The lights are the jewelry of a space. Swap out light fixtures to instantly update the style of a kitchen, designers say. Houzz recently featured an article offering tips on how to choose kitchen lighting. Among its insights:Layer the lights. “Light layering involves creating different shades of light, playing with shadows and using colors to highlight a room’s best features,” interior design writer Georgia Madden notes. “In the kitc
Cookie-cutter homes and apartments can look too similar to their competition, making it harder for them to stand out. But developers and designers are finding some ways that can make an abode different from the rest.“Everybody’s looking at what everybody else is doing,” Jonathan Miller, the president of Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants, told The New York Times. An apartment can be “really nice and spec
When home shoppers are looking around for the best mortgage rates, they may wonder why they aren’t quoted the ones they see advertised online or by banks. Lenders usually advertise the best interest rates that are available only to their borrowers with the highest credit scores.Credit scores can have a big impact on what borrowers are quoted with mortgage rates.Forbes.com paints the following scenario in a recent article: Two neighbors are both
The split-level home—with its rooms on multiple floors—was all the rage in the 1970s, but you don’t see the style as much in contemporary homes. However, that may soon change. Google searches are revealing the split-level home is more in demand.Search interest in split-level homes has been climbing since 2004 and reached an all-time high in January 2017, according to Google data. The largest increases over the past year came during May and
As prices rise, more buyers are turning to unconventional loans to finance their new-home purchase, particularly in some western southern markets.The share of unconventional financing is comprising more than a quarter—or 28.6%—of the new-home build market, a new analysis of census data by the National Association of Home Builders shows. Unconventional forms of financing include loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, VA-backed lo
The youngest cities are usually found near college towns. Realtor.com® researchers analyzed 2017 U.S. Census Bureau metro data to pinpoint the cities with the lowest average resident age (the rankings were limited to one city per state for geographic diversity). The top 10 cities all have an average resident age of 30 or younger.The following cities’ residents have the youngest average ages:1. Provo, UtahAverage resident age: 24.7Median home l
A total of 143,105 properties nationwide received a foreclosure filing—default notice, scheduled auction, or bank repossession—in the third quarter of this year, the lowest level since the second quarter of 2005, ATTOM Data Solutions reports in its latest Foreclosure Market Report. U.S. foreclosure activity is now 49% below the prerecession average of 278,912 between the first quarter of 2006 and the third quarter of 2007, ATTOM Data rep
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped 12 basis points from last week, averaging 3.69%, Freddie Mac reports. That’s no reason for home shoppers to get nervous: Economists largely predict mortgage rates will dip in the weeks ahead. Also, rates are still more than a percentage point lower than a year ago.“Despite this week’s uptick in mortgage rates, the housing market remains on the upswing, with improvement in construction an
Total housing starts dropped 9.4% month over month in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.26 million units, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Thursday. The multifamily sector, which includes apartments and condos, plummeted 28.2% in September to a pace of 338,000. However, single-family housing starts fared much better, rising 0.3% to 918,000 units.Overall, builders are happy with the numbers.&nbs
Some real estate pros are prepping their “spooktacular”-themed open houses to attract potential buyers this month. Here are a few tips if you decide to follow the Halloween vibe:Don’t go all “goth” when decorating: Keep the themed decor simple and especially tasteful. No tombstones and graveyards or skeletons on the front stoop to frighten buyers away. April Struhs, a real estate pro with Coldwell Banker Schmitt Real Esta
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