As homes age, more homeowners are looking to remodeling to spruce up their properties. Of the nation’s stock of 137 million units, nearly 80% are at least 20 years old, and 40% are at least 50 years old.Freddie Mac says its new mortgage product is to help home buyers finance or refinance fixer-uppers. Eligible buyers will be able to finance the purchase of their home and the cost of renovations into a single-close mortgage.“Research indicates
Lower mortgage rates are proving to be a boon for home shoppers this summer. The 30-year fixed-rate loan has stayed near a 3.8% average for the third consecutive week, after consistent declines in late spring.“While the continued drop in mortgage rates has paused, home buyer demand has not,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “This is evident in increased purchase activity and loan amounts, indicating that home buyers still h
Google is the latest tech giant to make a big financial pledge for easing housing affordability.This week, Google announced a pledge of $1 billion in land and money to build homes to help ease the housing crisis in the East Bay area. Google officials estimate that the fund the company will make to repurpose land could potentially add at least 20,000 homes in the Bay Area.“We hope this plays a role in addressing the chronic s
Builders constructed fewer single-family homes last month, but permits are on the rise, a signal that more new homes are eventually coming.Total housing starts, including for single-family and multifamily construction, dropped slightly by 0.9% in May compared to the month prior, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday.But builders were hopeful for a turnaround from last month’s uptick in permits, a gauge of future construction. Single-famil
For Sale signs in front of places of worship are becoming more common as attendance at smaller churches dwindles. Some developers and home buyers are stepping in to transform the churches into their new home. A handful of former churches are being converted into single-family homes or apartments.In the U.S., church membership has been decreasing over the past two decades. About 50% of Americans belonged to a church, synagogue, or mosque in 2018,
A mortgage may be Americans’ biggest amount of debt, but they view it as the best type to have. Americans with mortgages have the highest level of life satisfaction than those with other forms of debt, such as medical, student loan, or credit card debt. The findings come from the Ascent team by The Motley Fool, who surveyed more than 1,000 Americans with debt to learn more about the psychological impact of debt.Consumer debt has been on the ris
When you walk into a listing appointment with confidence, you instill confidence in the homeowner that you’re up to the job. Kase Eller, president of brand development at Mainframe Real Estate, writes in a recent column at Forbes.com that confidence is key in being triumphant in a listing presentation, whether you’re already a top producer or a new agent just starting out.And after years working in real estate, Eller has broken that confidenc
Living on a beach is the dream to many homeowners. But for many, the high cost keeps them from ever making it a reality.However, you don’t need seven figures in your bank balance to buy in some beach towns. Realtor.com®’s research team analyzed the nation’s largest metro areas with the highest share of listings with keywords such as “beach,” “beachfront,” and “ocean.” They also factored in the number of water activities fo
Some cities are taking up ordinances that would prohibit landlords from denying people housing on the basis of a criminal conviction. The Cook County Board of Commissioners’ recent approval of an ordinance, which allows those with criminal convictions to more readily get housing in the Chicago area, is adding to the momentum behind activists’ efforts.In nearly a dozen big cities, advocates are campaigning for the passage of “fair-chance hou
The right home improvements could help shave energy bills by up to 35% or unlock up to $627 in annual savings, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.Steve Chalk, who recently retired from his work at the department, told CNBC that a home energy assessment can help determine what the best savings projects are for a homeowner to take on.Home energy audits cost about $400, but the price greatly depends on the type of residence and its loca
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