Fraud, Fraud, Everywhere Fraud
While late-night TV scams and robocall schemes are coming under increased scrutiny by state and federal officials, new real estate-related swindles continue to come to light.
Loan Comparison Sites Not All Fair
Uncle Sam’s chief financial watchdog agency has fired a warning shot across the bow of consumer-facing comparison sites and mobile apps that steer consumers to the lenders that pay the sites the most.
How to Prep a Home for the All-Electric Future
The shift toward all-electric living is underway. But if you are a buyer in today’s new home market, how do you navigate the transition to make sure your house is not outdated before you’ve hardly settled in?
New Home Search Portal Set to Launch
Homebuyers and agents alike could soon benefit from a new listing portal with all the online bells and whistles they’ve come to expect – but with better service on the ground and no-fee leads.
Breaking Down Home Ownership Costs
Too many homebuyers don’t hunt for the lowest mortgage rate. They spend weeks, sometimes months, looking for a house. But when it comes to shopping around for a loan, they don’t bother.
Buyers: Know Your Share
Many of the nation’s largest real estate firms still do not publish the share of the commission paid to agents who work with homebuyers, leaving buyers to fend for themselves.
Tax Appeal May Bring Big Savings
Property taxes are rising right along with the cost of food, gas and other necessities. One main difference: You won’t have to wait for inflation to come down to lower your property taxes.
Sellers Should Consider a Buydown to Snag a Buyer
With the inventory of unsold houses rising on a daily basis, it’s time for sellers to consider taking a page out of the homebuilders’ playbook – especially when it comes to financing.
Taking Buying, Selling to New Heights
Two hot new trends in real estate – designing and buying a custom home sight-unseen, and having your home renovations paid for by someone else – could become forces in 2023’s housing market.
Higher Credit Report Fees Hit Homebuyers
As if rising mortgage rates and high house prices aren’t enough, some homebuyers are going to have to contend with credit reports that will cost 400 percent more in 2023 than it did in 2022.
Buyer’s Remorse in Store for ’23?
Buyer’s remorse is likely to take on a more sinister turn in the coming months, as people who purchased their houses at the top of the market take out their frustrations on their real estate agents. Historical precedent suggests that as housing values stagnate and...War Stories: Selling During a Divorce
In a perfect world, a couple in the midst of a divorce would sit down together and calmly figure out what to do with their house. But, of course, this is not a perfect world.
Selling Need Not Be a Divorce Issue
There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to real estate. Each deal is different, and rarely does one go off without a hitch. But when it comes to divorce, selling a house becomes that much more complicated.
Catching Up on Hot Topics
With the end of the year rapidly approaching, it’s time to follow up on a few of the hottest topics this column covered since the first of the year. Here’s what happened to several of them.
What Truly Counts as ‘Falling’ Prices?
It’s that time of year when everyone makes bold predictions about what lies ahead in 2023. But I have my own theory. Yes, prices are coming down, but that doesn’t mean sellers are losing out.
Selling a Furnished House Can Be Problematic
Selling a property fully furnished is fairly common in vacation-home markets, where a house without furnishings can become a chore for buyers rather than an immediate retreat. But it’s probably not a smart decision most anywhere else.
Lies Your Agents Tell You
“The check is in the mail” is one of the great lies of all time. Real estate has its own set of lies, especially among agents who want to list your house for sale.
Title Options Cheaper – But Scary
As part of Uncle Sam’s efforts to make housing more affordable, some lenders are starting to accept alternatives to expensive title insurance. But at what price?
The Loan Process Can Be Haunted
Here is a spooky list, from real estate veterans, of the most common things that go “thump” in the loan process.
Survey Unpacks HOA Gripes
An estimated 74 million home and condominium owners now live in properties governed by associations of their fellow residents. And a new survey finds 4 out of every 5 folks living with an association would just as soon live elsewhere.
