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Las Vegas Home Improvement Tip: How To Change A Showerhead
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s plenty of reasons to want to change a showerhead in your head. Perhaps you’re trying to fix a leak in the faucet; or, remodeling your bathroom; or, trying to conserve water via a low-flow showerhead.
Whatever the reason, changing a showerhead can be a basic do-it-yourself project. The tools aren’t complicated and the job is a quick one.
In this 2-minute video from AOL, you’ll learn:
- What tools you’ll need to change the showerhead
- How to remove your old showerhead
- How to firmly attach your new showerhead to prevent leaks
If you get stuck, or just want to outsource, call a professional handyman to finish the job. Changing a showerhead should take less than a hour to complete.
Kathryn Bovard is a Las Vegas Short Sale Specialist and experienced with the often lengthy and stressful Las Vegas short sale process. If you are contemplating a Las Vegas short sale , she can assist and navigate you through the entire process. Call Kathryn direct at 702-348-7191 to schedule a short sale consultation today.
Now is a great time to buy Las Vegas Homes!
Search all Las Vegas Foreclosures, including Henderson, Green Valley and North Las Vegas.
According to the Standard & Poors Case-Shiller Index, home values rose 5 percent in June versus the month prior, and 4 percent from a year earlier. It’s the 16th consecutive month in which Case-Shiller reported an increase in home values and the third straight month of outstanding results.
Prices in Las Vegas are off 56.5% from the peak.
That said, homeowners and home buyers in Las Vegas would do well to temper Case-Shiller enthusiasm. The June figures are issued on 60-day delay and, over the last 60 days, housing data has been lackluster at best.
- Existing Home Sales are down 27 percent
- New Home Sales are down 12 percent
- Homebuilder confidence is down
Stories like these highlight a key weakness of the Case-Shiller Index — it’s out of date as soon as it’s published. Because of this, the Case-Shiller Index relevance to everyday Americans is muted. People don’t buy homes in the “60 days ago” real estate market, after all.
June is ancient real estate history to buyers and sellers in Las Vegas, Henderson and Green Valley.
However, the Case-Shiller Index does have its place. As the most widely-followed, private-sector housing tracker, the index is used to help make policy decisions and to shape Wall Street’s expectations of the economy. This means that a strong Case-Shiller reading can cause mortgage rates to rise, and a weak Case-Shiller reading can cause rates to fall.
Tuesday, mortgage rates fell.
Now is a great time to buy Las Vegas Homes!
Search all Las Vegas Foreclosures, including Henderson, Green Valley and North Las Vegas.
Kathryn is experienced with the often lengthy and stressful Las Vegas short sale process. If you are contemplating a Las Vegas short sale , she can assist and navigate you through the entire process. Call Kathryn direct at 702-348-7191 to schedule a short sale consultation today.
Mortgage Rates May Be Low, But They’re Tough To Pin Down — Especially This Week
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Mortgage rates are low right now but pinning them down this week could be a challenge. As Labor Day Weekend nears and Wall Streeters take their head-start on the holiday, trading volume will fall, which will cause mortgage rates in Short Sales to get jumpy.
As mortgage rates change, so does the long-term cost of owning a home. Every 1/8 percent adjustment changes a household budget.
Meanwhile, the relationship between “vacation days” and mortgage rate volatility is an interesting one; based more in scarcity than market fundamentals.
Rates tend to get volatile near holidays because of two inter-related facts:
- Conforming mortgage rates are based on the price of mortgage-backed bonds
- Mortgage-backed bonds can’t trade without a buyer and a seller at a specific price
So, as the week progresses and more traders leave for their respective “extended” 3-day weekends, there’s fewer buyers and sellers left on Wall Street to connect for a trade. As a result, mortgage bond prices move across larger gaps than on a “normal” day which, in turn, translates into faster, larger changes in rates.
This phenomenon can be exaggerated during periods of economic uncertainty — like what we’re in now — and, furthermore, there’s a bevy of important data set for release this week including the FOMC Minutes, inflation data, and August jobs figures.
In other words, rates would have been volatile without the vacation week. The presence of Labor Day just piles on.
Mortgage rates may rise this week, or they may fall. Either way, if you have a chance to lock something favorable and within your budget, consider doing it. Rates are at all-time lows and likely won’t last.
Now is a great time to buy Las Vegas Homes!
Search all Las Vegas Foreclosures, including Henderson, Green Valley and North Las Vegas.
Call Kathryn Bovard to schedule a consultation 702-348-7191
How To Reduce Home Energy Costs By Sealing Air Leaks
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With Labor Day looming, the autumn and winter months aren’t far behind. It’s a good time to reflect on your home’s heating and cooling costs, and take steps to lower your energy bills. Finding air leaks may be a perfect first project.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, up to 30 percent can be cut from a home’s energy costs just by reducing drafts. For example, a 1/16-inch gap unsealed gap around a window is equivalent to leaving the window 3 inches open.
That’s a lot of wasted Las Vegas air.
The good news is that air leaks are rather simple to identify, and simple to fix. The key is to know where to look. And, to make the job easier, the government offers a complete DIY Guide To Sealing and Insulating a home.
Some of the key tips include:
- Focus on the attic and basement, where most air is lost
- Locate problem areas on a chimney
- Check recessed lights which allow air flow between conditioned and unconditioned air
The government’s website also provides a 13-page PDF with detailed images, instructions, and recommendation to help you with the work.
However, if the job is beyond your skill set, be sure to call a qualified contractor. Sealing your home from air leaks will reduce your monthly energy bill and the money spent to pay a professional will be just a fraction of what you’ll save over time.
(Image courtesy: US Department of Energy)
Considering a Las Vegas Home purchase? Search all Las Vegas Homes for Sale using our free, interactive map-based search.
Search all Las Vegas Foreclosures, including Henderson, Green Valley and North Las Vegas.
Kathryn is experienced with the often lengthy and stressful Las Vegas short sale process. If you are contemplating a Las Vegas short sale , she can assist and navigate you through the entire process. Call Kathryn direct at 702-348-7191 to schedule a short sale consultation today.
Las Vegas Real Estate Market Weekly Stats -August 29, 2010
Posted by: | CommentsLas Vegas real estate market conditions as of August 29th, 2010. The chart indicate the median price for Henderson Homes, Las Vegas Homes and North Las Vegas homes from March through August29, 2010.
Considering a Las Vegas Home purchase? Search all Las Vegas Homes for Sale using our free, interactive map-based search.
Search all Las Vegas Foreclosures, including Henderson, Green Valley and North Las Vegas.
Kathryn is experienced with the often lengthy and stressful Las Vegas short sale process. If you are contemplating a Las Vegas short sale , she can assist and navigate you through the entire process. Call Kathryn direct at 702-348-7191 to schedule a short sale consultation today.
New Home Sales Drop In July — Just Like Existing Home Sales
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One day after the National Association of Realtors released the softest Existing Home Sales report since 1995, the U.S. Census Bureau released a similarly-weak New Home Sales report.
Americans bought just 276,000 newly-built homes in July. That marks the fewest units sold since the government started keeping records in 1963.
In addition, although new home inventory actually dropped 2,000 units in July, the slowing sales pace still managed to push the national supply higher by 1.1 months. At July’s rate of sales, the nation’s new home inventory would be exhausted in just about 9 months.
None of this news should surprise you, though. It’s all been foreshadowed for weeks.
First, Single-Family Housing Starts have dropped in every month since April. A “housing start” is a when a home starts construction and, because fewer homes are under construction, we should expect fewer homes to be sold.
Second, Building Permits are down. The number of new permits peaked in March and have fallen 23 percent since.
And, lastly, home builder confidence ranks at its lowest levels since early-2009. A contributing factor in that pessimism is dwindling buyer foot traffic.
Regardless, there’s two sides to the story. Although the New Home Sales data looks bad for builders, it can be terrific for you. This is because new homes are more likely to be discounted when the sales cycle favors buyers.
Coupled with ultra-low mortgage rates, the cost of buying a newly-built home in Las Vegas may have just become cheaper.
Here is a graph depicting the Las Vegas New Home sales and Las Vegas New homes (median Pricing) from 2004-2010, courtesy of Salestraq.
Considering a Las Vegas Home purchase? Search all Las Vegas Homes for Sale using our free, interactive map-based search.
Search all Las Vegas Foreclosures, including Henderson, Green Valley and North Las Vegas.
Call Kathryn Bovard 702-348-7191
Existing Home Sales Plummet In July; Home Buyers Gain Leverage
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The number of home resales plunged by 1.4 million units in July, according to the National Association of Realtors®’ Existing Home Sales report.
It’s a drop of 27 percent from June; single-family home resales are at the report’s lowest levels since May 1999.
Furthermore, because of the sharp drop in sales volume, home inventories are spiking.
Homes for sale nationwide fell just short of 4 million units in July and, at the current sales paces, it would take 12.5 months for the existing inventory to be absorbed.
Home supply was just 8.9 months in June.
For home sellers in Henderson and Las Vegas, the Existing Home Sales report is a bit of bad news. Fewer sales and larger inventories put negotiation leverage in the hands of the buyers which, in turn, creates downward pressure on home prices. It may also increase time-on-market.
For Las Vegas home buyers, however, the data is decidedly welcome. After a stimulus-driven spring buying season that favored sellers, the summer and early-fall market seem to favor buyers. More choices and more leverage is a positive.
It helps that home affordability is up, too.
Although there’s reports that home values are rising, their modest gains are more than countered by the ongoing rally in mortgage rates. Freddie Mac says that 30-year fixed rate mortgage rates are at their lowest levels in history and, at today’s rates, every one-eighth drop in mortgage rates roughly offsets a 1.5% increase to home price.
Mortgage rates are down 0.75 percent since mid-April.
Considering a Las Vegas Home purchase? Search all Las Vegas Homes for Sale using our free, interactive map-based search.
Search all Las Vegas Foreclosures, including Henderson, Green Valley and North Las Vegas.
Kathryn is experienced with the often lengthy and stressful Las Vegas short sale process. If you are contemplating a Las Vegas short sale , she can assist and navigate you through the entire process. Call Kathryn direct at 702-348-7191 to schedule a short sale consultation today.
Bank Mortgage Lending Policies Appear To be Easing
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The tightening in mortgage-lending policies that characterized the last 3 years appears to be slowing.
According to the Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of senior bank loan officers, roughly 1 in 10 lenders added mortgage qualification hurdles between April and June. It’s a huge departure from just 2 years ago when the mortgage industry was facing its first wave of challenges.
During that period, eight in 10 lenders added hurdles.
For mortgage applicants in Las Vegas, this quarter’s Fed survey results signals that mortgage lending may have reached its limits of restriction.
Since 2007, mortgage guidelines have become increasingly restrictive. There’s extra scrutiny on assets and tax returns; employment history is given more weight; loan purpose matters. There’s a bevy of traits that can stand between you and an approval that didn’t exist a few years ago.
That said, lots of homeowners are still getting loans.
Verifiable income, good credit scores and equity are the “magic formula” and banks want to lend to good credit risks. And the best news for those that qualify is that mortgage rates are fantastic right now.
According to Freddie Mac, mortgage rates are as low as they’ve been in history.
So, if you’re among the many wondering if now is the right time to buy a home — or refinance one — remember that, although mortgage guidelines likely won’t get worse, mortgage rates probably will.
Here’s a good site to track Current Mortgage Rates
Now is a great time to buy Las Vegas Homes!
Search all Las Vegas Foreclosures, including Henderson, Green Valley and North Las Vegas.
Call Kathryn Bovard to schedule a consultation 702-348-7191
Home Improvement Tip: How To Re-Grout And Caulk Bathroom Tiles
Posted by: | CommentsOver time, the grout in a shower can become dirty and discolored, and start to separate from its grout lines. This is a potentially dangerous condition for a home because broken grout lines allow water to seep into the walls, which can then lead to the growth of mold spores.
Fortunately, keeping your grout in tip-top shape is simple.
In this 2-minute video, you’ll learn how to clean the existing grout in your shower and to prepare for a new coating. You’ll also learn how to replace its caulk.
The video’s tips include:
- Why you should remove excess grout diagonally with a sponge
- How to protect your tub from damage while the re-grout is in process
- Choosing the right caulk for the job
The North American Tile Cleaning Association also offers helpful grout-cleaning advice. Visit their website at http://www.tilecleaning.org.
Considering a Las Vegas Home purchase? Search all Las Vegas Homes for Sale using our free, interactive map-based search.
Search all Las Vegas Foreclosures, including Henderson, Green Valley and North Las Vegas.
Kathryn is experienced with the often lengthy and stressful Las Vegas short sale process. If you are contemplating a Las Vegas short sale , she can assist and navigate you through the entire process. Call Kathryn direct at 702-348-7191 to schedule a short sale consultation today.
Las Vegas Real Estate Market Weekly Stats-August 22, 2010
Posted by: | CommentsLas Vegas real estate market conditions as of August 22nd, 2010. The chart indicate the median price for Henderson Homes, Las Vegas Homes and North Las Vegas homes from March through August 22, 2010.
Considering a Las Vegas Home purchase? Search all Las Vegas Homes for Sale using our free, interactive map-based search.
Search all Las Vegas Foreclosures, including Henderson, Green Valley and North Las Vegas.
Kathryn is experienced with the often lengthy and stressful Las Vegas short sale process. If you are contemplating a Las Vegas short sale , she can assist and navigate you through the entire process. Call Kathryn direct at 702-348-7191 to schedule a short sale consultation today.
