General News - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

Housing’s Top-Performing Markets in March

Could less-dense cities grow in popularity? The housing market saw some shifts in March as a global pandemic struck the U.S. and prompted stay-at-home orders across cities and states.Realtor.com®’s monthly top 20 list for March “is not fully reflective of the effect of the coronavirus,” says Javier Vivas, director of economic research at realtor.com®. “We’re still about a month away from seeing how supply and demand are going to play

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Property Taxes Rose in 2019, but Increases are Smallest in 3 Years

The amount of property taxes levied on single-family homes last year totaled $306.4 billion, up 1% from the year prior, ATTOM Data Solutions reported Thursday. Most homeowners faced a higher tax bill in 2019, averaging $3,561 per home—or an effective tax rate of 1.14%--although that varied considerably from county to county.Nevertheless, “the nationwide increase was the smallest in the last three years, a sign that cities, towns, and counties

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How to Get Cleaner Air at Home

As more people spend time inside, indoor air quality is becoming a pressing issue. Here are a few tips from experts recently highlighted at Curbed.com.Use the vent when cooking. “One of the big things we’re starting to understand a little more is the problems with cooking,” Adriano L. Martinez, an environmental lawyer who tweets about air quality issues as @LASmogGuy, told Curbed.com. “A hood and fan that siphons toxic fumes out of y

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Property Managers can Expect Multifamily Wins

How are you handling the many changes hitting the real estate industry? Some of the trends we saw in 2019 are shaping the year ahead. Let’s take a deep dive into the state of the market—from where it has been to where it’s going—so you can leverage the data to fine-tune your business strategy for 2020 and beyond.Market Trends: A Year in Review Currently, there are about 48 million residential units on the market, with 43% being multifamil

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REALTORS: 6 Tips to Turn Sellers into Buyers

You know client retention is key for the future health of your business. While there’s always potential to turn buyers into repeat customers, the promise is even greater with sellers—many of whom will be in the market immediately to buy a new home. So, how can you make sure sellers will want to enlist your services for the next purchase transaction? Applying these six tips to your daily practices will help ensure your sellers return

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Should Landlords Disclose COVID-19 Status of Tenants?

Building owners and homeowner association boards aren’t legally required to disclose if a tenant tests positive for COVID-19, real estate attorneys say. But they say city laws are changing quickly and COVID-19 disclosure requirement disclosures could change too.Many landlords are reportedly telling tenants when a case of a COVID-19 infection surfaces in their buildings, even though they're not required to do so. Some are sending emails or a mem

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Top New-Home Features in 2020

Closets, energy efficiency, and laundry rooms appear to be home builders' top priorities in the single-family homes they're constructing this year.The National Association of Home Builders conducts a nationwide survey each year to find out what home features builders are most likely to include in a typical new home. The walk-in closet in the master bedroom was the most popular home feature builders cited, according to the survey. Energy-efficient

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The Difference Between Mortgage Deferment and Forbearance

More homeowners are in search of mortgage relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and options like mortgage deferment and mortgage forbearance are becoming readily available to those in need.But “we are seeing the terms being used interchangeably,” Sara Singhas, director of loan administration for the Mortgage Bankers Association, told realtor.com®.Mortgage deferment and mortgage forbearance allow borrowers to temporarily stop making their mont

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Mortgage Rates Move Lower this Week

Borrowing costs inched down for the second consecutive week. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.33%, Freddie Mac reports.“Mortgage rates have drifted down for two weeks in a row and that drop reflects improvements in market liquidity and sentiment,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “While the market has stabilized relative to prior weeks, home buyer demand has declined in response to current economic conditions. The

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Number of Homes for Sale has Dropped, but Prices have Risen

The number of homes for sale declined 15.7% annually in March, a housing report released Thursday by realtor.com® shows. However, the national median listing price was up 3.8% to $320,000 last month, and homes spent fewer days on the market in March as the pandemic prompted mass restrictions to be put in place across the country to try to stop the spread.Price growth did show some deceleration during the weeks ending March 21 and March 28 compar

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