Way cool, very scary: getting pools off the ground…. The latest weapon in the luxury high-rise arms race: a private pool in every unit, on every floor. Click here for more.
Real Estate News
The hottest trend in real estate these days is carving out some space for your in-laws, the Wall Street Journal says.
And it has the potential to lift your home value as much as 60 percent.
Known informally as “in-law suites” or “granny flats” and formally as “accessory dwelling units” (ADUs), these little homes, usually somewhere between 300 and 800 square feet, are going up in backyards across the country. The multigenerational living trend has been picking up steam through the Great Recession, both as millennials return to their parents’ homes and as boomers (and their parents) age. Read more…
Visited Morford & Dodds today, a regional boutique commercial real estate firm. Not only cool digs but a firm imbued with old world ethics and style, a rare combination of client-centricity with a long-term focus. Too bad the industry’s less than stellar reputation doesn’t benefit from more firms like theirs.
You’ve heard the old saying – “Location, Location, Location.”
The real truth is “Location, Condition, and Price.” And price trumps every other factor.
Existing home sales are up 11% year over year. If foreclosures and short sales are excluded, then sales are up 25% year over year! This shift away from distressed sales is a sure indicator that the industry is in recovery. Home sales dropped in the month of September but that was expected due to the rate spike in May/June. The recent government shutdown won’t manifest itself in home sales until later.
Everybody’s heard of the 30-year home mortgage, and probably the 15-year mortgage, too. But did you know that there is a 10-year, fixed-rate mortgage? And for some, it can offer big advantages. Read more here.
The New York Times says: Americans are in a buying mood, thanks largely to the housing recovery. Housing prices rose in every one of the 20 cities tracked, continuing a trend that began three months ago. Similar strength has appeared in new and existing home sales and in building permits. Read more here.
The housing market is heating up, yet many house hunters are not prepared to take on the biggest purchases of their lives.
When it comes to mortgages, homebuyers answered basic questions about terms, how to choose a lender and financing wrong nearly one-third of the time, according to an April survey of more than 1,000 current and prospective homeowners by real estate website Zillow. Read more here.
We can’t resist commenting on the story which appeared in the Wall Street Journal a while back regarding Colby Sambrotto, the founder and former CEO of forsalebyowner.com. It seems the founding father and lifelong evangelist of the concept of selling your home without a real estate agent was forced to hire a broker to sell his home after failing at what he preaches others should do. The rest of the story here.