MRED Blog

Some Highlights:

• Historically the Percentage of your income needed to afford a home vs. renting was a much closer margin. Making renting make sense.
• Now… Renting will cost you 30.1% of your income compared to buying a median home at 15.3% of your income.
• Either way you’re paying a mortgage… why not have it be yours?

Blog post via KCM Blog

Infographic via KCM Blog

Recently, Freddie Mac published a blog post titled Mortgage Rates: Still the Deal of the Century. They explained that, if you are planning to purchase a home, now may be the time:

“If you are in the market to buy a home, today’s average mortgage rates are something to celebrate compared to almost any year since 1971.”

And they let their readers know that there is no guarantee that rates will remain this low:

“Over the past few years, we’ve enjoyed a long run of historically low mortgage rates. While no one expects them to change dramatically overnight, they are expected to head up. Most experts agree that mortgage rates will drift up in the coming months to end the year approaching 4.50%… Buying a home is a big investment – perhaps the biggest one you’ll make in your life. So, it’s important to be sure you are ready to make that purchase. If you are ready, today’s rates are not to be missed.”

The article went on to calculate what the principal and interest payment would be based on a $200,000 fully amortizing mortgage at different times in history.

Here is a look at rates over the decades:

Here is a look at rates over the last four years and what Freddie Mac projects for next year:

Bottom Line

If you are thinking of buying your first home or looking to move up to your dream home, now may be the time to do it.

Article from KCM Blog

Arroyo Grande, CA – April 28th, 2015 – A nationwide group of leading Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) and real estate brokerage firms supporting the creation of a national property search portal have elected their first board of managers.

The initiative, known as the Broker Public Portal, was launched in January and includes a cross section of participants from 37 MLSs and 39 real estate brokerages representing the interests of 826,000 agents.

WAV Group project consultant, Victor Lund explains that MLSs have long provided regional consumer facing property search websites. In December of 2014, a group of likeminded MLSs and real estate brokerages met to discuss the opportunity to build a National MLS consumer facing website to fill an unmet need in the online marketplace. At the first meeting of the organizers on April 22ed, 2015 in Dallas they elected the board of managers that will be included in their corporate filings as a Delaware LLC.

“There is a tremendous amount of support and momentum throughout the MLS and brokerage communities to create a new choice for how and where to display their listings,” commented Robert Moline of Home Services of America. “And the formation of our Board of Managers is a significant step forward in our ability to deliver on that goal through the creation of a national broker public portal.”

Large Firms – 5
Robert Moline – Home Services of America
Merle Whitehead – Realty USA
Hoby Hanna – Howard Hanna Real Estate
Chris Heller – Keller Williams
Joan Docktor – Fox and Roach

Multiple Listing Service – 4
John Mosey – Northstar MLS
Cameron Paine – Connecticut MLS
Rebecca Jensen – Midwest Real Estate Data
Kirby Slunaker – RE Colorado

Midsized Firms – 3
Craig McCelland BHGRE Metro Brokers
Richard Haase Latter and Blum
Drayton Saunders – Michael Saunders

Small Firms – 3
Mitch Ribeck – Tropical Realty
Paul Wells – RE/MAX Barrington
Christina Ishabishi Bonner – Pacific Union

Source: Broker Public Portal

MRED Brokerages Have Easy and Effective Management and Control of their Listing Content

LISLE, ILLINOIS (APRIL 10, 2015) – Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), Chicagoland’s multiple listing service (MLS), has introduced functionality to its customers that allows Brokerages to easily and effectively manage and control the distribution of their listing content. “Listing Syndication” is the term that is used in the industry to describe the distribution of listing content to different websites on the Internet. It is extremely important for real estate companies to direct how the properties they are marketing for sale are syndicated.

MRED has introduced a Listing Syndication Dashboard as a one-stop spot for its Managing Brokers to view and modify their syndication settings to insure that MRED is making their listing content available only to those sites the Brokerage has authorized. Analytics are also available to display listing view statistics on offices’ listings.

The back-end technology driving the information collected from the Listing Syndication Dashboard to the appropriate distribution channels was delivered by dynaConnections, MRED’s MLS vendor. As is typical of the provider of the nation’s top MLS system, connectMLS™, dynaConnections was able to quickly implement technology that works seamlessly with MRED’s website to track and distribute listing content in accordance with Broker’s direction.

“We strive to provide our Customers with truly comprehensive MLS software and solutions,” explained dynaConnections CEO, Tim Ford. “Recent changes within the industry exposed a need. We were happy to help MRED meet that need and provide service above and beyond our MLS solution, connectMLS™.”

“This was not a problem but an opportunity for MRED to address an immediate need of our customers at the highest business level,” said MRED President and CEO Rebecca Jensen. “I am thrilled we are able to provide a new tool that will improve our customers’ ability to manage their listing syndication choices. Thanks to dynaConnections for their work behind the scenes to make this happen so quickly.”

About MRED

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) is the real estate data aggregator and distributor providing the Chicagoland multiple listing service (MLS) to nearly 40,000 brokers and appraisers and 8,000 offices. MRED serves Chicago and the surrounding “collar” counties and provides property information encompassing northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. MRED delivers over twenty products and services to its customers, complementing connectMLS™, the top-rated MLS system in the country for two years running according to the WAV Group MLS Technology Survey. MRED is the 2013 Inman News Most Innovative MLS/Real Estate Trade Association, and for four consecutive years the MRED Help Desk has been identified as one of the best small business centers in the United States and Canada by BenchmarkPortal. For more information please visit MREDLLC.com.

About dynaConnections Corporation and connectMLS™

dynaConnections Corporation is an Austin-based real estate software company that is renowned for constant innovation and dedication to service. Its flagship product, connectMLS™, is a patent-pending, one-of-a-kind multiple listing service solution that is second to none with millisecond response time and ease of access on all devices and web browsers. Rich embedded features and seamless integrations allow connectMLS to be an intuitive, all-in-one real estate transaction manager for both agents and clients. For over thirteen years, dynaConnections and the connectMLS solution have been continually exceeding all standards of what the real estate industry expects from an MLS provider. For more information, visit: www.dynaconnections.com.

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dynaConnections and connectMLS™ are registered trademarks of dynaConnections Corporation. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

Infographic via KCM Blog