Michael Crist

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR(R) Magazine Holiday decor is going gingham style this year. Checkered plaid is one of 2018’s hottest holiday design accessory. Black and white or red and black buffalo prints are popping up in everything from Christmas stockings, ornaments, table runners, and wreaths. The buffalo prints are really a nod to the… Continue Reading Add Some Plaid to Your Holiday Decor

Photo Credit: Clare Painting a room can be a quick, transformative update for new homeowners to accomplish. Say your clients recently purchased a home and now they need a little design inspiration to bring it into all its glory. Paint is often the fastest and more transformative way to quickly update a space. Interior decorator Nicole… Continue Reading 4 Tips for Using Paint to Update a Home

More than 230 real estate professionals were named as “newsmakers” for their role as influencers, crusaders, and trailblazers in the industry. RISMedia, a real estate news and information service, announced its “Class of 2019 Real Estate Newsmakers,” highlighting those in the industry who have made headlines over the past year because of their newsworthy contributions… Continue Reading NAR Leadership and Staff Named Real Estate’s 2019 Newsmakers

With interest rates on the rise, home prices have started cooling off.[1] On the one hand, the cooling of home prices in high-priced metro areas makes a home purchase more affordable, saving households nearly $50/month on a median-priced home.[2] On the other hand, falling prices also erodes the wealth (home equity gains) of current homeowners… Continue Reading Can Homeowners Cope with Lower Home Prices?

By Harry Parson, guest contributor A picture is worth a thousand words, and if you have bad photographs of your listing, it tells a thousand bad stories. So, when I recently took over a home that had been lingering on the market for more than a year, I focused on its photography and online presentation.… Continue Reading How Virtual Twilight Photos Sold a Languishing Listing

NAR released a summary of pending home sales data showing that October’s pending home sales pace was down 2.6 percent last month and fell 6.7 percent from a year ago. Pending sales represent homes that have a signed contract to purchase on them but have yet to close. They tend to lead existing-home sales data… Continue Reading October 2018 Pending Home Sales

What We’re Reading will be on vacation next week and will resume December 14. Landing on Mars, reading as therapy, dreams, cows, sleep texting and much more compiled by Anne-Marie Siudzinski, Senior Library Information Specialist. NASA’S InSight craft successfully landed on Mars. Outwit the porch pirates with these tips. What do you dream about? Helping… Continue Reading What We’re Reading: November 26-30

The REALTORS® Confidence Index (RCI) survey[1] gathers monthly information from REALTORS® about local real estate market conditions, characteristics of buyers and sellers, and issues affecting homeownership and real estate transactions.[2] This report presents key results about market transactions from October 2018. View and download the full report here. Market Conditions and Expectations The REALTORS® Buyer… Continue Reading REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey: October 2018 Highlights