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

REALTORS: Fast-Track Marketing Independence Day Special

iPro Real Estate was founded on the idea of building a better living with champion service. We focus on incorporating and mastering the latest technologies and procedures keeping you above the crowd. Our team of professionals set a stronger standard of business, abide by a strict code of ethics and give superior service.AGENT PROFILEAll the great benefits are conveniently accessible in the online agent profile system.TRANSACTION MGMT New and impr

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30 Cities Where Water Costs Have Soared

A new survey of 30 large cities in the United States shows that the cost of water utilities has risen by up to 150 percent over the last seven years.The data from Circle of Blue, a group of journalists and scientists tracking water issues, shows that in some cities, a family of four using 12,000 gallons a month—which is considered average household use—could pay up to $154 per month.That was the rate for Santa Fe, N.M., with San Francisco com

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Contract Signings Pull Back on Supply Woes

Ongoing inventory shortages are propelling home prices higher, causing pending home sales to slump for the third consecutive month, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday. None of the major regions of the U.S. saw an increase in contract activity in May.NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, dropped 0.8 percent to a reading of 108.5 in May. The index is 1.7 percent below a year

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Wealthy Buyers Back Off Mortgage Demand

Mortgage rates are hovering at a six-month low, yet mortgage demand is decreasing. And high-end buyers are taking the lion's share of the blame.Total mortgage application activity for refinancings and home purchases plunged 6.2 percent last week on a week-over-week seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. The index is now 17 percent below where it was a year ago.Broken out, home purchase applications dropped

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5 First-Year Mistakes New Owners Make

Homeowners can make a lot of mistakes during that first year in homeownership, especially when eagerness can sometimes lead to ignorance. HouseLogic recently featured several of the most common and costly missteps homeowners most often make in their first year, including:1. Always going with the lowest bid.Homeowners may be smart about gathering multiple bids when, say, that HVAC system needs repairs. But they may be tempted to always go with the

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Convicted Rapist Targeted Real Estate Agents

A Pennsylvania judge has upheld the sentence of a 33-year-old man who was convicted of attempted rape charges stemming from 2013 and who had been appealing the sentence.Frank Yeager was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. In an appeal, he contended that his lawyer did not question whether his confession was legal. But a judge for the Superior Court upheld his sentence and portrayed Yeager as "a dangerous, full-blown psychopath," according to n

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Millions of Owners Are Missing Out on Savings

Nearly 4.5 million borrowers are eligible to refinance and could lock in savings on their monthly mortgage payments but have not taken advantage, according to a new report from Black Knight Financial Services.The average borrower stands to save $260 a month. Nearly 700,000 borrowers could save $400 or more per month, the report shows.“The recent pause in the upward movement of interest rates continues to encourage late-to-the-game borrowers to

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Spike in Renters Looking to Buy

A surge of renters are ready to make the leap into homeownership. According to a new TransUnion analysis on the U.S. rental market, 55 percent of those who actively shopped for a mortgage in the first quarter of 2017 were non-homeowners and primarily renters. This is up from 50 percent in the first quarter of 2016 and 45 percent in the first quarter of 2015.“The rental market has seen sustained growth for the last several years, but occupancy r

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Listings Are 3-D in YouTube Virtual Reality

YouTube released a new virtual reality video format called VR180 that could pave the way for the future of viewing property listings. The VR format uses 180-degree video but in stereoscopic 3-D—the picture appears wider than normal while providing more depth and height. If a client using this VR format turns around, however, they’ll just see black instead of the continuous imagery found in 360-degree virtual reality.“There’s no ne

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Air in Green Homes May Be A Health Risk

Energy-efficient homes built too tightly have building experts warning about the potential health impact on owners. A home sealed efficiently can be great for reducing heating and cooling costs and managing its environmental impact. But the home itself still needs to breathe, some experts warn.“Many homeowners are now having trouble with their more tightly built houses because the homes lack the ventilation necessary to get the stale insi

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