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
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
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
Nevada has the highest share of homeowners who are likely to move, according to a new report released by ATTOM Data Solutions. Homeowners in Delaware, Florida, Colorado, and Virginia rounded out the top five places where homeowners are showing the greatest likelihood of moving.ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate research firm, culled data from purchase loan applications on residential real estate transactions for its first quarter Pre-Mover Housi
A sluggish reading on housing production last month was mostly due to a decline in the construction of apartment buildings and condos. Housing production, reflecting multifamily and single-family homes, dropped 3.7 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. The decrease follows an 11-year high in housing production that was set in March.“We expected some pullback this
Real estate pro Ben Caballero of Dallas has made history: He’s the first real estate agent ever to be recognized by the Guinness World Records for a mammoth number of home sales. Caballero sold 3,556 verified homes in a single year—this means essentially selling an average of more than 68 homes per week, or nearly 10 homes per day, every day of the week.Caballero was honored this week for his achievements at a REAL Trends conference in Denve
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