Category: Real Estate
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A Deed in a Box? Understanding the Deed in Escrow
Deed in escrow has multiple meanings. In this article, we’ll discuss the concept as it applies to community restoration, and we’ll also discuss the deed in escrow as a way of averting a foreclosure.
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NIMBY or YIMBY? Here’s Where People Stand on Rezoning for More Housing.
The United States sorely needs to make homes affordable for more people. Millions of households are financially fenced out from acquiring their own deeds. Local and state policy makers are under pressure to allow higher density in residential neighborhoods, in order to ease the housing shortage that takes a particular toll on working people,…
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Seniors’ Advocates Urge States to Ban Predatory ‘Cash for Listing’ Contracts
States are outlawing listing agreements that bind homeowners to specific companies to sell their homes in the future. In the last two years, 30 states have acted to prevent businesses from taking control of people’s property by recording brokers’ contracts against their deeds. The agreements can result in restrictions, liens, or even stealth mortgages recorded…
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What’s the Low-Down on This Housing Market? Harvard Weighs In.
The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard has just published its 2024 State of the Nation’s Housing report. HOUSING COSTS STRAIN OWNERS AND RENTERS ALIKE, the report proclaims. MILLIONS PRICED OUT OF HOMEOWNERSHIP. The headlines say it all, right? While construction is starting to bolster inventories, the new report notes certain persistent issues: record…
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Should I Agree to Put My Partner/Fiancé on the House Deed?
Maybe you’re buying a new home. A home for you and your significant other to live in. Or maybe you already hold a deed, and are thinking of quitclaiming it from your name into both names: you, and your unmarried partner. Perhaps your partner is paying a percentage of the housing costs, and would like…
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Seller-Paid Agent Commissions Are Over in August. How Will Buying Homes Change?
Effective August 17, sellers won’t have to agree to pay both sides’ commissions up front when they list their homes for sale. And agents can no longer communicate “offers of compensation” to other agents through their local Multiple Listing Services. August will mark “a time of adjustment,” says Kevin Sears, who recently took the role…
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Builders Meet Buyers Where They Are—With Smaller Homes
At Elm Trails, a subdivision of San Antonio, the giant developer Lennar sells compact homes for just $150K or so. The houses themselves take up less than 700 square feet. They’re placed on 20-foot lots with little backyards and no garages. The least expensive offering is a new, 350-square-foot house for $130K. So far, 55…
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Next Five Years: Predictions for the Housing Market
The U.S. News & World Report has just come out with its housing market predictions. And it has a few zingers. Take a look.
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We All Deserve a Home, But Corporations Outbid Some of Our Friends.
Corporate buyers are snapping up residential properties in Massachusetts and pushing out long-time residents, according to a report by the news outlet 25 Investigates. These investment companies form a complex network, making it nearly impossible for individuals and towns to hold them accountable.