Home shoppers are focusing their attention on outdoor spaces, but with yard sizes decreasing nationwide, how can you make a small backyard appealing to your buyers? A recent article at Apartment Therapy featured designers who showed off their best design tricks to make a small backyard feel less cramped.Add Seating “No matter how small your outdoor area, you’re going to want to create a sitting area or else you won’t take full advantage of
Sixty-five percent of households nationwide view buying a home in their ZIP code as a good financial investment, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s 2019 Survey of Consumer Housing Expectations. Nearly 72 percent of renters say they would prefer to own instead of rent—if they had the financial resources to do so, the survey found. Renters ages 50 and older were more likely than younger renters to say they prefer to be homeowne
Borrowing costs this year likely will be lower than originally predicted. Freddie Mac recently downgraded its forecast for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, projecting it will average 4.3% this year—below last year’s average of 4.5%. Further, Freddie economists predict only a small increase in rates in 2020, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 4.5% next year.The lower mortgage rates likely will be a boon for housing, Freddie Mac not
Many Americans are moving because they want more space, according to a new survey of 1,000 consumers from Porch.com, a home remodeling website. More than one in four—and millennials, in particular—say their chief motivator for moving is the desire a larger home. Porch.com found the top moving motivators among consumers:Desire for a larger home: 26%Desire to own, not rent: 19%Downsizing: 12%New job or job transfer: 11%Desire for a better neigh
As temperatures heat up across the country, renters have cooling systems on their minds. Air conditioning units are the most-searched amenity among renters, according to an analysis from Zumper, a rental listing site. Zumper analyzed what its users nationwide searched for the most among rental units.Zumper researchers noted that a few amenities on the list were traditionally considered “nice-to-have items” but are now “must-haves.” For ex
The fastest-growing builders in the nation are those who’ve been catering to the lower range of the price spectrum. Their focus on affordability is allowing them to win greater market share and sales volumes, a new study says.Ever year, BUILDER compiles Builder 100 data to see which new-home builders are seeing the biggest sales volume and production.Century Communities was the fastest-growing public builder in unit volume, based on its rate of
Choosing the wrong neighborhood can make for a very unhappy homeowner.A new survey from Porch.com, a home remodeling website, surveyed about 1,000 consumers to find the biggest neighborhood turnoffs. Noise, traffic, and crime were the chief concerns of buyers. Noise topped the list of neighborhood turnoffs, with 41% of respondents citing it as their top gripe, according to the survey. In fact, noise proved to be an even bigger deterrent than a hi
From the 20% pass-through tax deduction for independent contractors to the promise of opportunity zones to revitalize struggling communities, President Donald Trump extolled the impact of an array of achievements that have benefited real estate practitioners. He spoke before an enthusiastic crowd of 2,000 REALTORS® Friday who packed a Marriott Wardman Park hotel ballroom in Washington, D.C., during the REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade
You can make any listing picture-perfect with virtual staging tools, which can do everything from manipulating the appearance of skies in photos to making empty properties look like modern spaces with fancy fixtures. But there is such a thing as going too far—and it could land you in hot water.When virtual staging changes listing photos drastically from their original appearance, it can be misleading and give buyers a false impression of a prop
Property managers can be held legally responsible for discrimination and harassment by contractors, such as maintenance workers, and for failing to address a tenant who is infringing on the rights of another tenant, experts said Thursday during the Property Management Forum at the REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C.Further, property managers must also address issues of tenants’ visitors harassing other tenants,
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