Michael Crist

At the national level, housing affordability is down from last month and down from a year ago. Mortgage rates rose to 4.71 percent this May, up 17.5 percent compared to 4.01 percent a year ago. Housing affordability declined from a year ago in May moving the index down 10.2 percent from 157.2 to 141.2. The… Continue Reading May 2018 Housing Affordability Index

Offices, valuation, avocados, tech, housekeeping, and retail. Times are changing, and more companies are considering office amenities pioneered by Silicon Valley companies. We wouldn’t complain. The office is virtual, but the valuation is very real. Speaking of value, is $23 million high, or is this FLW home worth it? Of course avocados of this size… Continue Reading What We’re Reading: July 9-13

“Ghetto.” The word evokes a long and vexing tradition of racial imagery and history in the United States. We may think we know what the word means, but where does it come from? Why does it carry such socio-cultural weight? Mitchell Duneier explores these questions in his examination of the evolution of the word in… Continue Reading The Invention and Evolution of a Space and Place Called the Ghetto

By Lee Davenport This is part four in an ongoing series featuring top producers. Read part one featuring Jen Du Plessis Read part two featuring Rod Williams Read part three featuring Teresa Cowart What does it take to be a top producer? There is no magic formula, but there are habits and principles from top… Continue Reading Be a Business Go-Getter With Christian Ross

Some homeowners opt to sell their residence without a real estate agent to get around paying a commission and make more of the profit. Forty-three percent of people (down from 48 percent last year) who sell without a real estate agent think that if they sell themselves, they’ll end up doing a little extra work… Continue Reading Selling Your Home Solo to Save Money? You’ll Actually Make Less Than You Think

Home stager: Libby Paulson with Preferred Staging The home: Paulson staged this remodeled, single-family country estate in Gaithersburg, Md., which featured cathedral ceilings, a two-story stone fireplace, gourmet kitchen, formal living and dining room, two staircases, and a walkout basement with full kitchen and bath. The home is listed at $709,500. Photo credit: Libby Paulson, Preferred… Continue Reading Staged to Sell: A Country Estate in Gaithersburg, Md.

Reinvention, materials, technology, design, and time management. From one extreme to another, what will happen to the former Ford plant in St. Paul? What do beaches have to do with buildings? Bill Wren/flickr/2010 Where was this technology during last weekend’s heat wave? Keep up with the technologies that home buyers and sellers expect of you.… Continue Reading What We’re Reading: July 2-6

More contracts are being settled on time, according to a survey of REALTORS® in the  May 2018 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey.  The monthly survey asks REALTOR® respondents: “Think of your most recent sales contract in the past 3 months that was either closed or terminated. Please explain how the deal concluded.” Among respondents who either… Continue Reading Home Purchase Contracts Are Increasingly Being Settled on Time