Expert Advice from Amy & Kyle Bergquist at Keller Williams Legacy Partners
This is our first foray into video posts here on the Greater Hartford Real Estate Blog. It’s something we’ve been considering for quite a while, but just haven’t pulled the trigger. Now is the time, and this is the first test video. We’re going to focus on tips or other thoughts, and keep them short (like a minute or two). Check it out – we would love to get feedback!
There was an interesting article in last week’s Wall Street Journal about the success a hedge fund is having in modifying mortgages and keeping homeowners in their homes. The point of the article was to highlight a successful private market example of mortgage modifications, in this case a distressed investment fund, as compared to the highly publicized Federal programs like the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). A key difference between the hedge fund’s strategy and
Mortgage rates are currently low. Very low. It’s common for well qualified buyers to get rates below 5%, and we’ve heard of some rates as low as 4.25% on 30-year fixed mortgages with no points. We even saw a sign by the road advertising a 3.99% rate, though it was not clear what the other terms would be. Here’s a chart from Mortgage-X.com showing rates going back to 1963, which is further than other charts
We see real estate stories about the smallest apartment, house, or whatever all the time. This one caught my eye because it shows an inspired use of a small space. Gary Chang, a Hong Kong designer, transformed his 360 sqft apartment into an incredibly functional space using rolling walls that appear to be inspired by the moveable stacks often seen at town records departments, and sometimes in libraries. It looks like he put everything that
ForbesWoman recently released a study identifying the “Best Cities for Working Mothers” in 2010. Hartford finished 7th out of the top 50 metropolitan regions in the country. The magazine ranked each city based on six factors: Women’s Income, Living Cost, Pediatricians, Unemployment, Violent Crimes, and Spending per Pupil. Their idea was to try to capture a variety of issues that all play into mysterious phrases like “quality of life” and “work-life balance.” Some may debate