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9 REASONS TO VISIT A HOME AT NIGHT BEFORE BUYING Everyone knows someone who knows someone who moved into what seemed like a perfectly great house on a perfectly nice street only to have a complete nightmare unfold. But the truth is that your neighbor doesn't have to be practicing Santeria on the front lawn…

The housing market is suddenly hot again Let's get the bad news out of the way first. It doesn't feel like the U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders.Wage growth remains sluggish. The stock market continues to be volatile. Target, Macy's and many other big retailers are struggling — and the recent spike in oil…

HOME SELLERS: CREATE A 'MILLENNIAL MAGNET' Sellers whose homes are ideal first-time-buyer starter homes may count on attracting millennial buyers to purchase this real estate. If so, sellers benefit from learning how to look at their homes from the millennial point of view since this group does not represent the force that it has in…

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR SMALL BACKYARD Small backyards can sometimes seem limiting in terms of what you can add to them. Don't be deterred though, as there is a plethora of ways to decorate it. Small backyards have many landscaping options to make them beautiful and open. Here are some ideas to…

Homebuying, not refinancing, drives mortgage applications up 2.3% Slightly higher mortgage rates did not deter homebuyers looking for a loan last week. Total mortgage application volume increased 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week compared to the previous week. Applications are now nearly 24 percent higher than one year ago, according to…

13 BRUTALLY HONEST REASONS YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO SELL YOUR HOUSE ON YOUR OWN Thinking about selling your house without a real estate agent? It's a choice some people make, mainly to try to save some money. But the number of people who list their home For Sale By Owner is in decline. “Eight percent…

Millennials are moving, but mortgages don’t follow It is the No. 1 barrier to entry for young, would-be homebuyers: credit. Millennials are the first generation to come of age in a post-almost-apocalyptic housing market, where lenders, eight years later, are still paying billions in reparations for mortgage misconduct and outright fraud. Millennial homebuyers are also…

ONE WANTS TO SELL THE HOUSE, THE OTHER DOES NOT: WHAT TO DO? You have just inherited the family home, with your sibling. He wants to sell but you want to keep the property. After all, it has been in the family for a long period of time, and the two of you grew up…

HAVING HOA NEIGHBOR KNOWLEDGE One of any homeowner association's challenges is helping neighbors “make nice”. The board is frequently called on to mediate disputes and fine neighbors for doing bad things. Actually, it's not the board's job and in most cases, except those that directly impact the common area, these “opportunities” should be bounced back…

Mortgage rates dip to annual low: Will they stick? When the Federal Reserve raised its interest rates late last year, most mortgage rate prognosticators saw it as a sure sign that home-loan rates would finally rise meaningfully. In fact, just the opposite has happened. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed loan is now…