NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — During the housing boom, home sellers were in the driver’s seat with real estate agents courting them – often at bargain commission rates. But now that the bubble has burst, the tables have turned.

In 1991, the average commission rate was 6.1 percent, according Steve Murray, of Real Trends, which tracks the brokerage industry. The rate inched down to 5.4 percent by 2001 and by the end of 2005, it stood at 5.02 percent.

Industry insiders expected further declines with the competition of discount and Web-based brokerages. In early 2006, the chairman of Re/Max, Dave Linder, told Real Trends that he expected a drop into the 4 percent range within five years.

But when home sellers found themselves with houses sitting on the market, they became increasingly amenable to paying higher commissions. Real Trends reports the average commission reversed its course and climbed to 5.18 percent in 2006, and it looks like it’s going to end 2007 with another rise.

“The thing that changed,” said Murray,” is that the market flipped. There was a flood of listings on the market and suddenly they weren’t as valuable. Agents were saying, ‘I’m not going to drop my commission rate as readily.”

Learn more: money.cnn.com

Before you purchase a condominium policy, check with your condominium association to make sure you’re buying the insurance you need.

• Find out what parts of the interior are covered by your condo association’s insurance and what items are your responsibility. Then make sure that you have adequate insurance to cover repairing or replacing the items for which you are responsible.
• The contents of your condominium are not insured under the association’s master condominium policy. So, estimate the cost to replace your contents and buy insurance for that amount.
• Your association’s master condominium policy does not provide any liability coverage for your unit or your personal exposures. So, make sure you purchase adequate liability insurance, usually $300,000 to $500,000 or more, depending on your situation.
• If your association has insufficient funds, you may be assessed a proportionate share to pay for damage to your building and other situations. Check to see whether the condominium insurance you purchase covers these assessments. You may wish to buy Loss Assessment Coverage, which is available in amounts of $5,000, $10,000 or more.

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Naturally, when you buy something in the market (no, I’m not referring to the grocery store near you, but the bigger market), it’s called an investment. When you’re investing on something, it actually calls for luck since it only has two to ways to go: up or down. Just like the stocks, real estate can be unpredictable. The prices and market values five years ago may not be the same as what is today.

Nevertheless, however stumping the economy of the country is, real estate will never fall rock-bottom. Why? Well, there’s what we call government intervention. The government does its best to revive the economy, proposing different kinds of Bills and switching targets, for things to get better.

Alison Rogers, a real estate broker, implied in her published letter that, of all the types of people she hates, the fence-sitters are included in her top 10. Fence-sitters are those who wait for the market value of something to plummet 50% (or below) than its original. Sadly, these people do not know what that entails and I am pretty sure they won’t get their houses anyway since this will never happen (not in their lifetime!).

Photo taken from http://www.duplexman.com

With the economic downfall, it is a fact that the prices of houses have been hit rock bottom for the past months and the prices of goods and commodities have skyrocketed, making almost everyone a pauper in their own respect. Goods have recorded a total of 1.4% increase last month while home prices still continue to decline. The stock market too had a hard hit, losing trillions and trillions of money. The record last year of home prices was down to 4.6 percent from April 2007 – April 2008. According to housing reports, the prices of houses is still continuing to decline, however, the rapidity of the decline is slowing, which of course is a sign that housing prices are nearing dirt bottom.

Photo taken from http://blogs.venturacountystar.com

For the 28th month in a row, filings for foreclosure increased and mortgage issues are well expected to carry on into the next year. But experts from MSN say that if it plummets this fast, then recovery will be faster than expected. More than half a million homes were either in the process of foreclosure or were foreclosed. Now, talk about a million families who spent the first quarter homeless.

MSN placed in their website a Home Affordability Calculator wherein you could input your personal finances on the blank spaces and MSN could calculate the house that your budget can permit. Might as well check it out as it might help you.

Photo taken from http://www.mmchost.net

The economic stability being experienced in the U.S. today is troubling not only the poverty stricken population but also those who belong to the middle class strata. Houses and condos have tripled its prices and not everyone can afford it anymore. A lot of foreclosures are happening every minute because people cannot pay off their mortgage. However, there are a lot of people who seem to be a little wiser. Some of them have engaged in what we call “fractional ownership”, a kind of investment that allows those who cannot afford to pull up their monies and pay up for the price of the house. Luxury houses are actually the target of those who engage in fractional ownership as these types of houses are a good investment.

Photo taken from http://www.efip.co.uk

Rental rates are on the dip but mainly due to the many jobs that are being lost each and every day as companies continue to trim down work forces, trying to save as much as they can. No jobs means less cash for rent so even with low rental rates people aren’t buying it, opting for other housing options outside city limits that are desirable lower compared to properties within city limits. Areas like Manhattan, one of the most expensive real estate properties in the world have no dips in property prices mainly due to the fact they have already been taken. They are also suffering from less people who are renting prime real estates, for with rent so high, only the very fortunate do get tp rent pricey apartments within the city and nearby areas as well.

The very low mortgage rates may have more people opting for refinancing of their homes but with no end in sight for this recession, defaults are high at a rate of 62%. This alarming relationship is in fact due still to the stagnant economic conditions that exist all over the globe. Jobless rates are still on the rise and people without jobs cannot finance their homes due to more pressing needs. Companies continue to trim their workforces as they try to stave off bankruptcies that have been hitting businesses the world over. And with jobless benefits being so meager, barely enough to sustain daily life, there may be more defaults to come in the future as we ride on this uncertain economic times.

The saying that says, “Where there’s muck, there’s gold”, so is it in the housing market where local banks are fueling the home sales markets with moves to sell out their excess of foreclosed homes that fell victim to ill-loans approved by corrupt loan officers. The sales of such homes turns tangible assets back into fluid currency for use in other business they have to partake in. (more…)

Bad home loans are sending tons of banks out of business, unable to recover from lost capital that went to fuel the housing market when it boomed a few years back. Now, unable to recover investments into housing developments, these small-scale banks that have minimal cash reserves unlike national or multinationals have little to ask help from, facing default on their business should they not get enough help from the Federal government. (more…)