The long knives are out again for one of American real estate’s oldest and most controversial traditions: requiring home sellers to pay the agents who represent the buyers of their properties.
A class-action suit against the online realty giant Zillow is moving forward after insider whistleblowers alleged that the company designed its controversial “co-marketing” program to violate federal anti-kickback laws.
Do you want to buy a house but worry that your credit profile will disqualify you for a mortgage? Take another look: A new study suggests that you might find lenders a little friendlier and more flexible than you thought.
A new report from the New York Federal Reserve sheds a little light on a question that’s been hanging over the American real estate market: Has the massive tax overhaul adopted by Congress in late 2017 had any effect on whether consumers want to buy or sell homes?
American homeowners are doing something surprising: Despite record amounts of home equity available to them – an estimated $1.5 trillion – they are tapping into it less via home-equity credit lines and cash-out refinancings.
Have we arrived at one of those rare Goldilocks moments in real estate, where the market works well for both sellers and buyers, strongly favoring neither?
Here’s some good news for anyone whose credit scores aren’t quite as high as they’d like them to be: Three new financial tools have come to market – or soon will be available – that could give your scores a shot of adrenaline when you need it most.
First-time and move-up homebuyers with heavy debt loads, low credit scores and small down payments face a daunting new mortgage hurdle: The Federal Housing Administration is toughening its underwriting standards. Large numbers of applications could be turned down in the coming months as a result.
In what could be the most far-reaching antitrust lawsuit for the real estate market in decades, the National Association of Realtors and four of the largest realty companies have been accused of a conspiracy to systematically overcharge home sellers.
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who are self-employed or earn money on the side through freelance, contract or “gig” work, you may know the drill firsthand: Applying for a mortgage can be an intrusive ordeal.
Even if your home is not a dazzling palazzo on a hill, the secret is out: Though it’s highly unlikely, your Zillow page can be hacked and stolen by online troublemakers.
It’s a real estate and social barometer that doesn’t get a lot of publicity, but it’s important: More Americans are paying their mortgages on time today than they have in nearly two decades
When you type in a home’s street address to obtain an online valuation from the two biggest players in the field – Zillow’s Zestimate or Redfin’s Estimate tools – how good is what you get?
Are senior homeowners preventing Millennials from buying houses? Could the decisions of millions of older owners to “age in place” rather than sell their homes explain why Millennials are lagging behind in homeownership?
About 54,000 mortgage borrowers recently had their financial data exposed to identity thieves trolling around on the Internet. Borrowers had no hint that they were vulnerable, and many may still not know that a breach occurred.
In actual application situations, lenders who want to increase their loan business to homebuyers may dig deeper into the credit pool and offer relatively more attractive rate deals to people whose scores are not pristine.
Combined with other recent trends – growing inventories of homes available for sale, slower price inflation and even modest price reductions – the decline in mortgage rates should be encouraging for anyone seriously in the market for a home.
When done right, DIYs are great, saving you money and time. They can even be fun and give you a sense of pride in what you’ve accomplished. But they can also be rolling disasters when they go off the rails.
When the government shuts its doors because of a funding brouhaha that pits the White House against Capitol Hill, who gets hit hardest among people needing a home mortgage? It all depends on the type of loan you seek and where you’re located.
If agents’ disclosures aren’t clear to you, probe further. You need to know who — if anyone — has your best interests paramount.
