Amazing Property

‘First-Time Buyer’ Season 2 Out Now | Realtor Magazine Internet Explorer does not currently support REALTOR® Magazine search. IE users, please download Firefox, Chrome, or Edge. The second season of “First-Time Buyer,” which shows REALTORS® guiding their clients on their home buyer journey, is now available to stream on Hulu. The show is produced by the National Association of REALTORS®. The eight-episode season follows a different couple, family, or individual through the process of buying a home. “‘First-Time Buyer’ gives viewers a genuine inside look into the emotions our clients face as they go through the homebuying process,” says Leslie Rouda Smith, NAR’s president. “This series does a fantastic job of showing how REALTORS® help their clients navigate all the challenges that can pop up during a transaction to ensure a successful and secure first home purchase....

The perfect combination of a lush green lifestyle mixed with vibrant inner north culture is possible – you just need to know where to look.   Green spaces are vital for health and wellbeing and Melburnians experienced these benefits first hand during the pandemic lockdowns. Parks and gardens were more popular than ever for exercise, picnics and relaxation. It’s no wonder that buyers are placing access to green space at the top of their priorities list when looking for a new home. “Green spaces are increasingly important to buyers and they’re seriously considering that lifestyle element,” says Anne Flaherty, economist at realestate.com.au. “Plus, more people now have ‘COVID puppies’, adding to the necessity of being near parks.” Moonee Valley Park is a multi-year stage project from joint venture partners Hamton, Moonee Valley Racing Club and Hostplus. However, with cultural life back with a bang, buyers are also wanting to b...

At its most basic level financing a rental property is not much different than a primary residence as it relates to income, assets, credit and the like. Financing programs for rental properties will require more down payment and higher rates. Why? Because when someone finds themselves headed into some degree of financial stress, the last thing they want to give up is their primary residence.  When push comes to shove, the rental properties will be off-loaded first, securing the primary residence as a place to live. Financing the first requires more documentation, but after that, financing a second and third rental is easy-peasy in comparison. With an initial rental, buyers must be able to comfortably afford the new purchase along with their current mortgage. Lenders use the mortgage payment on the new property which includes principal and interest, taxes and insurance in addition to what they’re currently paying on their current home. That might sound a bit unfair ...

• ‘We cannot enforce monthly rent collection on landlords’ As debate rages over monthly rent payment, Lagos authorities have explained that it committed N5 billion into the monthly house rent scheme to ease the burden of yearly payment on residents. The state government said the initiative is part of the resilience policy of the current administration, which was agreed after a rental survey that found out that 88 per cent of tenants would rather pay their rent monthly. “We had to pursue this by working with different relevant stakeholders and we now have a model that will work and enable Lagosians pay their rent monthly. Landlords have nothing to lose because they will continue to receive their rent yearly and their default risk is zero,” according to the Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo. Olowo disclosed this at the closing ceremony of the second edition of Lagos Real Estate Market Place Conference and Exhibition which held at the Expo Hall, Eko H...

The Lagos State Government has increased the stock of decent homes, with the delivery of 480 homes in Ibeshe Road, Igbogbo – Baiyeku LCDA of Ikorodu. Officials said the scheme would reduce the housing deficit and provide conducive environments for family and communal living in all parts of the state. The LagosHoms Ibeshe scheme is a product of the Ministry of Housing and supervised by the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC). “The teamwork resulted in an architectural showpiece of modern homes delivered in a beautiful, serene and well-planned environment, according to the Managing Director, LSDPC, Ayodeji Joseph. The scheme sits on a land area of 15 hectares and consists of 40 blocks (480 homes) of one, two, and three bedrooms apartments. The units come with a fully fitted kitchen, store and a guest’s toilet. The estate has ample car parks, a water treatment plant, overhead water tanks, a borehole, a pump house, a central sewage system, seven trans...

Mortgage Rates Remain Stable—For Now | Realtor Magazine Internet Explorer does not currently support REALTOR® Magazine search. IE users, please download Firefox, Chrome, or Edge. Mortgage rates held steady this week as the world awaits more information about the severity of the omicron variant of COVID-19 and ongoing supply chain issues. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.11%, Freddie Mac reports. “Mortgage rates continue to remain stable notwithstanding volatility in the financial markets,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The consistency of rates in the face of changes in the economy is primarily due to the evolution of the pandemic, which lingers and continues to pose uncertainty. This low mortgage rate environment offers favorable conditions for refinancing.” Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Dec. 2: 30-year fixed-rate mortga...

Most of us would love to make a seachange but moving to the coast often comes with a hefty price tag, right? Well, not necessarily. There are still a number of beachside locales where folks can move to the coast for less than $650,000. Looking at data from realestate.com.au , we’ve dug out some beachside suburbs with a median house price under $650k*. The Busselton region, WA Western Australia is known for its picturesque aqua coastline and the Busselton region is no exception. This three-bedroom home in Geographe is one street back from the beach and only $430k. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy Several areas in the region have a median house price under $650k, including: West Busselton ($475,000) Busselton ($490,000) Geographe ($500,000) Broadwater ($515,000) Abbey ($600,000) Busselton and its surrounds have a few cultural perks, including decent bars, restaurants, cafes and galleries. Most importantly, the region is accessible by plane (it has an airport) and you’re a stone...

The holidays mean one thing is on every property manager’s mind: managing the package delivery chaos. UPS estimated it delivered 800 million packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2018 and that number is sure to rise this year. For the week of December 2 alone this year, Package Concierge had over 716,000 package transactions - that’s a 42% increase from the week prior. As more and more Americans do their retail shopping online, multifamily properties will need solutions that can help manage the madness during the holidays and beyond. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by holiday package management, but with a little advanced planning and the addition of the ever-increasing available property technology, managers can face the busy season head-on. With the busiest shipping season of the year in full force, here are a few tips to help property managers prepare: 1. Supplement Staffing With fewer shipping days in the 2019 holiday season, be prepared to efficiently ha...

Mr. Muyiwa Adelu is the new president of Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON). He spoke to VICTOR GBONEGUN on the urgency to review and implement urban, regional planning law of 2004 in states, as well as on issues relating to housing Industry experts recently urged a review and implementation of the Nigerian urban and regional planning law of 2004 and its domestication in states in line with the peculiarities of individual states. Do you think the review is necessary? What would be the benefits of domesticating the law in states?  The review is necessary because we are talking about 2004 till date, which is almost 20 years and a lot of things have changed in Nigeria. Definitely, the law has to change.  We need to give kudos to states like Lagos that have been on top of the matter; with so many laws and currently operating the 2015 law, with which we have a regulation of 2019. I know few other states have also followed suit like Osun, Edo and Ond...

The recent surge in insecurity across major cities is inducing preference and demand for gated communities. The development has created opportunities to reduce vacancy rate and open up further investment opportunities to private developers in Lagos, Abuja, Onitsha, Ekiti, Kaduna, Ondo, Zamfara, Imo, Anambra, Lagos and other cities. Gated communities are residential housing estates with strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, automobiles and often characterised by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. The structures usually consist, small residential streets and include various shared amenities that may include a park or other common area. For larger communities, it may be possible for residents to stay within the community for most daily activities. And homes in gated communities do tend to fetch higher sale prices than similar homes in nearby non-gated communities. The Guardian investigations revealed that living in outskirts have become security risk and force many resident...

The 15 Hottest Housing Markets Right Now | Realtor Magazine Internet Explorer does not currently support REALTOR® Magazine search. IE users, please download Firefox, Chrome, or Edge. As home buyers continue their searches in an active and competitive fall season, the nation’s top-performing markets in October are all affordable alternatives to their nearby big-city counterparts. Topping realtor.com®’s October list was Manchester, N.H., about an hour northwest of Boston. Homes in Manchester are selling in under 24 days—about 21 days faster than the overall housing market. Properties there are receiving about 2.8 times as many views on realtor.com®. “Affordability and strong local economies remain very much top-of-mind for today’s buyers,” says George Ratiu, manager of economic research at realtor.com®. “With home prices reaching record levels this year, many buyers are still finding themsel...

If you’re an existing home owner looking to buy a new home, here’s some tips to help you avoid unexpected challenges that may arise.  We asked realestate.com.au readers to tell us what hurdles they encountered when buying a second (or third, or fourth… you get the picture) home. We then put your questions to a Westpac finance expert to help provide some expertise on financing and buying your next home. Allow us to demystify some of your burning questions: 1. Getting started In any project, starting out can be the biggest hurdle of all. According to Lali Wiratunga, financial expert at Westpac’s Davidson Institute, the first thing you need is a good understanding of your financial situation to figure out how much you could spend on your next property. How do you get that ballpark figure? Start a conversation with your lender. “A good place to start when thinking about your next home is to consider your financial position – how much equity have you ...