Sacramento Bee
Appraisal sites on Net often fail to pin down accurate prices
Over the last five years, one of the newest developments in real estate is the ability for home buyers and sellers to search online for a home’s value. Popular Web sites such a Zillow.com, Cyberhomes.com, and Eppraisal.com offer free home estimates, but some consumers and real estate industry professionals say the values calculated often are inaccurate and misleading.
MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS
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Online home appraisal Web sites assign home values without knowing the features or upgrades of a home or the neighborhood in which it is located. Some Web sites offer a price range of $20,000 - $40,000 more or less than the actual value of the home.
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Since housing markets are local and not every home of a certain size is the same value, consumers can be misled into believing a home is worth more or less than the actual value. Working with a local REALTOR® can help minimize inaccuracies in home values. REALTORS® can provide local housing market data and show homeowners and buyers recent sales of comparable homes in the area, to help determine an accurate list or offer price.
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While some agents report that Web estimates can educate clients and provide a reasonable assessment of market conditions and the home-buying process, working with a local REALTOR® is the best option.
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In Other News...
Los Angeles Times
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To read the full story, please click here.
The Wall Street Journal
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To read the full story, please click here.
Los Angeles Times
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The New York Times
More borrowers opt for “cash-in” refinancing
As the nation continues to endure the correction of the housing market, more buyers are opting for “cash-in” refinancing—putting extra money into a transaction to obtain cheaper loans and pay down debts.
To read the full story, please click here.
The Wall Street Journal
Low rates finally spark refinancings
After months of hovering near 50-year lows, mortgage rates have fallen even further, into uncharted territory and to a level lenders say is finally igniting more homeowner refinancing.
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Los Angeles Times
FTC’s fake mortgage-company site aims to educate about scams
The folks at Esteemed Lending Services are out to teach people a lesson. Esteemed Lending isn’t a mortgage lender at all. It’s a fictitious company. If it existed, it might have taken a lot of people for a ride down the road to ruin.
To read the full story, please click here.
Los Angeles Times
Homeownership to decline further, housing analyst predicts
Housing analyst John Burns says he got “a lot of heat” for his recent report predicting that homeownership could drop below 62 percent—and maybe further—if the number of “strategic defaulters” who walk away from their underwater mortgages continues to increase, he said.
To read the full story, please click here.
