Updates from April, 2010

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  • New Home, New Expenses: First-Time Home Buyers Change Their Lifestyle to Afford Home Ownership

    4:31 pm on April 19, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , ,   Filed under: Buyer Info, economy, People, Seller Info

    RISMEDIA, April 17, 2010—BBVA Compass recently released a new survey on first-time home buyers indicating that, prior to purchase, a vast majority of first-time home buyers (88%) believe they have accounted for all expenses related to owning a home. Seemingly contradicting that notion, amongst those who had purchased a home in the past 12 months, just over half indicate the expenses were more than they had calculated, causing a change in lifestyle. These results came from the BBVA Compass First-Time Home Buyers Online Survey which polled American consumers about the thoughts, emotions and hurdles related to owning and enjoying a first home. (More …)

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  • Survey Reveals One-Third of Boomers Plan to Move in Retirement

    9:25 am on April 15, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , ,   Filed under: People, Seller Info, Uncategorized

    RISMEDIA, April 15, 2010—Whether it’s in the Sunbelt or the Rustbelt, a move across the street or across the nation, Baby Boomers are still willing to move to a new place when they retire, according to the 2010 Del Webb Baby Boomer Survey.

    Del Webb is America’s largest builder of active adult communities. Targeted to those ages 55 and older, its 50+ communities are currently open for new home sales in 21 states. Del Webb has conducted 10 Baby Boomer surveys since 1996 seeking to better understand the attitudes and opinions of this generation–the current and future customers of Del Webb communities. (More …)

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  • Florida: a mix of different personalities

    2:09 pm on March 30, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: British news, , , , tourists   Filed under: Global Affiliates, Mayfair International, People, Seller Info, Tourism

    A recent piece in the Sunday Times confirmed that British buyers are returning to their favourite destinations to look for second homes in favour of less tried and tested markets. They say “Florida’s property market has collapsed, but with the worst over, it could be time to swoop in the Sunshine State”

    The article continues “It’s freezing outside, there are at least a couple more months to go before the weather warms up, and the idea of a holiday home in the sun is probably pretty tempting right now. But Spain’s not hot enough, and the Caribbean and the Seychelles are too expensive. Could Florida be the answer?

    With its country-club lifestyle and balmy climate, the Sunshine State has traditionally been popular with British buyers. In the past 18 months, however, it has fallen out of favour, as prices have come crashing down by 50% or more from their peak. Florida had the second highest foreclosure rate — the equivalent of repossessions — in America in 2008, affecting one in 22 properties. Many remain empty and abandoned, after being seized by the banks. (More …)

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  • Will Baby Boomers Lead Housing Industry Toward Recovery?

    11:10 am on February 16, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , ,   Filed under: Buyer Info, People, Seller Info

    By Steve Brown

    RISMEDIA, February 5, 2010—(MCT)—Baby boomer buyers fueled a big run-up in U.S. home construction and sales in the 1970s and 1980s. Now beleaguered homebuilders say they’re hoping aging boomers, who are just entering retirement age, will once again give them robust housing sales.

    “We believe this segment of the market is going to lead the housing industry toward recovery as the market turns around,” said Sharon Dworkin Bell, a senior staff vice president of the National Association of Home Builders.

    The 55-plus home buyer is being targeted by builders all over the country and was a focus of the industry’s annual conference recently in Las Vegas. The numbers are certainly there. By 2014, a quarter of the U.S. population—more than 85 million people—will be 55 or older. “The number of people in that age group is increasing, and there is a lot of promise out there,” builders’ association economist David Crowe said recently. (More …)

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  • Monday Morning Mobile: The Medium of the Moment

    11:09 am on February 9, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , ,   Filed under: People, Technology

    RISMEDIA, February 8, 2010—The numbers don’t lie. The facts are clear, people are just not communicating verbally as frequently as they once did. Text messaging, e-mail, Internet and social networking sites are all so readily available to us through our beloved mobile devices that we don’t need to either. We can communicate with five people, in five minutes, five different ways without ever making a phone call.

    So in today’s fast-paced, real-time world, is the shift in the way we communicate and interact with one another simply a byproduct of that? Sure it is; as individuals, we use the technology that is available to us to make our lives easier and more efficient. However, in business, we must recognize the shift, quickly adapt, and market our products and services through the “mediums of the moment” in order to capitalize. (More …)

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  • Even in Tough Times, 77 Percent of Americans View Homeownership as a Part of Their Own Personal American Dream

    8:46 am on February 4, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , ,   Filed under: Buyer Info, People

    [1]RISMEDIA, February 4, 2010—A national survey recently released by real estate leader Trulia shows that many Americans feel that President Barack Obama has not lived up to the hope he created during his campaign and his first 30 days in office. In Trulia’s latest American Dream survey conducted online on its behalf by Harris Interactive from January 19-21, 2009, President Barack Obama scored considerably lower marks on the topic of restoring the American dream of homeownership compared to a survey conducted February 20-24, 2009 after his first 30 days in office.

    The current survey found that 37% of Americans gave President Obama a grade of “D” or “F” on the decisions he’s made towards restoring the American dream of homeownership compared to only 22% in the February 2009 survey.

    Additionally, 54% gave him a grade of “A” or “B” in February 2009 compared to only 37% in January 2010. Despite these lower grades, and the troubles that have continued to plague the U.S. housing market, the survey found that the “American Dream” of homeownership continues to be alive and well with more than three out of four Americans considering owning a home as a part of achieving their personal American dream. (More …)

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  • 8 Ways to Make More Meaningful Business Connections in 2010

    2:16 pm on January 15, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , , , , Today's Market Place   Filed under: Motivation, People, The Housing Market

    RISMEDIA, January 15, 2010—It’s official: We survived 2009. But you’re probably not spinning around in your office chair, throwing confetti in the air to celebrate. That’s because though you may have survived, 2009 was an especially difficult year for business. And one major business casualty in the last year was customer-business trust. Damaged by the Madoffs, AIGs, and GMs of the world and forced by a down economy and growing unemployment to pinch every penny, many customers are simply finding it difficult to hand their trust over to those with whom they do business.

    “After all the debacles of 2009, people want to know who they are doing business with,” explains Maribeth Kuzmeski, author of The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life. “Relationships are more important than ever, particularly when it comes to doing business. And thanks to social media, mobile technology, and the ever-expanding Internet, it’s easier than ever to connect with others. (More …)

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  • New Year Brings New Lows in Home Price Reduction Levels, Says Trulia

    2:59 pm on January 14, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , , ,   Filed under: Buyer Info, People, Seller Info, Statistics, The Housing Market

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  • NAR - Frequency and Usefulness of Information Sources

    4:29 pm on January 7, 2010 | Comments:0
    Tags: , , , ,   Filed under: Buyer Info, Charts, People, Seller Info, Statistics

    Perhaps more important than simply the use of various sources of information is the frequency and usefulness a buyers access these sources. By a wide margin, the Internet and real estate agents are the most useful for the home search process.

    Source: National Association of Realtors, 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

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  • The graying (and warming) of America: Where retirees are flocking

    11:05 am on December 21, 2009 | Comments:0
    Tags: , Census, , , retired,   Filed under: People, Statistics

    Mature coupleOld people don’t like cold weather. If they are going to see polar bears, they would generally prefer to do it while watching the Discovery Channel in a beachfront condo in Boca Raton.

    In the most recent census survey, Florida had the largest proportion of elderly people of any state (19 percent), and is projected to grow its lead by 2025, when the state’s population is expected to be 26 percent people 65 and older.

    Alaska ranked last in number of senior citizens – and will continue to skew younger than Florida until global warming evens things out. This will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever tried to play shuffleboard on permafrost.

    Currently, the elderly make up 12.6 percent of the total U.S. population. Between 1995 and 2025, the number of elderly are projected to double in 21 states. Only four states drew at least 15 percent of their population from the elderly in 1995. Over the next 16 years, that number should grow to 48 states.

    Not surprisingly, Alaska is one of the two states expected to fall short in elder-growth. However, California – which will likely have the largest population overall by 2025 – is projected to be the other state in which old folks are under represented, with 13 percent.

     

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau/Bradenton Herald

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