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The best and worst days of the week to list a home:
Bottom Line: Recently I shared the story that you could literally save 50% on your airfare by flying on Tuesday and Wednesday rather than other days of the week. This is a similar story but its real-estate this time. Does it matter when your home is listed when you’re ready to sell? The answer – yes:
We as people are interesting creatures. Certainly we’re inclined to routines or maybe it’s simply a product of our careers that force us into certain habits. Whatever the reason the WSJ found the following when it comes to listing our homes:
- The best day of the week to list a home is Friday
- The worst day of the week to list a home is Sunday
- The second best day to list a home is Tuesday
- Homes listed on Friday also are sold faster than other days (by an average of four fewer days)
When you think of it, it’ll make sense… Most of us are set up on the type of schedule that plays into those days. On Friday we’re planning for our weekend of real-estate hunting. On Sunday we’re inclined to make decisions on what we saw rather than add new homes to view to our schedule. The average home listed on Friday will also sell for and average of $2500 more. Tuesday comes into play as we spend time early to mid week in the early stages of indentifying properties to visit.
Whatever your business is - you may want to see if there are certain days that can be advantageous to use more strategically to maximize your customers habits.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323701904578278372210330096.html
Biggest area of job growth for the next two years:
Bottom Line: What’s old is new again and it’s tied to the housing story. That’s really good news for our area. Taking a look at expected two year job growth from current levels the top areas aren’t the typical medicine and technology positions (they’re still readily available but we’re talking about new job growth).
- Home construction
- Manufacturing
- Finance
- Landscaping
At one time housing related industries accounted for about 40% of our local economy. So many people in our area were forced to move for work or accept work in other industries. Locally our housing market is once again out performing the national numbers so there is reason to be optimistic if you’re looking for work in the related industries. It’s also worth noting that there are many other jobs / companies that are part of the housing story not listed above. That could represent a good business opportunity for you in other complimentary lines of work.
Cheat Sheet Q & A: How to get rid of Mortgage Insurance on an FHA loan:
Bottom Line: My recent focus on mortgage insurance has continued to bring out many specific questions related to the removal of mortgage insurance. Today’s question comes from an individual with an FHA loan who put 20% down on the mortgage but was still made to pay mortgage insurance. She wants to know how she can refi and get rid of it.
First all FHA loans do carry MIP regardless of how much you put down. Secondly it’s paid in two stages
- Half of MIP with FHA is paid at closing (either in a cash sum or it’s financed into the loan)
- The other half of MIP with FHA is paid in monthly payments
In order to rid yourself of the monthly MIP with FHA you have to either:
- Pay your mortgage for 5 years (you can’t get an earlier appraisal accepted to eliminate MIP with FHA) and then have the home appraise with at least 22% equity
- Refi out of an FHA loan
In this case she likely will be able to refi into a traditional loan and drop the monthly half of the MIP in the process.
Importantly – if you have 20% or more to put down on a home – you should always try to obtain a traditional mortgage before going the FHA route because of MIP.
If you have a question you’d like to ask email me: brianmudd@clearchannel.com
The more you make the longer you wait (unemployment):
Bottom Line: The better news last week was the information that the average length of time out of work after being terminated by an employer had dropped to less than 6 months. The latest numbers show that 60% of those who lose work do find new employment in less than six months. That’s an improvement. But we also know that the average person who loses a job and gains a new one makes an average of only 67% of what they did before. That ties into today’s story.
Those that earn more spend far more time out of work. There are three breakdowns of significance with time out of work and salaries.
- Under $40,000
- $40,000 to $70,000
- Over $70,000
Those who make less gain work fastest. For the first group the average time out of work is about 4 months. For the second group it’s about 6 months. For those who earned more however… The average is nearly a year out of work and it’s not uncommon to hear about people in that bracket that are out of work for well over a year.
So what to do? In planning for your family you might consider setting up a life style that could be supported by 2.3rd’s of your earnings incase you do lose your job if you’re one who earns over $70,000 per year. It’s not ideal but unless you can afford to be out of work for potentially a year or more – it may be a necessity in a worst case situation.
Ford bets big on itself:
Bottom Line: I love this story / challenge to Ford’s dealerships. Ford is offering to match up to $750,000 for renovations at every Ford dealership in the country. They’re hoping for 100% participation.
This initiative clearly shows a strong direct tie between the local dealers and the parent company and it’s clear that Ford believes that the growth of the brand will mean that no dealership will need to be shut down for the foreseeable.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/10/us-ford-dealers-idUSBRE91909620130210
Bottom Line: So since we heard about Watson (he / she?) has been busy. Saving lives. For the past year Watson, which
Apple’s next big thing – a watch?:
Bottom Line: For at least two years there has been a rumor regarding Apple’s possible creation of a watch. Well it’s more than rumor now. Tracking the parts (in this case from Intel) we know that an iWatch is being worked on. So what might an iWatch do?
It would have a 1.5 inch curved LCD screen that would provided time, weather and Siri. So James Bond like you’d be tapping on your watch and talking to it (or something like that). More to come…
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57568589-37/apple-reportedly-testing-curved-glass-for-iwatch/
