Many house hunters are under the mistaken impression that new construction is flawless, a perception that may be challenging to wrestle with if your seller’s home is surrounded by brand-new development. In reality, there can be just as many inspection issues with new builds as there are with resale properties. If you’re working with clients who are interested in purchasing new, it’s important to manage their expectations and let them know
The U.S. ranked as the 18th happiest country in the world in 2018, according to the World Happiness Report, released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the U.N. So, which specific counties are making the country the most happy?To find out, researchers at SmartAsset, a personal financial website, compared U.S. counties across eight factors, including the unemployment rate, poverty rate, affordability ratio, marriage rate, divorc
NAR leaders had a lot on their plates as they wound down the REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., including approving the association’s budget, calling for a higher level of REALTOR® professionalism, and facing past mistakes in the fight for fair housing.NAR President Elizabeth MendenhallNAR BOD Approves Dues Increase, Stepped-Up Ethics Enforcement At its meeting in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, the Board of D
Developers, architects, and city planners were challenged at a recent meeting of the Urban Land Institute to help build healthier communities and reverse the trend of shorter life expectancy among U.S. children. Members of younger generations are facing a shorter life expectancy than their parents, and some in the housing industry blame it on poor living environments.“In the U.S., our children’s generation, my children’s generation, will be
While coastal cities have long been hotbeds for industry development and relocating homeowners, metros in Texas are beginning to usurp them as top places for prosperity. The Lone Star state boasted six of the top 20 prosperous cities, according to apartment site RentCafé.What makes a city prosperous? RentCafé researchers analyzed six indicators of prosperity throughout U.S. cities with populations of more than 100,000 to see how they’ve chang
Since mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced last year special rules for when a property does not need a traditional in-person appraisal, only about 5 percent of Fannie’s 1.2 million home mortgages—or 60,000—have qualified, The Washington Post reports. Freddie estimates that, eventually, no-appraisal mortgages will account for up to 15 percent of its new loans.In some transactions, Fannie and Freddie are relying on proprieta
Townhouse construction continues making gains as buyers’ appetites once again increase for this type of single-family attached housing. Over the last four quarters, ending with the first quarter of 2018, townhouse starts were 7 percent higher than the prior four quarters. Townhouses accounted for 21,000 starts during the first quarter of 2018.The market share of new townhouses now stands at 12.3 percent of all single-family housing starts, ac
Mortgage rates reversed course and soared to the highest averages in seven years, Freddie Mac reports. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.61 percent this week, which matches the highest level since May 19, 2011.“Healthy consumer spending and higher commodity prices spooked the bond markets and led to higher mortgage rates over the past week,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Not only are buyers facing higher borrow
Short-term and longer-term predictions about real estate markets along with a substantive give-and-take about the proposed association dues increase were among the lively topics at the 2018 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo on Thursday.Lawrence YunResidential Outlook: Robust Economy, Restrained Sales By most measures, home sales should be breaking out because of the strong economy, but growth is minimal because too few homes are fo
Notarize, a company that allows professionals or businesses to legally notarize documents online, announced $20 million in a new round of funding, bringing the company’s total to $31 million. Notarize was part of Second Century Ventures’ 2017 REach program, a strategic investment arm of the National Association of REALTORS® that helps companies launch into the real estate, financial services, banking, home services, and insurance industri
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