Real Estate - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

Why Removing That Wall Isn’t Always So Easy

Design TV shows make it look so easy: Just remove a wall or two and you have the open floor plan you’ve always wanted. But not so fast.Tearing down a wall could open up a host of other problems—some structural, if not done properly. It could also prove unexpectedly costly.To hire a professional contractor to remove a wall could cost you anywhere from $500 to $4,000, according to HouseLogic.com. To that cost, you’ll likely want to add a stru

Read More

Fewer New Homes in Pipeline Pushes Up Prices

Nationwide housing starts dropped in March, despite continued high buyer demand, which is adding pressure to overall home prices.Housing starts for single-family and multifamily homes dropped 6.8 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.22 million units, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Broken out, single-family production plunged 6.2 percent to an annual rate of 821,000 units in March month over month, following a stro

Read More

The 10 Crowning Markets of the Spring Season

Which housing markets are emerging as top performers this spring season? Ten X, an online real estate marketplace vendor, factored in pricing, sales, affordability, permit activity, economic and demographic growth, and forward-looking data such as economic and population forecasts, to come up with a list of housing market champs for this spring.They are listed below, along with year-over-year changes in seasonally adjusted median prices and sales

Read More

Builders Bet on Tiny Apartments

Builders are going smaller with apartments, banking on a lure of tiny studios among the 20-something crowd.As rents have skyrocketed over the past few years, particularly in coastal cities, some developers responded with offerings of smaller and less pricey apartments. But now they’re realizing some renters will even pay a premium even when space is tight. As such, in big and small cities—like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, and Kansas City, M

Read More

What Really Makes a Property Appreciate

A home’s value generally appreciates 3 percent to 4 percent every year, which is attributed mostly to population growth and inflation. However in 2016, homeowners saw appreciation jump to an average of 6.3 percent.Realtor.com®’s research team sought to find out what would boost a home’s value even more and what home features buyers may be willing to pay more for. Researchers analyzed millions of listings on realtor.com® from 2011 to 2016

Read More

College Grads Likely to Own Sooner

Americans with an education level of bachelor’s degree or higher are more likely to own a home by age 30, according to a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That's regardless of their student debt situation too, the study finds.Researchers who tracked college attendance and homeownership rate by age for those born between 1980 and 1986 concluded that college graduation is associated with higher homeownership rates. By age 33, t

Read More

NAR REach Firm Lands Deal on 'Shark Tank'

Guard Llama, a safety company that was part of the National Association of REALTORS®' REach technology accelerator program in 2015, scored big on ABC's "Shark Tank" on Friday. The company received a $100,000 investment deal from real estate tycoon Barbara Corcoran, one of the show's celebrity hosts.Corcoran also granted Guard Llama cofounders Joe Parisi and Nick Nevarez the right to use her image on their product—a handheld device that connect

Read More

Signs Your Mobile Device Has a Virus

Smartphones and tablets are vulnerable to malware, which enables hackers to access them and compromise your email, online banking information, and apps. But you may not even know your mobile device has a virus—yes, Apple products are just as at risk as Androids, despite common misperceptions to the contrary—and that can lead to a more dangerous situation. So how can you tell if your phone or tablet has been infected? USA Today flagged several

Read More

Outdoor Kitchens Making a Comeback

A few years ago, outdoor kitchens were considered a hot amenity, but they began to fall out of favor. In fact, in a December 2015 survey by the National Home Builders Association, builders indicated that outdoor kitchens would be one of the least likely features to be added to new single-family homes in 2016. But now, architects say homeowners and prospective buyers are showing resurgent demand for outdoor cooking spaces, according to the America

Read More

REALTORS: Get More Buyers Interested in Your Listing

A property may not garner enough interest because of a variety of problems, including inadequate pricing or insufficient marketing.Put more emphasis on visual content. When a home isn't generating much interest, real estate agents should first take a look at the marketing materials and make sure the visuals are spotlighting the home in the best light. So make sure the photos and virtual tour are professional quality. "If photos and videos are of

Read More

This website includes images sourced from third party websites including Adobe, Getty Images, and as otherwise noted.