Key Takeaways Although leadership is one of the most crucial skills in the world of business, many business owners seem to overlook its importance. Leaders are great listeners and communicators, and they trust their team.Rosalynn Carter once said that a leader takes people where they want to go and that a great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.We are mostly surrounded by doers, and only a minuscule nu
More autonomous, self-driving cars are expected on the roads over the next decade, which will likely have a big impact on residential construction, housing demand, and home design, notes Robert Dietz, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders.Driverless cars could make more areas suitable for development of single-family communities, Dietz argues in an article for BUILDER Online. “More efficient roadways would reduce travel t
If you're not careful about how you respond to clients over email, you could risk losing contracts, damaging your reputation, and even being sued for breach of confidentiality. Forbes.com offers some of the following tips to avoid PR nightmares and liability offenses with your email behavior.Beware of hitting the “reply all” button. If you’re responding to multiple contacts, delete the email thread history in your message to avoid potential
Though millennials express desire for homeownership, they aren’t saving anywhere near what they need for a down payment. About 80 percent of millennials recently surveyed by rental website Apartment List say they hope to one day buy a home, but 36 percent say they’ll likely need to wait more than five years before they can. Only 16 percent believe they’ll be able to buy within two years, according to the survey of 24,000 millennial renters
Not everyone is heading to a major metropolis. You may not have even heard of many of the metros topping the Census Bureau’s latest list of fastest-growing cities—but that may change as their populations surge.The nation’s fastest-growing city this year is Conroe, Texas. About 40 miles outside of Houston, Conroe saw its population increase 7.8 percent between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016, according to the Census report, which only include
Low mortgage rates and strong job growth are giving the housing market one of its best years in decades—even as overall economic growth has weakened—according to Freddie Mac’s monthly Outlook report for May. The report’s optimism is a change from the mortgage giant’s previous predictions, when economists said the housing market likely would not perform as well as it did in 2016.New-home sales in March were better than expected, and exis
Warn homeowners that more reports are surfacing of a microscopic parasite nesting in community and residential pools and hot tubs. The parasite, known as Cryptosporidium or “Crypto,” can make people sick, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that the problem is rising to epidemic levels nationwide.Traces of fecal matter from humans and pets found in pools and hot tubs are leading to the increase in Crypto cases, the CDC sa
Despite rising home prices, it’s still cheaper to own a home than to rent, reports CNBC. But the toughest part for those who want to buy is actually finding a home.Inventory levels in April dropped 9 percent compared to a year ago, and listings spent an average of 29 days on the market before selling—the shortest timeframe since the National Association of REALTORS® began tracking such data in 2011.“One thing we added this month to our REA
Homes with solar panels tend to sell for higher prices than comparable homes with conventional energy, studies show. One study, released two years ago by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, found that solar homes sell for a 15 percent premium. But selling these homes can require extra preparation on the part of real estate agents.The biggest issue is how the panels were financed. If the owner simply bought the panels, there shouldn’t be any
Fannie Mae is cracking down on selling foreclosed homes to firms that it says engage in abusive forms of seller financing, which could include rent-to-own leases or longer term installment contracts known as contract for deed, The New York Times reports.In its first action on the new policy, Fannie Mae said it would no longer sell properties to Vision Property Management, which operates in more than a dozen states and is one of the largest firms
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