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	<title>Move Massachusetts Realty</title>
	<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com</link>
	<description>Helping you make the right move.</description>
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		<title>July 2010: Mass Home Sales Plunge 26%</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;For the first time this year, sales of Massachusetts single-family homes declined in July, posting a 26 percent decrease from July 2009, according to the latest report by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker &#038; Tradesman.
Single-family home sales dropped 26.15 percent in July, reversing a trend of 12 straight months of increases. A total of 3,668 single-family homes sold in July, down from 4,967 a year earlier. This is the fewest number of sales in the month of July since 1990. In the first five months prior to July, sales ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com/2010/08/july-2010-mass-home-sales-plunge-26/</link>
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		<title>Home Buyer’s Rebate Program: Buying a Home Became a Little Less Expensive</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Your Refund: Usually $1,000+
For home purchases $300,000 and up, Move Massachusetts only retains $5,000 of our commission and gives you, the buyer, the rest.

In this example:

You pay $350,000 for a house.
The total commission for seller &#38; buyer agents is typically 5% (2.5% each), so the seller’s agent gets $8,750, and Move Massachusetts gets $8,750.
Move Massachusetts credits you $3,750.

For home purchases less than $300,000, our buyers still receive $500. This amount often covers the cost of your home inspection, real estate attorney, or that table that would go great in your ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com/2010/08/home-buyers-rebate/</link>
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		<title>myFico webinar: Credit in Today’s Climate</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This myFICO webinar “describes some of the fundamentals of FICO® scores and then takes a closer look at some topics pertinent to today’s credit climate… Ethan Dornhelm, a FICO scoring expert shed light on questions like “How do you get the highest FICO scores?” and “How do foreclosures affect your FICO score?”. The myFICO® panel then spent about 15 minutes fielding questions from the audience.”

]]></description>
		<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com/2010/06/myficowebinar-credit/</link>
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		<title>Home Prices Defying Law of Economics</title>
		<description><![CDATA[An article in the New York Times, “Why Home Prices Keep Falling,” describes the plight of U.S. home prices and the expectation that they will continue to fall through 2010, maybe even 2011.
“Even the federal government has projected price decreases through 2010. As a baseline, the stress tests recently performed on big banks included a total fall in housing prices of 41 percent from 2006 through 2010. Their “more adverse” forecast projected a drop of 48 percent — suggesting that important housing ratios, like price to rent, and price to ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com/2010/06/home-prices-defying-law-of-economics/</link>
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		<title>Consumer’s Guide to Lock-In Mortgage Rates</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s important to know your rights. In this blog, I provide excerpts from the Consumer’s Guide to Mortgage Lock-Ins, which is published by HSH Associations.
About this Guide…
“The Federal Reserve Board and the Office of Thrift Supervision prepared this booklet on mortgage lock-ins in response to a request from the House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs and in consultation with many other agencies and trade and consumer groups. It is designed to help consumers understand an important aspect of home financing.”
What is a Lock-In?
“A lock-in, also called a rate-lock ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com/2009/06/consumer%e2%80%99s-guide-to-lock-in-mortgage-rates/</link>
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		<title>Condo vs Co-Op</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I don’t come across many buyers looking to buy a co-op but there are a few on the market. In this post, I reference Bankrate’s “Condo or Co-Op? What’s the difference?” for the comparison.
Both condos and co-ops are considered “common interest developments.” A common interest development is a housing development in which their are individual ownership of units with the right to use/share common space.
In a…

 Condo, “each unit owner owns an individual apartment in fee simple. In addition, the buyer owns an undivided interest in the common elements such ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com/2009/06/condo-vs-co-op/</link>
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		<title>Say Yes to Foreclosure in this Economy (?)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I don’t agree but economist Christopher Thornberg thinks so. As quoted in the Mortgage Insider, he says:
“I argue… that foreclosures are good for the economy. If someone stops paying their over-sized mortgage on a deeply underwater house they have a lot more money to spend on things like iPods and clothes. So in a sense all these foreclosures are probably one of the things stabilizing consumer spending. That’s far more important to the economy than whether people pay off their mortgages.”
He continues…
“The financial meltdown is done… and what you call ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com/2009/06/say-yes-to-foreclosure-in-this-economy/</link>
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		<title>Tips for buying a Foreclosed Property</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Buying a foreclosed property is easier said than done. Similar to short sales, buying foreclosed properties often require patience, perseverance, and an eye to discern a diamond in the rough.
CNN.com presents 9 Tips for Buying a Foreclosed Home. Most of the tips are common sense, such as conduct a home inspection, consider the neighbor, and see the home for yourself. However, the article did provide some key takeaways such as…

Budget carefully. Yes, whether you are purchasing your first home, second home, pre-foreclosure, not-a-foreclosure property, you should budget carefully. But most ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com/2009/05/tips-for-buying-a-foreclosed-property/</link>
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		<title>FHA Appraisal Requirements</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Most first-time home buyers seek an FHA-insured loan when purchasing their home. A few weeks ago, I blogged about Understanding FHA Insured Loans in which I mentioned very briefly the minimum property requirements necessary to be approved for the loan.
Below you will find excerpts from HUD Mortgagee Letter 2005-ML-48 regarding repair and inspection requirements, which I hope would be helpful to buyers as they consider potential properties.
“FHA Repair Requirements: Below are examples of minor property conditions that no longer require automatic repair for existing properties include, but are not limited ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com/2009/05/fha-appraisal-requirements/</link>
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		<title>Understanding FHA Insured loans</title>
		<description><![CDATA[To correct a common misnomer, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) does not make loans, it insures loans. This means that lenders are exposed to less risk when approving FHA insured loans for borrowers. For example, if the borrower stops payments on the loan, the lender can file a claim with FHA to recover some or all of the money.
Typically, FHA insured loans are attractive to first-time home buyers. For starters, they help make home ownership more attainable. They require only 3.5% down, of which up to 50% can be gifted ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.movemassrealty.com/2009/05/understanding-fha-insured-loans/</link>
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