ND’s per-capita income grows 78 percent, a dozen years bring prosperity to the Peace Garden state

FARGO — Thanks to strong growth in the agriculture and mining industries, particularly oil and gas production. North Dakota’s per-capita personal income has risen more than 78 percent since 2000, according to statistics released Friday by the federal government and the state Department of Commerce.  That’s more than double the 37.4 percent increase in per-capita income seen nationally, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported.

Per-capita personal income in North Dakota in 2011 was $45,747, an increase of $20,155 since 2000, when per-capital personal income was $25,592, the BEA reported. “We are very pleased and proud that North Dakota, in the last 10 years, has gone from 38th in the nation to ninth in the nation in personal incomes,” Gov. Jack Dalrymple said in a news release. “That’s the proof our policies for economic growth are working.”  All of North Dakota’s industries have seen growth in the last decade, said Justin Dever, manager of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the state Department of Commerce.  But it’s the oil and gas sectors of the mining industry and agriculture that have really pulled the wagon for the rest of the state, he said.

Rates at Record Lows - Market Like This: Theres NO better time than NOW to buy a home!!

Buying a home won't get much cheaper

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Buying a home may never get any cheaper than this. Several housing experts are predicting that this year will be the last chance for bargain hunters to cash in on the best deals of the weak housing market.

With home prices down 34% nationally since 2006 and mortgage rates at historic lows, homes have never been more affordable -- but it won't stay this way for much longer. Stuart Hoffman, chief economist for PNC Financial Services (PNC, Fortune 500), said he expects home prices to flatten out by the third quarter and start climbing by next year. A number of factors will help bolster the housing market, he said, including a decline in the number of foreclosures and continued job growth. In addition, homebuyers will have better access to mortgages as they get their finances in order and improve their credit scores.

Some economists, like Trulia's Jed Kolko, expect home prices to pick up even more quickly. Trulia's data shows that the national average for asking prices already increased 1.4% in the first quarter of 2012, compared with the last three months of 2011.

Mortgage payments at lowest level in decades

North Dakota is One of the 5 States With the Lowest Foreclosure Rates

Annual Rate of Residential Property Foreclosures in the US is Falling

Since the start of the financial crisis in September 2008 there have been 3.5 million residential property foreclosures in the United States, according to the latest data from analytics company CoreLogic.

Overall there were 69,000 completed foreclosures in March 2012 compared to 85,000 in March 2011 and 66,000 in February 2012. The largest improvement in the last 12 months has been in the states of Nevada and Arizona.

In the first quarter of 2012, there were 198,000 completed foreclosures compared to 232,000 in the first three months of 2011, the data also shows.

Home Staging for Guys! Yes GUYS!

I mentioned "home staging" to a single dad who asked about selling his home this spring. The rest of the men in the group looked at me as if I were from Mars.

"That's great for the high rollers - the white wine and brie set," one of them said. "But what about people who serve hamburgers and beer and not watercress sandwiches?"

Home staging is not reserved for the rich - or for creative women. In fact, cleaning and clearing clutter are the two primary items on most Staging Tips for any market. And, guys, it doesn't take a genius woman to help you through the other tips on the list.

Stunned Home Buyers Find the Bidding Wars Are Back

A new development is catching home buyers off guard as the spring sales season gets under way: Bidding wars are back.

From California to Florida, many buyers are increasingly competing for the same house. Unlike the bidding wars that typified the go-go years and largely reflected surging sales, today's are a result of supply shortages.

"It's a little surprising because we thought bidding wars were done with," said Andy Aley, who is looking to buy his first home in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood. The 31-year-old attorney was outbid this year when he offered up to $23,000 above the $357,000 listing price and agreed to waive inspections and other closing conditions.

Contact Us!

What are Bridge Loans?

Bridge loans are gaining in popularity. When a home buyer is buying another home before selling an existing home, two common ways to find the down payment for the move-up home is through financing either a bridge loan or a home equity loan (or home equity line of credit). Generally, a home equity loan is less expensive, but bridge loans contain more benefits for some borrowers. In addition, many lenders will not lend on a home equity loan if the home is on the market. Smart borrowers will compare the benefits between the two loans to determine which is a better fit for their particular situation and plan ahead before making an offer to purchase another home.

What Are Bridge Loans?

Bridge loans are temporary loans that bridge the gap between the sales price of a new home and a home buyer's new mortgage, in the event the buyer's home has not yet sold. The bridge loan is secured to the buyer's existing home. The funds from the bridge loan are then used as a down payment on the move-up home.

How Do Bridge Loans Work?

Map Home Search

Low-ball offers decline in some housing markets

WASHINGTON — It's not something that economists routinely track, but it provides a rough sense of what's happening in local real estate markets. Call it the low-ball index.

A year ago, according to researchers at the National Assn. of Realtors, 1 out of 10 members surveyed in a monthly poll complained about low-ball offers on houses listed for sale. In the latest survey — conducted during March among a sample of 4,500 agents and brokers across the country and not yet released — there were hardly any. Instead, the focus of volunteered comments has shifted to declining inventory levels — fewer houses available to sell — and multiple offers on well-priced listings.

6 Painting Tips for Freshening Up Exteriors

Springtime is the best time to give a home a fresh coat of paint, according to the Paint Quality Institute. “By painting in moderate weather, you’ll likely get a longer-lasting paint job,” says Debbie Zimmer, paint and color expert for the Paint Quality Institute. Zimmer says that exterior painting is best to do when temperatures are above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but not when it gets too hot. “Very hot days can cause the paint to dry too quickly and impair good paint film formation,” she notes.

Some more tips for exterior painting:

1. Paint in the shade and avoid painting in direct sunshine. Sunlit surfaces can be 10 to 20 degrees hotter than the air temperature.

Mortgage Statements to Get Consumer-Friendly Makeover

Consumer Bureau to Crack Down on Mortgage Servicers

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday that it's considering new rules aimed at mortgage servicers to help protect consumers against "costly surprises."

The bureau's new rules will require servicers to issue mortgage statements that are more clear, as well as better disclosures about any fees or changes in a loan's interest rate.

Housing Crisis to End in 2012 as Banks Loosen Credit Standards

Capital Economics expects the housing crisis to end this year, according to a report released Tuesday. One of the reasons: loosening credit.

The analytics firm notes the average credit score required to attain a mortgage loan is 700. While this is higher than scores required prior to the crisis, it is constant with requirements one year ago.

Additionally, a Fed Senior Loan Officer Survey found credit requirements in the fourth quarter were consistent with the past three quarters. However, other market indicators point not just to a stabilization of mortgage lending standards, but also a loosening of credit availability.

Banks are now lending amounts up to 3.5 times borrower earnings.  Read more...

Bidding Wars Are Back, Agents Say

Some real estate markets are reporting that home buyers are having to pay more than asking price to get the home they desire, as the supply of for-sale homes has shrunk, Bloomberg News reports.

Bidding wars were a common part of real estate in 2006. But when the market turned from a “seller’s market” to “buyer’s market,” more sellers started seeing lowball bids than high bids. Now times are slowly changing, and bidding wars are being reported in several markets, such as in Seattle, Boston, Silicon Valley, Miami, and Washington, D.C., Bloomberg reports.

10 Home Staging Tips to Make Your Listing Look like a Model Home

What is it about Model homes that make them so appealing? Is it the freshness of all new; is it the sassy paint colors, the perfectly placed furniture, art and accessories or the beautiful groomed backyard that makes you want to plop right down on that comfy club chair? Well…. Yes to all the above. A builder hold hosts to an array of skilled professionals to make that Model beautiful. From blue print to drawer pulls that Model home is meticulously planned.

White House approves Fargo-area diversion project

North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad says the White House has approved the plan for a Red River diversion project around Fargo and Moorhead, Minn. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed the flood control project, which is currently estimated to cost about $2 billion.

Conrad says the White House's Office of Management and Budget determined that the plan is "consistent with the policies and programs of the president." The plan still needs approval from Congress.

More Americans Pay Car Loans Before Mortgages

Americans are prioritizing their debt payments by opting to pay their car loans before mortgages and credit cards, according to an analysis by credit reporting bureau TransUnion.  TransUnion analyzed the payment patterns of 4 million consumers who had at least one car loan, bank card, and mortgage payment.

"With unemployment remaining high and real estate values remaining stagnant or further depreciating, consumers continued to pay their credit cards ahead of their mortgages,” says Ezra Becker, vice president of research and consulting in TransUnion’s financial services unit. “However, the importance of their auto loans appears to have trumped even the value they place on their credit cards."  TransUnion found in its analysis: Read More Here: More Americans Pay Car Loans Before Mortgages

Real Estate Ads ‘Hijacked’ Online in Scams

Scammers are increasingly taking actual online listing ads of homes for sale from real estate agents’ sites and reposting them on sites such as CraigsList as rentals, duping a growing number of renters.

Tug Pierson, a RE/MAX real estate professional in Indiana, says he learned of one of his for-sale listings being used in a rental scam, reposted online several times throughout the Internet. Another real estate agent, whose listing was also reposted as a rental, says he learned of it when an unsuspecting renter contacted him to say he was at the house with a truck of furniture ready to move in.

If you're putting your house on the market, a few things you should know

If you hope to sell your house, March is a great time to start getting it ready to show to potential buyers. You need to make sure that your home is ready to show flawlessly, so that it can stand out among all the houses on the market. In the real estate market, first impressions are tremendously important to potential buyers, many buyers and sellers are doing their homework. Now more than ever, it takes a lot to get a potential buyer to walk into your home with an agent, and you cannot afford to make a bad first impression. Buyers today are not looking to purchase houses that carry an immediate to-do list.

There are five key factors in a home that can impact a sale. Think of the letters H-O-U-S-E:
H - House vs. home:
O - Odor and cleanliness:
U - Updated and fresh:
S - Space and flow:
E - Emotion:

Click for details here!

30-Year Mortgage Rates Edge Above 4%

Mortgage rates moved up quite a bit this week, following higher bond yields and improving economic data, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

"Mortgage rates are catching up with increases in U.S. Treasury bond yields, placing the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate above 4 percent for the first time since the end of October 2011,” says Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Bond yields rose over the past two weeks in part due to an improving assessment of the state of the economy by the Federal Reserve, better than expected results of commercial bank stress tests, and the likelihood of a second bailout for Greece.”

The 30-year mortgage rate, the most popular choice of home buyers, took a big leap upward, after hovering below 4 percent and sitting at all-time record lows for weeks. Here’s a closer look at rates for the week ending March 22: