Here are trends developing in the residential real estate market:

• Higher-density housing — Urban areas offer people the opportunity to work, shop, and play right where they live. Market demand is growing substantially for housing in urban areas, particularly from young singles, childless couples, and seniors.
• A sense of community — Yankelovich, a national research firm that studies consumer trends, has identified what it describes as “hiving,” which it defines a peoples’ quest for a more meaningful sense of community through frequent social interaction and neighborhood involvement.
• Experiences — City residents want to be closely connected to community amenities. They want to be within walking distance of, or connected by transit to, recreation, culture, entertainment, and work.
• A simpler lifestyle — Empty nesters want a simpler lifestyle, as well as the children of empty nesters who don’t necessarily want to live in the type of suburban environment in which they grew up.
• Green living — Green will remain a strong trend, driving internal and external home components, according to builders. You’ll see more energy saving features such as radiant barrier roof decking and eco-friendly materials such as low VOC paint, which emits less of the fumes that can cause respiratory problems.
• Prices — Real estate industry experts expect financial and real estate markets in the United States to bottom in 2009 and then flounder for much of 2010, with ongoing drops in property values, more foreclosures and delinquencies, and a limping economy that will continue to crimp property cash flows, according to the Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2009 report from the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
• Get smaller — People realize they don’t need 3,000 square feet and four cars anymore. McMansion-style subdivisions in the suburbs will take a double whammy. Rising heating/cooling bills for expensive homes work against sellers already struggling to overcome resistance to car commuting expenses.

Sources: National Association of Home Builders and Urban Land Institute

Here are tips from the federal government to help you save up for a down payment:

Here are suggestions from the federal government for buying a home. See more recommendations at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development web site.

• Figure out how much you can afford — What you can afford depends on your income, credit rating, current monthly expenses, down payment and the interest rate. The calculators below can help, but it is best to visit a lender to find out for sure.
• Shop for a loan — Save money by doing your homework. Talk to several lenders, compare costs and interest rates, negotiate to get a better deal. Consider getting pre-approved for a loan.
• Shop for a home — If you choose a home in a neighborhood with a Home Owners Association (HOA), be sure to request a copy of the HOA packet, so you can review before closing.
• Make an offer — Discuss the process with your real estate agent. If the seller counters your offer, you may need to negotiate until you both agree to the terms of the sale.
• Get a home inspection — Make your offer contingent on a home inspection. An inspection will tell you about the condition of the home, and can help you avoid buying a home that needs major repairs.
• Shop for homeowners insurance — Lenders require that you have homeowners insurance. Be sure to shop around.
• Sign papers — You’re finally ready to go to “settlement” or “closing.” Be sure to read everything before you sign!

Here are tips from the federal government to help you save up for a down payment:

• Invest in Savings Accounts, Insured Money Market Accounts, and CDs — With these products, your money tends to be very safe because it’s federally insured, and you can easily get to your money if you need it for any reason. But there’s a tradeoff for security and ready availability. Your money earns a low interest rate compared with investments. In other words, it gets a low return.
• Stocks — Over the past 60 years, the investment that has provided the highest average rate of return has been stocks. But there are no guarantees of profits when you buy stock, which makes stock one of the most risky investments. If the company doesn’t do well or falls out of favor with investors, your stock can fall in price, and you could lose your money.
• Bonds — The company’s “promise to repay” your principal generally makes bonds less risky than stocks. But bonds can be risky. To assess how risky a bond is you can check the bond’s credit rating. Unlike stockholders, bond holders know how much money they will make, unless the company goes out of business. If the company goes out of business or declares bankruptcy, bondholders may lose money. But if there is any money left in the company, they will get it before stockholders. Bonds generally provide higher returns (with higher risk) than savings accounts, but lower returns (with lower risk) than stocks.
• Mutual Funds — Mutual fund risk is determined by the stocks and bonds in the fund. No mutual fund can guarantee its returns, and no mutual fund is risk-free.
• Manage Your Credit — Many adults—and plenty of students—have wallets filled with credit cards, some of which they’ve “maxed out” (meaning they’ve spent up to their credit limit). Credit cards can make it seem easy to buy expensive things when you don’t have the cash in your pocket—or in the bank. But credit cards aren’t free money. Most credit cards charge high interest rates—as much as 18 percent or more—if you don’t pay off your balance in full each month. If you owe money on your credit cards, the wisest thing you can do is pay off the balance in full as quickly as possible. Few investments will give you the high returns you’ll need to keep pace with an 18 percent interest charge. That’s why you’re better off reducing your credit card debt.
• Keep Trade-Offs and “Opportunity Cost” in Mind — Unless you’re lucky enough to have an unlimited amount of money, you’ll have to choose how you spend your money. That means you’ll have to make trade-offs and consider the “opportunity cost,” meaning what you give up by choosing one option over another. For example, let’s say you’ve got $100.00: If you put the money in an account that earns 5 percent interest, you’ll have $105.00 at the end of the year. If you spend it on new clothes, you won’t earn that extra $5.00, although you should still have the clothes. But if you wanted to sell them, they’d probably be worth less, especially if they’re used or out of style.

Other ways to gather a down payment:

• Gifts from family or friends — Family and friends can provide you with cash gifts that can become the basis for a down payment.
• Tax refunds — If you are fortunate to receive a tx refund, set aside the majority of your return towards your savings for a home.
• 401k — If you have a 401k or retirement plan, you may want to use those funds for a down payment on a house. But remember you have to pay back the loan plus interest.

The new appointments are:

Herb M. Allison, Jr., 65, has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Fannie Mae since September 2008. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Allison served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association — College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) from November 2002 to April 2008, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance for Lifelong Learning, a nonprofit distance-education company, from 2000 to 2002. Prior to that, Mr. Allison held several positions during his employment from 1971 to 1999 at Merrill Lynch & Co., including President and Chief Operating Officer from 1997 to 1999. Mr. Allison is a Director of Time Warner Inc. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Yale School of Management, and the Advisory Council of Stanford Business School.

Dennis R. Beresford, 70, has served as Ernst & Young Executive Professor of Accounting at the J.M. Tull School of Accounting, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia since 1997. From 1987 to 1997, Mr. Beresford served as Chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the designated organization in the private sector for establishing standards of financial accounting and reporting in the U.S. From 1961 to 1986, Mr. Beresford was with Ernst & Young LLP, including ten years as a Senior Partner and National Director of Accounting. In addition, Mr. Beresford served on the SEC Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting. Mr. Beresford is a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Kimberly-Clark Corporation and Legg Mason, Inc. He is a certified public accountant. Mr. Beresford has been a Fannie Mae Director since May 2006.

William Thomas Forrester, 60, served as Chief Financial Officer of The Progressive Corporation from 1999 until his retirement in March 2007, and served in a variety of senior financial and operating positions with Progressive prior to that time. Mr. Forrester currently serves as a Director of The Navigators Group.

Brenda J. Gaines, 59, served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Diners Club North America, a subsidiary of Citigroup, from October 2002 until her retirement in April 2004. She served as President, Diners Club North America, from February 1999 to September 2002. From 1988 until her appointment as President, she held various positions within Diners Club North America, Citigroup and Citigroup’s predecessor corporations. She also served as Deputy Chief of Staff for the Mayor of the City of Chicago from 1985 to 1987 and as Chicago Commissioner of Housing from 1983 to 1985. In addition, Ms. Gaines serves as a Director of Office Depot, NICOR, Inc. and Tenet Healthcare Corporation. Ms. Gaines has been a Fannie Mae Director since September 2006.

Charlynn Goins, 66, served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation from June 2004 to October 2008. She also served on the Board of Trustees of The Mainstay Funds, New York Life Insurance Company’s retail family of funds, from June 2001 through July 2006 and on the Board of Directors of The Community’s Bank from February 2001 through June 2004. Ms. Goins serves as the Vice Chairman of the New York Community Trust, and as a trustee of the Brooklyn Museum of Art. She also serves as a Director of AXA Financial Inc. and its subsidiaries AXA Equitable and MONY Life.

Frederick B. “Bart” Harvey III, 59, retired in March 2008 from his role as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Enterprise Community Partners, a provider of development capital and technical expertise to create affordable housing and rebuild communities. He joined Enterprise in 1984, and a year later became Vice Chairman. Mr. Harvey was Enterprise’s Chief Executive Officer from 1993 to 2007. Before joining Enterprise, Mr. Harvey served in various domestic and international positions with Dean Witter Reynolds, leaving as Managing Director of Corporate Finance. Mr. Harvey has been a Fannie Mae Director since August 2008.

Egbert L. J. Perry, 53, is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Integral Group LLC. Founded in 1993 by Mr. Perry, Integral is a real estate advisory, investment management and development company based in Atlanta. Mr. Perry has over 29 years experience as a real estate professional, including work in urban development, developing and investing in mixed-income, mixed-use communities, affordable/work force housing, and commercial real estate projects in markets across the country. Mr. Perry has served since 2002 as a Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, where his term will expire on December 31, 2008. He also serves as a Director of Atlanta Life Financial Group and the Advisory Board of the Penn Institute for Urban Research and as a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

David H. Sidwell, 55, served as Chief Financial Officer of Morgan Stanley from March 2004 to October 2007 and as an Executive Vice President from March 2004 to May 2007. From 1984 to March 2004, Mr. Sidwell worked for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a variety of financial and operating positions, most recently as Chief Financial Officer of JPMorgan Chase’s investment bank from January 2000 to March 2004. Mr. Sidwell serves as a Trustee of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation. Mr. Sidwell also serves as a director of UBS AG.

Diana L. Taylor, 53, has been a Managing Director for Wolfensohn & Company, a strategic consulting and investment firm, since March 2007. She served as the Superintendent of Banks for the state of New York from 2003 to 2007. Ms. Taylor serves as a trustee of Dartmouth College and as a Director of Allianz Global Investors, Brookfield Properties and Sotheby’s.

Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market. Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America’s secondary mortgage market to enhance the liquidity of the mortgage market by providing funds to mortgage bankers and other lenders so that they may lend to home buyers.

Source: Fannie Mae

1. Lubbock, TX
2. Richmond, VA
3. Burlington, VT
4. Honolulu, HI
5. Norfolk, VA
6. Corpus Christi, TX
7. Bangor, ME
8. Columbia, SC
9. Baltimore, MD
10. Anchorage, AJ

Read more in Men’s Health Magazine.

Many residents across the country have experienced devastating losses caused by flooding. Some suffered the total loss of their homes to floodwaters. Others are trying to make their homes livable again. Time and time again, far too many individuals shoulder these burdens without the financial cushion of flood insurance. In some instances, people have been told they cannot buy flood insurance because of where they live, or because they’ve flooded before. To address these and other misconceptions about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), FEMA has compiled the following key facts that everyone should know about flood insurance:

1. Flood insurance is available. You can — and should — buy flood insurance. As long as you live in a participating NFIP community, and there are more than 20,500 nationwide, you can purchase flood insurance from your insurance agent. And you can purchase a policy if you have, or have not,
flooded before. Renters, condominium owners, homeowners and business owners are all eligible to purchase a policy.

2. Flood insurance is sometimes required — but should always be considered. Flooding can happen anywhere, anytime, due to factors such as heavy rains, melting snow, failed protective devices such as levees and dams, as well as tropical storms and hurricanes. Most individuals that have a home in a high-risk area are required by law to carry flood insurance. But, just because flood insurance is not required does not mean it is not needed. Even if your lender doesn’t require you to carry it, you should ask your agent about flood insurance options to better protect your biggest investment. Without a flood insurance policy, your financial security is at risk.

3. Flood insurance is the most dependable resource for a speedy recovery. Most homeowners insurance does not cover losses due to flooding. Only flood insurance covers damage from rising waters. Remember that all floods are not major floods and, despite what many might think, Federal disaster assistance is not always available after a flood. When such assistance is available, it usually comes in the form of a low-interest loan, which must be paid back with interest.

4. Flood insurance is affordable. Rates are based on a variety of factors such as flood zone, date of construction, history of flood claims, elevation of the lowest floor of the building, etc. The average flood insurance premium is around $500 per year. If you live in a low-to-moderate risk area, lower-cost Preferred Risk Policies start as low as $119 a year. Flood insurance rates are federally set and will not differ from one insurance company to another.

5. Flood insurance is available for your building and its contents. Standard flood insurance policies require that you purchase additional coverage for your contents. However, if you live in a lower-risk area, you may be eligible for a Preferred Risk Policy that covers both your structure and personal items for a lower cost than a standard flood policy. View a complete summary of building and contents items covered by flood insurance.

6. Know your coverage limits — and be fully insured. A maximum of $250,000 of building coverage is available for single-family residential buildings; $250,000 per unit is also available for residential condominiums. The limit for contents coverage on all residential buildings is $100,000, which is also available to renters. Commercial structures can be insured to a limit of $500,000 for the building and $500,000 for the contents. Review your coverage limits to make sure you are adequately insured for your building, its contents and any improvements made to your home.

7. The 100-year flood standard — what it really means. The government’s definition of a floodplain, or high flood risk zone, is an area which has at least a one-in-100 or one percent chance of flooding in any given year. These one percent chance flood events are often called “100 year floods”, but that term can be misleading. The 100-year flood benchmark is a minimum standard used for insurance purposes. While major flood events are not common, they happen, have happened recently and will happen again.

8. Levee protection comes with risks. Levees, dams and other flood control structures are designed to protect against a certain level of flooding. In more serious flood events, levees can fail or overtop. And, as levees age, their level of protection can change. When levees overtop or fail, the flooding that follows can be catastrophic. Because of these unique risks, if you live near a levee, dam, or in areas reliant on other flood control structures, purchasing flood insurance is highly recommended.

9. Filing your claim — what to expect. After a flood event, call your agent or insurance company and ask when to expect an adjuster at your home. Be sure to call your insurance company back if you haven’t been assigned an adjuster within several days of flooding. Before the adjuster arrives, separate damaged and undamaged items, take photos, make a list of damaged or lost items and make a copy of the damage estimates prepared by a contractor to give to the adjuster. Once a detailed proof of loss statement has been prepared and agreed upon, your claim can be submitted.

10. Stay insured. You can purchase flood insurance at any time. However, there is usually a 30-day waiting period before the policy becomes effective. If you already have a flood policy, remember: your policy needs to be renewed each year.

For more information or for help in finding an agent near you, please visit the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) website.

Source: National Flood Insurance Program

We asked the people at mycityphone.com who work with leading real estate firms throughout the country to give us a sense for what’s working for those who are moving their properties.

First Impressions…..add curb appeal!

• Clear away leaves and add inexpensive wood chips
• Refresh the landscaping – add color with inexpensive but well placed flowers
• Does your exterior paint need a touch up?

Weekend bathroom renovations

• Switch out the faucets and the shower head and re-caulk the bath and sink
• Update the hardware – new handles and towel rails
• Add a new shower curtain, a new rug and towels for style and color

Go Neutral

• Create a blank canvas that prospective buyers can personalize
• Choose a light, inoffensive color scheme – no primary colors
• Convert kids rooms to “anyone” rooms. Remove posters and cartoon wallpaper, etc.

       Light up your life

• Add carefully placed lights to small rooms to give the appearance of spaciousness
• Warm lighting can cast a comforting glow in lifeless rooms
• Let natural light do its job…remove coverings on windows and doors

Less is more. Remove the clutter by renting a storage unit

• Remove all kids’ toys, or it gives the appearance your home lacks storage space
• Stage the living areas with minimal furniture; try to make your rooms look larger
• Put personal items away; remember your things are your style, not theirs, so get rid of them until you sell, including photos

Know what its worth – be realistic

• Find a good Real Estate Agent that knows your neighborhood for advice
• Do your own research on the Internet
• Don’t try to overvalue and leave it sitting on the market for months

Use Mobile Marketing – use any advantage you can

• Every lead is vital.  Capture their contact information every time someone inquires about your house for easy follow up
• Don’t rely on an empty flyer tube or an unavailable agent to satisfy someone who wants information about your house
• Keep it in the family: Saves you time and money and results in a faster sale

Money to spend?  Do it wisely.

• Updated kitchens and bathrooms are the first place to put your money
• Give your home the right upgrade for its age and the neighborhood
• Think about holding some money in reserves for repairs after an inspection

You’re out of there

• People will feel more comfortable looking around your house without you there
• Take all pets with you and clean up any evidence of them in the house and the yard
• Mentally detach yourself from the house; it’s no longer your home, it’s a product to be sold

Cleanliness is next to sold-liness

• Try to make everywhere look fresh, just like you would expect a hotel to be
• Make sure to dust furniture and clean all windows inside and out
• Light some scented candles to create a pleasant aroma

List brought to you by mycityphone.com