The gap continues to narrow between homeowners’ and appraisers’ perceptions over home values. The latest Quicken Loans Home Price Perception Index shows that the average home appraisal in June was only 0.25 percent lower than what owners had estimated—this puts the two different value perceptions at their closest since February 2015.Homeowners provide their home value estimate at the beginning of the refinance process; that is then matched
With ride-sharing companies such as Lyft and Uber entrenched in cities and changing how their residents move about, a move into bicycle sharing may bring their users even more flexibility.Lyft paid a reported $250 million earlier this month for Motivate, which operates bike-sharing programs across the country under a variety of names, such as Citi Bike in New York and Divvy in Chicago.With some 35 percent of vehicle trips involving travel of two
Despite housing prices on the rise in many places, real estate is still considered a bargain in a handful of cities, according to a new analysis released by SmartAsset, a personal finance website. SmartAsset analyzed data of 200 cities by using a model that projects home value per square foot based on how desirable a city is to live in, considered its livability score. Researchers factored in livability metrics like crime, unemployment, weather,
Investors are bullish that more Americans will choose to be renters, and they’re buying up even more single-family homes to make sure they are ahead of the trend. The number of homes purchased by major investors in 2017 was about 29,000, up 60 percent from the previous year, according to Amherst Capital Management LLC, a real estate investment firm. That is also the first time since 2013 that investors purchased more homes on an annual basis.In
Several vintage and retro elements from the 1960s or even 1930s are oozing back into kitchen design. Realtor.com®’s Jamie Wiebe recently highlighted a few of these comeback trends, including:Decorative flooring: Vintage black-and-white and patterned tiling are making big statements in kitchens once again. Hardwood flooring may be the norm in new-home builds, but more renovators are opting for decorative flooring styles that were once common i
Graffiti can be a difficult issue for property owners. Graffiti is often vandalism that could be associated with gang-related origins. However, some graffiti is viewed as legitimate art created by street artists with local or even national reputations. If you or your clients own a property with graffiti images, you must first determine whether it was done with or without permission.Graffiti vandalism is a criminal act done without an owner’s pe
The typical American dream home would cost $1.3 million, feature 7.5 rooms, and have an average square footage of 2,195 feet, according to a new survey of 2,000 homeowners by Northshore Fireplace. Sixty-four percent of Americans believe they’ll be able to obtain their dream home within their lifetime.The most popular words used to describe a dream home from respondents were comfortable, cozy, and spacious.The most important feature inside a dre
Puerto Rico continues to recover from a devastating hurricane last year that blanketed the island with a wave of destruction. But while the aftermath of Hurricane Maria still lingers, Americans are reportedly showing an increasing interest in buying properties on the island. The number of online searches for Puerto Rican homes for sale is peaking since Maria’s impact and a growing number of potential buyers from the U.S. say they’re looki
Home buyers with children are scouring properties looking for high-level items on their checklists, such as good schools and a room for a nursery. But some parents may later regret overlooking other factors in choosing the right home for their family. Realtor.com® recently featured an article for parent clients looking to buy and those overlooked factors they’d likely want to consider, including:Bedroom placementParents may size up rooms but c
Student housing, which tends to offer high returns for investors but also requires more intense management and administration, has proven a difficult niche in the multifamily sector in the past. However, institutional investors are increasingly taking on the heavier lift of student housing in order to build a safety net with the healthy returns.Greystar, a multifamily investor and affiliate of The Blackstone Group, recently announced a $4.6 billi
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