May 23
What Owners Want in Kitchen Remodels Kitchen revamps tend to be one of the most popular home remodeling projects. About 10.2 million American households tackled a kitchen remodel or replacement work in 2015, according to a recent report from the National Kitchen & Bath Association. Homeowners tend to want new flooring, counter tops, cabinets, sinks, …
May 22
Rampant Refis Ignited Housing Crisis Mortgage refinance activity may have been the true hidden culprit behind the housing crisis, according to a new report by the Urban Institute written by Laurie Goodman, codirector of UI’s Housing Finance Policy Center. Mortgage refinances were more likely to default than mortgages taken out to purchase a home …
May 18
Will the Starter Home Return? Home builders say they’re struggling to deliver on the demand of lower-priced entry-level homes that cater to the growing number of willing millennial buyers, arguing that more entry-level homes will hurt their bottom lines. “Since the recovery has really been at the middle end of the market, home prices …
May 17
Home Prices Will Only Get Higher Home sales reached their highest pace in a decade in the first quarter of 2017 as property prices continue to escalate, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ latest quarterly report. The median price of an existing single-family home nationally was $232,100 in the first quarter, up 6.9 …
May 15
Does Your Content Pass the ‘Strawberry Test’? With any content marketing you do online, says Forbes guest columnist William Arruda, founder of CareerBlast, it’s important to follow the “strawberry test”: making your content inviting, bite-sized, and healthful. After all, the competition for eyes online is steep. There are 130,000 new long-form posts published …
May 12
Dos and Don’ts for Estate Sales Some sellers have a house full of belongings that they need to dispose of before putting their home on the market. In these cases, an estate sale may be necessary to get rid of the items quickly while also putting some extra cash in your client’s pocket. Here …
May 11
Making an Offer: 5 Mistakes to Avoid In competitive housing markets across the country, making an offer that sticks has become increasingly difficult. Ensure your client doesn’t make the process even tougher by succumbing to one of these common mistakes. Delaying “Time kills deals,” says Andrew Sandholm of BOND New York Properties in New York. “Dragging …
May 10
Seriously Underwater Homes Still a Big Issue With home prices on the rise, more home values are climbing up above water, but in a few cities, the number of seriously underwater homes is still alarming. Nearly 5.5 million U.S. properties, or 9.7 percent of all properties, were considered seriously underwater in the first quarter …
May 09
College Grads Could Get Home buying Help Several states are offering home ownership assistance programs to recent college grads that may help them receive thousands of dollars toward the purchase of a home. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced the “Graduate to Home ownership” program, which provides assistance to first-time buyers who …
May 08
Bad Credit Can Triple Home Insurance Costs Homeowners with a bad credit score can expect to pay double—in some cases, even nearly triple—what owners with solid credit pay for their home insurance, according to a new state-by-state study by insurance Quotes. Policyholders with fair credit pay an average of 36 percent more than those …
May 05
First-Time Buyers Aren’t Afraid of Renovation First-time home buyers are showing a strong desire for taking on remodeling projects. First-time buyer renovators in 2016 spent $33,800, on average, on their projects. That marks a 22 percent increase over 2015, according to the sixth annual Houzz & Home survey of more than 100,000 respondents …
May 04
An Uptick in Housing Starts Matters to Buyers Your home buyers may want to look more closely at the housing starts numbers, even if they don’t intend to buy new. Housing starts, or the number of new homes that builders have begun construction on, tend to follow a seasonal pattern—increasing in the spring, peaking in …
