competing offers for some homes, but houses with too-high asking prices aren't selling at all.

Three things sell a home in any season: location, condition and price.

If one of those three isn't good, your home may not sell, but you can always compensate for a less-than-perfect location with a better price.

Here are five tips to sell your home this spring.

Buyers decide within 60 seconds of seeing a home whether they want to consider buying it.
People know immediately something will fly, so you need to make sure you don't turn them off before they get in the door.

Trim trees and bushes so buyers can see the house, and pressure-washing the driveway, front walk, house and patio. He suggests cleaning and painting the front door because buyers must linger at the door while they wait for the agent to open the lockbox.
Add colorful flowers to sell your home this spring and cleaning the windows so they sparkle inside and out. She suggests putting down mulch at least a few days before an open house so the smell fades before prospective buyers arrive.

Sellers need to go through all of their furniture and closets with a discerning eye to eliminate clutter and then go back again.
If you have 17 sweaters, you need to pare it down to two, so your closets look bigger. Pack up anything you want to keep, and put it off-site in a pod or a storage unit because you want your home to look like it always has plenty of space in all the closets."
Be mindful of your senses, especially sight and smell.
If you have dark corners in the house, get rid of clutter in those areas, paint them a light color and reflect the color with lighting. If you have a pet, clean the carpets and open the windows to air out the house. Clean or get rid of your drapes if they carry a pet odor."


If you know a home inspector is going to find something wrong with your house, go ahead and fix it first.
If you haven't maintained your home, you may want to hire your own home inspector before your home goes on the market so that you can make appropriate repairs before you try to sell it.
It usually costs less to fix things before a home inspection, so she brings in an electrician to make sure the electrical panel has been updated and, if needed, a plumber before a listing goes on the market.
Most sellers know if something is broken. It makes more sense to do the repairs ahead of time rather than wait for a buyer to request it. Buyers may end up asking you to spend $300 on what should cost $100 just to make sure it's done right."

Even though prices are rising in some areas, sellers need to be reasonable and compare their homes to similar properties that have recently sold.
Buyers today are savvy shoppers. If you price too low, they'll think something is wrong with your home. If you price it too high and have to lower your price, it will hurt you more than if you price it right the first time."
Overpriced homes that stay on the market for 90 to 120 days are extremely difficult to sell.
The other danger of overpricing is that appraisers are cautious and may not value your home as high as the sales price even if you find a buyer willing to pay that much..

The majority of buyers start their home search online. To sell a home this spring, hire a Realtor who will make sure that professional photos, a virtual tour and a vibrant description are widely available on multiple websites. She says more buyers are using mobile phones and tablets to search for homes, so marketing materials should be easy to navigate from those devices, too.
I start marketing the moment she has a signed listing agreement, contacting other Realtors and neighbors to let them know the home will be coming on the market.
I prepare marketing materials immediately, and then when the home is ready, I blast out the materials on 100's of websites and advertise the online on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. and in print..
Contact me with any questions!