Blog

Real estate has been lodged in a hot seller's market in most of the country for a few years now -- but as you've probably heard, the market is shifting toward more of a balanced or even a buyer's market. Home prices are plateauing in most areas, which might feel a little…

What does a home inspection involve? Standards and specifics vary from state to state, but in general, the inspector is responsible for making sure there are no glaring, obvious issues with a home that's being bought or sold. Sellers can hire an inspector before listing the…

Gardening is good for the mind, body, and soul -- there's something about growing and caring for a plant that makes so many aspects of life feel richer. People who live in suburban or rural areas usually have lots of options when it comes to setting up a garden, but those…

People have been buying vacation rental properties to generate extra income for decades, but the emergence of Airbnb and other websites that let you book private rooms or entire private homes directly online have created a new era of vacation rental owners. Many of the…

When a seller gets ready to list a house on the market, chances are they’ve got dollar signs dancing in their heads, and that might be a problem for an honest real estate agent who doesn’t want to inflate a home’s value just to get a listing. It’s a…

There are a lot of acronyms in real estate — and they don’t always make sense to people outside of the industry. If you’ve heard of a BPO but you aren’t sure what it is or why you might need one, we’re here to help explain it to you: It stands for…

Who doesn't love the idea of collecting rent on a home in a beautiful vacation-friendly location -- and visiting for free when there aren't any guests? It's a lovely concept, but there are several "hidden" costs to owning a vacation home that your daydreams don't encompass.

The nice thing about buying a home that you plan to make your primary residence -- even though the search and transaction processes aren't always a cakewalk -- is that you know what you like. When you buy a home to fix-and-flip or buy-and-hold as an investor, though, it's…

Buying a condo is a big decision -- not just in terms of your financial and housing future, but also as a lifestyle choice. There are a lot of perks to owning a condo that you don't find with a detached single-family home in the suburbs, and also some drawbacks that are…

In a seller's market, it's easy for a lot of sellers to reach the conclusion that they don't actually need a real estate agent to offload their homes. After all, there are buyers everywhere, and home prices are skyrocketing; how hard can it really be to just do it yourself…

Winter is coming ... so what does that mean for homeowners? There's a lot of information out there about the best way to winterize your house for the approaching season, but the actions you take should depend more heavily on the climate where you live, the typical…

Conventional wisdom states that the very best time of year to sell a home is in the springtime -- but conventional wisdom doesn't apply to every home sale, or even every real estate market. If you're thinking about selling your home and you have some flexibility in terms of…