Aug 04
Ugly Home Features Buyers Can’t Overlook Home shoppers can get hung up on cosmetic issues of a home, even though often times the problems are relatively inexpensive to fix. “Cosmetic issues are a big problem for a lot of home buyers,” Linda Sanderfoot, a real estate professional with Coldwell Banker in Neenah, Wis., …
Aug 03
Quick Fixes Sellers Should Avoid It’s often a mad dash when sellers are working to get their home on the market or even to just clean up ahead of a showing. But some common cleanup tools can actually do more damage than many people realize. HouseLogic identified a few common products that can create …
Aug 02
5 Questions to Ask a Home Inspector Home buyers would be wise to interview a home inspector before they hire one. But what should they ask? Here are a few questions to consider. 1. What do you check? A home inspector will look at everything from the roof to the foundation and in between, …
Aug 01
Top school districts in Pennsylvania When a family starts searching for a home, especially a family with younger children, it’s very important to find one in a community with a top school district. Why is this important, well we as parents all want our children to be better off than us, just like …
Jul 31
Home ownership Rate Rebounds from 50-Year Low The U.S. home ownership rate may have finally bottomed out, as the share of Americans who own homes is steadily climbing. The ownership rate posted an increase in the second quarter, reversing a sharp downward trend that begun in the Great Recession. The home ownership rate was 63.7 …
Jul 21
Poverty Rates Rising in Suburbs Poverty is increasingly striking the nation’s suburbs and exurbs (farther out suburbs on the edges of metros). High-poverty neighborhoods have risen 76 percent in the suburbs and 123 percent in the exurbs from 2000 to 2015, according to an analysis from Apartment List, which culled data from a recent report out of …
Jul 20
Builders Warming Up to Smaller Homes Competition is heating up among millennials and baby boomers for smaller, more affordable homes. But builders have been slow to meet demand. That may be showing signs of changing. Home sizes are beginning to shrink, which may also, in turn, help prices edge down some too. “We are starting …
Jul 19
Mortgage Tips for Newbie Buyers The more your home buyers know about mortgages, the better prepared they’ll be. The Motley Fool recently featured a range of mortgage tips to help educate first-time buyers, including: Know their credit score. The credit score can be a big key to knowing how much buyers can afford and how much interest …
Jul 18
Expensive Items New Homeowners Buy Furniture, appliances, and remodeling projects are among the biggest expenses for new homeowners, who spend an average of $10,600 in the first year of home ownership, according to a recent analysis by the National Association of Home Builders. New owners spend an average of $3,778 on furnishings alone, …
Jul 17
Is Amazon Getting Into Real Estate? Online shoppers may have been too busy sorting through the deals on Amazon Prime Day this week to notice a “Hire a REALTOR®” page launched within the site. The web page was tucked within Amazon’s Home and Business Services section, where visitors can receive quotes from professionals on services …
Jul 14
Faulty Solar Installs Cause Leaky Roofs Rooftop solar power installations are booming, says Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. The panels may have a more affordable price tag than in previous years, but the installations are coming with another price: leaky roofs. The Solar Energy Industries Association says …
Jul 13
Common Home Buyer Slip-Ups Real estate professionals see a lot of dumb reasons why home buyers ultimately end up losing out on a deal. Practitioners recently shared some of the more common mistakes with realtor.com®, including ways to correct the situation: 1. Shopping outside their price range. “It sounds obvious, but some home buyers …
