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Drop in Lumber Prices Could Save $40K Per Home, But…

Doug Yearley, CEO of the luxury home builder Toll Brothers, told CNBC that the recent drop in lumber prices is prompting some significant savings on the cost to build a home—but home buyers shouldn’t expect to see those savings. While lumber prices are falling, other material costs to build are surging. Lumber prices reached a […]
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Do Fences Boost Curb Appeal?

Another sign of the pandemic’s influence on home renovations is the increased construction of fences. Here are seven factors homeowners should consider before installation. Key Takeaways: Homeowners must look up municipal regulations before installing a fence. Latticework and horizontal boards are popular contemporary fence styles. Darker, neutral-colored fencing can make a garden pop and […]
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Property Taxes Are About to Rise

Skyrocketing home prices over the last year may soon hit current homeowners in the form of property taxes. Housing experts are predicting property taxes to climb higher in 2021 than the 4% uptick in 2020. Many city governments lost revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic and, as reassessments kick in, homeowners may be faced with a soaring […]
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Mortgage Giant Will Soon Accept Bitcoin Payments

United Wholesale Mortgage, the second largest mortgage lender in the U.S., announced it will accept cryptocurrency for home loans by the end of this year. UWM wants to be the first lender to do so in the national mortgage industry. “We’ve evaluated the feasibility, and we’re looking forward to being the first mortgage company […]

Uncategorized Drop in Lumber Prices Could Save $40K Per Home, But… Doug Yearley, CEO of the luxury home builder Toll Brothers, told CNBC that the recent drop in lumber prices is prompting some significant savings on the cost to build a home—but home buyers shouldn’t expect to see those savings. While lumber prices are falling, other material costs to build are surging. Lumber prices reached a […]

Uncategorized Do Fences Boost Curb Appeal? Another sign of the pandemic’s influence on home renovations is the increased construction of fences. Here are seven factors homeowners should consider before installation. Key Takeaways: Homeowners must look up municipal regulations before installing a fence. Latticework and horizontal boards are popular contemporary fence styles. Darker, neutral-colored fencing can make a garden pop and […]

Uncategorized Property Taxes Are About to Rise Skyrocketing home prices over the last year may soon hit current homeowners in the form of property taxes. Housing experts are predicting property taxes to climb higher in 2021 than the 4% uptick in 2020. Many city governments lost revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic and, as reassessments kick in, homeowners may be faced with a soaring […]

Uncategorized Mortgage Giant Will Soon Accept Bitcoin Payments United Wholesale Mortgage, the second largest mortgage lender in the U.S., announced it will accept cryptocurrency for home loans by the end of this year. UWM wants to be the first lender to do so in the national mortgage industry. “We’ve evaluated the feasibility, and we’re looking forward to being the first mortgage company […]

Uncategorized Fewer Bidding Wars May Open Door to Some Buyers The competition in the housing market is showing some signs of easing. More markets are reporting price cuts and fewer bidding wars. That may open the door to some priced-out home buyers this fall. Sixty percent of offers written by real estate professionals nationwide faced competition in July, the lowest level since January, according to an […]

Uncategorized Shopping Malls See Major Rebound in Foot Traffic U.S. shopping malls are seeing foot traffic return to pre-pandemic levels. Real estate observers are calling it a surprising rebound. Indoor shopping malls have suffered since the start of the pandemic as consumers favored outdoor venues and e-commerce. But this summer, mall foot traffic started to return, according to new data from Placer.ai, which reflects […]

Uncategorized Nearly 900 Homes, Buildings Destroyed in Historic Blaze California’s largest single wildfire on record continues its long trail of destruction in the northern part of the state, scorching an area more than twice the size of New York City. Nearly 900 homes have been destroyed since the Dixie Fire began in mid-July. A historic Gold Rush town in Greenville has mostly been destroyed. […]

Uncategorized Survey: Bidding Wars Aren’t the Big Problem Anymore Many would-be home buyers say they aren’t having much luck in finding a home. Sixty-six percent of buyers who were actively engaged in searching for a home in the second quarter say they’ve spent three months looking without success. In the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of this year, active house hunters […]

Uncategorized Clear the Junk Before Listing Your Bay Area Home One of the first steps before listing a home for sale is often clearing the clutter. But that can be tough for homeowners, who may already be overwhelmed with the prospects of moving, let alone going through all their items and deciding what stays and goes. The National Association of REALTORS® announced on Thursday a […]

Uncategorized Condo Demand Rebounds After Pandemic Slowdown Competition for condos is growing fierce, as most are selling above list price and in a record 22 days, according to a Redfin analysis of nationwide MLS data and public county records. Additionally, existing condo and co-op sales in June surged nearly 57% year over year, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday. Nearly 42% of […]

Uncategorized Homeowners Are Renting Out Their Pools for Extra Cash Homeowners are listing their underused private pools online to rent them out for a few hours, fueling demand for a trend the media has dubbed an “Airbnb for backyard pools.” For example, homeowner Jim Battan, in Portland, Ore., told The Wall Street Journal that he began renting out his underused pool in September through an online platform. […]

Uncategorized Home Sellers Need Guidance on What to Renovate Homeowners realize the value of making renovations to their homes to help boost the resale value, but they are more unclear about the process. Nearly one-third of Americans who have sold their homes in the past three years said they found the renovation process before selling stressful. They struggled to understand the financing as well […]

Uncategorized We’ve Never Seen Bay Area Home Prices Appreciate This Fast! Just how wild is the real estate market right now? You don’t hear National Association of REALTORS® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun say this every day: “We’ve never seen price appreciation of this magnitude.” It’s a sobering message in NAR’s latest home sales video, which covers the month of May, when the median home price […]

Uncategorized This 133-year-old Oakland Victorian is being given away for free If you’ve got an empty lot and cash for relocation, a 133-year-old Oakland Victorian could be yours. As first reported by SFist, the home at 2428 Chestnut Street, less than a block away from McClymonds High, is being offered up for free. The home is not protected by the California Register of Historical Resources so […]

Uncategorized Is Proximity to Public Transit Still a Selling Point? Since the start of the pandemic, home prices have been rising twice as fast in car-dependent neighborhoods as in transit-accessible areas, according to newly released Redfin research. The trend may be only temporary as social distancing practices that made commuting by train, subway, or bus less practical begin to ease. The median home sale price […]

Uncategorized See how much more expensive Bay Area real estate is compared to other cities Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo New data from the Case-Shiller Index reveals that the housing market is rising at a rate that hasn’t been seen in decades. While the year-over-year change in home prices hit a historic high in 2005, that housing boom was tame compared to 2021 when considering the speed at which prices […]

Uncategorized The Home Improvement Boom Isn’t Letting Up Soon The pandemic spawned a drive to spruce up the home and that desire is continuing. Half of U.S. homeowners recently surveyed say they plan to spend more on home improvements in 2021 than they did last year, according to the latest BMO Real Financial Progress Index, a quarterly indicator measuring consumer sentiment about finances. Renovation […]

Uncategorized 30-Year Mortgage Rate Drops Below 3% Again Home buyers had another chance to snag lower rates this week. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.98%, Freddie Mac reports. “Economic growth remains steady and is bolstering more segments of the economy,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Although low and stable mortgage rates have kept the housing market booming over recent months, a […]

Uncategorized Builder’s Lender NOT Required When Purchasing New Construction! Backstory: A couple put an offer in on a brand-new home in a prestigious new community. As with many new developments, the clients were offered incentives to use the developer’s lender. The clients were looking to purchase the $1.3 million property with 10 percent down, and the lender preapproved the borrowers. But after two […]

Uncategorized Bay Area Round House Cafe Will Reopen As An Equator coffee shop The Round House Cafe will reopen later this summer or early fall as an Equator Coffees shop In March 2020, the circular red restaurant at the southeastern end of the Golden Gate Bridge known as the Round House Cafe shuttered. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, which operated the cafe, announced the closure just before […]