The most undervalued and overvalued Real Estate in America!

Here are some of the latest numbers for the areas with the most undervalued properties in the United States.
The fair market price is based on economic and population growth, construction costs, vacancies, household income and interest rates. Here is the most undervalued area!

City	Median home price	% undervalued for 2011	% undervalued for 2012
Las Vegas, Nev.	$144,636	-27%	-33%

City Median home price % overvalued for 2011    % overvalued for 2012 Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.  $418,416 26%    27%  Have a look at all the data, just contact me at http://soharworldhomes.com/  or http://sohar.ca/

Top 10 Home Buying Mistakes

1.  Doing it alone.
2.  Buying at first sight.

3.  Not getting pre-qualified and pre-approved.      
4.  Overbuying.
5.  Misplacing your trust.
6.  Relying on oral agreements
7.  Skipping the fine print.
8.  Forgetting or betting on resale.
9.  Making an unconditional offer
10.  Having buyer’s remorse.

http://www.sohar.ca/       http://www.soharworldhomes.com/

Beware of the tax man...even if it is for your own good!

IN AMERICA policymakers are too busy coping with the aftermath of the last housing bubble to worry about preventing the next one. But elsewhere in the world, things are different. In China’s cities, house prices rose by 11.7% in the year, according to official estimates, and by much more, according to unofficial ones. That is one reason why the central bank raised reserve requirements (the share of deposits banks must keep in their vaults) on May 2nd for the third time this year. In Canada, the Canadian Real Estate Association calculates that homes were worth 17.6% more than a year earlier, taking them well above their pre-crisis peak. And down under home values only seem to go up, rising by 20% in Australia’s eight state capitals in the first three months of 2010, compared with a year earlier.

To fix housing bubbles, the bank of England suggests, policymakers should consider a tax on real estate that varies over the cycle, rising in property booms and falling in busts. These suggestions echoe an idea proposed a year earlier by Olivier Jeanne of Johns Hopkins University.

Are you confused, talk about talking out of both sides of your mouth!

This was in todays BBC!

Bank sees slight mortgage pick-up

Dip in mortgage demand predicted

Mortgage lending at 20-month low

Mortgage lending at nine-year low                                          So, which is it, mortgage lending is at a 20 month and 9 year low, not hard to predict a 'slight pick-up'! Wait a minute, no..it's a dip in mortgage demand. Wow, I'm confused. Thank godness the best financial minds are at the helm. Must be the same qualifactions needed to be a weather forecaster!

North America's 10 happiest places to live, on the west coast!

Here's the top list from USA Today with the outstanding quality that make these places so appealing to certain types.
Salt Spring Island, B.C. (population 10,000; median house price: $569,300) for wannabe farmers/gardeners. The 74-square-mile island's temperate climate makes year-round gardening possible.
Salt Lake City (population: 182,000; median house price $213,000) for aspiring entrepreneurs. Low corporate tax rates and an educated workforce, among other factors, make this an attractive spot to start a business.
Taos, N.M. (population 5,500; median house price $268,250) for those seeking a vacation home. Year-round recreation and limited housing makes this a good bet for second-home owners looking to rent out their dwelling.
Portland, Ore. (population 582,000; median house price $233,500) for people who prefer to go car-less. The city has a vibrant cycling culture with 300 miles of dedicated bike paths and lanes. And for longer jaunts, there's excellent public transportation.
Bellingham, Wash. (population 77,500; median house price $305,000) for outdoor recreationists. With 143 miles of Puget Sound shoreline in one direction and the Cascade Mountains in the other, there's outside action year round.

Eureka, Calif. (population 25,000; median house price $207,000) for aspiring artists. Art is taken seriously in a town that's home to more than 1,000 artists.
San Diego (population 1.37 million; median house price $330,000) for innovators. From pioneering computer technology to decoding the human genome, all kinds of cutting-edge endeavors are happening here.
Sonoma County, Calif. (population 472,000; median house price $484,000) for gourmands. With more than 300 wineries and a plethora of great restaurants, the area is a foodie's paradise.
Scottsdale, Ariz. (population 235,000; median house price $270,000) for parents of young kids. Low crime, good schools and lots of park land make it a good choice for raising a family.
Crestone, Colo. (population 146; median house price $250,000) for people who want to live off the grid. With 330 sunny days a year, this former mining town is a hotbed of solar power.

Why didn't I think of that?

About 250,000 people pass through Stockholm's Central Station each day

Body heat is not an energy source that normally springs to mind when companies want to keep down soaring energy costs.

But it did spring to the mind of one Swedish company, which decided the warmth that everybody generates naturally was in fact a resource that was going to waste.
A real estate company in Stockholm, has found a way to channel the body heat from the hordes of commuters passing through Stockholm's Central Station to warm another building that is just across the road.

Heat exchangers in the Central Station's ventilation system convert the excess body heat into hot water.

That is then pumped to the heating system in the nearby building to keep it warm.

Not only is the system environmentally friendly but it also lowers the energy costs of the office block by as much as 25%.

The U.S., may now stand for “Unexpected Surcharge”

For years you’ve thought that the acronym “U.S.” has stood for “United States.” Perhaps. But it also stands for “Unexpected Surcharge.” It’s no secret that the U.S. estate tax will apply to U.S. citizens, permanent residents of the U.S., or green card holders. But suppose you’re none of these. You’re a Canadian citizen and resident. Perhaps you’ve never even set foot in the U.S. The fact is, you could still be liable for U.S. estate tax if you’re not careful.

 The U.S. estate tax will apply to anyone who owns “U.S.property,” which includes U.S. real estate, almost all personal property located in the United States (vehicles, boats, art, jewellery, etc.), shares in U.S. corporations (including those held in your registered plans), U.S. debt obligations (government bonds, receivables from a U.S. person or company, etc.), and U.S. intangible properties (contractual rights, trust interests, patents, trademarks, and so on).

Here’s the problem: As a Canadian citizen and resident, you'll face estate tax on your “U.S. property” (U.S. assets) at the same rates as U.S. citizens. This means you could pay a tax as high as 35 per cent of the fair market value of those assets at the time of your death.

How NOT to paint your home!

Some of us fancy ourselves as creative, artistic types. Maybe even like a Michael Angelo, Picasso or a Rembrandt. But where and what you choose as your canvas is very important. So for all you budding artists out there, please don't do this...at least not before you want me to sell it on your behalf!

Let's see how we compare?

These are some figures showing some of the world's real estate price differences year to year, based on the latest figures available. There are some surprises, but mostly expected results!

Baby it's cold outside...but inside it's lookin toasty

Being one of the coldest days of the year, I thought I would share the newest housing stats that compare USA home prices historically with Canadian home prices. Note that other than the 2008 "the world is coming to an end financially" scare, Canada has been on a steady tract to the heavens. You\ll also note that we didn't have the massive gain and fall of the U.S. market. If I was an investor, both look like great bets for different reasons!

Neat statistics

This was interesting, some surprises though. I didn't expect home ownership to be so low in places like Germany and Switzerland, and so high in Singapore and Spain! It shows to go you, just when you thought you knew it all, a new bit of info throws you for a loop!

The bricks and mortar of a megalomaniac’s ego

For 75 million "as is" or 100 million completed, this house has the square footage of nearly two football fields, is almost double the White House and about 36 times the size of the average family home. The master bedroom alone, which would have had a rotating bed under a skylight, is twice the size of a standard house.

The house has 90,000 square feet. Twenty-three bathrooms. Thirteen bedrooms. Ten kitchens. A 20-car garage, with additional space for two limos. Three pools. A bowling alley. Indoor roller rink. Two-story movie theater. Video arcade. Fitness center. Baseball field and two tennis courts.

Wake up and smell the cafe

As I expected...existing-home sales rose sharply in December and sales increased for the fifth time in the past six months, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. This is it the official turning point for the USA housing market and now the next cycle begins!