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For the second quarter, according to BuzzBuzzNews First American surveyed title insurance agents and real estate professionals. Respondents said there were 3 big barriers to homeownership: the lack of inventory, affordability, and the downpayment. The national inventory crisis is making the market especially challenging for first-time buyers to find affordable starter homes they like. Millennials […]

I attended a class reunion, recently. Looking around at my fellow classmates, I realized that most of us go through four basic life changes: the midnight of a Missouri divorce; like a wolf at the door, too much debt can lead to foreclosure and bankruptcy; death in the family and fourth. downsizing. The kids leave […]

Last we looked in February 2017 there were over 1500 homes in danger foreclosure, According to Zillow, there has been a big improvement. Kansas City has only about 500  homes in some stage of foreclosure. You know that is a moving target, right? Some families succumb, others are new to the list, and many others avoid […]

Boomtown, a blog by Joanna Harrison, has some great advice about a real estate investment opportunity. You see, according to Harrison, America has an aging population which will soon turn into an aging problem. “Currently, the median age is 37.8, (up from 30.0 in 1980, and 28.4 in 1970) and the median age of homebuyers is 44. […]

“Based on Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, after plateauing in recent weeks, US mortgage rates reversed course and reached a new high last seen eight years ago.” Just last August the 30-year rate was about 3.8%. That’s a 21% increase in rates in nine months. According to the World Property Journal, “Healthy consumer […]

This Old House general contractor Tom Silva discusses selecting a general contractor. “Start with your friends and family and then check in with the National Association of the Remodeling Industry or the National Association of Home Builders for a list of members in your area. I like his suggestions to get useful information. You can […]

Over the past few years, housing experts have come up with two solutions to bolster inventory and slow home price growth — ramp up new residential construction and encourage a larger share of current homeowners to place their homes on the market. But according to Bankrate’s latest analysis, housing experts are going to have to rethink the second part of […]

A piece in HousingPredictor focuses on the 2018 outlook for Missouri Housing Market. Based on statistics from the real estate website Zillow, the average home value in Missouri is at $148,469. Home value has been on the rise in the state since last year, at a rate of 4.9%. Zillow expects the value of homes to continue […]

It’s been a while since the US made a wholesale push to get more cash and income-strapped households into the ever more unaffordable American dream of owning a house, three years to be exact, which is when nationalized housing agency Freddie Mac last rolled out a conventional mortgage that only required a 3 percent down payment for certain […]

“People really value and urban lifestyle, walkability, density, accessibility to transit, accessibility to cultural amenities,” explained Greg Flisram with Economic Development Committee of Kansas City. “That is a national trend that Kansas City is enjoying right now.” Yet, there are 5 downsizing myths in Kansas City for retirees: 5 Downsizing Myths in Kansas City for retirees: 1.    Downsizing Your […]