Which city will be the site of Amazon’s second headquarters? City officials in finalist areas are anxiously awaiting, and some investors are already betting on the winner and snatching up real estate ahead of the announcement or gathering commitments ahead of time so they’ll be ready to pounce once the winner is announced, The Wall Street Journal reports.“HQ2 is guaranteed to meet three criteria: tech job growth, tech job growth, and tech
Many consumers may see their credit scores move higher, following an announcement on Monday from FICO, a leading credit scoring company. FICO, Experian, and Finicity announced a new pilot program that will consider how prospective borrowers manage their cash that could move credit scores higher. Credit scores are a critical component when qualifying for a mortgage and getting the lowest rates.The program, called UltraFICO score, aims to help peop
Many homeowners overlook key safety measures when performing property upkeep, focusing too heavily on sprucing up the kitchen and overall design of their home and not enough on securing the structure against damage, according to a new survey of 1,000 people conducted by Porch.com. Thirty-one percent of homeowners say they don’t own a fire extinguisher, for example, and nearly 8 percent say that though they have one, they don’t know where it i
HouseLogic, a home improvement resource, recently highlighted some unusual ways to keep a home clean and gleaming.Apply a car product to keep shower doors free from scum. Soap buildup could be eliminated by covering a glass shower door in the rain-repellant product that is used for car windshields (only advised for glass doors). The product creates an invisible barrier, causing water and soap to roll off.Use protectants on furniture and carpets.
Investors could be eligible for significant tax breaks when purchasing property in distressed economic areas across the country that the U.S. Treasury Department has labeled “opportunity zones.” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin predicts that the newly designated zones could attract up to $100 billion in investment.The goal is to draw capital to areas where investment has lagged since the Great Recession by allowing investors to avoid some tax
Retirees may want to head to Lancaster, Pa. The town earned the top spot in U.S. News & World Report’s list of 2019 Best Places to Retire in the U.S. Lancaster’s housing affordability and its residents' high rank for their happiness, helped it to bump Sarasota, Fla., from the number one position this year.U.S. News & World Report evaluated the country’s 100 largest metro areas to see how well they met retirees’ expectations, suc
Rising home prices have been hitting the middle class particularly hard, but some states have an easier path for these shoppers to break into homeownership. Many of those opportunities are out West, according to a new analysis from SmartAsset, a personal finance website.SmartAsset researchers found that the best states for the middle class are clustered in the Western part of the U.S., including Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. Many Midwest states also
A shift is occurring in many housing markets. Affordability may be prompting more potential buyers to pause due to rising mortgage rates over the last few weeks, and home sellers are now facing more competition. Homeowners may no longer be able to expect the quick sale they’ve seen their neighbors get in the past.The number of For Sale signs is starting to increase across the country. Unsold inventory is at a 4.4-month supply at the current sal
Following weeks of gradual increases, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped slightly this week, possibly offering a slight window of opportunity at lower borrowing costs to some would-be buyers.“The modest decline in mortgage rates is a welcome respite from the rapid increase in rates the last few weeks,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “While the housing market has clearly softened in reaction to the rise in mortgage rat
Interest rates are on the rise, and home buyers are looking for savings wherever they can. Shopping around for a mortgage can offer big differences among lenders, and those differences could amount to some potentially hefty savings over the life of a loan.A new study by LendingTree measures the basis point spread between high and low annual percentage rates offered to users through the LendingTree marketplace among the 50 largest metros in the U.
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