School strikes are spreading across the country as educators complain of low salaries that make it difficult for them to afford a home or pay rent. In response, some cities are creating subsidized housing aimed specifically at teachers and school staff. Projects are in the works in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Santa Clara, Calif. School officials in San Francisco and Miami are also considering such measures.“Providing subsidies and housing is a sm
Chinese buyers purchased an estimated $100 billion in property globally in 2016, a rate so high that some areas of the world want to slow down the purchasing power of foreign investors to prevent real estate bubbles from forming, according to Chinese real estate website Juwai.com. In 2010, Chinese buyers bought only $5 billion worth of property. Swelling prices for residential and commercial real estate in Western cities such as Toronto and Vanco
Home flipping activity is increasing across the country, as more investors look to capitalize on the run-up in home prices. Nearly 50,000 single-family homes and condos were flipped in the first quarter of this year, comprising 6.9 percent of all home sales, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q1 2018 U.S. Home Flipping Report. That matches the highest home flipping rate since the first quarter of 2012.Flips in the first quarter of this year so
A brand’s ability to create “positive, emotional experiences that drive customer loyalty” has a direct correlation to repeat business, according to a recent report from NewVoiceMedia. And bad service resulted in the loss of an estimated $75 billion for U.S. companies last year. “Customers want and expect more than ever before – because that’s what we have we taught them,” says customer service expert and business coach Shep Hyken.R
Homeowners with a mortgage saw their equity rise 13.3 percent year over year, according to CoreLogic’s Home Equity Report for the first quarter of 2018, released Thursday. The average homeowner gained $16,300 in home equity between the first quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. That is the highest growth in home equity in four years.“Home-price growth has accelerated in recent months, helping to build home-equity wealth and lift und
Fannie Mae is seeking to bridge the gap in affordable housing by making manufactured housing a more acceptable alternative to traditional built-on-site housing. It hopes to do that with its MH Advantage program, which is lowering down payment requirements and lender fees on manufactured housing loans.The new MH Advantage loans require a 3 percent down payment, which is down from 5 percent in Fannie’s existing manufactured housing loan. Also, F
Tenant screening is more than a credit or background check. But many landlords are failing to gather critical documentation that could help avoid approving tenants who later default on their rent, need to be evicted, or have other problems that cut into a landlord’s profitability, according to a new survey by the American Apartment Owners Association of more than 1,100 of its members.Thirty-seven percent of landlords fail to collect paycheck st
When your client asks you to communicate via email, you can be tempted to plunge immediately into lengthy detail with an update. To get your client to react faster, use a technique common to top companies and even the military: Start with a summary, tell the client what you need to know, and then provide the details.According to Lifehacker writer Alicia Adamczyk, business calls the technique "TLDR" for "too long, didn't read," while the military
Home prices are near record highs in many markets, and a booming economy and low unemployment are offering promises that the housing market will continue to roar. Sixty-four percent of American adults say they believe home prices will continue to rise in their market this year, which is the highest percentage since prior to the Great Recession, according to a recent Gallup survey.Experian, a consumer credit reporting agency, recently identified t
Safeguard your home network, particularly if you ever use it for your work. A new report from the security firm Cisco Talos warns that the Russian malware VPNFilter malware threat is growing worse and the list of potentially affected wireless routers is also growing. The list of vulnerable models now has grown to include Asus, D-Link, Huawei, Ubiquiti, Upvel, and ZTE. Routers from TP-Link, Netgear, Mikrotik, Qnap, and Linksys are also known to
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