Apr 28
Open Houses Showcase High-Priced Artwork Real estate and staging professionals of luxury listings are turning to high-priced, original artwork to dress up their open houses and offer up another pull for potential home buyers to visit. Some professionals are coordinating with art galleries to rent original art pieces to hang during home showings. The pieces …
Apr 27
Reasons Why That Listing May Linger If a home for sale is taking longer to sell than you thought, it may be due to common problems like overpricing, unflattering listing photos, and maintenance issues. 1. Pricing: When the price is right, buyers will flock to it. Revisit the comps. Here’s some advice that will …
Apr 25
Closing Times Are Speeding Up The average time to close on all mortgage loans dropped to 44 days in March, the shortest amount of time in a year, according to Ellie Mae’s latest Origination Insight Report. New mortgage rules went into effect last October, pushing closing timelines from 46 days in October to 48 …
Apr 22
How Long It Takes to Save for a Down Payment Renters in some cities may face a long road toward home ownership. Faced with high rents, some may even have to wait a few decades before they’ll be able to save enough for a down payment – that is, if they keep saving at …
Apr 21
Dorms for Adults Is a Trend Gaining Steam Cities such as New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., have been seeing an explosion of micro apartments—units ranging from 175 square feet for a studio to 550 square feet for a one- or two-bedroom—in an effort to combat skyrocketing rents for larger spaces. But many …
Apr 20
Get to Know the Transitional Kitchen When it comes to kitchen design, it’s time to throw some of the old traditional rules out and embrace the mix-and-match transitional kitchen approach. What is a transitional kitchen exactly? It’s a style that equal parts functional and expressive. It accommodates the individual needs of the family, showcases …
Apr 19
Churches Find New Life as Condos Empty church buildings for sale across the country are being resurrected as condo developments. “The same qualities that once made churches cultural and artistic centers – their central locations in neighborhoods, their size, their vast windows, and cavernous chambers – also make them perfect for a real estate …
Apr 18
Foreclosures Become a Tougher Find Thirty-six percent of U.S. housing markets – or 78 out of 216 metro areas studied — are now below their pre-recession levels in foreclosures, according to the latest Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac. Foreclosure filings – including default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions – were down 8 percent from …
Apr 15
Ultra-Luxury Sellers Are Slashing List Prices More luxury home sellers are reportedly cutting their asking prices, hoping for a quicker sale, The Wall Street Journal reports. In January, 4.1 percent of homes for sale at $5 million or above had their asking prices reduced – a 50 percent increase from a year ago, according …
Apr 14
Ways Sellers Can Show Off Outdoor Space Take a close look at your listing from the eye of a home buyer. Are the bushes overgrown around the front windows? Has the mulch all washed away? Is the paint on the shutters fading? These are the questions Jon Coile, chairman of the multiple listing …
Apr 13
Gen X Home Ownership Likely to Stay Low Generation X suffered the most compared to any other age segment during the housing crisis, and they’re still in the process of recovering. In fact, home ownership rates will likely stay low for Generation X – those born between 1965 and 1984 – for years to …
Apr 12
First-Time Buyers Use Guest House for Savings Some first-time buyers are finding ways to cover the costs of home ownership by purchasing a multi-unit home that can accommodate a mother-in-law apartment or another rental unit. The added money can then help them cover their mortgage. “Renters like the privacy and homey feel of an …
