When purchasing a home, whether it is your first time or if you are moving up to a bigger home, or for whatever reason, there are some things that are important to consider.

• Lot: Most people only think about the house, or building, when considering a purchase when, in fact, the lot or land parcel plays a major role in the overall value and appreciation.  Is the lot rectangular, or is it odd shaped? Most typical modern neighborhoods have rectangular building lots. It should also be as level as possible.Yard sizes are smaller in modern homes than in older homes, but there should still be a good sized front and back yard. Try to purchase a home with decent landscaping but not over landscaped.

• House Size: In each residential neighborhood, houses will vary in size and number of rooms, but they should not be too different. If resale value is an important consideration, you should not buy the largest home in the neighborhood. When determining values, the houses closest to yours are most important. If most of the homes closest to yours are smaller, they will drag down your homes value. If you buy a small or medium house for the neighborhood, the larger homes can help pull up your value.

• Bedrooms and Bathrooms:
  Three and four bedroom houses are the most popular among home buyers, so if you can stick in that range you will have more potential buyers when it comes time to resell.There should always be at least two bathrooms in a house, preferably at least two and a half.

• Garage, Closets and Laundry:
  Walk-in closets are extremely desirable for the master bedroom. For the rest of the house, just be sure there is plenty of closet space. Garages add to the resale value and you should always make sure to get at least a two-car garage.The laundry facilities should be located somewhere convenient on the main floor of the house, but not in a place it will create an eyesore.

• The Kitchen:
  Larger kitchens are better, and they should be provided with modern appliances, as the kitchen is the most important room in any home. Breakfast nooks and dining rooms should always be close to the kitchen.

• Access to BackYard and Garage:
  Having easy access to the garage is important as you do not want to have to carry groceries too far, and you want easy access to any Bar B Que area, or patio.

• Fireplaces
  The only room where you absolutely have to have a fireplace is the family room, or area used for family gathering, etc.

• Swimming Pool:
  A swimming pool is nice, but if you have children, then safety factors are involved and swimming pools make it harder to sell your home later on down the line.Paying a contractor to install a pool for you is like throwing money away. You will never get a dollar-for-dollar return on your investment, and when you go to resell the home in a few years consider that many people do not want pools.

• Location within a neighborhood:
  Within your residential neighborhood, such as Fishers Creek you want the nearby properties to be fairly homogeneous – alike in style, size, and structure.Avoid the edges. In short, you do not want your property to back or side to a busy street. If you are buying a single family home, you do not want your property to border a condominium, apartment complex, business, school, or even a park.You also want to make sure the street you buy on is not used as a shortcut between two busier streets. Nor do you want to buy a house on a corner lot, as those tend to attract more street traffic and are not as safe for children. Buy in the middle of the block or on a cul de sac.

• Choose a new city carefully and be sure that all modern amenities and conveniences are provided for by the city. Look into local crime statistics and see how the city compares to the national average and other local communities. Is the police force effective and responsive to community needs? Are fire stations located strategically around the community so that they also can respond quickly in an emergency?

Forbes Lists:
* #15 Best Places for Business and Careers*
* #106 in Cost of doing Business*
* #86 in Job Growth*
* #39 in Education*
* #10 America’s Most Wired Cities 2010*
* #3 America’s Safest Cities 2010*
* #16 Best Cities for Singles 2009*

Combine these with the beautiful neighborhoods such as Edgewood Park and homes, great schools, wonderful houses of worship, city amenities, hometown pride of the residents, great shopping, entertainment, medical facilities and caring city fathers and you have a winning and forward looking team.

Whether you are the buyer, seller, lender or borrower, you want the assurance from a fiduciary company that no funds or property will change hands until ALL of the instructions in the transaction have been followed to the satisfaction of buyer and seller.  The escrow holders (escrow company) job is to safeguard any funds and/or documents while they are in the possession of the escrow holder, and to disburse those funds and/or convey title only when all of the provisions, or instructions, of the escrow have been complied with.

The seller, buyer, lender or borrower will give instructions, in writing, to the escrow company on what exactly is going to happen on the real estate transaction that is taking place or on the refinance of a piece of real estate if it only involves a refinance loan. If a real estate broker is involved in the real estate transaction, the broker may recommend an escrow holder. Usually the lender or bank will open escrow on the transaction if it is only for financing or re financing a piece of property and there is no transfer of title. The escrow instruction will indicate the amount of fees to be held   back at closing, the down payment which has to be paid to the seller, taxes to be paid, or held out of the final disbursements, or any other monies that are supposed to go to the seller or to the buyer. Usually the escrow company will coordinate the appraisal, the home inspection etc. Each escrow, although following a similar pattern, will be different in some respects, as it deals with your property and the transaction at hand.

(MONEY Magazine) — Done right, an exterior paint job is a smart investment: It will protect your home from the elements, help defer costly repair work, preserve your property value, and add curb appeal. Plus, if your existing paint is peeling, cracking, or bubbling, delaying the job will only cost you more.

Make the results last as long as possible — and maximize the number of years before you open your wallet again — by basing your hire on five key factors.

Get referrals from friends and tradesmen and check reviews on angieslist.com. Then ask three painters for written bids. Focus on details other than price, which may range from $4,000 to $10,000.

The job will only be as good as the surface prep, says Debbie Zimmer of the Paint Quality Institute, so compare how each painter promises to wash, scrape, and sand.

Before you choose, check out the exteriors of former customers’ homes; it’s worth hiring a pricier pro for a good result. And ask to see the painter’s liability and workers’ comp insurance (plus EPA lead-safe certification if your house is pre-1978).

The bid should include a coat of primer on any exposed wood and two coats of finish paint on everything.

“Eighty percent of your cost is labor, so maximize that investment with the longest-lasting paint you can get,” says V.C. “Bud” Jenkins, professor of paint chemistry at Cal Poly Pomona.

Any brand of paint will do as long as it’s the company’s premium line, says Jenkins; that ensures that it’s 100% acrylic (cheaper ingredients don’t wear as well) and contains mildew-cides and other additives.

A spray gun is quick, but it doesn’t press paint onto the surface. That hinders adhesion on wood siding, shortening the life of the paint job, says Bob Cusumano of the Painting and Decorating Contractors of America.

For wood siding, make sure the painter will use brushes or rollers — or at least will brush or roll after the sprayer.

It’s not the length of coverage that matters most. “If there’s a flaw, it’s going to show up within a cycle of the seasons,” Cusumano says. So a one-year warranty is fine, as long as it states that the painter will fix any issues (such as bubbling or peeling) without exclusions.

For added safety, Cusumano recommends writing in “Contractor is responsible for adhesion of previously applied coatings” to clarify that underlying problems are his responsibility to fix.

Though most paint jobs last five to seven years (depending on your climate and the age of your house, among other factors), regular maintenance might extend that to 10.

So choose a painter who is willing to come back yearly to touch up worn or peeling areas. That will cost a few hundred bucks per visit but save a bundle in the long run.  

According to the latest analysis of home price trends in 384 markets based on the Fiserv/Case-Shiller Indexes, it will be well into the first quarter of 2013 before median home prices across the nation will even be on par with prices from the first quarter of this year.

And that’s not saying much. During the first quarter of 2011, prices fell in 302 of the 384 housing markets tracked by the Fiserv/Case-Shiller index, dropping by an average of 5.1% year-over-year.

As a result of continued weakness on the jobs front and the debt ceiling fiasco, Fiserv pushed back its projections of a housing market turnaround by three months. Now, it doesn’t expect home prices to start gaining any ground until the second quarter of 2012.

Where the jobs are

Instead, Fiserv expects median home prices to continue to fall by an average of 3.1% between March 31 of this year and March 31, 2012. After that, it expects to see prices increase by 2.7% until the first quarter of 2013.

“Every piece of bad news causes more people to be more nervous,” said David Stiff, chief economist for Fiserv, which provides information management and analyses data for the financial services industry. “The stabilization of housing markets depends greatly on household confidence in the strength of the economic recovery. Unfortunately, recent economic news has done little to build confidence.”

There still, however, is no shortage of housing inventory. More than 3.75 million existing homes in June alone were on the market, according to the National Association of Realtors. At the latest rate of sales, it would take 9.5 months to exhaust that inventory, about 50% longer than what NAR considers a healthy housing market.

“I don’t think we’ll see an increase in sales until we see the economy improving,” said Fiserv’s Stiff.

Hopes for that economic rebound seem to be fading. The percentage of Americans who have jobs reached a 28-year low in July. So, even though housing affordability is better than ever — Fiserv’s data shows that prices have fallen from their peak by nearly a third nationally and mortgage rates have hit rock-bottom – too few people can take advantage of the affordable housing costs because of tightened lending standards.

Some markets, however, will fare better than others

In the Miami metro area, for example, where prices fell 54% from the peak, Fiserv forecasts a further plunge of 22.8% over the 24 months ending March 30, 2013. Fiserv estimates that another hard-hit market, Las Vegas, will plunge another 19.3%, Ft. Lauderdale will see declines of 18.9% and Phoenix will take another 15% hit.

Some smaller metro areas could also get hammered. In Ocean City, N.J., prices are predicted to plunge 26.9% through March, 2013; in Naples, Fla., Fiserv forecasted a 21.2% drop; and in Destin, Fla., it projected a 13.6% decline.

Foreclosures fall in most U.S. cities

Stiff said markets that are ripe for a turnaround will be in the Pacific Northwest. The biggest gainer is expected to be Tacoma, Wash., where Fiserv said prices will rise nearly 25% by March 2013. Seattle and Portland’s prices are expected to stay flat through next March and then record double-digit gains of just over 10% each over the following 12 months.

“Homes are undervalued in the Northwest,” said Stiff, “the economy is diverse and the demographics strong. It has tech, manufacturing and extractive industries (like lumbering and mining) and people are still moving into the area.”

Ocala, Fla. (23.9%), Palm Bay, Fla. (18.3%), Mobile, Ala. (18.5%) and Madera, Calif. (18.2%) are also expected to record big gains.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Housing markets struggled through another tough quarter, this time during the spring buying season, the strongest time of year for home sellers.

Prices of existing homes fell 2.8% in the three months ended June 30 compared with the same period in 2010, according to a report issued Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

For Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, the report was a continuation of a trend that began in 2009.

“Median home prices have been moving up and down in a relatively narrow range in many markets, which shows a stabilization trend,” he said in a statement. “Markets showing consistent price stability or increases are those with solid labor market conditions, such as in Washington, San Antonio, or Fargo, N.D.“

Prices have bounced around a bit the past two years but have wound up in about the same place. The median price for all existing homes sold during the quarter was $171,900, almost matching the price level of all of 2009 — $172,100.

Sales volume was off 5.4% compared with a quarter earlier to an annualized rate of 4.86 million units, and was down 12.7% from the second quarter of 2010.

The sales volume decline came despite some of the best buying conditions ever. Interest rates stayed very low throughout the quarter. NAR’s Affordability Index — a calculation based on home prices, interest rates and family income — was at its third highest level in history, trailing only the preceding two quarters.

Unemployment worse than you think

The stagnant economy, with a slow recovery in hiring, has hurt sales. Another big headwind is the strict underwriting standards lenders are applying to mortgage applicants in the wake of the financial crisis.

There could be “a more rapid sales recovery if banks get back into the business of lending to more creditworthy borrowers,” said Yun.

There’s good reason that buyers are not acting, according to Anthony Sanders, director of real estate entrepreneurship at George Mason University.

“I wouldn’t advise anyone to buy at this time,” he said. “I felt there was a glimmer of hope that the [Obama] administration and Congress would work together to create jobs again. But after the debt ceiling debate, I’d be scared to death if I was a homebuyer.”

The latest turmoil in the financial markets, the S&P downgrade of U.S. debt and the increasingly dire budget prospects faced by some eurozone nations could choke off home sales even further, he said.

Housing recovery slips out of sight

The most expensive of the 150 metro area markets that NAR reported on was San Jose, Calif. at $610,000, followed by Honolulu at $609,500 andAnaheim, Calif., at $536,700.

The cheapest market was Youngstown, Ohio at $74,800, with Toledo, Ohio, at $75,200, and Ocala, Fla., at $79,800, close behind.

Cape Coral, Fla. recorded the biggest year-over-year gain, 17.9% to $110,900. Elmira, N.Y. had the second biggest increase, 16.1% to $115,200, and Dallas came in 12.5% higher at $151,500.

The biggest loser was Salem, Ore, where prices plummeted a whopping 22.6% compared with 12 months earlier to $136,800. Next wasMinneapolis, where prices plunged 17.7% to $145,000, and Toledo, with a 17.3% slide. 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Foreclosure filings dropped once again in July, hitting their lowest level since November 2007, as processing delays and foreclosure prevention measures enabled a larger number of delinquent borrowers to remain in their homes.

Filings were down 4% compared to June and were 35% lower than July 2010, marking the tenth straight month of year-over-year declines, according to RealtyTrac, a leading online marketer of foreclosed properties.

RealtyTrac reported that 212,764 U.S. homes received some kind of foreclosure filing — notice of default, notice of auction sale or completed foreclosure — during the month. Bank repossessions totaled 67,829, down 33.6% from the peak month of September, 2010 — when banks took back 102,134 homes, and off 27% from 12 months earlier.

The steep foreclosure drop, according to RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio, was triggered by a foreclosure processing slowdown that was sparked by the “robo-signing” controversy last fall. As a result of the scandal, in which the banks were accused of mishandling paperwork and failing to follow proper protocols, banks are being much more careful and many filings have been delayed.

“[T]he downward trend in foreclosure activity has now taken on a life of its own,” said Saccacio. “It appears that processing delays, combined with the smorgasbord of national and state-level foreclosure prevention efforts, may be allowing more distressed homeowners to stave off foreclosure.”

There were some small glimmers of hope in RealtyTrac’s report. One promising sign was the steep plunge in initial notices of default, which fell 39% year-over-year to fewer than 60,000.

The decline may indicate that fewer borrowers are falling behind on payments. Or, it could mean lenders are not filing those notices as promptly as they have in the past, according to Rick Sharga, a spokesman for RealtyTrac.

The company analyzed initial default notices in California and discovered that the average sum of missed payments has risen to $78,000 from $17,000 over the past four years. Sharga attributed the jump to delays in filing the initial papers.

RealtyTrac’s release came a day after the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Treasury Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced they were seeking suggestions on how to dispose of the 92,000 repossessed homes now owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

Homeownership reaches lowest level since 1965

FHFA, the agency that supervises Fannie/Freddie, and HUD, which oversees FHA loans, want to be able to reduce that inventory quickly and in a manner that helps stabilize communities that have been hard hit by foreclosures.

They’re seeking proposals from private enterprises, municipalities and non-profits that will result in bulk sales and result in their refurbishment and eventual resale or rental.

Among the markets where these efforts may be most concentrated are those hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. According to RealtyTrac’s report, Las Vegas continued to record the highest rate of foreclosures in the nation, with a filing for every 99 homes, but the gap between “Sin City” and other metro areas has shrunk.

Foreclosure filings in Stockton, Calif. jumped 57% month-over-month, one for every 124 homes, the second highest rate.

Nevada continued to post the highest foreclosure rate of any state, one filing for every 115 homes. California, one in every 239 homes came in second place, and Arizona, one in every 273 homes, was third.