Salt Lake City One of the Best Downtowns

Salt Lake City One of the Best Downtowns
Downtowns with buzz not only have the usual office jobs but plenty of independently owned shops and restaurants, a vibrant night life—and people who live there. The best downtowns consistently change as our lifestyles, priorities and work patterns evolve. 

 A slate of construction projects ranging from renovations of historic buildings to new apartments and office towers puts downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, in a perpetual state of change. Longtime residents of this thriving downtown area have seen many new residential units added along with restaurants, coffee shops and places to find live music, See Top 10 Best Downtowns

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Things That Are Dragging Down Your Home’s Value

Things That Are Dragging Down Your Home’s Value
Please Fix These: There are a lot of things you can’t control in the home-selling process. You can’t force people to come see your home or make an offer on it.
But you can make sure to take care of some easy repairs that would otherwise turn off prospective buyers. Look around and make sure you haven’t ignored any of these 10 repairs that can make a buyer think twice about your asking price. 1. Paint colors that just don’t blend in The color of your home is one of the first things a buyer will notice. If it’s a very different color from your neighborhood or general area, you should paint it something more innocuous. Most buyers don’t want to live in the only pink house in town. The same goes for the interior. If your living room is bright orange, paint over it. Choose a neutral color so buyers can project their own ideas onto it, read more.

1. Paint colors that just don’t blend in

The color of your home is one of the first things a buyer will notice. If it’s a very different color from your neighborhood or general area, you should paint it something more innocuous. Most buyers don’t want to live in the only pink house in town. The same goes for the interior. If your living room is bright orange, paint over it. Choose a neutral color so buyers can project their own ideas onto it.
- See more at: http://www.affordableutahhousing.com/blog/1215148/4952165/Things-That-Are-Dragging-Down-Your-Home---s-Value#sthash.RPfzmARh.dpuf

1. Paint colors that just don’t blend in

The color of your home is one of the first things a buyer will notice. If it’s a very different color from your neighborhood or general area, you should paint it something more innocuous. Most buyers don’t want to live in the only pink house in town. The same goes for the interior. If your living room is bright orange, paint over it. Choose a neutral color so buyers can project their own ideas onto it.
- See more at: http://www.affordableutahhousing.com/blog/1215148/4952165/Things-That-Are-Dragging-Down-Your-Home---s-Value#sthash.RPfzmARh.dpuf

Challenging Housing Market

Challenging Housing Market 
Lack of Credit Availability, Low Inventory: Two challenges facing the U.S. housing market is currently facing two challenges – a dearth of credit creation and a lack of available inventory, according to a report released Wednesday by the Kroll Bond Ratings Agency (KBRA) that is scheduled to be presented Head of Research Christopher Whalen at the 2nd Annual Real Estate Symposium in Salt Lake City, Utah. Whalen said the dearth of available credit for housing is a function of Dodd-Frank Act, which was created in part to protect consumers from predatory and other harmful lending and financial practices by businesses Low inventory may take bloom off spring home sales. Home prices are beginning to grow at a faster pace again, which is not good for the spring market, read more.

Bidding Wars Brew

Bidding Wars Brew
Nationwide, more people are putting their homes up for sale, but in some cities it’s still not enough. With too many buyers and too few properties on the market, bidding wars are heating up again. “Most markets are struggling to achieve the proper balance of homes for sale and qualified buyers.” Under Tight Supplies housing inventories remain constrained in many markets, some buyers may face increased competition and more bidding wars heading into the spring-selling season. The reports in its latest housing report that bidding wars are already elevated, read more. 

Owners Upbeat on Home Values

Owners Upbeat  on Home Values

Remodeling Cost vs. Value: Less Is More: Home sales may be off to a sluggish start this year, but home owners are still upbeat when it comes to the value of their homes. They’re willing to spend to preserve that value too. Home-improving giants Lowe’s Co. and Home Depot Inc. reported “blowout fourth quarter profits,” which beat expectations with sales advancing more than 7 percent at both retailers, Bloomberg News reports. What’s more, January is showing strong gains too, which could prove a boon heading into the spring selling season, read more.

Red-Carpet Treatment for Jumbo Borrowers

Red-Carpet Treatment for Jumbo Borrowers
Some highlights from 2014: For a five-week stretch between August and September, jumbo rates were lower than those for comparable conforming mortgages. Many banks and credit unions began offering more jumbo options, some with down payments less than 20% and no private mortgage insurance requirements. Jumbo mortgages have loan amounts higher than the limits for government-backed loans. Competitive housing markets in some areas fueled a rise in first-time homebuyers who took out jumbo mortgages.“The jumbo share of the market was much more purchase-driven in 2014,” read more.

New Construction, Mortgage Rates Are Up

New Construction, Mortgage Rates Are Up
Buyers always prefer new construction, even though new construction prices are rising. 
Therefore, mortgage rates are going up,  according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which reported that new-home sales and price appreciation had driven the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to 3.8% this week, up from 3.76% last week. That’s actually down from this time last year, when it averaged 4.37%. New-home sales were largely flat in January but are up 5.3% from last year, read more.