Business

Homeowners have the right to expect construction sites be kept clean and orderly. What should you do when it becomes a mess? The answer starts with communicating with the builder. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Question: They have been building a house down the block for the last several months. Besides the trucks coming and going, the site is a mess, with debris in the yard and a porta-potty out along the...

Scammers are using AI to impersonate the written and voice communications of real estate professionals to infiltrate transactions and scam clients. WASHINGTON – Sophisticated scammers can hijack real estate transactions using deepfake audio and video to impersonate agents and other parties involved in a home purchase, security experts warn. The fears are mounting after police in Hong Kong last month...

Nearly 70% of renters say owning a home would make them happier, yet 60% say it’s out of reach, a new study found. At the same time, 90% of owners say they’re happier since buying a home. NEW YORK – When asked to name the single biggest benefit of homeownership, the most common answer for homeowners was privacy (14%), while renters pointed to stability (16%). On every single aspect of life...

Sellers should not rely on the market alone to get their asking price. Instead, strategies including good staging and value-added improvements increase the chances for getting top dollar.  NEW YORK – The process of buying and selling a home includes many movable parts. North America has experienced historic trends in the housing market in recent years. Most notably, record-high prices have...

Color is a hot trend in home design but use caution when choosing one. Bright colors, like red and lime green, can turn potential buyers away. CHICAGO – There’s a reason why home stagers prefer white or neutral colors when preparing a home for the market. Some colors can be distracting and a turn-off to home buyers. Rethink a red-painted living room or dining area; red is the most off-putting...

Buyers say they want smaller homes now and are looking for homes around 2,070 sq. ft., compared to 2,260 sq. ft. 20 years ago.Following a brief uptick in new home sizes in 2021, the average size of a new home continues to inch smaller – dropping from 2,479 square feet in 2022 to 2,411 square feet in 2023, the smallest average size in 13 years – to match home buyer preferences for less square...

Home prices in several Florida metro areas have the highest chances of dropping while prices in other parts of the U.S. will go up through November 2024, CoreLogic said. NEW YORK – Mortgage rates are pulling back from their dream-crushing highs of last year, but homeowners in 20 U.S. cities may want to brace for higher home prices, a new study found. Real estate data and analytics company...

While easing, for-sale inventory remains tight in Florida and across the U.S. Buyers have to stay persistent and manage frustration levels during their home search. MERIDEN, Conn. – Ben Borecki and Raleighe Orszulak-Borecki, both 29, searched for about a year to find their perfect home. They visited over 20 houses and bid on five. Finally, the couple purchased a 1912 colonial in Windsor this...

As we consider the impact of these attributes coming into play with our boosting economy, many characteristics like favorable interest rates and increased inventory impact consumers as they seek to return to the market, especially across residential and commercial real estate.  NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun predicted in December 2023 that interest rates would decrease from 8% to 6.5% in 2024....

Step 1: Pick a Location The first thing you need to do is to decide where in Florida you want to move. Florida is a very large and diverse state with many different areas to consider, from urban cities to beach towns. The biggest cities in Florida are Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and St. Petersburg. Small cities like Gainesville, Tallahassee, Clearwater, Sarasota, Port St. Lucie, West...