Category: General

Any time of the year, relocating could be vital to your goals. Maybe you’re considering a move for work, education, residency, or relationships. Assuming you’re not offered funding to move, a relocation loan can help you get the job done. Moving costs can add up to thousands of dollars. Not everyone has the necessary savings…

People all over the United States are dealing with rising monthly rents. LGBTQ+ renters are no exceptions. And, like all renters, they face the hurdle of gathering together down payments that come along with today’s sky-high listing prices. But while we’re all affected by this harsh economy of housing, it is somewhat harder for the…

Gen Z is the generation born from 1997 to 2012. This tribe’s elders are already in their mid-twenties. Some are shopping for homes; others are becoming agents. Turns out they’re some of the savviest participants in real estate today. They grew up in a digital world. They know social media. And they aren’t afraid to…

Purchasing a home is one way to have control over your housing. But homeownership is also a wealth-building superpower. Pay off the mortgage, and the loan balance shrinks. Month by month, the home becomes a source of value that can grow with the real estate market. At some point, you might want to tap into that…

Invited to put your name on the deed to a home? It might seem totally natural to just say “thank you.” But stop and think a moment. If you accept a new deed, perhaps a quitclaim, with your name added on, you’ll put her, and yourself, at a financial disadvantage.

Home sellers are staying away from the market in droves this year. Millions fewer new listings hit the spring market. Zillow reports that the February 2023 volume of listings is down 23% year over year. The missing sellers are sending a message to the market. Look how comfortable we are with our current mortgages! Most…

Single women are a force to be reckoned with in residential real estate. Most real estate marketing photos show couples and families. Understandably, considering that the National Association of REALTORS® says couples do buy the bulk of homes for sale. But single women, NAR says, buy 17% of the homes. That’s big. Solo men, in…

“I am meeting young people who make $78,000 and they cannot find a home. They cannot bid (against investors). They don’t have the money…Who wants to pay $3,000 a month for their first home? Nobody. It’s unsustainable.” —Dina Neal, a state senator in Nevada, quoted in the Nevada Current. We all know the stories of…

It’s legal to buy a house at the age of majority. That special number is 18 years old — with a few exceptions. People reach legal adulthood at 19 in Alabama and Nebraska. And Mississippi residents are late bloomers—they stop being minors at age 21. Legal majority means you’re old enough to apply for mortgages,…

Perfectionists are a giant step closer to finding their perfect homes. This month, two internet-savvy real estate giants launched ChatGPT plugins.   It’s an intriguing new development, connecting real estate and the artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI. And it’s part of a technological milestone: OpenAI only recently linked ChatGPT to the internet.

Setting up an LLC for an investment property is simple, and not terribly time-consuming. Doing it well does take research, attention, and professional support. But it may be worthwhile. Here are some basic considerations to have on your radar if you wonder whether forming an LLC could be a worthwhile goal. This is not legal…

Occasionally, the parties to a home sale make side deals, and do not write them down. This can lead to later questions, regarding just how meaningful a side agreement is. To know whether a side agreement is binding after closing, it helps to be familiar with the impact a deed transfer has on that agreement.…

Climate disruption has caused more extreme weather. As we’ve noted before, the impacts of out-of-whack weather systems are making their mark on real estate.  Results of these extremes include intensified stormwater management challenges all over the continent, as unusually heavy storms inundate buildings. Of course, engineers design stormwater systems to handle and redirect the water. These systems,…

KeyBank®’s new Fair Housing Month poll takes the pulse of households earning less than $75,000. It asks homeowners how they feel about their encounters with home purchases and mortgages. The poll says many people don’t look into information on home buyer assistance, and might simply not know these opportunities exist.

In normal times, we’d now enter a predictable phase of the real estate cycle: spring’s brisk market. But this year, buyers are concerned about mortgage rates. Granted, rates are calming down a bit after touching 7% in March. And in some markets, property values seem to be cooling off. Hopeful buyers are eagerly watching. First-timers…