home improvement
Follow these tips for reducing your insurance payments without having to foot the bill when disaster hits As a homeowner, you probably have more bills to pay than you’d like to think about. On top of your mortgage payment, you have utilities such as electric, water and gas, as well as maintenance and repairs that…
Home Prices Hit 8-Year High (Getty Images) What Happened: The S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index in October sat 5.2 percent above where the metric was a year ago, according to a report released Tuesday. The real estate pricing barometer now sits at its highest level since Oct. 2007. But price gains have largely been concentrated…
Buying a home may not be wise if your life is in flux or dealing with repairs frightens you. If you’re wondering whether you’re better off financially renting or buying a home, you can easily find an app for that. Calculators at Bankrate.com, The New York Times, Zillow and Realtor.com all let you input the…
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…
Buying a home can get intense, and you can easily feel intimidated by the lending process and closing requirements. Federal policies affecting mortgage lending has seen many changes in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis that began in 2007, putting a stronger focus on eliminating predatory lending and increasing transparency for the borrower. Hearing…
It may be an even better idea to BUY A HOME NOW! The Federal Reserve announced today that interest rates will increase by 0.25 percent , or 25 basis points. The last time the Fed raised rates, “the iPhone didn’t even exist,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for title insurance company First American Financial Corporation….
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…
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…
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…
Owning a home is a keystone of wealth… both financial affluence and emotional security.