by Amanda Riggs on April 18, 2019 at 5:13 pm

The Silent Generation, buyers aged 73 to 93 years, made up the smallest share of buyers by age at only seven percent of all home buyers in 2018. The median age for this group was 76 years old and they were born between 1925 and 1945. They tended to have the smallest families; 96 percent […]

by Scholastica (Gay) Cororaton, Research Economist on April 17, 2019 at 5:12 pm

International clients are an important niche market for residential and commercial REALTORS® alike. In the latest 2019 Commercial Real Estate International Business Trends, NAR reported that foreign buyers purchased $4.8 billion of U.S. commercial real estate in 2018.[1] The median value for a buyer-side transaction was $600,000, while the median value for a seller-side transaction was $1 […]

by Amanda Riggs on April 16, 2019 at 4:29 pm

Older Boomers, buyers aged 64 to 72 years, made up 14 percent of all home buyers in 2018 again this year. The median age for this group was 68 years old and they were born between 1946 and 1954. Within this group, they had the third largest share of single female buyers at 20 percent. […]

by Michael Hyman, Research Data Specialist on April 15, 2019 at 4:31 pm

At the national level, housing affordability is up from last month but down from a year ago. Mortgage rates were down from last month at 4.60 percent this February, and up 4.1 percent compared to 4.42 percent a year ago. Housing affordability declined from a year ago in February moving the index down 2.8 percent […]

by Michael Hyman, Research Data Specialist on April 12, 2019 at 6:54 pm

Finding affordable housing can be a challenge. Rents are often compared to the price of housing and many of those who rent desire to own a home. The typical renter has to factor in what portion of their income will they have to commit to housing. Based on NAR’s home affordability index[1], the Midwest has […]

by Hathaway Hester on November 9, 2018 at 9:42 pm

Earlier this year, I wrote about Richard Rothstein’s book The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. After my review went live, some expressed interest in hearing about the solutions the author proposes in his final chapter. Rothstein offers several suggestions for meaningful change, but also acknowledges how difficult it […]

by Fred Underwood on October 29, 2018 at 9:06 pm

Do you ever get frustrated because attempts at working with others seem to get bogged down with the same issues?  Whether you’re taking part in contentious negotiations in a real estate deal, trying to merge two different brokerages, or working on bringing disparate groups together in a committee or association context, it’s important to learn […]

by Dr. Danette O'Neal on September 5, 2018 at 8:28 pm

While the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968 was a moment worth celebrating, it’s also important that we, as Americans and as real estate professionals, look at what’s happened since that historic moment. That’s why Living Apart: How the Government Betrayed a Landmark Civil Rights Law is such an important read. In it, […]

by Graham Wood on August 29, 2018 at 7:38 pm

I live in a bustling neighborhood in Chicago called Boystown, the city’s best-known gay enclave, with a plethora of bars, shops, and other businesses tailored for the LGBT community. Having moved to Chicago a little more than five years ago, I’m always taken aback when natives tell me, “You wouldn’t have wanted to live in […]

by Katie Eddy on July 12, 2018 at 4:43 pm

“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 […]

by Dr. Danette O'Neal on June 1, 2018 at 2:00 pm

Dog whistles are intended to be silent for everyone except for a select few listeners. But in his best-selling book, Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class (Oxford University Press, 2014), Ian Haney López seeks to transmit a message all real estate professionals should be listening for. […]

by Wendy Cole on May 30, 2018 at 1:49 pm

The pace of historic change can be at once laborious and swift. The passage of the U.S. Fair Housing Act in 1968 is a case in point. As a response to generations of discriminatory practices condoned by government, business, and societal norms of a different era, legislation protecting buyers, renters, and borrowers from exclusionary treatment […]

by Meg White on May 7, 2018 at 9:35 pm

The book is all about how to run a business your mother would be proud of. In it, Bliss offers countless real-life examples of how companies get this right and wrong. She punctuates these case studies with concrete ways to “#MakeMomProud” and a collection of simple yet revealing questions. (Would you send a pile of paperwork to your mother? Of course not!) […]

by Anne-Marie Siudzinski on April 23, 2018 at 3:19 pm

It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to be evicted, perhaps because the impacts of evictions are so wide-ranging. Household items are put on the curb and lost if the evictee can’t afford a storage unit. Having an eviction on one’s record makes it harder to rent a decent place to live. Constant movement to […]

by Meg White on March 26, 2018 at 8:34 pm

No matter how passive it may seem, reading is an activity. It can be an acknowledgement, a political act, an act of remembrance—and at its best, it’s often all three wrapped into one. April 11, 2018 will mark 50 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law. So much has […]

by Melissa Tracey on April 15, 2019 at 7:00 am

A real estate pro wanted to make sure the presentation of this 1970s home appealed to the widest buyer pool and used virtual staging to show the possibilities. […]

by Blog Contributor on April 8, 2019 at 7:00 am

Here's how to speak the millennial language with your home design and staging. […]

by Blog Contributor on April 1, 2019 at 7:00 am

Which energy efficient home features do home shoppers and homeowners really care about? A new report from Fixr breaks down some of the top trends. […]

by Blog Contributor on March 25, 2019 at 7:00 am

What’s on your coffee table? Here’s a checklist to staging this important focal point. […]

by Melissa Tracey on March 21, 2019 at 11:00 am

A calming color scheme and carefully staged space can make buyers fall in love with the master suite. Get inspiration from these photos. […]

by Melissa Tracey on March 15, 2019 at 5:35 pm

Staging not only results in a quicker sale but also tends to increase the home’s value too, according to the newly released 2019 Profile of Home Staging report conducted by the National Association of REALTORS®. […]

by Melissa Tracey on March 11, 2019 at 7:00 am

Pendant lights that hang from the ceiling above your kitchen island is really a place to show off great lighting and dress up your kitchen.&nbs […]

by Blog Contributor on March 4, 2019 at 7:00 am

Not staging a vacant space could prove to be a costly mistake. See the difference between non-staged vs. staged rooms, and you'll quickly see why. […]

by Melissa Tracey on February 25, 2019 at 7:00 am

Here are some of our picks for biggest design surprises from IBS 2019 and the Kitchen & Bath Industry show. […]

by Melissa Tracey on February 22, 2019 at 4:45 am

The New American Home in Henderson, Nev., was unveiled at the 2019 International Builder Show, showcasing building innovation and home design trends. […]

by Robert Freedman on April 3, 2019 at 5:15 pm

The two largest sources of mortgage money in the United States want you to know your chances of getting approved for a home loan if you’re self-employed has just gotten a lot better. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have rolled out new automated underwriting technology for lenders that take a lot of the guesswork and […]

by Robert Freedman on March 14, 2019 at 3:52 pm

Once in a while you might get an email that looks like it’s from NAR but really isn’t. Like so many other phishing scams, these emails try to look like they’re official correspondence from a trusted source so they can get one of two things from you: personal data or credit card info. How do […]

by contentsponsor on January 24, 2019 at 7:09 pm

“Time is money” says the proverb, but in real estate, it’s a struggle to have enough time in your day to close more sales. Chances are, most of your clients have an IRA for their retirement savings, which can be used to invest in real estate. With the help of a Real Estate IRA, you […]

by Robert Freedman on December 27, 2018 at 3:48 pm

Prisons and military bases are commonly located outside small, rural towns and often they’re the biggest employers and economic drivers around. But that’s been a double-edged sword—until now. Prisons and military bases currently count toward an area’s population, putting many communities over the threshold of eligibility for federal Rural Housing Service (RHS) programs. A town […]

by Robert Freedman on November 21, 2018 at 8:33 pm

The NAR Board of Directors a few weeks ago made a few small but important changes to MLS and other rules to improve cooperation among brokers and reinforce the importance of associations’ ethics procedures. Here’s a brief recap. You can also learn about them in the latest Voice for Real Estate video. Proceeding With Ethics […]

by contentsponsor on October 12, 2018 at 3:12 pm

Strategic outreach, whether by phone, email or text, is key to building rapport and credibility with prospects, staying top of mind in the search for a home, and encouraging clients to follow through with the sale. But outreach, by itself, doesn’t close deals. If you’re contacting leads regularly, but still having trouble reaching your sales […]

by Robert Freedman on October 1, 2018 at 1:28 pm

The big win for real estate in last year’s tax reform law is the new 20 percent business income deduction. You take it on your net pass-through income. Pass-through income is what most real estate professionals earn. If you’re an independent contractor or if you’ve structured yourself as a sole proprietor, your income is considered […]

by Sam Silverstein on September 28, 2018 at 7:31 pm

You may have seen a report today in The Wall Street Journal (subscription and login required) stating that the Internal Revenue Service is working on guidance that would clarify the deductibility of expenses for client meals under the new tax law. According to the report, this guidance is expected to say that the cost of […]

by contentsponsor on August 28, 2018 at 6:55 pm

When you contact clients, make sure to offer something of value in the conversation so they don’t see it as a nuisance call. Content sponsor Firepoint, a real estate CRM company, has released The Rule of 3, a guidebook to help you create a communications strategy focused on increasing leads. Here’s what the company says […]

by Robert Freedman on August 9, 2018 at 6:16 pm

If you were tuned to the news Aug. 8 you might have heard the IRS released proposed regulations on the new 20 percent business income deduction for pass through businesses. IRS summary with link to FAQ. Proposed rules. The deduction was part of the big tax reform law Congress passed at the end of last […]