Category: Real Estate
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Quick Facts: ROAD to Housing Act of 2025
The ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 is a bundle of housing reforms, with an emphasis on bringing down the high cost of housing. Many of the sections are from bills introduced in the past. The bill has support from both sides of the aisle in Congress. It was brought forward by Republican Tim Scott,…
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Real Estate Is Still Key to Wealth—But It’s Taking Longer.
This year, the National Association of REALTORS® came out with an article titled The 5-Year Rule Is No More. It was all about how long a buyer needs to stay in a home to “truly break even.” That old drop of wisdom about holding onto a home five years to recoup the cost of closing…
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Passage From Deed to Deed: Rocket Mortgage® Now Offers Bridge Loans
Need to sell your home? Homes aren’t selling as quickly as they used to. But a bridge loan might provide some help with your buying-while-you-sell experience. This is the message from Rocket Mortgage®, which will now let you buy your next house now — before you transfer the deed to your current home. Let’s take…
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The Amazon of Housing? Opendoor Styles Itself as Ecommerce for Homes
Eric Jackson, a hedge fund manager who founded EMJ Capital, is an activist shareholder in the real estate tech company Opendoor. On social media, Jackson uses the hashtag #OPENArmy to draw attention to the company. Jackson has also targeted the rapper Drake in marketing stunts. He says Opendoor’s stock could be worth hundreds of dollars.…
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House-Proud: New Research Links Homeownership to Mental Wellness
More than two in every 10 adults in the United States live with mental illnesses. More than 8% of our population is dealing with a major depressive disorder. Since the pandemic took hold, mental health issues have shown a trend upward. What does a deed (or the lack of one) have to do with this?…
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What’s Next (And Do We Need It)? Real Estate AI Specialist Certification
At Deeds.com, we’ve been tracking the impact of artificial intelligence on the real estate industry for quite some time now. The Colibri Real Estate company is the latest to make its mark at this nexus. It’s rolling out a new AI certification for agents — the first of its kind. Colibri says 75% of the…
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Only My Name Is on the Deed. Will My Spouse Inherit It?
If you share a home, you might figure your marriage means the home deed will belong to your spouse when you pass away. And if you own the home jointly with survivorship rights, then yes, your home will go to the surviving spouse whenever one of you passes on. But not all spouses vest their…
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Federal Reserve Poised to Start Rate Cuts: What’s Next for Mortgages?
Mortgage rates are dipping down in advance of the Federal Reserve’s discussion of rate cuts this week. Freddie Mac shows the average rate on 30-year, fixed-rate home loans is just about 6.3% as of mid-September, down from 7% at the start of 2025. Two weak U.S. employment reports pushed the average rate down. In response,…
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On the Deed: Mental Wellness and Capacity to Transfer Real Estate
Capacity to exercise the rights of a deed holder can mean different things for adult homeowners. Perhaps an owner is experiencing age-related cognitive decline. Or perhaps mental health issues are impacting the ability of a deed holder to make decisions with clarity of purpose. Let’s take a look at some common scenarios, and get to…
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Buyers: Don’t Forget to Include Homeowners’ Insurance in Your Budget
The rising cost of home insurance is “where climate change meets the average American’s pocketbook.” —Forrest Bennett, Oklahoma legislator and insurance agent, as quoted in The New York Times If you’re like many home buyers, you’ll be glad to be getting a mortgage. It signifies the ability to build equity and break free of a…
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LGBTQ+ home buying challenges
The ranks of U.S. adults who identify as gay, bisexual, or gender nonconforming (LGBTQI+) has risen to a population of 31 million and counting. This increase is driven mainly by younger generations who have grown up in an era when self-expression has been unfettered by civil rights and the feminist and pride movements. Now, what…
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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…
