Weddings in the Smoky Mountains

WASHINGTON — Existing-home sales retreated in April, dropping to the lowest pace in nearly four years in another negative sign for the slumping housing sector.

Home resales fell to a 5.99 million annual rate, a 2.6% decrease from March’s revised 6.15 million annual pace, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. March’s rate was originally estimated at 6.12 million.

The median price for a home previously owned was $220,900 in April, down 0.8% from $222,600 in April 2006. The median price in March this year was $217,400.

NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun said he has anticipated slower demand because many subprime-loan products have dried up.

“In addition, increased scrutiny by lenders is stopping risky mortgage origination, which is good for both consumers and the lending community,” Mr. Yun said.

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The April resales level was below Wall Street expectations of a 6.18 million sales rate for previously owned homes. The 5.99-million pace was the lowest since 5.94 million in June 2003.

The subprime mortgage market mess is expected to restrain sales going forward. The Federal Reserve’s latest quarterly survey of banks’ senior loan officers, conducted in April and released last week, showed lenders tightened standards on subprime and nontraditional mortgages. Analysts expect tighter standards will lower the number of mortgages approved and keep sales depressed.

The average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.18% in April, up from 6.16% in March, according to Freddie Mac.

Inventories of previously owned homes rose 10.4% at the end of April to 4.20 million available for sale, which represented a 8.4-month supply at the current sales pace. There was a 7.4-month supply at the end of March, revised from a previously estimated 7.3 months.

Sales of existing homes dropped in all regions, down 0.7% in the Midwest, 8.8% in the Northeast, 1.7% in the West, and 1.2% in the South.

Getting a “Real” Real Estate Agent Could Help You Sell Your House Properly

It might not be rocket science but it is safe to assume that actually selling your home is not necessarily that easy an undertaking. The logic behind this assumption is fairly simple in that if it is was then there would be no need for Real Estate Agents.

There are two known ways of selling your home, by FSBO (for sale by owner) and the other option is thru a sales agent or real estate company.

If you opt for FSBO, the first thing you need to do is to determine the current market value of your house by benchmarking with comparable houses for sale in your neighbourhood. You can do a personal survey or flip the pages of the local daily to obtain references. Once determined, it’s time to do some house cleaning: clean the clutter in the yard, perform necessary house repairs and make the interior as presentable as possible. The next step is to advertise your intention of selling your home thru the local daily. Make use of the internet, print flyers and employ friends and relatives to distribute them for you. If payment is made in cash, then this will not be a problem; however, because a huge amount of money is involved in most cases, it is best to ask a mortgage broker to help in the facilitating the sale.

Once all of the above items have been set up, interested buyers will make a house call to request for an open house, a tour of the premises or negotiate for a fair price. In most instances, professional appraisers accompany house buyers to assess carefully the actual state of your home. Thus, be alert and precise in your answers so as not to downgrade the marketability of your home. Some buyers hire real estate agents to do the negotiations for them and to consummate the sale as well. It is preferred that negotiations be conducted between real estate agents since this would make the sale easier and also hassle free.

If on the other hand you don’t like the FSBO set-up, then hire a reliable real estate company to handle the sale of your house and sign a possible listing agreement. They normally charge a fixed fee from the proceeds of the sale. However, don’t be alarmed about such charges since these are all mandated by regulating government agencies and agreed upon as a standard by legitimate associations of real estate companies. Therefore, you’re assured that you won’t get overpriced.

A swift sale of your house can be expected from most experienced real estate agents, since they are well entrenched in the business and have connections in the industry. If you put your house in the sale block, real estate agents will swarm like bees and alert possible buyers of the intended sale. Agents arrange for mortgage financing in case buyers could not pay in cash or refinancing if they have an existing house loan and wish to transfer to your house. All you will ever need to do is wait! Let your real estate agents do the peddling and just sign the sale agreement once the sale is consummated.

After a thorough assessment, a sale coursed a real estate agent is much better than one sold by FSBO. The only drawback is a chunk of money is usually taken out of the proceeds to pay for professional services. But this is rightly justified. After all, you don’t need to experience the rigors and hardship of a FSBO and might as well get to possible buyer scams. So go find a real estate agent today and let them do all the work for you.

Scott James writes about a number of Internet Real Estate based issues such as Real Estate Investors, Home Finance and also about Insolvency Services UK and Foreclosure Issues too

It has to be a young man’s nightmare scenario.

You’ve had a wild night out with the boys, stumbled into a club at the end of the evening, fallen in love, promised the earth and now it’s put up or shut up time.

“I don’t care where we go as long as we’re together” she whispers breathily down the phone “anywhere will do as long as it’s with you.”

OK two days later and now you are beginning to develop a state of wholesale panic. She thinks she’s going away for the weekend, your bank manager and Credit Card Company think otherwise. What’s a guy to do?

As far as you can see it (and bearing in mind we are probably talking about hormonally powered tunnel vision here) you have two options.

On the one hand, there is the prospect of you and the object of your desire, locked way in some hotel enjoying a weekend of unbridled passion and a very annoyed bank manager. On the other there is an extremely pleased bank manager and the prospect of a weekend at home, alone watching the footy!

However, for the more creative amongst us there are other options available. These might not seem quite so obvious but they are there nonetheless if you know where to look. I am talking of course of finding somewhere for a weekend on a budget.

For the more creative amongst us there are a number of locations throughout the United Kingdom where you could enjoy a weekend and not break the bank. No that this does not mean touring the UK from one YMCA to another (not wishing to denigrate the YMCA who serve an extremely useful and brilliant purpose) but somewhere more imaginative.

Have you ever thought of a low-cost weekend in somewhere like Bristol for example? From about £36 per person per night you could have your choice of ready furnished one and two bedroom city centre apartments by the Temple Gardens and on the waterfront overlooking the Floating Harbour. These apartments come with fully fitted out kitchens, lounge areas and a selection of all sorts of digital recreational facilities (DVD Players, Broadband Internet Access etc) and are well worth an investigation. If you fancy this sort of weekend then contact Saco Apartments at 0845 122 0405 (sacoappartments.co.uk).

If Bristol doesn’t take your fancy how about a couple of nights in Brighton?

For prices as low as £40 you could get a bed for the night at the George IV guesthouse in Regency Square, with sea views and in one of Brighton’s finest squares.

If neither Bristol nor Brighton takes your fancy how about the weekend in Belfast based at Arnie’s Backpackers just round the back of Queens University where cosiness is guaranteed?

It’s cute it’s cosy, guests are offered a free cup of tea on arrival, you get to chill out around real coal fires (probably burning peat rather than coal) and if you’re a nice they’ll let you stroke the two resident dogs. Prices start at £9 per person per night.

The above suggestions are just for starters and it is easy to see how things can actually work if you are creative enough.

Plan carefully and she’s happy and the bank managers is happy too!

Scott James writes about a number of Internet based issues such as American Airline Flights and Cheap Cruises. A keen exponent of all aspects of free and independent services available, he advises clients to look at the whole mix of Great Days Out available.

BMW 3-Series Voted Britain’s Safest Car

BMW and Citroen apparently manufacture the safest family cars according to a recent study published in the United Kingdom recently. The study which apparently covered all major automobile manufacturers was carried out by the magazine Auto Express and Euro NCAP, an independent automobile safety institute.

The particular cars in question were the BMW 3 - series and the Citroen C4.

This was a major study and involved hundreds of cars which were put through a massive series of passenger and pedestrian protection tests.

There were a whole series of accident avoidance procedures that were looked at and there were nine overall categories of vehicle from which the top three cars in each category were chosen.

A rating system of stars was used and each winning car was awarded up to a maximum of 14 stars.

The BMW three series scored 10 styles and was the best, in the large family car section. It was commended for its protection for child passengers and scored well in head on collision tests.

Matt Johnson of the joint sponsors of the study Auto Express said “if the worst does occur to count on the road, you’ll want to be in the homework will protect you and your family.” Makes sense to me.

“Cars have got significantly safer over recent years thanks to these independent crash tests. A models safety rating is a major factor people consider when choosing a new car.”

“Many cars now score a full five stars [in eight categories]. But within this band some do better than others and our list separates out the very top performing cars.”

“These are the ones which Euro NCAP reckons offers the very highest level of safety for their class and is something car buyers should be aware of.”

As was mentioned before there were nine categories of Britain’s safest cars. The first category was the “super minis”. Winners here included the Peugeot 207, the Fiat Punto and the Toyota Yaris.

The second category was small family cars; winners here included the Citroen C4, Ford focus, Mercedes A- class. Next came the large family cars in which the BMW three series Volvo S-40 and Volkswagen Passat came out as winners. The Lexus GS300 triumphed in the executive Cars, the Honda S2000 won the roadsters section. The Volkswagen Touareg was voted best large off roader and the Land Rover Freelander was the best small off roader.

The best small and MPVS wants the Toyota Corolla Verso and the Ford Galaxy was voted best large MPVS.

As had been discussed in the media, both sponsors of this study were concerned that safety is now of such paramount concern that it is essential that as many prospective buyers of cars are aware of safety issues overall.

Stephen Morgan writes about a number of Automobile based issues such as
Automobile Technology and
used cars for sale and all sorts of general matters relating to Car Dealers.

Bulgaria, a former communist country is one of the new and rapidly developing economies and new democracies within Eastern Europe Bulgaria is now a fully fledged member of the European Union having gone through the full process of admission in the so- called latest “in-take.” Economically Bulgaria like a lot of the former communist countries of Eastern Europe has seen good times and bad times and at the moment things appear to be on the good side.

Well Kerry and an experienced what could be described as a macro economic stability and strong growth since the major economic downturn in 1996 led to the downfall of the then socialist government. As the result of political upheaval the ensuing government became committed to economic reform planning and more importantly responsible fiscal planning.

Traditional economic interests and industries are important still in Bulgaria and basic minerals including coal, copper and zinc etc. play an important part in Bulgarian industry.

Economically Bulgaria things took a major turn in 1997 when the foundling macro economic stability was reinforced by the imposition of a fixed rate of exchange against the German D-mark and the negotiation of a standby agreement gave the International Monetary Fund the so called IMF.

Subsequent to this steady progress on proposed structural reforms coupled with low inflation have improved a business environment; and as such Bulgaria has managed to average around 4 % growth since 2000 and has at last managed to attract significant amounts of foreign direct investment.

Though the political and economic climate has improved in all areas there are still problem areas such it is best to try and avoid. Alongside any of the other former communist regime’s corruption in public administration involved area have delayed reforms this coupled with the week judiciary and the presence off organized crime are probably combined to make the largest challenges this fledgling Democracy has had to face.

Though not technically regarded as one of the many industries in Bulgaria, the property market has now started to come of age. Property prices involved in Bulgaria rank amongst some of the cheapest in Europe. Matt having said since Bulgaria joined the European Union price is on property and real estate on now rising.

Unlike other countries it is expected to see a surge in property values in Bulgaria continue.

It was argued at the time by the international Herald entry. But they reckoned it was impossible to make losing investments in Bulgaria’s real estate sector.

Again like some of the other former communist countries of Eastern Europe Bulgaria is playing fairly serious catch up on the economic front.

In one year in the late 90s residential property allegedly went up 36.6% and it is forecast that property prices though still much lower than the rest of the Central and Eastern European countries like Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic are still likely to remain buoyant.

Real Estate has turned out to be one of Bulgaria’s fasted growing economic sectors data from the National Property Association shows. International analysts said however that it is not the influx of foreign capital as the driving force that is keeping the Bulgarian market buoyant rather the growth in the Domestic Economy played an important role also.

Scott James writes about a number of Internet based issues such as
Real Estate Investment and
Real Estate Marketing.