Category Archives: North Salem

SoCal home sales reach six-year high | North Salem Real Estate

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February home sales in Southern California reached their highest point in six years, according to a recent report from DataQuick.

While the median sales priced inched down slightly from January, it was up nearly 21% from a year earlier, representing the 11th straight month in which the median has shown growth year-over-year, according to DataQuick.

Down 0.7% from 16,058 sales in January, total sales in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties reached only 15,945 in February. This was up 1% from 15,780 sales in February 2012.

February sales totaled 17,680 units, the highest recorded level since February of 2007. However, sales last month were still 9.9% below the February average of 17,696 sales.

“Our January and February stats certainly indicate housing remains a big target for investors. But typically those two months don’t offer much insight into how the market will behave the rest of the year,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

Walsh says March and April will offer a better view of how broader market trends are shaping up this year.

“One of the real wild cards will be how many more homes go up for sale,” Walsh said. “More people who’ve long been thinking of selling will be tempted to list their homes at today’s higher prices. Fewer people will be underwater and therefore could at least break even on a sale. Some investors who’ve held for a while will consider cashing in. A meaningful rise in the supply of homes on the market should at least tame price appreciation.”

via housingwire.com

Understanding HECM loan’s dual interest rates | South Salem Homes

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This is a great time for senior homeowners to take out a home equity conversion mortgage (HECM), especially if they don’t need the extra money now! Sounds crazy? It isn’t, so read on.

The federal HECM reverse mortgage program allows seniors 62 or older who own and occupy their homes to take out a mortgage against it. What makes it a “reverse mortgage” is that the amount owed tends to rise over time, whereas on a standard mortgage it tends to decline.

This difference arises from another one, which is that no payment is required on a HECM until the senior sells the house, moves out of it permanently, or dies. On standard mortgages, as every borrower knows all too well, they must begin making payments immediately.

Another important difference between HECMs and standard mortgages is the role of interest rates. A feature unique to HECMs is that every transaction involves two interest rates.

via inman.com

No heat, let alone fire, in jobs report | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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<a href="<a href=Smoldering image via Shutterstock.

One of many roads converging on perdition: quarreling with economic reports.

Many people do, usually for political-conspiracy reasons, but professionals are trained not to. You’re told from day one: “Don’t fight the tape.” Don’t fight the news, or the market.

Today I’m going to.

At dawn today came glorious news: In February the nation added 236,000 jobs, and the prior two months were revised up another 61,000, in sum double the forecast.

via inman.com

Social Media Image Sizing Cheat Sheet | North Salem Real Estate

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Make sure that you have attractive, consistent visual branding across all of your social media platforms.

social media profile sizing cheat sheet facebook twitter google plus youtube linkedin pinterest infographic Social Media Image Sizing Cheat Sheet [Infographic]

Visual marketing is a breakout trend on social media sites. Companies need to “show” instead of “tell”, and social networks are tapping into our desire for beautiful imagery and design. While content is a huge driver of  awareness, dazzling visual depictions create awareness and differentiation on a more visceral level.

Whether you’re just getting started with social media marketing or you’re a veteran, setting up profiles on all of the various social media sites can be a daunting process. It requires good planning and execution to ensure that your brand has a consistent visual voice on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

A huge part of the process is working with the various images you want to use across all of your channels in order to stand out from the crowd, increase engagement, and inspire viral marketing and sharing. The problem is that each social network has its own unique layout requirements.

LunaMetrics, a consulting firm that helps its clients with Google Analytics, SEO, PPC, and social media, has created a great resource to keep on hand: An infographic that contains specific information about the correct and best sizes for each of your images on the most popular social media platforms.

This embedded infographic will be updated regularly as sizing changes are implemented across social networks, so you’ll always see the latest version — no more out-of-date information! Check it out below for all the essential image-sizing dimensions.

The Ultimate Complete Social Media Sizing Cheat Sheet1 Social Media Image Sizing Cheat Sheet [Infographic]

 

pixel Social Media Image Sizing Cheat Sheet [Infographic]

Tagged as: Cheat Sheet, Facebook, Infographics, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Social Media, Social media marketing

via pamorama.net