Foreclosure Laws for Dummies

When I was looking for the foreclosure laws in my home state of tonight I stumbled accross Foreclosures.com which has a handy list that summarizes the foreclosure laws and procedure for each state. Might be helpful for any of you out there looking to snap up a property or two that has been a victim of the subprime fallout. You can check out some of my old posts about where the hottest areas for subprime are, the subprime fallout, and why the lenders aren't to blame this time, but people shouldn't feel sorry for them either.

Links:
Foreclosures.com

Hottest and Coldest Real Estate Markets

Now that subprime has left the front pages of the newspapers, media outlets everywhere are looking for the new "it" thing to worry about. With inflation always a concern it seems that housing and inflation are going back and forth as the things that CNBC sound the alarms about most frequently. So what markets are on fire and which are making sellers nervous?

According to Yahoo Finance the best buyer's markets are:

1. Tampa, FL
2. Minneapolis, MN
3. Miami, FL
4. Kansas City, MO
5. Chicago, IL
6. Phoenix, AZ
7. San Diego, CA
8. Milwaukee, WI
9. New York, NY
10. Atlanta, GA

The best seller's markets are:

1. Raleigh, NC
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Austin, TX
4. San Antonio, TX
5. St. Louis, MO
6. Houston, TX
7. Portland, OR
8. Dallas, TX
9. Denver, CO
10. Baltimore, MD

Links
Yahoo! Finance Top Real Estate Markets
Flickr ericskiff

Home Improvements with the Most Bang for the Buck

If you are fortunate unfortunate enough to have a mortgage and you aren't certain this house will be the one you grow old and retire in, you may want to know which home improvements will translate into a higher sales price (ie ROI=Return On Investment. Let me tell you, you're in luck. I stumbled across a list earlier today and will include it below.

Based on a article in remodeling magazine (yeah I have never heard of it either so take the numbers below as an article of faith):

1. Minor Kitchen Remodel 88% (ROI) $8,655 (Avg Cost)*
   
2. Second-Story Addition 83% (ROI) $73,553 (Avg Cost)
   
3. Bathroom Remodel 81% (ROI) $9,135 (Avg Cost)
   
4. Bathroom Addition 81% (ROI) $13,918 (Avg Cost)
5. Family Room Addition 75% (ROI) $30,960 (Avg Cost)
6. Major Kitchen Remodel 71% (ROI) $31,090 (Avg Cost)
7. Deck 55% (ROI) $8,022 (Avg Cost)

Note: Return on investment figures are based on one year ROI.
Link to source here.