Category: Real Estate
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One Month In, How’s 2025 Looking for Housing?
So many people need answers. What states are attracting the most home seekers at this time? What states are now the best bets for people who hope to save for a mortgage? Is it even worthwhile, now, to try to get positioned to buy a home? Let’s see where buyers are looking, where saving for…
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Taking Title in a Gated Community: Highlights and Lowlights
Gated communities are just what the phrase suggests. The entrances are closed. Typically, walls insulate the gated complex from the outer world. The front gate could be operated by a 24/7 security guard. Or access could be electronic. These properties come in various styles. Most are urban or suburban. But they all share one trait.…
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Heard About Home Equity Sharing? Does It Beat a HELOC or Home Equity Loan?
What if you could get a lump sum of cash today, leveraging your home’s potential appreciation value? You could. With home equity sharing, a deed holder gets a lump-sum cash advance. The lender takes a share of the property’s appreciation. Also called a home equity investment (HEI), it’s an alternative to a home equity loan…
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Will There Still Be FHA Loans? How Trump’s Return Could Impact Housing
And here it is: a new administration. What’s changing for home seekers and deed holders? Yes, there will still be FHA mortgages. There will still be conventional loans with government backing. But we can expect… All of these possibilities impact the value and availability of deeds for ordinary people. So, let’s do some Q&A to…
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Home Appreciation: For Building Equity, What Kinds of Homes Do Best?
It’s an expensive market out there, to put it mildly. If you’re looking at buying a home, you might understandably wonder: Can home prices keep appreciating? Will my home be a good store of value, as well as a good place to live?
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“I Never Thought I Would Own a House…” A Community Trust in Vermont Takes on the Housing Shortage
Too many homes sit empty in towns where working people need them. In a housing affordability crisis, this has to change. In Vermont, a local nonprofit is stepping up. Local Deeds is an initiative that helps people make down payments on homes. Specifically, working people. A deed restriction ensures that someone in the home has…
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These states are struggling with housing payments more than others, new study finds
Rent is due: Study reveals where Americans are falling behind on housing payments Housing affordability is reaching crisis levels in many parts of the United States, and a growing number of Americans are finding it hard to keep up with their housing costs. Whether it’s soaring rents or overdue mortgages, the struggle to stay current…
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No Housing Market Crash on the Radar: NAR’s 2025 Prediction
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) expects a “rosier” housing market this year. If acquiring the deed to a home is on your list of new year’s resolutions, take note. NAR predicts a market rebound after our recent, two-year stall. No housing crash. Prices should keep going up — but gently, as U.S. real estate…
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These are the states where you can get the largest home for your money, according to new study
Home sweet (and spacious) home: New study reveals where buyers can get the best deals per square foot In recent years, homes have been shrinking as the housing market tightens. A limited supply of available homes, combined with sky-high demand, has driven prices to levels many would call out of reach. However, not all states…
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Frugal But Fun: An Origami Home, Anyone?
Cost has always been a big reason to pick a compact home. Today, though, less really is more. New generations of home buyers seek out small homes for a range of reasons — like a preference for uncluttered minimalism. Or a goal of reducing their footprint on nature. Appropriately designed small homes can be easier…
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Bam! Deed Holder in Home Equity Theft Case Gets Help From U.S. Supreme Court
After the Supremes stepped in, Kevin Fair recovered the deed he lost to foreclosure — over a $588 debt. A Nebraskan got a gift during Christmas week: the return of his house deed. Kevin and his late spouse Terry Fair lived in one home for 25 years. It was paid off. The Fairs had always…
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Deed Holders Versus Squatters: Does Florida’s New Anti-Trespassing Law Signal a Trend?
This year, Florida criminalized squatting. Florida homes may be left temporarily empty for various reasons. Some are vacation homes. Some are owned by seniors who need to be absent for healthcare reasons. Some homes wait empty for insurers to authorize storm cleanups. Sometimes, a home stands empty simply because buyers have yet to move…
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Momentum Builds: A New Wave of Pressure on States to Build Affordable Homes
Looking to acquire the deed to a home? A new federal administration could factor into the amount you’ll need to pay. For one thing, the incoming administration is talking about tariffs that would raise the cost of materials and construction work. On the other hand, actual housing policy falls to the states. Under their…
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Feds Sue Rocket for Race-Based Appraisal Bias. Rocket Fights Back.
Retail lending powerhouse Rocket Mortgage is now suing the U.S. Justice Department. Rocket says the government wrongly dragged the company into a discrimination lawsuit. It was a Colorado deed holder who first called out a lowball appraisal. The Justice Department claimed that Rocket derailed the refinance application after that calling-out. But Rocket leadership denies having…
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A “Striking” Trend: Crypto Is Connecting Younger Generations With Mortgages
U.S. Treasury economists have found what they call a “striking” trend. People of modest incomes who live in places where crypto is popular are getting mortgages. In short, they found that ordinary people (those in households making under $50K yearly) are using crypto gains to save for down payments. In a time when the median…
