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 determined. This announcement is the first time that the 50 industry leaders participating in early formation discussions have released information to the public.

“It's time to reach out to our industry for support,” says Cameron Paine, CEO of the Connecticut MLS. Paine, with the urging of his brokers and directors, has been spearheading the effort to engage real estate brokerage firms and MLSs to collaborate and deliver to consumers a better national property search.

“We want to do it right if we expect to deliver a compelling solution to the online consumer,” says Richard Haase, CEO of Latter and Blum REALTORS® in Louisiana.

(BPT) - Making a New Year's resolution is common, and many people set goals for ways to improve themselves. If you have set a goal to lose weight, learn a new skill or get promoted, congratulations. But while you are striving to attain your personal goal, have you ever thought of setting a goal to refresh your home in a way that will have your friends talking?

Setting a home improvement goal is more common than you may think and you can make a dramatic improvement to your home with a complete remodel. You can take on several smaller projects - any time of the year - that will leave you loving your home all year long. Here are a few ideas to get you going.

* A fresh coat of paint. Nothing reinvents a room like a fresh coat of paint. Yet many people put off painting a room because they can't afford professional painters and they don't have time to do the job themselves. But you can achieve that professional quality finish at a fraction of the time and cost by visiting RentalHQ.com and renting your own paint sprayer. Use your sprayer to add a neutral color, which provides visual appeal and works with most furniture patterns, leaving you plenty of decorating options.

* Change hardware. Faucets and cabinet hardware can quickly date a room. Replacing hardware can add beauty to your kitchen without adding a lot of extra cost. Be sure to find knobs and pulls that are the same size as the existing ones so you don't have to re-drill the cabinets. Do this for any furniture and in any room for an instant decor face-lift.

* Replace old tile. Outdated tile can make a bathroom look old and dull. Replacing it with new tile that is in style will give the space a rich, modern look. Tiling is a DIY project that anyone can tackle with the right tools. Rent the necessary items like a tile stripper, a tile saw and a mortar mixer to keep your costs down.

* Update curtains and blinds. Textiles play a major role in the overall decorating scheme of a room. New window treatments offer an inexpensive way to introduce bold color and patterns for an instant refresh. Pair your new curtains with decorative throw pillows for a striking impact to the living room.

* Recreate your flooring. If your carpet doesn't need to be replaced but it could use a little refreshing, cleaning your carpets will do the trick. If you can't afford to hire professional carpet cleaners or you feel like taking on the project yourself, renting a carpet cleaner can give your carpets the professional look you've been dreaming of. And if you have hardwood floors that need to be refurbished, renting a floor sander is an excellent first step for this project.

Home improvement projects do not have to include a complete overhaul to provide a new look. These smaller projects will dramatically improve your home all year long. To learn more about the tools you can rent for your next project and to see more ways those tools can help you, visit rentalhq.com.

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. According to The Association of Mortgage Professionals (NAMB), it seems the lending industry is opening its arms to the millennial generation, too many of whom have yet to own their first home.

The new programs – Freddie Mac’s Home Possible Advantage and Fannie Mae’s as yet unnamed – are tailored to first-time homebuyers and low- and moderate-income individuals who finance a fixed-rate mortgage. In these cases, they may be approved for a loan without the capital required to make the traditional five percent down payment. In exchange for the lower down payment, the applicants must be able to demonstrate their ability to repay their loan, secure mortgage insurance, and attend pre-purchase counseling.

According to Don Frommeyer, CEO of NAMB, the lower down payment requirements should help drive millennials into their first homes.

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 Vila, host of TV’s popular “This Old House,” suggests the top six projects new owners may want to plan for when they move into an older home:

New front door – Replacing a decades-old front door will do more than improve your home’s curb appeal. A high quality new door will enhance energy efficiency and provide more dependable security.

New windows – Old windows are drafty and hard to operate. Replacement windows that meet Energy Star® guidelines are not only beautiful and easy to open but will save you hundreds of dollars a year on heating and cooling bills.

Updated electrical system – Modern life involves a lot of gadgets. If you are experience tripped circuits, buzzing noises, or dimming lights when you turn something on, a licensed electrician can update your system to make it safer and more compatible with today’s electronics.

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. But eventually, we would come to learn that, time after time, our parents would soon enough find our mess, negating any time saved—and then some.

That lesson is just as germane for those looking to sell a home. Unfortunately, many fail to translate that knowledge to the process of putting a house on the market, with sellers often deferring the home inspection process to buyers. In doing so, sellers are making the same mistake we made as kids, hoping that any surprises won’t make themselves known to buyers. Only now, the consequences of their inevitable discovery are far more serious than earning a grounding.

For the small price of a pre-listing inspection like that offered by Pillar To Post, sellers stand to save big when it comes time for a buyer to put pen to paper and complete the transaction. Below are just a few of the many benefits of having a pre-listing home inspection done.

Appreciation and tax savings are legitimate contributors to an overall rate of return on rental real estate but what if you didn’t consider them at all. If you only looked at one or two, very conservative measurements, you might decide to invest especially knowing that there are more benefits that will accrue to your investment.

If we bought a property for cash, collected the rent and paid the expenses, the amount left would be called Net Operating Income. In the example below, if would generate $7,200 a year which would be a 7.02% cash on cash rate of return which is considerably higher than the current 10 year treasury rate of around 2.3%.

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 expected to sign the bill into law.

It is important to note that for most items in the bill, this one-year extension is for 2014. The extenders then sunset again at the end of the year, and will be part of the tax policy debate in 2015.

A number of housing-focused policies are in the bill, including many items supported by NAHB. Homeowners, home builders, developers, remodelers, and other housing stakeholders are advised to review this list and consider which items may benefit their (or their clients’) taxes for the coming filing season.

All of the following items were extended for 2014 and then sunset at the end of the year:

Section 45L Tax Credit for Energy Efficient New Homes. Provides builders a $2,000 tax credit for exceeding energy standards by 50 percent. The base energy code is the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code plus supplements. Section 45L is expected to save home builders $267 million in taxes for 2014 construction activity.

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 a real estate transaction by foregoing the involvement of legal counsel.

According to Zane, a buyer or seller should actually engage legal counsel early-on. He says the earlier in the process you involve an attorney, the more value you gain by their representation and support your interests.

A good neighbor might be characterized as someone who’ll look after your home when you’re out of town by picking up your mail and watering your plants. You’d most likely reciprocate for anyone who’d be so generous toward you.

In some cases, you might only be able to name one or two of your neighbors who would step up to that level of service. Wouldn’t it be nice if more people on your street would be happy to make that offer?

The solution may just start with being a better neighbor first. The following suggestions go a long way to improving your neighborhood and making new friends at the same time.

• Meet your neighbors and exchange phone numbers and email addresses. Agree with each other that you’ll let them know if you see something strange going on at their home.
• Slow down when driving through the neighborhood; it will make it safer and everyone will appreciate it.
• Control your dog: keep it on a leash; pick up after it; don’t let it bark too much.
• Don’t park in front of your neighbor’s home.

Consumer excitement about the smart home has reached epic heights, with hundreds of new devices on the market that monitor, notify, control and secure the home. According to Parks Associates, mobile ubiquity, technology innovation and industry standards and partnerships have contributed to more than 13 million U.S. households now owning a connected device. Based on CNET observations, this number is set to increase threefold over the next three years to an estimated 45 million smart homes by 2018.

With connected products available to even the least tech-savvy consumers for as little as $50, there’s no better time than now to create a smarter home. Here are five ways to do it.

1. Automate your light switches. One of the easiest and most affordable places to start automating your home is with the lights. Chamberlain and other companies let you appear home when you're not by setting schedules that turn lights on and off at select or random times. These products are sold at most home improvement and electronics stores such as Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy and online for about $49.99.