Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips - Deborah Morrison - iPro Real Estate

Places Where Young Adults Are Still Living With Parents

More young adults are living with their parents, particularly in the South and Northeast regions of the United States. MagnifyMoney, a brand within LendingTree, analyzed the 50 largest metros in the U.S. to pinpoint the largest portion of adults aged 25 to 40 who are still living with their parents.“Moving out of your parents’ home has long been considered the ultimate rite of passage into full-fledged adulthood,” MagnifyMoney notes in its

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Where Rental Costs Are Running Up Budgets

Rental costs across the country have surged, jumping 13 percent over the past five years for a two-bedroom place, according to Apartment List data.But in some locations, the typical renter is paying $10,000 or even $30,000 a month. Realtor.com®’s research team pinpointed the cities where residents are paying the highest amounts of rent in the country. They analyzed two-bedroom rentals listed on realtor.com® in March and calculated the me

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TIP: What’s the Average Cost of Common Home Repairs?

Homeowners are sprucing up their homes more this year, tackling several home improvement projects. Eighty-eight percent of homeowners recently surveyed say they performed a major home repair in the last year, and more than half said they managed multiple major repairs or home improvement projects, according to a new analysis by Porch.com, a home improvement website.Homeowners spent an average of $4,958 on home repairs and improvements in the past

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Homelessness isn’t Illegal, Federal Court Rules

Several cities in recent years have been adopting ordinances to punish or arrest people for sleeping on the streets. But a recent court ruling may set a precedent nationwide to make such ordinances illegal.The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals—which covers nine states in the western U.S., including California and Washington—ruled that cities can’t criminalize people for camping or sleeping in public without any place to go. The lawsuit—

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Property Taxes Are Up Nationwide

Homeowners are paying more for property taxes. Nationwide, the average property tax bill was $3,498 in 2018, up 3 percent compared to a year ago, ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm, reports in a new analysis. The effective tax rate was 1.16 percent in 2018 (which is the average annual property tax).New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, Vermont, and Connecticut had the highest effective tax rates in the country in 2018, the analysis showed.“Pr

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Mortgage Rates Hold Steady After Last Week’s Big Drop

After posting their biggest drop in a decade last week, mortgage rates remain at multi-month lows—and borrowers are rushing to take advantage. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.08 percent this week, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. Mortgage applications surged 18.6 percent last week as borrowers locked in lower financing costs, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports.“Purchase mortgage application demand saw

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Feds Warn of Fake Bank

Businesses are reportedly receiving letters and faxes from an entity called “First National Bank” that is offering lines of credit and secured or long-term loans. But federal authorities are warning that First National Bank is “not a licensed or chartered bank.”The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency sent a notice to banks and other officials across the country Thursday warning that “First National Bank,” which cl

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Listing Prices Just Hit a New High, and They’re Still Heading Up

The U.S. median home list price surged in March to $300,000 for the first time ever, according to realtor.com®’s monthly housing trends report. That also marks a price increase of 7 percent year over year.“The typical U.S. home list price has set a new high right on the cusp of the spring homebuying season, and despite a slowing growth rate, home prices will likely continue to set new records later this year,” says Danielle Hale, real

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New Home vs. Existing Home - What Motivates Buyers’ Choices

New-home construction is picking up in some markets. But what lures some buyers to new-home construction over a previously owned home?Older home buyers—between 54 to 72 years old—are the most likely to purchase a new home, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ newly released 2019 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report.Many buyers—38 percent—who purchased new homes say they were looking to avoid renovation

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Loan Approval Chances Just Got Better for the Self-Employed

The two largest sources of mortgage money in the United States want self-employed loan shoppers to know that their chances of getting a home loan approved have increased.Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have rolled out automated underwriting technology for lenders that take a lot of the guesswork and risk out of the approval process for mortgage applications of the self-employed.One of the reasons lenders have been reluctant to approve l

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