The share of households considered burdened by high rents is dropping, according to the 2017 National Rental Housing Landscape, a report published by New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy. But that doesn’t necessarily mean landlords are slashing rents.Researchers say the reason for the drop is mostly due to the higher number of wealthier families who are opting to rent. This has allowed landlords to raise pri
Some desperate home buyers who aren’t able to save enough for a down payment are turning to crowdfunding.And mortgage lenders are making it easier for buyers to do so. CMG Financial, a mortgage provider, launched HomeFundMe, an online platform to allow borrowers to crowdfund the down payment of a home purchase without fees. The crowdfunding platform also has the backing of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Saving for the down
The places that hipsters tend to call home are among some of the hottest housing markets in the country, according to a joint study by realtor.com® and Yelp. Based on the rankings, Columbus, Ohio, earned the No. 1 spot as the hottest hipster market.Columbus (and more specifically its ZIP code 43202) ranked first out of 50 cities for best markets for hipsters—that is, those who embrace the indie culture and tend to embrace lifestyles of artis
Your sweat equity will pay dividends when the home sellsKey Takeaways The key to staging a home on a budget is manual labor with a detail-oriented focus.Staging a home on a budget isn’t as hard as you may think. As a real estate agent, you can advise sellers on how to instantly boost the appeal of their home using tricks of the trade that cost little or no money and bring a huge return on investment.Small changes add up to create buyer-friendl
Keeping a home warm during the colder months of the year can prove to be expensive. With energy costs on the rise, many households are facing higher energy bills each year.Fixr.com, which provides "Cost Guides" of estimates to common household remodeling projects, highlights five projects to help increase a home’s energy efficiency and keep utility bills lower. (Fixr.com also provides cost estimates below of the projects listed.)1. Find unor
More victims are coming to light from Sunday’s deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Robert McIntosh, a real estate professional with Century 21 Gold Rush in North Pole, Alaska, was reportedly shot three times in the chest and one time in the arm by the gunman who fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino into an open crowd below of concert goers in Las Vegas Sunday night.McIntosh was rushed to surgery and is r
As home prices heat up across the country, buyers looking to lower their monthly mortgage payment are being lured to adjustable rate mortgages.ARM originations surged over 40 percent in the second quarter compared to the first, according to Inside Mortgage Finance data.ARMs are currently offering lower interest rates than fixed-rate mortgages. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.11 percent last week; a five-year ARM averaged 3.38 per
Lot sizes on new single-family homes have reached a new record low. New homes sold in 2016 had a median lot size of 8,562 square feet, or slightly under one-fifth of an acre.The median lot size fell to under 8,600 square feet in 2015, according to the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction data. Lot sizes have continued to shrink since then.Location plays a big role. For example, the median lot size in the New England region is nearly twice as
Squash these issues before they derail the saleAfter months of hard work, a home sale comes down to one make-or-break moment: the final walkthrough. That nail-biting buyer pop-by before closing can either delight or disappoint.Perhaps the last time the buyers visited the house was during the inspection, when they were likely distracted. For others, it may be the first time they’ve seen the house in the flesh, thanks to the incredibly well-conn
Amazon’s announcement that it plans to build a second headquarters in the U.S. has sent cities frantically submitting applications to try to be the chosen second home to the online retailer. Amazon plans to announce the new location next year.The reason cities are in a rush to submit proposals is that Amazon’s new headquarters promises to bring up to 50,000 new workers with an average salary topping $100,000 all over the next 10 to 15 years.
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