Floating homes are hallmarks of many coastal and riverside cities. There are also amphibious houses — built on land, but capable of rising up off the ground when storm waters rush in. Flexible utility pipes move to meet the water as its ebbs and flows.

Putting homes over water serves to expand the available real estate and can help keep prices down. The waterside lifestyle also appeals to those who’d like to get away from the city hustle and live where they play. Not surprisingly, interest in this type of construction is growing. We might even say it’s buoyant!

Can Deed Restrictions Include Rather Than Exclude?

U.S. home prices have outpaced U.S. employees’ wages. This creates a number of problems in real estate. For one, it shuts a lot of people out of the market. Most of today’s renters simply have no choice but to keep on renting. And whether they rent or own, many employees find themselves in long-distance commutes, because they cannot afford to live anywhere near their workplaces.

Landlords are increasing rents sharply these days. Consider Phoenix. Rents in all Phoenix suburbs have risen “by the double-digit percentages since the pandemic,” Zumper reports. Meanwhile, many residential areas throughout the United States have single-family-only zoning. Building affordable, multi-unit homes on a property is not allowed in those areas.

Every day, stock market commentators say we dodged the financial bullet when we powered through the pandemic by Zoom, Teams, and DocuSign. Yet many still struggle to afford homes. How can the affordability problem be solved?

Is the hot seller’s market of Summer 2021 tempting you to put your home on the market and watch the offers roll in? To get ready quickly, you might wonder if you should put a clause in your contract to announce you’re selling the house as-is.

A seller may use the term as-is to point out that the house isn’t in pristine condition. The unspoken message? The home is available at a discount to those who’ll upgrade it themselves. In other words, as-is hints to buyers: Please don’t come back after the inspection to request repairs, replacements, and price concessions!

But you can always speak with your agent about contractual language that limits the buyer’s leverage in an inspection contingency. Selling the home as-is adds vagueness to the transaction, and might not be your best strategy.

Let’s flesh this out with some general considerations for sellers.

Hindsight is 20-20 vision. Homeowners learn something from each home they buy. Looking back, most homeowners can tell you what they did well — and a few things they could have done better. So, what can’t-miss items need your attention before you buy?

We’ve said it before. There’s no overstating the power of a great real estate agent and a diligent mortgage specialist. Their combined know-how can guide you through every step.

Still, you’ll want to keep your own eyes open. Without further ado, here are 6 questions to ask yourself when preparing to buy a home.  

When it’s time to meet with their mortgage experts and apply for loans, most home shoppers accept mortgages with fixed interest rates. When they do, the interest rates are locked in throughout the life of their loans. That’s a good thing, of course, if interest rates are low when the buyers get their loans.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) can seem complex and unpredictable by comparison. At its outset, the common “hybrid” adjustable-rate mortgage starts with a low, fixed teaser rate that the borrower keeps for a certain period — normally three, five, seven, or ten years. Then, it becomes adjustable.

After the initial, fixed-rate period, the payment is recalibrated based on the current interest rates and following the terms set out in the mortgage. Often this is done annually. An ARM could be written as 5/1, for example, meaning the borrower enjoys a low, fixed rate for a five-year period, and after that, mortgage payments will be adjusted every year. So, a borrower who goes to the adjustable rate has to make higher or lower monthly payments as interest rates fluctuate.

An adjustable-rate mortgage typically puts a limit (cap) on the homeowner’s payment increases. Nevertheless, there’s an element of risk in a variable rate. It’s possible that the borrower will have to make much larger monthly payments in later years.

Let’s turn to why some home buyers choose adjustable-rate loans despite this risk.

Most home sales are arm’s length transactions — deals between former strangers. But selling to a relative, colleague or friend can also make sense in certain circumstances.

When friends or family members transfer homes to each other, they have a few special questions to consider. Because every relationship and every home sale is unique, we cannot cover all situations. Nor can we provide legal advice to our readers. But we can spot some general issues sellers and buyers should know. Let’s dive in!

In March 2020, Covid was dubbed a global pandemic. To slow the spread of the virus, U.S. states issued stay-at-home orders for people working in real estate—at first deemed a non-essential business. Appraisals for real estate contracts were non-essential in Pennsylvania, for example, beginning March 19, 2020.

One month later, Pennsylvania issued revised guidance. On-site appraisals would be allowed. So would in-person notaries, title and title insurance services, home inspections, and final home walk-throughs.

During the season of upheaval, the process of transferring a home changed. So did our priorities. To some extent, our adjustments will become hallmarks of a generation. Here, we look at what was temporary, and what’s now part of real estate for good.

Summer 2021 will be a hot one for the real estate market, says the Home Buying Institute. But is the raging home-buying bull market sustainable? With property values up well over 10% in many areas, some market watchers are asking if housing is a bubble.

In fact, there are several good reasons for optimism ahead. But these days, we’re doing our best to prepare for anything. So, let’s look at the positive signals first. Then, let’s check over the concerns heading into late 2021.