Donna & Larry Johnson's (elbow3140) Blog

Good News Pause?       It is obvious based upon the numbers we have seen in the past month that the economic recovery is not getting stronger. This does not mean that the economy will not heat up later this year, but at this time the recovery is remaining tepid to say the least. While many would ...

The World is Buying American  Individual foreign buyers are taking advantage of the market to snap up U.S. bargains at a record clip. According to the latest tally by the National Association of Realtors, foreign clients purchased $41 billion worth of stateside houses and apartments during the 12...

America Grows Confident Again  Americans' concerns over housing and the economy are subsiding, according to Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey from February. An improving job market is a big part of what's behind Americans feeling more confident about the housing market and the direction of the...

The Power of Dow      The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed over 13,000 in Mid-March while the S&P crossed the 1,400 level. We won't analyze each of these numbers, just suffice it to say that these are more than psychological barriers, they represent highs not seen since the start of the fisca...

Positive Growth? The Drawbacks We have been accused of being too optimistic in our projections. For example, last year when economists were calling for a double dip recession, we downplayed this threat. When analysts have pointed towards a housing market that will not recover for years, we pointe...

Housing's Future: Immigrants  Immigrants are expected to make up a large number of the future home buyers of America in the coming decades, according to a new report, "Assimilation Tomorrow: How America's Immigrants Will Integrate by 2030" by the Center for American Progress, authored by Dowel Me...

Progress on Foreclosures  The foreclosure crisis seems to be abating. The number of homes in foreclosure shrunk by 130,000, or 8.4%, in 2011, according to a report from CoreLogic, an economic research firm. There are dual reasons for the inventory drop, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist ...

Rents Continue to Rise  The apartment vacancy rate is at its lowest level since late 2001 as the rental market continues to soar, according to the latest fourth-quarter data by Reis Inc. As demand increases, the vacancy rate for apartments dropped in the fourth quarter to 5.2 percent compared to ...

The Importance of having a good Escrow Officer or Closing Attorney You must have a good Escrow Officer or Closing Attorney on your team who is well-trained and experienced specifically in closing Short Sales. Short Sales are unique transactions and it is imperative that you have someone closing t...

When you can and cannot get repairs covered for a Buyer Remember, in a Short Sale, you have a Seller with no money, a property with no equity, and a lender who is taking a loss on the sale. In a Short Sale, when the Buyer asks the Seller to pay for certain repairs to the property, the Buyer is re...