Category: Real Estate
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Is It Legal to Bury Someone in the Backyard (and Would It Impact the Deed)?
This summer, a construction crew unearthed a surprising discovery in northwest Tucson, Arizona. Human bones. Turns out they were from a person buried on once-private land, by their family, some 50 years ago. Which brings up a question some deed holders ask: Is it legal to bury a human body on residential property? The answer…
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Lennar Bets on Battery-Making Startup for Texas Homes
Base Power is the name of an electricity startup, founded just two years ago in Austin, Texas. This new firm is part of a growing network of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). These systems provide a way to store battery power, so the lights stay on during stormy times or when the grid is overwhelmed. Calling…
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The Burnt Records Act and the Fiery History of the Chicago Title Company
The Great Chicago Fire broke out in October 1871. It raged for two dark days, and destroyed much of the city. It didn’t spare the building that housed Cook County’s deed records. It also burned up many original records stored in Chicago homes. The Chicago Tribune has said that the destruction and re-creation of property…
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We’re Ready to Close on a Home. But the Deed Holder Has Just Died.
Well, this gives a whole new meaning to the term closing. And yes, it happens. As the baby boomer generation continues to get older, it will likely happen even more. But it’s one thing that’s likely not on a home buyer’s radar as the closing date draws near. First, rest assured. Your deed transaction…
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AI Is Replacing Real Estate Professionals: True or False?
AI tools have been automating real estate sites, personalizing home searches, and handling a good deal of desk work for some time now. AI (artificial intelligence) gleans information from government records, the Multiple Listing Services, and other data sources. It’s used in marketing, budgeting, and communications. The vast majority of brokerages surveyed this year say…
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Which Is the Better Starter Home: House or Condo?
You’re shopping around for a home of your own, in an area where houses cost close to half a million dollars. Along the way, you’ve found a nice-looking condo complex, with available units from $260K. You could buy a condo now, build home equity, then make a larger down payment on a house later on.…
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First Home Struggles: Parents Find New Ways to Help
Getting on the homeownership ladder has never been more challenging. Prices have soared in the past five years; wages haven’t. In expensive housing markets, young adults are approaching midlife with many resigned to renting forever. Parents, in-laws, grandparents or close friends may want to help young adults become deed holders. But they, too, are daunted…
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Buy Safely. Learn From Others. Anticipate Pitfalls in Manufactured Home Deals.
At Royal Village, a manufactured home community in Toledo, Matthew Caton fought hard for his rights. Matthew was among a number of residents who lingered in a rent-to-own status. They’d been promised their titles 180 days after they bought in. But they’d been waiting more than a year when they heard they’d finally receive their…
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Christie’s New Crypto Real Estate Announcement Picked Up by New York Times
Real estate in the United States just passed a new milestone. The luxury firm Christie’s now has a $1 billion portfolio of homes whose owners will accept cryptocurrency from interested buyers. And the firm has just opened a division exclusively for buyers who want to pay with the digital coins. As you might imagine, the…
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When Some Buyers Are More Equal Than Others: Will the U.S. Government “Reboot Redlining”?
Not long ago, New Jersey-based OceanFirst Bank agreed to pay more than $15 million in a settlement with the federal government. This was to resolve the government’s allegations that, for several years, beginning in 2018, the bank violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Housing Act. The problem involved an alleged pattern of ignoring…
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How to Use Mapping to Buy a Home
Thinking about buying a home? Online maps can offer plenty of details about the major investment you’re about to make. Let’s get started, because there’s much to map.
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Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: No Need for Home Buyers to Walk Away Over These Common Issues
Understandably, house hunters look for “issues” as they search for the right homes. They wait with bated breath to scour the reports from inspectors, appraisers, and title reviewers. Any time a mortgage is involved, a lender requires a title search. Through this process, the deed’s history is traced, to check its integrity. The key question?…
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With a Million Homes Now on the U.S. Market, Why Aren’t Prices Falling?
This year, for the first time since 2019, a million homes are on the market. Listings are up more than 7% from last year, According to Realtor.com. Inventory is rising nationwide, with the southern and western parts of the country actually back to 2017-2019 levels! And homes are starting to linger on the market for…
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Time’s Up! MV Realty Ordered to Lift Its Claims From Thousands of Property Records
The party’s over! States are now rushing to ban listing agreements that tie deed holders to particular brokerages to sell their homes in the future. One big reason for this appears to be their residents’ complaints about a certain “MV Realty” company. Several states are acting on MV Realty agreements as you read this. The company has…
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Could Climate Change… Your Credit Score?
Since the 1980s, climate-related disasters have gradually ticked up. And the annual dollar cost of disaster losses and recovery has risen 1,580%. This statistic comes from First Street, a firm known for its analyses of climate risks to real estate. The firm researches the costs of wildfires, storm winds, and water infiltration. In a year…
