More than 47,000 home fires reported to U.S. fire departments involved some type of electrical failure or other household malfunction, according to the National Fire Protection Association.Homeowners sometimes discover that fires can be caused by some unexpected objects. Realtor.com® recently featured some of the hidden fire dangers that may lurk in a home:DishwashersMany dishwasher fires are caused by liquids that come into contact with the app
For years the commercial real estate market remained relatively unchanged when it came to technology, lagging behind the rest of the real estate industry during the Dot Com Boom and the more recent rise of automation and cloud-based technologies. But commercial real estate recovered following the recession and profits began to grow, attracting younger brokers with different needs than their predecessors.These shifts in the industry have led to a
Two-thirds of Americans fail to contribute anything to a 401(k) or other retirement account available through their employer, according to the Census Bureau.The latest data is alarming financial experts, who say Americans are not saving enough for retirement. Only about a third of workers are saving in a 401(k) or similar tax-deferred retirement plan, according to researchers Michael Gideon and Joshua Mitchell, who analyzed W-2 tax records from 2
In 2016, 15.5 percent of home purchases were completed using Federal Housing Administration loans, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. For many borrowers, the FHA requires a down payment of just 3.5 percent of the purchase price of a home.The following are the eight metros with populations of more than 200,000 that had the largest percentage of purchases using FHA-insured loans in 2016.1. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas FHA sales: 35%2. Ogden-Clea
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Existing-home sales in January reached their fastest pace in nearly a decade, with all major regions except the Midwest posting gains last month, the National Association of REALTORS® reports.Total existing-home sales—completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops—rose 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69 million in January. That's 3.8 percent higher than a year ago and marks the st
Forty-three million American homeowners aged 55 and older say they plan to live out the rest of their years in their current home. But adding the necessary features they'll need to age in place could prove costly—and possibly financially impossible for some—according to a new analysis by mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac.About 1.5 million existing homes require retrofitting, such as widened doorways and hallways, adding levered handles, or
An increase in interest rates means home shoppers likely will need a higher salary in order to afford a median-priced home in 27 of the largest metro areas, according to mortgage data provider HSH.com's fourth-quarter 2016 salary-homeownership analysis.Couple that with higher home prices, which are rising year over year, and it takes more to afford the principal, interest, taxes, and insurance payments on a median-priced home. Take a look at the
Some of your clients may be dreaming about buying a home on foreign shores, particularly in countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, the Philippines, Colombia, and Canada. In fact, about 14 percent of REALTORS® say they had a client in search of property abroad last year, according to the National Association of REALTORS® 2016 Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate. That number has more than doubled from the previous yea
As real estate heads into its busy spring season, consumers aren't showing typically large demand for mortgage loans just yet. Total mortgage application volume, which includes refinances and home purchases, dropped 2 percent week over week for the week ending Feb. 17, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports. Total mortgage volume has plunged nearly 21 percent from a year ago.Refinancing applications has shouldered most of the blame for the decr
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