Working with professional movers doesn’t mean the homeowner can escape the entire process. Homeowners will still need to prep the house for the moving company before they arrive to pack them up. Realtor.com® recently highlighted several of the items homeowners should do before the moving company arrives, including:Protect your floors.To help avoid damage to the house, remove anything fragile that could be in the path as furniture and boxes get
Stock market chaos ensued on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging more than 700 points as trade disputes with China intensified. The turmoil in the markets will likely lead to new lows for mortgage rates this week, but it could come at a cost and eventually lead to an economic recession if tensions continue, warned the National Association of REALTORS®’ Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.“The prospect of a major trade war be
Rising costs for construction materials and labor are making home improvement projects more expensive, yet too many homeowners are setting unrealistic budgets, according to the 2019 Kitchen and Bath Market Index report, which reflects second-quarter figures. The report, conducted jointly by the National Kitchen & Bath Association and John Burns Real Estate Consulting, is based on responses from 457 NKBA members.Estimated Cost of Common Interi
Landscapers say they see homeowners repeatedly making the same mistakes in yard design, whether it's using the wrong plants or not keeping up with maintenance. Landscapers recently shared with Apartment Therapy some of the most common yard mishaps they see, including:Going too big. “Don’t be seduced by showy plants you see on the internet or at the nursery,” says Jenny Jones, senior landscape designer at Terremoto Landscape Architectur
Certain grocery stores may help lift nearby home values, particularly if those stores happen to be Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, or Aldi, suggests a new analysis from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm. Home sellers who live near a Trader Joe’s earned 51% more at resale than the average seller, according to the study. Homes near a Whole Foods or an Aldi sold for 41% and 34% more, respectively.ATTOM researchers analyzed average home va
Consumers and mortgage lenders may not have the best relationship. In fact, mortgage servicers have some of the lowest customer satisfaction scores compared to other industry groups recently studied by J.D. Power, a consumer data and analytics firm.In its 2019 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study, J.D. Power found that overall satisfaction with mortgage servicers is 777 (on a 1,000 point scale), which falls just below life insurance
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage barely budged this week, remaining low at a 3.75% average, Freddie Mac reports.“Mortgage rates have essentially stabilized over the last two months, which reflects the recovery and improvement in the economy from the malaise earlier in the year,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Going forward, the combination of low mortgage rates, tight labor market, and high consumer confidence should set
More homes are being outfitted with smart-home technology—devices that enable remote control and monitoring of household systems. A new analysis from Harvard University’s Remodeling Futures Program shows high demand for such devices and predicts the trend to only get bigger over the coming years, despite some recent security concerns and device breaches.But more than half of consumers say they find the internet of things “creepy,” an
College graduates are searching for a place to live, whether it’s a home of their own, a place to rent, or moving back with their parents. But $7,481 is their magic number—that’s what they see they need, on average, to move out of their parents’ house, according to a new survey from Apartment Guide.Forty-six percent of Generation Z college students say they plan to rent or buy a home after graduation. However, 63% don’t know their curre
Kitchen islands have become the focal point in many homes, and there are plenty of reasons why real estate pros are spotlighting them in their listings.Kitchens have transformed into multifunctional spaces in recent years, and the kitchen island is turning it into a social gem. “The island gives families with children the opportunity to combine cooking, homework and socializing, the latter being especially valuable,” Lene Halse Hornemann, des
This website includes images sourced from third party websites including Adobe, Getty Images, and as otherwise noted.
