Opinion

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to real estate. Each deal is different, and rarely does one go off without a hitch. But when it comes to divorce, selling a house becomes that much more complicated.

“The check is in the mail” is one of the great lies of all time. Real estate has its own set of lies, especially among agents who want to list your house for sale.

As part of Uncle Sam’s efforts to make housing more affordable, some lenders are starting to accept alternatives to expensive title insurance. But at what price?

An estimated 74 million home and condominium owners now live in properties governed by associations of their fellow residents. And a new survey finds 4 out of every 5 folks living with an association would just as soon live elsewhere.

Buying a house in the winter is a different animal, especially in colder climates where the weather can limit your ability to fully see a property.

The mortgage market is in for another big shift in a few months. That’s when a sizable increase – roughly 12 percent or 13 percent – in the conforming loan limit appears likely to be announced.

Many do-it-yourselfers, especially rookies like me, aren’t as fortunate. More than 9,000 injuries chronicled in 2020 resulted in amputations.

Up until a month or two ago, sellers were in the driver’s seat, but as buyers’ use of contingencies rise, they still have a trick up their sleeves to control a deal.

At the same commission rate, real estate agents who sell an $800,000 house receive eight times the compensation of those who sell a $100,000 home. But does it take eight times the effort to sell the more expensive property?

Experts say that a 2008-style housing crash is unlikely to happen now, if only because lending standards are much tighter than they were prior to the Great Recession. Still, foreclosures are starting to tick upward.

Calculating people are always looking for ways to separate the rest of us from our money. Such, it appears, is the case with Home Title Lock, an outfit that promises to “protect” you from home title theft.

Three out of four homebuyers start their house hunt online. But if that’s the extent of your search, you could be missing out on any number of places that fit your parameters.