This year demonstrated a steady build-up of housing momentum—fueled by significant improvements in economic fundamentals, low mortgage rates, and compressed inventory – and is expected to carry the market into 2015 gains, according to the 2014 Housing Review issued today by realtor.com®. This review includes the Top 10 Real …

RealtyTrac VP discusses outlook for first-time homebuyers

Last week, housing-data giant RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com) released an analysis of fair market rents and median home prices in more than 500 U.S. counties, which shows that buying is still more affordable than renting in the majority of U.S. housing markets. …

Recently, real estate brokerage firms representing more than 300,000 Realtors® and 25 leading Multiple Listings Service (MLS) firms with 350,000 agent and broker subscribers announced the formation of a new company that will develop and manage a new consumer website. The name of the new company has yet to be …

Recently, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced plans to begin backing home loans with down payments as low as three percent. This move came just days after the mortgage giants implemented less rigid lending standards in order to give Main Street citizens with less-than-perfect credit a better chance at homeownership. …

Buying an older home can net you lots of charm and character, often at a more affordable price than you’d pay for a newer model. But, say home improvement gurus, a few strategic renovations can go a long way toward making it more comfortable and efficient.

Renovation expert Bob …

When we were kids, we stuffed our closets full of our toys in lieu of putting them neatly away, hoping that our parents would never find the mess we made. We thought we could spend as little time as possible on chores to maximize the amount of time for fun. …

On December 16th, the Senate approved a one-year extension of the set of tax policies known as “tax extenders.” With the House of Representatives having previously adopted this extension, the legislation (H.R. 5771, which contains the “Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014″) is now headed to the President, who is …

I recently ran across a great post by Jeff Zane - a practicing real estate attorney in West Palm Beach, Fla., and a member of the Palm Beach County Attorneys’ Real Estate Council.

The item served as a good refresher for anyone who thinks they can save money during …

It’s the proverbial question that crosses every business leader’s mind, “How do we take our business to the next level?” Best-selling author and Stanford business professor, Jim Collins, set out to discover just that when he wrote his book, “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others …

Years after the housing market crash, one thing is certain: it’s incredibly difficult to qualify for a mortgage, and that fact is significantly holding back the housing market recovery. Thankfully, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac took notice and, just this week, instituted new lending guidelines that will make …