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18 ON THE WEB WEBSITES TO GET TO KNOW. e equivalent of a CarFax for a home, with HOMETRACKR you can learn all about the history of an existing home before you buy. HomeTrackr's home history reports include data in eight major categories—fire damage, water damage, pest damage, maintenance alerts, home value, permit records, inspections, and contractors. Exposing critical issues before you buy can save time and money. HomeTrackr gives all stakeholders in the homebuying process the information transparency they need by providing homebuyers, sellers, and real estate access with easy access to critical information about a home's history. With a full service suite of tools for real estate agents, REAL ESTATE WEB TOOLS is a site that provides powerful tools that increase lead generation and lead capture. Real Estate Web Tools' top priority is helping real estate agents achieve an ROI in their website investment by helping them create a clean, professional fully responsive website. In addition to providing the tools, the Real Estate Web Tools site offers a forum for agents to discuss the latest in Web design, lead generating, and Web marketing. WEBS.COM is a small business marketing site that gives you not only the tools to succeed, but also the instructions. e site includes tips on email marketing, branding, social media strategy, SEO strategy, and website building. On Webs.com, you can find tips on how to run a business, including some helpful infographics, and tailored advice for industries from art to real estate. e tools offered include a customized template to set your website design apart, a powerful SEO optimization tool, and a social media integration tool. REALESTATEWEBTOOLS.COM 2 HOMETRACKR.COM 1 WEBS.COM/SMALL-BUSINESS 3 HIGH RENTS PUT WOULD-BE HOMEBUYERS IN A CATCH-22 In housing markets where home values are constantly rising, first-time buyers often struggle with coming up with a down payment and end up renting versus buying a home. Most renters are putting about 30 percent of their monthly income toward their rental payment, which makes saving for a 10 or 20 percent down payment difficult, a new Zillow report showed. is essentially put those would-be homebuyers in a catch-22—they cannot afford a down payment because they are putting so much money toward rent, and the reason they are putting so much money toward rent is they can't afford a down payment. "In general, paying a mortgage is more affordable than renting, and has been for some time. Unfortunately, many current renters aren't able to realize the savings that come with homeownership because as home values and rents keep rising, it's getting increasingly difficult to clear the down payment hurdle," said Dr. Svenja Gudell, Zillow's Chief Economist. is conflict forces first-time buyers and millennials to pursue other options when looking to purchase a home, like help from family or friends. e report showed that in 2014, 13 percent of home purchases were bought using a loan or gift from friends or family for the down payment. Affordability of rentals worsened in the last year in 28 of the 35 largest metros over the past year, while mortgage affordability worsened in 18 of them, In 34 of the largest 35 metros, rental affordability is worse than the historical average. "It's not uncommon for a 20 percent down payment on even a modest home to represent savings of $50,000 or more in some areas," Dr. Gudell said. "And that number itself is a moving target, rising as home values escalate and harder to achieve as more money goes to landlords and less goes to savings. Using a smaller down payment is an option, but often comes with the added cost of mortgage insurance. Knowing this, it's no wonder that many current renters are waiting longer to buy a home and are turning to alternate sources, including friends and family, to help them scrape together a down payment." The number of foreclosure starts nationwide in October 2015, down 8.4 percent over the month and 11.3 percent over the year. Source: Black Knight Financial Services STAT INSIGHT 73,200

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