No Foreclosure Wave on the Horizon

No Foreclosure Wave on the Horizon: Of the at-risk homeowners leaving forbearance, 73% have at least 20% home equity – and 28% have at least 50%. They may sell but they can avoid foreclosure.

Be Careful Using Emojis: Interpretations Vary

Be Careful Using Emojis: Interpretations Vary: Study: Men and women often interpret emoji facial expressions differently. Men see the yellow thinking face as positive, for example; women not so much.

Buying a Fixer-Upper? Some Raw Materials Hard to Find

Buying a Fixer-Upper? Some Raw Materials Hard to Find: Buyers planning to fix up an existing home face the same challenges new-home builders do: Expensive or hard-to-find items, such as appliances or lumber.

Are At-Risk Homeowners Better Off Selling?

Are At-Risk Homeowners Better Off Selling?: In some cases, owners exiting forbearance can’t afford their home. But with rising values, many can still sell, turn a small profit and not harm a strong credit score.

Assignment-of-Benefits Loophole Puts Owners at Risk

Assignment-of-Benefits Loophole Puts Owners at Risk

4 Ways to Update Your Home's Exterior to Increase Curb Appeal

4 Ways to Update Your Home's Exterior to Increase Curb Appeal: It’s important for the interior of your house to look nice, but you can boost curb appeal by enhancing the exterior of your home

Do Phone Apps Organize Your Business? What If You Die?

Do Phone Apps Organize Your Business? What If You Die?: Currently, Apple permits iPhone users’ survivors to delete data without reading, but a new “Legacy Contact” feature will allow them to designate data inheritors.

NAR Economist Yun: Housing Market May Normalize in 2022

NAR Economist Yun: Housing Market May Normalize in 2022

Average Mortgage Rates Dip Below 3% Again This Week

Average Mortgage Rates Dip Below 3% Again This Week

Lowe’s App Will Measure, Plan Improvement Projects

Lowe’s App Will Measure, Plan Improvement Projects: Soon, mobile devices with LiDAR Scanners (newer Apple products) can measure interior space, explore potential updates and schedule work. Flooring will be offered first.

The Housing Market for First-Time Buyers? It’s Brutal

The Housing Market for First-Time Buyers? It’s Brutal: Survey: For first-timers, it’s not just finding a house and putting in a winning bid, though that provides enough stress to deter some buyers from the market. 80% of first-timers lost at least two days off work, 39% faced down payment problems and 37% were outbid at least once.

Baby Boomer Challenge: Find a Home for Downsizing

Baby Boomer Challenge: Find a Home for Downsizing: The inventory for homes smaller than 1,400-square feet has hit a 50-year low – and it’s the same record-low inventory eyed by many first-time buyers.

Buyers May Face Hidden Costs for Homes with Solar Power

Buyers May Face Hidden Costs for Homes with Solar Power

Why Is Fall a Big Opportunity for Buyers?

Why Is Fall a Big Opportunity for Buyers?

Workers Want Offices that Look Like Their Living Rooms

Workers Want Offices that Look Like Their Living Rooms: Why go back to an office if your chair is comfy and you’re 10 steps away from coffee? To entice workers, office remodels are adding lounges, green spaces and gyms.

74% of Seniors Say Best Financial Decision Was Buying a Home

74% of Seniors Say Best Financial Decision Was Buying a Home

More Buyers Adding ‘Inclusive Community’ to Their Lists

More Buyers Adding ‘Inclusive Community’ to Their Lists: Recently aware that some communities have historically been one race or another, an increased number of buyers are adding “racially diverse neighborhood” to their list of must-haves. But that doesn’t always help lower-income neighborhoods if it causes gentrification and rising home prices.

Lumber Prices Dropped 65% – But Don’t Expect Cheaper Homes

Lumber Prices Dropped 65% – But Don’t Expect Cheaper Homes

Vacation-Owners: The IRS Needs to Know Where You Live. Another good reason to domicile in Florida!

Vacation-Owners: The IRS Needs to Know Where You Live: Under U.S. tax law, payers can have only one official residence, and lockdowns may have changed the state a vacation owner calls “home.” But it’s also not that simple.

NAR Research: Student Loan Debt Makes Home Buying Difficult

NAR Research: Student Loan Debt Makes Home Buying Difficult

Mortgage Rates Surpass 3% Again – Hit a 6-Month High

Mortgage Rates Surpass 3% Again – Hit a 6-Month High

Many Bathroom Remodels Are Really More of an Upgrade

Many Bathroom Remodels Are Really More of an Upgrade: Survey: Remodeling skyrocketed during lockdowns with many homeowners focused on their bathrooms. The desire to “soak in a bathtub” rose 6 percentage points.

Homeowner Equity Grows to Nearly $3T in Q2

Homeowner Equity Grows to Nearly $3T in Q2

Why Hiring an Agent Is the Key to Buying or Selling a House

Why Hiring an Agent Is the Key to Buying or Selling a House: Here are three top reasons why hiring a real estate agent is the key to buying or selling your house, now and in the future.

Take Steps to Maximize Insurance Benefits After a Storm

Take Steps to Maximize Insurance Benefits After a Storm: Emergency management professionals advise you to check your insurance, call your insurance company and find out what’s covered under your policy. And if your home is flooded, hire a mitigation firm to vacuum out water as soon as possible.

3 Remodeling Projects That Prospective Buyers Desire

3 Remodeling Projects That Prospective Buyers Desire: In general, it’s best to move forward with projects that are cost-effective and useful to anyone who might occupy the property down the line.

Mortgage Rates Respond to Fed, Average Rises Above 3%

Mortgage Rates Respond to Fed, Average Rises Above 3%: After weeks of little movement in the 2.88% range, the average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 3.01% this week. Economist cites “many factors” pushing the increase.

Fed Move Might Raise Mortgage Rates by Dec.

Fed Move Might Raise Mortgage Rates by Dec.

Avoid 6 Common Real Estate Investing Mistakes - a good read!

Avoid 6 Common Real Estate Investing Mistakes

Lenders Can Now Consider Rent History for Fannie Mae Loans - great news if you want to take the leap from renting to owning!

Lenders Can Now Consider Rent History for Fannie Mae Loans: Renters with thin credit histories may still qualify for a home loan under a Fannie Mae program that allows lenders to consider consistent, on-time rental payments when making lending decisions. Neither buyers nor lenders pay extra to use the new tool.

Freddie Mac Rolls Out New Lower-Cost Renovation Mortgage - Read if you are considering purchasing a handyman special!!

Freddie Mac Rolls Out New Lower-Cost Renovation Mortgage

How Much Money Do You Really Need to Invest in Real Estate? Helpful article for anyone considering investing

How Much Money Do You Really Need to Invest in Real Estate?

Mortgage Rates: 6-Week Streak Under 3% - don't wait to refi or purchase!

Mortgage Rates: 6-Week Streak Under 3%

3 in 10 Sellers Say Security Cameras Have Monitored Buyers - A warning I share before every showing!

3 in 10 Sellers Say Security Cameras Have Monitored Buyers: Security cameras are cheap, easy to install and almost everywhere. The top reason sellers monitor home shoppers? To find out what they don’t like about their house.

Millennials Want Home Upgrades More Than Any Other Generation

Millennials Want Home Upgrades More Than Any Other Generation: Some 89% of survey respondents who have sold their homes in the past three years said that they made upgrades to their properties before selling.

Biden Extends Eviction Ban for 60 Days

Biden Extends Eviction Ban for 60 Days

What You Should Know About Renting and Moving With PODS

What You Should Know About Renting and Moving With PODS: The cost of PODS can vary considerably depending on your needs. Here, we'll take a look at the cost of renting PODS and other things you need to consider.

Thinking of moving to Sanibel/Captiva? Give me a call!

Sally Davies, Realtor Royal Shell Real Estate, Inc.

239 472-0078

Condo Owners Now Wondering: “What Does My Insurance Cover?

Condo Owners Now Wondering: “What Does My Insurance Cover?: It’s complicated. A condo dweller could be covered by three separate types of policies. Who pays – and how much – may take time to sort out.

Sally Davies, Realtor
Royal Shell Real Estate, Inc
Sanibel & Captiva Islands
239-691-3319

Experts Say Foreclosure Spike Unlikely as Owners Exit Forbearance

Experts Say Foreclosure Spike Unlikely as Owners Exit Forbearance

Real Estate Economy: It’s Not a Bubble Unless it Pops

Real Estate Economy: It’s Not a Bubble Unless it Pops

Migration Study Finds Big Gains in Some Fla. Metros. Fort Myers now ranks #1

Migration Study Finds Big Gains in Some Fla. Metros

Report: Home Loans Backed by PMI Increased 53% in 2020 - Some interesting facts and figures.

Report: Home Loans Backed by PMI Increased 53% in 2020

The Untethered Worker Is the New Sunbird

The Untethered Worker Is the New Sunbird

Buying/Selling at Same Time? Consider a Bridge Loan

Buying/Selling at Same Time? Consider a Bridge Loan: A bridge loan gives homeowners the freedom to close on another home even if they don’t yet have down payment funds from the sale of their current home.

Everything You Need to Know About Modular Homes

Everything You Need to Know About Modular Homes: A modular home can be a great option for homeowners who dream of owning their very own custom home but don't want to deal with managing construction.