Cheryl Nightingale - Monarch Realty Group, LLC

Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, November 23, 2016 The federal government is increasing the limit for conforming mortgages from $417,000 to $424,100 in most regions of the United States starting Jan. 1, 2017, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Wednesday—the first such increase since 2006. The approximately 1.7 percent bump in the baseline conforming loan limit follows the FHFA’s announcement that  the average U.S. home price has returned to its pre-decline peak, which it hit in the third quarter of 2007. The FHFA bases the loan cap on its quarterly Housing Price Index, which gauges average single-family home prices. The index rose 1.5 percent during the third quarter of 2016 and is up 6.1 percent over the past year, enough to push it above its previous high point. Conforming loan limits are significant because they apply to home loans that meet the underwriting guidelines of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored entities that acquire mortgag

Update your pet’s tag with your new address. Make sure your pet’s collar is sturdy and correctly sized. The tag should also include your mobile number and e-mail address so that you can be reached during the move. Request veterinary records. Ask your current vet to send your pet’s medical history directly to the new vet. Have their contact information handy in case of emergency or if the new vet has questions. Keep a week’s worth of food and medication with you. You may want to ask for an extra prescription refill before you move. Take the same precaution with special therapeutic foods. Seclude them from chaos. Keep your pet in a safe, quiet room on moving day with a clear sign posted on the door. There are many light, collapsible travel crates available, but ensure it is well ventilated and sturdy enough for stress-chewers. Also, introduce your pet to the crate before the trip. Prepare a pet first aid kit. Include your vet's phone number, gauze to wrap wounds or t

Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, November 02, 2016 Santa Monica, Calif., is the first city in the world to make it a requirement that all new single-family construction in the city meet zero-net energy standards. The ZNE standard means that projects must generate enough of their own energy from renewable sources to equal what they take from the power utility over a year. The Santa Monica City Council voted last week to approve the ordinance requiring ZNE on all new-home construction. It must now be approved by the California Energy Commission before it becomes final. “Santa Monica is proud to take a global lead in zero net energy building standards that put the state’s environmental policy to action,” says Mayor Tony Vazquez. “ZNE construction, considered the gold standard for green buildings, is a major component that will help us reach our ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.” The California Public Utilities Commission in 2008 adopted what is essentially

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, November 01, 2016 Thanks to rising home prices, home owners are getting richer, a new study says. The amount of homeowner equity has doubled in the last five years, according to CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index and HPI Forecast for September 2016. "Home equity wealth has doubled during the last five years to $13 trillion, largely because of the recovery in home prices," says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "Nationwide during the past year, the average gain in housing wealth was about $11,000 per home owner, but with wide geographic variation." Home owners in several markets across California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Utah are seeing some of the most growth, with double-digit home price gains. Home owners nationwide likely are to see even more equity in the coming months, too. “Home-price growth creates wealth for owners with home equity,” says Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of

How to Improve Your Credit Credit scores play a big role in determining whether you’ll qualify for a loan and what your loan terms will be. So, keep your credit score high by doing the following: Check for errors in your credit report. Thanks to an act of Congress, you can download one free credit report each year at annualcreditreport.com. If you find any errors, correct them immediately. Pay down credit card bills. If possible, pay off the entire balance every month. Transferring credit card debt from one card to another could lower your score. Don’t charge your credit cards to the max. Pay down as much as you can every month. Wait 12 months after credit difficulties to apply for a mortgage. You’re penalized less severely for problems after a year. Don’t order items for your new home on credit. Wait until after your home loan is approved to charge appliances and furniture, as that will add to your debt. Don’t open new credit card accounts. If you’re applying

Off-Campus Housing Is Hot DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016  Privately-owned housing that's built specifically for college students is proving to be a lucrative real estate investment in certain markets, according to new data from Axiometrics, commissioned by property management software company AppFolio. They conclude that these shifts could upend the dynamics in local real estate markets near major colleges and universities. More than 47,000 new beds in privately-owned student housing are scheduled for delivery during the current semester, which is higher than any other year they examined. While the researchers expect more development to come online this time next year, they also suggest demand will remain high throughout 2017 and beyond. "In all, more than 1,000 beds were added at each of 12 university markets. Of those, only two have more than 1,000 beds scheduled for 2017 delivery," writes Alexis Hammond, manager of marketing communicat

Student loan debt and high rental prices continue to sideline potential home buyers. More than half – 53 percent – of potential home buyers with student loan debt say the debt “somewhat” or “very much” is an obstacle to them in buying a home, up from 49 percent in 2014, according to the fourth annual housing survey from NeighborWorks America. Read more : Student Loans Fuel Wealth Gap “With the home ownership rate at the lowest point in decades, and minority home ownership plunging even further, these data signal a weak home buying market going forward, despite near record-low mortgage rates and broad-based national income growth,” says Paul Weech, president and CEO of NeighborWorks America. Nearly 60 percent of renters say they want their next housing move to be into home ownership, according to the survey, but rising rental and home costs are delaying student loan holders from obtaining home ownership. A survey by the National Association of REALTORS® and SALT conducte

Retirees are increasingly flocking to cooler climates and smaller towns than sunny, southern havens in states like Florida or Arizona that generally are popular retirement hot-spots. Baby boomers are looking elsewhere, from Maine to Washington. "Boomers and retirees these days are considering a much wider range of destinations for retirement, often choosing states that don't commonly come to mind, such as Maine and Montana," says Mary Lu Abbott, editor of Where to Retire magazine. "Yes, the Sun Belt remains popular, but many people prefer a four-season climate and enjoy the changing of seasons. They seek towns that are safe and have active, appealing downtowns and good hospitals nearby, and increasingly they're looking for places with a lower cost of living and lower overall tax rate." As they retire, baby boomers are increasingly looking at places that are familiar to them, such as where they’ve once vacationed or spent time at as a child, David Savageau,

Welcome to the most current Housing Trends eNewsletter. This eNewsletter is specially designed for you, with national and local housing information that you may find useful whether you’re in the market for a home, thinking about selling your home, or just interested in homeowner issues in general.  Please click on this link to view the Housing Trends September 2016 Newsletter http://nighthomes.housingtrendsenewsletter.com   The Housing Trends eNewsletter contains the latest information from the National Association of REALTORS®, the U.S. Census Bureau, Realtor.org reports and other sources.  Housing Trends eNewsletter is filled with local and national real estate sales and price activity provided by MLSs and the National Association of Realtors, U.S. Census Bureau key market indicators, consumer videos, blogs, real estate glossary, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, and REALTOR.com local community reports.  If you are interested in determining the value of your

Recent Study shows that Americans favor walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods, with 56 percent of respondents preferring smart growth neighborhoods over neighborhoods that require more driving between home, work and recreation.