C21AGVoices

There are 138 million taxpayers in the United States and, according to the IRS, 20 percent of them file their taxes within 7 days of April 15.  In a holiday-shortened week, that means that 27 million people had better get a move on. And while a portion of this year’s last-minute filers will file with storefront operations […]

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With mortgage rates are hovering near all-time lows, lots of Americans are taking advantage of refinance and home buying opportunities. The downside of today’s unexpectedly-low rates, though, is that mortgage lenders are ill-equipped for the rush of new business. As a result, the process of underwriting and approving new mortgage applications is taking some conforming lenders as long as […]

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With the official start of Spring came the official start of Spring Cleaning Season nationwide. In some homes, Spring Cleaning is an annual ritual, tackled within one sweat-filled, rubber-gloved weekend.  In other homes, it’s a less serious endeavor. Either way, it helps to have a game plan. Courtesy of Martha Stewart’s website, the Spring Cleaning […]

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The national housing market got three pieces of good news in 3 days last week: Monday: Existing Home Sales up Tuesday: Home values appear higher nationally Wednesday: New Home Sales up And although national real estate statistics are irrelevant to the local markets in which real estate transactions happen, to a country of would-be and […]

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If you’re in want of a cash out refinance, the most liberal cash-out program in town is about to make qualification more difficult. Effective April 1, 2009, the FHA is reducing the maximum loan-to-value on cash-out refinances by 10 percent, dropping the loan size limit from 95% of the home’s value to 85%. In its […]

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In a tight economy, do-it-yourself home improvements projects not only save money, but may also justify a higher listing price for a soon-to-be home seller, and make the house stand out when buyers look at it. In the 4-minute video above, Sweat Equity host Amy Matthews talks with NBC’s Matt Lauer about affordable home upgrades […]

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For the fifth time in a year, rate shoppers learned an important lesson this week: When mortgage rates plummet unexpectedly, they often recover just as fast. Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s newest $750 billion mortgage market pledge helped to push conforming mortgage rates near their lowest levels since WWII. 24 hours later, however, those rates were […]

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If you’re not rotating your mattress every 3 months, you may be shortening its lifespan.  Constant nightly pressure can “wear out” the areas on which you sleep, creating in-bed divots and reducing your sleeping comfort. The ExpertVillage.com video above — “How To Flip a Mattress” — is pretty self-explanatory.  But there’s a few other steps […]

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Food-borne illness is three times more likely to occur at home than in a commercial kitchen.  It’s a fact that surprises a lot of people and one that experts attribute to a myriad of blunders including the improper storage of food, lack of cleanliness and unsafe food handling. As it turns out, keeping your fridge […]

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There’s a mixed message in February’s Housing Starts data and it may be a good sign for home sellers in the near-term. As reported by the government, new home construction rose by 22 percent last month.  The press is running with the headline number, calling it evidence of a market bottom. A more thorough inspection, however, […]

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