HayesMurrayHomes.com

Laughing all the way :)

hayesbcc — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:18:58 +0000

Housing Starts Surge in November (Update 1)
By Chao Deng – 12/20/11 – 9:12 AM EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Homebuilders began construction on 9.3% more homes in November, beating economists’ expectations.

The Commerce Department said early Tuesday that housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 in November, after a revised 627,000 in the prior month. Economists had anticipated housing starts to rise to 630,000 after the originally reported 628,000 in October.
Meanwhile, applications for building permits rose 5.7% to 681,000, after a rate of 644,000 in October. Economists had expected a drop to 635,000 after the originally estimated 653,000 in October, according to Thomson Reuters.
“The better-than-expected gain is mostly in the multi-family sector, which is notoriously volatile and generally something to dismiss,” wrote David Ader, market strategist with CRT Capital, in a research note. “It’s possible this reflects an increase in rental demand…it’s not good news for single family home prices.
“In the multi-family sector, the upward trend began to emerge as long ago as the first half of 2010 and has continued steadily since,” explained Ian Sheperdson, chief U.S. economist with High Frequency Economics, before the government report. The uptick in the single-family sector, he said, is a relatively recent phenomenon by comparison.”
“This is not so hard to understand because the collapse of the housing market and the tightening of mortgage lending conditions have pushed large numbers of people into renting who would under normal circumstances have preferred to buy a home.”
Housing starts have trended up for two consecutive months after declining from July through September. “Overall starts are now well off their low by nearly 44%, however the headline figure remains considerably below pre-crisis levels (the peak was 2.2 million starts in January 2006),” wrote Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist with BTIG.
On Monday, homebuilder sentiment improved for a third consecutive month in December, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The NAHB/Wells Fargo index rose 2 points to a reading of 21 from a downwardly revised 19 in November.
Economists were pleasantly surprised by yesterday’s housing data even though the market reaction was muted. “We cannot ignore the third straight gain in the NAHB index, taking it almost back to its post-Lehman peak, but achieved this time without the assistance of the homebuyer tax credit,” wrote Sheperdson.
“Builder sentiment is improving in line with the increase in starts,” wrote Greenhaus of BTIG.
Although a jump in multi-family activity was the main reason behind today’s stronger than expected housing starts figures, the report still brings a small boost to U.S. economy.
“It does suggest that residential investment will make a small positive contribution to fourth quarter gross domestic product growth,” said a Barclays Capital report. “Our tracking estimate now stands at 3.4%, up from 3.3% previously.”
Improvements in homebuilding and sentiment are both indications that the housing market is bottoming out and perhaps headed for a recovery in the long term. However, economists say these are only baby steps in the long path toward a healthy housing sector.
“That does not mean prices may not fall further and it does not mean its all smooth sailing from here,” wrote Greenhaus. “But generally speaking, the housing sector is performing okay of late. Given how badly it had been doing, we’ll take what we can get.”
– Written by Chao Deng in New York.
News latest from section
3 Ways to Get a Free Credit Score
Cities Adding the Most Jobs in 2011

Merry Christmas !

hayesbcc — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:13:40 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks surged at the open Tuesday, supported by a better Spanish bond auction, data showing an improvement in the German economic outlook and a jump in U.S. housing starts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +2.31% rallied 218 points, or 1.9%, to 11,984. Cisco Corp. CSCO +3.93% led gains for all 30 Dow components. The S&P 500 SPX +2.45% advanced 20.58 points, or 1.7%, to 1,225.91. The Nasdaq Composite COMP +2.80% rose 49.27 points, or nearly 2%, to 2,672.76. The benchmark stock indexes had lost about 1% Monday after comments from the head of the European Central Bank and European finance ministers soured hopes of a near-term resolution to Europe’s debt crisis.

Read the full story:
U.S. stocks surge; Dow up 230 points

Bow kitchawow wow !

hayesbcc — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:05:25 +0000

I have to tell you, part of the enjoyment that comes from my job is being able to return to houses that I have sold and see the absolutely amazing things that people have done with them.
Take for example this re done kitchen in a home in southwest Columbia-admittedly the owner has a flair for decorating, but if you could’ve seen this kitchen before she got to it-all I can say is wow-what a great job!

Bow kitchawow wow !

hayesbcc — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:07:26 +0000

You just never know…

hayesbcc — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:00:04 +0000

I just never know what I’m Gonna run into when I’m showing a home-with made it all more funny when I roundedthe corner with a client on a showing and she about jumped a foot in the air when she saw this guy

Zestimate makes a lousy Guestimate

hayesbcc — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 06:50:27 +0000

If you weren’t taking my word for Zillow and other sites getting it wrong when it comes to telling you what your home is worth, here’s what the Wall Street Journal just put out- click here to read.

Suffice to say, internet web sites have NO responsibility to consumers when it comes to being accurate about the info they give out. Although people are making hugely important decisions, whether the info provided is right or wrong seems to be of little concern to the web sites doing the providing. Their sole goal is to keep you clicking on their site. They stack up the clicks, present that to their advertisers and count the advertising dollars. Whether they are remotely right matters only to them from the standpoint of you continuing to visit their site.

Remember, if you would like to have a reasonably good idea of what your home is worth- call a Realtor in the community where the home is. While we aren’t appraisers, we should be able to cite homes that have sold (comps) that should give you a pretty good idea.

One of my newest listings in ARBOR POINTE!

hayesbcc — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:56:38 +0000

The Tall Tales of Trulia

hayesbcc — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:12:16 +0000

I’m fine with there being a lot of ways folks can get their info out there for real estate- what I try and warn them about though is in this day and age, with things flying fast, furious and low to the ground, there is the definite potential for misinformation to be out and about.

I am referring to Trulia and a number of other sites and the oft increasing number of items posted that are either somewhat or wholly in error, posing as fact.

One such example would be under my profile in Trulia, they show me as having a listing in Colorado. This would be great, except I’m not licensed in Colorado and I’ve never seen the house they say I have listed.

Another example would be Trulia claiming a house to be listed as a foreclosure, showing a price… but then not giving a phone number and insisting that buyers sign up for their “RealtyTrac” service, which claims it has the info they need. The only problem here is the property is not for sale, they have no representation through Trulia and the “insider” info Trulia is offering is the same thing anyone can get from the County Assessor’s page.

Long story short, if you want to know what’s going on in the market, call a Realtor. We have access to the actual MLS, which is going to categorically have more background than any website out there– and be a lot better at protecting your interests. I can be reached at 573-289-3773- have a great day!

What Buyers Want

hayesbcc — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 22:19:38 +0000

My title is a little misleading. There’s no way I could possibly know what all buyers are after in their future homes- but I do know one baseline request that has come up a lot in tours lately and thought I would share: TREES.

Believe it or not, 95% of the buyers I tour with actually don’t like the idea of looking at the back of their neighbors house ie a ranch walkout backing to another ranch walkout. Worse yet is a slab looking UP to a ranch walkout. Something about desiring privacy, I understand.

A lot of developers make the decision to utterly clear out the land in their developments, then build their homes. Some cite utilities needing to be installed and so on. I am beginning to suggest to developers leaving a 10′ buffer of trees between lots at the back end. One lot could give up 5 feet of depth and so could the other to be green space

The point here is not necessarily to just hug trees (although that’s getting a lot more relevant), but to sell homes, people want the privacy. The stress of a day does not melt away watching the neighbor’s young use your dogs for dodgeball practice in your backyard.

The point is also re-sale. Look at days on the market for homes backing to trees versus not. Look at how fast the lots in a starting subdivision with trees behind them move versus those without.

I’m encouraging developers to do this because everybody wins (and frankly makes my job easier )

hayesbcc — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:30:15 +0000

You have to appreciate when renovation is done right- built in the 1920s, check this one out at 306 E. Walnut in Boonville, listed for 89900!