first time home buyers
How to get the right information in an inspection and use it in negotiations for your home purchase. Throughout the homebuying process, you will encounter a number of expenses including, but certainly not limited to, an appraisal, transaction fees and a survey – but none is more important than the home inspection. Dollar for dollar,…
Real estate investors may have never had it so good. A classic alternative investment in a volatile stock market, real estate also just got a boost from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with landlords among the biggest winners. The law’s new provisions especially favor rental properties. “Real estate investors have historically been given preferential…
For most first-time homebuyers, securing a down payment is the biggest hurdle. There comes a point for many first-time homebuyers when nearly everything you do becomes focused on saving for that purchase. Even when you’ve been putting money away regularly for years, you find yourself willing to cut out that beach vacation you had been…
Sales of new and existing homes unexpectedly spiked to their highest levels in years last month. America’s housing market appears poised to go out like a lion this year, as a pair of real estate reports this week showed home sales climbed to their highest level in a decade. Sales of new houses clocked in…
Weigh the pros and cons before adding a future upgrade to your list of must-dos for your next house. Whether you’re aiming to reduce your home’s energy usage throughout the day or you’re simply looking to see a little less of your paycheck go to utility bills, installing solar panels on your roof has likely…
Staying in a rental has its benefits, but you should decide if they outweigh the pros of owning a home? More Americans than ever are renting instead of owning a home. About 37 percent of housing units in the U.S. are occupied by renters, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey, and…
Existing-home sales were up 1.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.45 million in April from an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Last month’s sales were six percent higher on a year-over-year basis and also marked the second consecutive month of…
Prepare yourself to move quickly in order to get the home you want. Real estate markets across the U.S. are fast-paced right now. Homes are selling within hours, rather days. Homebuyers are struggling to find the right house before someone else has put it under contract. The pressure to beat out other homebuyers is intense….
-Reuters 24 August 2016 New U.S. single-family home sales unexpectedly rose in July, reaching their highest level in nearly nine years as demand increased broadly, brightening the housing market outlook. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday new home sales surged 12.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000 units last month, the highest…
Owning a home is a keystone of wealth… both financial affluence and emotional security.