Yesterday, Standard & Poor's released the S & P/Case-Shiller home price indices. Major news outlets were all over the place when quoting these. Some said it went up, some down, some sideways. I would like to highlight a few features of these indices: -There are seasonally adjusted and non-adjusted indices. Standard & Poor's, in a technical bulletin, recommends against using the seasonally adjusted series because it can misinterpret variations in the choppy real estate markets with seasonality. -S &a... read more

Yesterday the S&P/Case-Shiller numbers where released. In the seasonally adjusted tiered indices, each index registered a month-to-month increase with the exception of the middle tier which consists of homes priced between $126,631 and $196,595. This was mildly surprising given that we get a lot of requests for homes in these ranges but do not have a large amount of for-sale inventory. We have more listing inventory in the high range. The breakdown for the listing inventory (offered for sale and not und... read more

Recently the Case-Shiller numbers for March were released. The low-tier index (under $125,000) continues to be show an apparent improvement. The middle-tier ($125,000 to $192,000) and the high-tier (over $192,000) continues to be flat or slightly downward bias. The Radar Logic RPX demonstrates a similar pattern. Median indices, which we can calculate more currently, demonstrate continued flattening. Who knows how much of this was market held up by the tax credit that expired in April. In the Las Vegas market, w... read more

The infographic below tells an important story for home sellers. Here are some key findings:   Rule 1 — Price it right on day 1. The majority of sold homes needed zero cuts. Homes that went under contract in the first 14 days almost never reduced their price. The best strategy is accurate pricing from the start, not a plan to cut later. Rule 2 — If you need to cut, do it early and do it once. Sold homes that reduced price made their move within the first 30 days — one meaningful cut, not... read more

Probate, the legal tangle involved in transferring property after one's passing, is a weighty matter. However, let's face it – tackling this issue head-on is like a thoughtful gesture to your future self and your loved ones. Spare them the probate headaches and shield your property promptly.  96.forceBgColor{background-color: white !important} Probate is no fun.     THE RATIONALE B... read more