A look at the value Realtors® bring to complicated transactions like short sales and forclosures.

Check out the June column on this page for tips for preparing your house for sale. Additional resources are available here.

For those homeowners who are contemplating a foreclosure situation, we have good news for you. The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) Program went into effect on April 5th. HAFA is designed primarily for homeowners who are unable to stay in their home even after getting their loan modified through the original homeowner aid effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

If you’re thinking about putting your home up for sale, it can feel as if your previously perfect home is full of gigantic flaws that are jumping up and down and screaming for attention. You’ve learned to live with the outdated kitchen cabinets, the range with one broken burner, the bathroom faucet that leaks, and the toilet that makes mysterious groaning noises. But in today’s market, in order to successfully compete with other homes, sellers may need to put in some TLC to get their home up to par. A few thousand dollars in repairs may make several thousand dollars difference in the sale price of a home.

Are you tired of the downstairs neighbor who plays his heavy metal music day and night? Are the plain white walls and beige carpeting boring you to tears? Do you wait with baited breath when your lease is up to find out if the landlord is going to raise your rent—again?

Doing your 2010 taxes could actually be fun. Yes, I did just use the words “taxes” and “fun” in the same sentence. That’s because if you buy a home this year, there are two tax credits that can result in a big check from Uncle Sam when you submit your 2010 taxes.

Now that 2010 has officially arrived, here at Real Estate Insider we’re working on our annual “to-do” list: visit with the CPA to make the most of tax savings, schedule our annual physical, visit the dentist at least twice (ugh!), and call our Realtor® for an annual consultation.

What’s your New Year’s resolution? Maybe it’s to finally take that step to owning your first home. Or, if you’re like Real Estate Insider, perhaps you already own your own home, but the new baby toys are taking up every spare inch, making you dream of a new house with a few more rooms.

The word is out that it is a “down” housing market, or a buyer’s market. So why should you seemingly go against the flow and sell your house?

Real Estate Insider has good news to report about the local housing market. Yes, you heard us correctly: good news! According to statistics compiled by the Regional Multiple Listing Service in their September Market Action report, pending sales in the Portland metropolitan area are up 17.5% from third quarter 2008. Closed sales are up 6.5% from third quarter 2008, and are at their highest level since the third quarter of 2007.

Now is the perfect time to start researching your home purchase. If you're a first time homebuyer, you have just a few months left to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, which is only available through December 1st.

“Find great deals on homes, 30% to 50% below market!” You may have seen signs advertising foreclosed homes plastered on telephone poles or around your neighborhood. Not to mention, foreclosures are a hot topic in the news. You may find yourself tempted to buy a foreclosed home—after all, who wouldn't want to get a great discount on what is, for most of us, the biggest purchase of our lives?

Realtors® are not solely focused on helping people find the homes of their dreams. Many have made giving back and improving the community that they live, work, and play in an integral part of their life.

Surveys show that many homeowners and homebuyers are not aware of the true value a Realtor provides during the course of a real estate transaction.