Some level of certainty and stability returned to the U.S. housing market in 2012, providing a solid foundation for the market to build on in 2013. But there are still significant risks that threaten this hard-won stability and could trip up some local markets trying to make the tricky transition from stability to strength. U.S. Foreclosures Continue Slow Descent At a national level and in states with relatively efficient foreclosure processes, foreclosure activity will not pose a significant threat to housing market stability. U.S. foreclosure activity will continue its slow descent off the peak of 2.9 million properties with foreclosure filings in 2010 and back toward a more normal level of around 500,000 properties with foreclosure filings a year – although don’t expect to see a completely normal foreclosure year until 2015. Foreclosure Flare-Ups Rising foreclosure activity in certain markets at the beginning and end of the year could threaten the stability in those ma...

You just bought your first home and you are all excited, now it's time to go to your closing. You walk into the room and then you realize, you have no clue who is sitting in the room with you! Besides your agent and mortgage lender, many other individuals/companies have been busy doing research on your behalf, reviewing and preparing documents. It’s on your closing day that you will possibly meet some of them face to face. The main players, though, involved in the closing are the title agency, attorney and the notary public. The Title Agency The real estate title agency has several different roles in the closing process. It should always be noted that the title company, and its agents, are impartial service providers. One of our duties as a title agency is to put together an abstract of the property. The abstract explains in abundant detail the location and history of the property and as part of this, a survey may be ordered. A title search is also conducted which will identi...

Here's a great article I found in the Real Estate Digest that I thought you might finding interesting. More offers are coming with a contingency: The buyer wants the house but the seller has to give them more time - 30 to 60 days, possibly - to try to sell their own home before they'll make the deal final, more estate professionals are reporting. "In a strong real estate market, it's harder to get away with (a sell contingency)," Eric Tyson, co-author of Home Buying for Dummies told the Chicago Tribune, "It adds element of uncertainty to the deal." Many sellers will continue to show homes to potential buyers during the contingency period, but since the contingent offer is listed in the multiple listing service, some buyers might be less apt to take look. "Most contingency agreements contain a kick-out clause: If your dream home's seller receive a non-contingent offer during the set time period, you typically have a day or two to rescind the cont...