Real estate professionals officially are entitled to receive a copy of the closing disclosure from lenders, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced last week. Agents traditionally have used the information in the disclosure form to advise their clients during transactions, but about two years ago, when the CFPB made sweeping changes to the settlement process, some lenders stopped making the form available due to privacy concerns.The Na
To garner more attention for a recent listing, a real estate agent in Australia threw a Cirque du Soleil-themed open house at the home. The gimmick worked, drawing 120 people and interest from several serious buyers, says Nick Slater, who listed the property with brokerage McGrath Gunghalin in Canberra, Australia. Slater now expects to sell the home before a scheduled auction on July 22.Guests were greeted at the party by performances from cont
Buyers on the hunt for a lakefront home that promises to be a lucrative investment will want to head to Chelan, Wash. The town tops realtor.com®’s list of top lakeside cities in America.Researchers scoured realtor.com® data to find lake towns that offer the most activities for residents as well the fastest growth in home prices (based on price appreciation between the first quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2017).Lake towns are general
Consumer sentiment about the housing market zoomed to a record high in June, with seller optimism making up most of the uptick, according to Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index. The index rose 2.1 percentage points last month to an 88.3 reading, which matches a record high in February.The number of consumers who say now is a good time to sell a home reached a record high in June, rising 7 percentage points from the previous month. Resear
After moving in, buyers will discover a lot about their new home—but they may wish they had paid closer attention to some items before signing the sale contract. Help your clients avoid regrets by guiding them to assess a property carefully before purchasing it. Realtor.com® advises giving particular consideration to these areas:Nighttime atmosphere. Advise your clients to view a home at different times of the day and night. “A community ca
Realtor.com® has launched a new feature that narrows buyers’ home search down to neighborhoods that include certain elementary, middle, or high schools. House hunters can now enter the name of a school into a search box on the website and view a map with a pin that shows the school name and location along with homes for sale nearby.“Searching for homes by school has been the top requested feature by our users, and it showcases the im
Sixty-two percent of listing agents say professional staging decreases the amount of time a home spends on the market, while 40 percent of buyer’s agents say their clients are more willing to walk through a home that has been staged, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2017 Profile of Home Staging.“REALTORS® know how important it is for buyers to be able to picture themselves living in a home, and staging a home makes t
Buyers eyeing newly constructed homes may need to brace for building delays and higher prices due to an ongoing labor shortage. About two-thirds of homebuilding contractors say they’re struggling to finish projects on time because of the labor shortage, according to a new survey sponsored by USG Corp. and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. More than one-third say they sometimes have to turn projects down.“Basically, they’re just making people wo
Homeowners doing renovations can develop feuds with their neighbors if they’re not cognizant of how work on the project affects the rest of the neighborhood. After all, one homeowner’s upgrade could be another’s downgrade. Realtor.com® recently ticked off common home improvement spats.Additions that block views. Large additions that block views or cast shadows onto a neighboring lot are the most common sources of neighbor disputes involvi
Which housing markets boast the highest percentage of millennial homeowners? ABODO, an apartment listing company, recently analyzed 100 of the largest metros and found that these cities have the largest share of millennial homeownership. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah: 51% Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich.: 45.3% Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa: 43.6% McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas: 43.3% Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota-Wis.: 42.4% Scranton-Wilke
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