Making Your Home Age Appropriate Creates Appeal

All of us have something in common with our homes. Sure, style, design, and location are at the top of the list, but how about age? As we age, buyers, especially the baby boomer generation, are looking to transform their homes into a place that they can stay in for as long as possible or they're hoping to find one that's already equipped for them to age-in-place.

So how old your home and you are, are reason to give some thought to if your home needs age-appropriate adaptation in order for you to be most comfortable. And, in doing so, you may actually make your home more valuable to a wider audience of buyers, should you ever sell it.

According to the National Homebuilders Association, making a home suitable for the golden years is economically sound. The baby boomer generation (77 million people) makes up 28 percent of the U.S. population. Assisted living for this generation can cost more than $60-thousand per year, not counting moving expenses.

That's pretty pricey. So, if you've taken some steps to make your home an age-in-place sanctuary, then make sure you highlight those renovations if you ever list your home on the market. If you haven't made any revisions, perhaps, some minor adaptations can make your home stand out and more comfortable for any age. Continued....

Avoiding Closing Derailment

Mark Hughes' Real Estate Update

Welcome to the Bottom

Welcome to the Bottom: Housing Begins Slow Rebound - Local News | News Articles | National News | US

Reshaping Fannie and Freddie

Congress took its first step last month on a mission that could totally reshape the American mortgage market.

A House financial services subcommittee held the first hearing on what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- the failed, trillion-dollar mortgage giants that
are now operating under direct federal control.

The ultimate answers are likely to determine the types of loans and interest rates that home buyers will have in the future. That's because Fannie and
Freddie have dominated the real estate market for decades, writing the rulebook on everything from loan sizes, credit requirements,downpayments and underwriting standards.

Among the idea floated at last week's Capitol Hill hearing were a "utility" concept, where Fannie and Freddie might be merged into a single, privately-owned, federally-regulated superstore for mortgage money.  The model would be along the lines of the water, power and sewage utilities we see all over the country, but there'd just be one mega-utility to fund
mortgages. The utility concept was first proposed last year by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. The Obama Administration has not spoken out publicly on it yet.

Another idea floated at the hearing was to broaden the mortgage menus of whateveragency or agencies replace Fannie and Freddie to include types of mortgages they currently can't touch -- especially jumbo home loans andcommercial real estate mortgages. Frances Martinez Myers, representing the National Association of Realtors, said jumbos and commercial real estate loans are suffering in the credit crunch and need more support. Commercial and investment property owners in particular, said Myers, find themselves unable to refinance because there is neither a private nor public secondary market for their loans at the moment.

The Mortgage Bankers Association came to the hearing with a white paper listing various alternative futures for Fannie and Freddie, including turning them into a government-owned version of the FHA and Ginnie Mae, but targeted on conventional mortgages.  Without endorsing any particular alternative, the MBA also suggested consideration be given to a private "cooperative" model, in which banks and other mortgage industry players would pool their assets and provide secondary market services in addition to mortgage originations.  Under this scenario, the federal government would provide back-up insurance against "catastrophic losses" that exceed the private cooperative's
capital and pledged assets.  Where's the debate over Fannie and Freddie headed? Look for Congress to hold more exploratory hearings this year. Then, maybe as early as next year if the recession is over and the market is healthier , the Obama administration might begin drafting its preferred solution - which almost certainly will not involve total privatization.