Insurance Is the Wild Card for Some Buyers
When it comes to buying a house, the elephant in the room is not the price. It’s not the mortgage rates. It’s not even the property tax. It’s the insurance.
How to Get a One-of-a-Kind Home, The Easy Way
Even though I live in a custom-designed house, I don’t recommend designing your own place from scratch. It’s not for everyone.
Door Opens to Flip a House for Yourself, Not Profit
High mortgage rates, soaring house prices and rising construction costs have driven many flippers out of the market. And with their exit comes a great opportunity for people eager to buy a fixer-upper of their own.
Fixed-Rate Loan Payments Can Go Up
If you have a fixed-rate mortgage, your payments will always stay the same, right? Wrong. Taxes and insurance premiums invariably rise – which means your house payment does, too.
Setting the Record Straight on the NAR Settlement
The reporting on the recent $418 million settlement with the National Association of Realtors and several large national brokerage companies has been so atrocious that I must jump in.
Put Your Listings to the Nose Test
Nothing turns up buyers’ noses faster than a smelly house. They walk in, stop, take a whiff and are ready to turn around and leave. Some won’t even go beyond the front door.
Which Comes First? A Buyer’s Dilemma
Young people have many options when it comes to homeownership – perhaps too many. Should they get married first or buy their first home? Buy a dream car or a house? Find a dream house or a dream mortgage rate?
Foreign Firms Make Inroads on U.S. Homebuilding
As federal and state authorities continue to clamp down on foreign investments in American businesses and real estate that could pose a risk to national security, some foreign entities are expanding into American homebuilding.
Watch Out for ‘Gotcha’ Clauses in Homebuyer Representation Contracts
Would you pay a 9 percent commission to buy a house? The scenario is a long shot, but it’s still conceivable, if you’re not careful, according to a review of buyer-broker contracts reviewed by the Consumer Federation of America.
These Show Homes Take Different Paths
Two model homes being showcased at this week’s International Builders’ Show try to offer solutions to some of today’s biggest challenges: sustainability and the difficulty of “trading up” as your family changes.
No Immigrants, No New Housing
For any number of reasons, U.S.-born workers have been reluctant to join the construction workforce, leading to consistent labor shortages and rising wages – meaning the prices of new housing is going up, too.
Appraisals Fail Many Sellers
The real estate community has long complained about appraisals that lagged the market, but the report from the FHFA documents that their gripes are valid: Undervaluations spiked to 15 percent in 2021.
Scammed If You Do, Scammed If You Don’t
I’ve decided to put my 50-plus years of writing about the housing business to work by offering my faithful readers a free online seminar on how to get rich in real estate without hardly trying.
Recycle at Home, With Your Home
Scrap tires have been recycled for years into building products like flooring, infill decking and septic system drain fields. But they’re not the only thing. From coal ash to washed-up seaweed, our homes help reduce and reuse.
Uncle Sam Offers a Boost to Fixer-Uppers
The Federal Housing Administration is poised to update the 203(k) program, which allows borrowers to purchase a house and include the cost of repairs or rehabilitation in a single mortgage.
You Rarely Know All Your Agent Does
Good real estate agents go to great lengths to bring a deal to fruition. And much of what they do is behind the scenes, so you’ll never see it. And you think they don’t earn their commissions?
Too Many Agents, Too Little Training
Most brokerages tend to hire anyone who can fog a mirror, turning them loose with hardly any training other than what they learned to pass their licensing tests. And as a result, the business is overrun with too many agents chasing too few deals.
New Entrant Wades into Listings Portal War
If you’re like most house hunters these days, you started your search online. And chances are, you overlooked Homes.com entirely. But starting in the new year, the site is planning to give the two heavyweights a run for their money.
Home Listings Now an Endangered Species
It’s time to place the for-sale existing house on the endangered species list, right alongside the African forest elephant, the Yangtze finless porpoise and other critically threatened varieties.
Don’t Burn Your Mortgage
A couple of years ago, a Florida church celebrated making the final payment on the church’s mortgage by burning the document. But that century-old ritual comes with some huge risks.
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