At the New Jersey Shore, real estate agents are now obtaining flood insurance quotes before buyers ever step inside a home. This shift reflects how rising insurance premiums affect what buyers can afford in coastal markets. Maria Jakubik, a residential agent with The Metta Team at Keller Williams Realty Ocean Living, says preliminary flood insurance ...
Government programs aimed at increasing affordable housing focus on subsidies and incentives for builders. These efforts are unlikely to fix the housing shortage without restrictions on investor purchases, according to Kevin Ward, a broker with Coldwell Banker Realty and 37 years of experience. Ward argues that without protections against investor purchases, new affordable units will ...
Interest rates have dominated real estate headlines for years. According to Tracey Goodman-Rossetti, a licensed real estate salesperson at Signature Premier Properties with 35 years of experience, the real issue in East Meadow, New York, is not borrowing costs but a severe shortage of homes for sale. With only 29 active listings out of 11,700 ...
San Francisco Bay Area apartment occupancy is rising quickly, fueled by an AI boom reshaping demand in unexpected ways. The surge is not driven by highly paid employees at Google or Meta in luxury towers. According to Marc Lipsett, Director of Loan Production at Walker Realty Capital, demand is coming from hundreds of smaller AI ...
Luxury real estate buyers are redefining what matters in a high-end home. Demand is shifting away from sprawling square footage toward properties designed for daily function and integrated amenities. According to Sarah Chatel, Team Leader and Owner at Chatel Group, buyers in the $3 million to $4 million-plus range now prioritize homes that function as ...
Rising mortgage rates have changed where residential real estate deals fall apart, according to Amanda Cruz, Team Lead at The Amanda Cruz Group of Signature Realty in Red Bank, New Jersey. Buyer demand remains strong, but the shift from sub-3% pandemic-era mortgage rates to today’s rates above 6% has moved the primary point of friction ...
Insurance costs and availability have become significant obstacles for California home buyers. Insurers now require specific property repairs before agreeing to provide coverage. Bernard Link, Lead Agent at The Bernard Link Group at Compass, says insurance carriers are far more selective about property condition, adding new complications to transactions beyond traditional financing and inspections. “Insurance ...
A beachfront condo in Fort Lauderdale may look perfect—ocean views, updated kitchen, and what seem like reasonable HOA fees. But just before closing, many buyers are discovering unexpected expenses buried in the building’s financial documents: special assessments of $20,000, $50,000, or more for urgent repairs. What seemed like a dream purchase can quickly become a ...
In the Dallas–Fort Worth housing market, luxury homes are selling quickly, while mid-market properties are lingering. High-end listings, often priced above $1 million, are attracting cash buyers who move decisively, unaffected by interest rates or loan constraints. Meanwhile, homes in the $300,000 to $600,000 range – the core of the market for most buyers – ...
Many would-be buyers in Wooster, Ohio, are holding off on homeownership because of persistent myths about down payments, credit scores, and market timing. Amy Marinello, a realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty who has worked in Wooster for three decades, says these misconceptions often prevent buyers from pursuing homes they could afford right now. ...
Think you need a 20% down payment to buy a home in Bergen County? Or that you should wait for prices to drop before making an offer? If you’re holding back because of these assumptions, you may be missing out on real opportunities in the northern New Jersey housing market. Chopper Russo, team leader at ...
Step into a townhouse showing in Bed-Stuy or Crown Heights today, and you’ll notice buyers asking detailed questions about the garden apartment’s rental potential before even touring the main living spaces. Parents from out of state, especially from cities like Atlanta, are visiting with their adult children, planning to share both the space and the ...
Drive 20 minutes north in New York’s Hudson Valley, and the housing market changes dramatically. In Orange and Dutchess Counties — about an hour from the Bronx — homes priced realistically still draw multiple offers and sell quickly. But cross into Ulster County and a different reality emerges: houses linger for weeks, often without a ...
After several years of rapid sales and bidding wars, Scranton’s real estate market has entered a new phase. While interest rates still dominate headlines, local agents say the most significant change is that buyers have learned they no longer need to rush. Instead, they’re taking their time, negotiating harder, and forcing sellers to adjust their ...
A young couple with a VA loan and 3.5 percent down enters a bidding war in Orange County, New York. Competing against them is a cash offer from a Manhattan buyer with no mortgage contingency and a flexible closing date. The seller chooses cash. The couple moves on. This scenario is now common in the ...
