In some places in the U.S., bad credit doesn’t have to be a deterrent to scoring a mortgage and buying a home. Researchers from realtor.com® analyzed metros to find where a less-than-perfect credit score—even those well under 650—can still land buyers a home.

To get a mortgage without top-notch credit, government loan programs may be key, researchers say. Such programs may be more available in some areas of the country than others. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture offers a no-money-down loan to borrowers with scores below 640 who plan to buy a home in a rural ZIP code. Federal Housing Administration loans allow borrowers with credit scores as low as 500 to qualify with a 10 percent down payment.

Realtor.com® calculated the share of mortgages in the largest 200 metros obtained with a 649 FICO score or lower between July 2017 and June 2018. (Note: The findings are limited to one metro per state for geographic diversity.) Realtor.com® found that in the following five cities, home buyers with poor credit may have the most luck scoring a mortgage:

1. Charleston, W. Va.

• Median home list price: $147,300
• Share of borrowers with a 649 FICO score or lower: 39.1 percent

2. Clarksville, Tenn.

• Median home list price: $209,950
• Share of borrowers with a 649 FICO score or lower: 35 percent

3. Corpus Christi, Texas

• Median home list price: $239,750
• Share of borrowers with a 649 FICO score or lower: 35 percent

4. Lakeland, Fla.

• Median home list price: $229,500
• Share of borrowers with a 649 FICO score or lower: 30.4 percent

5. Augusta, Ga.

• Median home list price: $218,000
• Share of borrowers with a 649 FICO score or lower: 26.5 percent

On the other hand, buyers in these cities tend to have higher credit scores:

Santa Cruz, Calif.

• Median home list price: $936,050
• Share of borrowers with a 649 FICO score or lower: 4.3 percent

Fargo, N.D.

• Median home list price: $257,050
• Share of borrowers with a 649 FICO score or lower: 5.4 percent

Ann Arbor, Mich.

• Median home list price: $350,000
• Share of borrowers with a 649 FICO score or lower: 6 percent

Mortgage rates rose slightly for the second consecutive week, and economists warn that more rises are likely to come.

“Borrowing costs may be slowly on the rise again in coming weeks, as investors remain optimistic about the underlying strength of the economy,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

Mortgage rates are now up three-quarters of a percentage point from last year. Home prices have been rising too—although at a slower pace recently—but are still “outrunning rising inflation and incomes,” Khater notes. “The weakening in affordability is hindering many interested buyers this fall, even as the robust economy brings them into the market.”

Freddie Mac reports the following averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Sept. 6:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.54 percent, with an average 0.5 point for the week, increasing from last week’s 4.52 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.78 percent.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.99 percent, with an average 0.4 point, increasing from last week’s 3.97 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.08 percent.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.93 percent, with an average 0.3 point, increasing from last week’s 3.85 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.15 percent.

The rate of home flipping in the U.S. plunged almost to a four-year low in the second quarter as the number of distressed or low-priced homes dropped, according to a new report by real estate data firm ATTOM Data Solutions. A flip is defined as a home that has been sold more than once in a 12-month period.

A total of 48,768 single-family homes and condos were flipped in the second quarter, comprising about 5.2 percent of all sales. That is down from 5.4 percent a year ago.

“Fewer distressed sales are limiting the ability of home flippers to find deep discounts even while rising interest rates are shrinking the pool of potential buyers for flipped homes,” says Daren Blomquist, ATTOM’s senior vice president. “These two forces are squeezing average home flipping returns, pushing investors to leverage financing or migrate to markets with more distressed discounts available to achieve more favorable returns.”

Homes flipped in the second quarter sold for an average of $65,520 more than what the investor had purchased the home for, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. That marks a two-year low and the lowest since the second quarter of 2016. It’s also down from an all-time high average gross flipping profit of $69,500 in the first quarter.

Out of the homes flipped during the second quarter, 32.3 percent were purchased through a distress sale, a home either in foreclosure or a bank-owned home. The first quarter of 2010 saw a peak in distressed sales purchased by home flippers at 68.2 percent.

The highest home flipping rates in the country during the second quarter were in Washington, D.C. (8.3 percent), followed by Nevada (7.4 percent), Tennessee (7.2 percent), Arizona (6.7 percent), Maryland (6.5 percent), and Alabama (6.4 percent).

Additional findings from the report:

• The average time to complete a home flip was 186 days, which is running close to the 185 day average from a year ago.
• The median year of built homes flipped in the second quarter was 1978, which tied for the oldest median year built according to ATTOM’s data, which dates back to 2000.
• The median square footage of homes flipped was 1,408 square feet, the smallest square footage on record, according to ATTOM’s report.

Real estate signs say more about you and your residential or commercial business than they do about the properties you’re advertising. That’s why Katie Lundin, a customer support specialist with crowdspring, a marketplace for crowdsourced logo, web, graphic, and product design, has four best practices for creating custom real estate signs that raise awareness about your brand and start a conversation with your potential clients.

1. Real estate sign style. Start by choosing the sign format for getting your message across. Each signage option offers a different size, medium, and space for your branding and layout. In addition to the traditional colonial post commonly used with For Sale signs, here are a few ideas:

• H-frame stake: The light-weight H-shaped wireframe is good for temporary signage, such as an open house sign. The frame legs poke into the ground for easy step-up and removal.
• Frame style: These sturdy, metal frames that enclose a sign are another option for For Sale signs and can be used with single or double riders.
• A-Frame: These portable “sandwich board”-style signs are great for drawing attention to an open house or another event. But don’t leave these easily mobile signs unattended or they may go missing.
• Vinyl window cling: Vinyl window clings are a nonadhesive film that clings to window glass. These are a great option for commercial properties with large plate-glass windows.
• Feather flag: This is a tall, flexible frame attached to a narrow fabric flag. The fabric is loose on one side, allowing it to flutter in the breeze and making it an eye-catching signage option. You can print your content directly on the fabric flag.

Finding Your Company’s One True Brand

2. Branding. Make sure that your most valuable visual branding tool—your logo—is featured prominently on your sign. Use your brand colors on your signage to help create a consistent visual presence, which will help develop familiarity and trust between your business and your audience. “For all the people who walk or drive past your signs, most of them are probably not looking to buy a house or lease a commercial space at that time,” Lundin says. “But if you’ve used your signage to create a consistent visual presence over the years, you’ve planted a seed.”

3. Readability. Every design choice you make should support the sign’s ability to communicate clearly. Choose fonts and colors that are easy to read. While you can get away with a script font or funky serif typography in a logo, that won’t work for regular sign copy. “To be effective, signage must be easily read from a distance and from a moving car. Otherwise, your message won’t reach a large portion of your audience,” Lundin says. For non-logo text, try Helvetica, Garamond, Trajan, Futura, or Verdana. Pair one of these fonts with your logo to create a readable sign that also communicates your brand identity.

4. White space and colors. Embrace the white, empty space around your logo and text as a vital contributor to your overall design aesthetic and readability. This provides visual ease and breathability. What’s more, you want to choose colors for your sign that add to the readability. “Always start with your most prominent brand color,” Lundin says. “From there, check out the color contrast guide included in this article to see which color combinations are most legible according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.”

Mortgage rates haven’t been this stable since the fall of 2016. Rates did inch up this week, but only slightly and are still offering prospective buyers a window of opportunity, says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

“The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage barely inched up this week, continuing the summer trend of essentially being flat,” says Khater. “While sales and price growth have softened these last few months, this leveling of rates may be helping more buyers reach the market. Purchase mortgage applications this week were once again modestly above year-ago levels.”

The recent slowdown in price appreciation in several markets, mixed with these steady mortgage rates, is “good news” for many prospective buyers who may have been priced out earlier this year, Khater says.

“Given the strength of the economy, it is possible for home sales to pick up even more before year’s end,” Khater says. “The key factor will be if affordably priced inventory increases enough to continue this recent trend of cooling price appreciation.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Aug. 30:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.52 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 4.51 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.82 percent.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.97 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.98 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.12 percent.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.85 percent, with an average 0.3 point, rising from last week’s 3.82 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.14 percent.