Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips - iPro Real Estate

Commercial Agents See 11% Jump in Income

Real estate pros specializing in commercial real estate are seeing an increase in gross income and sales volume, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2017 Commercial Member Profile, released Wednesday.The median gross annual income for 2016 was $120,900, an 11 percent increase from the $108,800 income reported in 2015, according to the report, based on a survey of nearly 2,000 NAR members who conduct all or part of their busine

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Corporations Flee Suburbs, Head Downtown

More companies are abandoning massive office parks in the suburbs and heading back to once-abandoned office space in urban centers. They’re making the move in an attempt to appeal to millennial employees. But some developers and community planners are worried about what will happen to less densely populated areas if the trend continues.Over the last half-century, employment has shifted from city to suburb and now back to the city, according to

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Stagnant Mortgage Rates Stall Loan Demand

Total mortgage application activity for home buying and refinancing continued to edge down last week, dropping 2.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Mortgage volume is now 22 percent lower compared to the same week a year ago.Mortgage rates are hovering around their lowest levels in five weeks, which means home shoppers may not be feeling the same pressure to lock in before an increase. H

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Housing Responding to Multigen Trend

More generations are sharing a roof as a growing number of adult children move back in with their parents and aging parents move in with their grown children. Nearly one in five Americans are now living in a multigenerational household (defined as a home with two or more adult generations or grandparents living with grandchildren).The number of multigenerational households in the U.S. has bloomed to the highest level since 1950. About 60.6 millio

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REALTORS: Relationships, Marketing Key to Satisfaction

If you want more satisfied customers, make sure you devote a lot of time to carving out a relationship with your buyers and that you amp up your marketing on behalf of sellers, according to the 2017 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study from J.D. Power. Researchers found that an agent’s rapport with a buyer is the most important factor in determining customer satisfaction, while sellers focus on the marketing of their home to gauge agent supp

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Builder Uses VR to Show Kitchen Design Options

Toll Brothers Inc., a luxury-home builder, is piloting a new tool in a few select markets that allows buyers to use virtual reality to better envision design selections in their new home’s kitchen. They can then easily swap out countertops or cabinet colors and then view the changes in virtual reality.Kitchen 360 offers a 3-D view and floor plan visualizer so that buyers can take a realistic tour through their new kitchen.“When I used the new

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Private Investors Emerge as a Global Force

Private investors now comprise more than a quarter of all global commercial real estate transactions. Twenty-seven percent of all global commercial property transactions in 2016 involved a private buyer, according to a new report by Knight Frank.Further, economists “expect that the appetite from private investors for commercial real estate will continue to increase,” according to the report. Within the next two years, 32 percent of ultra-hig

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5 Questions to Ask a Home Inspector

Home buyers would be wise to interview a home inspector before they hire one. But what should they ask? Here are a few questions to consider.Read more: Do You Trust Home Inspectors?1. What do you check?A home inspector will look at everything from the roof to the foundation and in between, Frank Lesh, executive director of the American Society of Home Inspectors, told realtor.com®. But they are restricted to visual, general inspections. A speci

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Freddie Mac to Restrict 1% Down Mortgages

Mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac will begin this fall to tighten restrictions on low down payment mortgages that allow borrowers to only contribute 1 percent of the home’s purchase price. Borrowers will now be required to come up with at least 3 percent in order to then receive any contribution from a lender.Read more: Freddie Mac: Housing Is Still AffordableFreddie Mac and Fannie Mae started the low down payment offerings in 2014 by rolli

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Should Housing Fear a Price Correction?

Existing-home prices have jumped 6.5 percent from a year ago to a record high of $263,800 in June, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. It marks the 64th consecutive month for year-over-year price increases. The escalating prices are causing some to fear a price correction could be on the horizon.However, new research from JPMorgan finds that the risk of a dramatic decline in U.S. home prices is very low. JPMorgan culled historica

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