With home prices up in most markets, homeowners aren’t being shy about tapping into their newfound equity. Home equity lines of credit were up 18 percent in the first quarter, and up 14 percent from a year ago, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ First Quarter U.S. Residential Property Loan Origination Report.“Putting home equity to work is the name of the game in the 2018 housing market,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATT
Cities with the highest proportion of non–owner-occupied properties are most likely to be found in the South or West, according to a new analysis from the online lender LendingTree.“Southern cities may be attracting investors due to low prices and growing populations,” the report notes. Also, some “residents in Southern cities may not be able to access homeownership due to lower median salaries, creating a ready pool of renters.”The rep
Many homebuyers face a tough decision: To live in the city or commute from the suburbs. In some city centers, the cost of living is actually not as high as the outlying metro area, while in other cities homeowners will find more purchasing power in the metro area.SmartAsset, a personal financing resource, broke down the costs of commutes near major hubs to find the areas where it pays off the most to commute. The survey compared metro areas acros
An Arkansas judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of murdered real estate agent Beverly Carter against her brokerage, Crye-Leike. Carter’s husband and two sons filed the suit on Sept. 29, 2017—three days after the statute of limitations passed, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox ruled.The lawsuit alleged that Crye-Leike had responsibility in Carter’s death, saying the brokerage failed its duty to properly tr
Gulfport, Miss., offers the best bargains for home buyers interested in a beach town, according to realtor.com®’s 2018 rankings of the most affordable beach towns. Home shoppers who want to live near a beach will find a median list price of $184,100 in Gulfport.Many Americans may dream of living on the ocean, but the high price tag of many waterfront homes may be holding them back. Realtor.com® researchers identified a handful of markets that
With a strong economy and the lowest unemployment rate since 2000, more Americans are in the market to buy a home—yet sales are stagnant. Existing-home sales are down about 1 percent year over year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.Low inventory is posing less competition for sellers, and homes are selling fast. A property will likely have a buyer under contract within 26 days, according to a survey by realtor.com®. That’s
The U.S. Post Office has been attempting to reduce or eliminate sidewalk and curbside delivery to single-family homes, and the new construction market is feeling the affects, the National Association of Home Builders reports on its Eye on Housing blog. In a new NAHB survey, 64 percent of single-family builders say they’ve had a local post office require a “cluster mailbox” on one of their developments; 36 percent say they have not encounter
School strikes are spreading across the country as educators complain of low salaries that make it difficult for them to afford a home or pay rent. In response, some cities are creating subsidized housing aimed specifically at teachers and school staff. Projects are in the works in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Santa Clara, Calif. School officials in San Francisco and Miami are also considering such measures.“Providing subsidies and housing is a sm
Chinese buyers purchased an estimated $100 billion in property globally in 2016, a rate so high that some areas of the world want to slow down the purchasing power of foreign investors to prevent real estate bubbles from forming, according to Chinese real estate website Juwai.com. In 2010, Chinese buyers bought only $5 billion worth of property. Swelling prices for residential and commercial real estate in Western cities such as Toronto and Vanco
A brand’s ability to create “positive, emotional experiences that drive customer loyalty” has a direct correlation to repeat business, according to a recent report from NewVoiceMedia. And bad service resulted in the loss of an estimated $75 billion for U.S. companies last year. “Customers want and expect more than ever before – because that’s what we have we taught them,” says customer service expert and business coach Shep Hyken.R
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