It’s easy to see the value of an open house—a designated time for real estate agents and prospective buyers to scope out your home while on a Sunday spree of house tours. But if you’re worried about getting lost among the competition, creative open house ideas are a must if you want to make a [...]
There’s always a lot of news around housing numbers. Whether home sales are up or down, hot or cold, when they’re released, housing numbers grab headlines. According to the most recent numbers from the National Association of Realtors, nearly 5 million homes will be sold in 2014. That’s a lot of homes! One thing that [...]
Many of today’s new home buyers are Millennials – the generation born in the 80s and 90s – who are now getting married, starting families, and stepping into the real estate arena for the very first time. This is the same generation that grew up in a boom, followed by a bust and an insane [...]
We always hear that remodeling a kitchen is one of the most expensive home improvements. And it can be. The Remodeling 2014 Cost vs. Value Report listed the average cost of a major kitchen remodel at $54,909, and even a minor remodel came in at $18,856. But kitchen remodeling doesn't have to be that expensive. [...]
Falling in love can be wonderful—and finding the perfect house can make a house-hunter weak in the knees. As Valentine’s Day approaches, a survey by Realtor.com shows that falling head-over-heels for a house is fairly common—69% of respondents reported that they have had a home crush. House-hunters with a “home crush,” as defined in the [...]
For many Jacksonville residents, the garage is far more than a spot to park the car — it’s become more of a catchall for every outdoor item the family owns. Floridians spend a ton of time outside, so they often have to store their surfboards and windsurfers in addition to the normal gardening and lawn [...]
To the surprise of virtually no one, the Federal Reserve kept its cheap-money policy in place, but markets interpreted language in the decision to mean that the end may come sooner than expected. Wall Street had expected the Fed to refrain from tapering its so-called money printing operation. Economic data, particularly in employment and consumer confidence, has [...]
Looking at today’s market, I’m so happy about the opportunities that first-time homebuyers are seeing and embracing. One of my colleagues is a young man in his 30s, and recently bought his first home. For years, he counted himself out of the home buying equation, or thought that if he did buy a home, he’d [...]
