Zillow, the third-most-visited real estate website in America, last month decided to spruce up one of its most popular features: its “Zestimates,” or valuations of what properties on its site are worth.
Real Estate Markets
Why the Real Estate Recession is Halting Divorces
Study after study has looked at the impact of the recession on everything from obesity to fashion. But I’ve had my eye on a number of reports all year which, collectively, seem to indicate that the recession has made for …
Are You Sure You Can Rent Out Your Condo?
Condominium owners are a very specific breed: willing, if not eager, to give up the privacy of a single-family house in exchange for handing over the burdens of maintenance, lawn-mowing and pool-cleaning to someone else.
What Would a U.S. Government Default Feel Like For the Average American?
A compromise between the budget proposals being batted around by President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner will, hopefully, be reached before the federal government defaults on any debt.
But what if the August 2 deadline to …
Why Real Estate May Be The Buying Opportunity of the Decade
There’s a convincing argument that real estate is today’s best long-term buy.
Homeownership: Still Popular But Not Seen as a Smart Investment
Americans have long overindexed on the value they place on owning a home when compared with people in other western countries. That white picket fence in the age-old imagery of the American Dream? That stands for real estate.
When Billionaires Move
Alexander Rovt, a Ukrainian billionaire who made his money in fertilizer, just bought one of Manhattan’s most storied mansions off Central Park for some $30 million. As a result, he’s selling his “old” house — which he spent …
Real Estate’s in the Tank? Not in the Land of IPOs
It’s been what my grandmother would call “a month of Sundays” (i.e., a long, long time) since we’ve heard of a local housing market that wasn’t in the doldrums. In fact, much of the country is now officially in the …
Home Sales Plummet: How to Fix the Housing Market
It’s time for new housing market stimulus. But how? Home sales fell 3.8% in May. That might not sound like a big drop in sales. After all, real estate is double dipping. But for this time of year, it’s big. May and June are …
139 Money Tips: Father’s Day Freebies, Designer Clothing on the Cheap, Most Annoying Bank Fees
This week’s link roundup also includes simple rules of thumb for buying everything from coffee to a home, and insights as to why personal finance can be as tricky—and messy—as potty training.
What Should I Bid on a House?
Let me revisit a classic home buyer's question ("What should I bid on a property?") with some insights for today's modern, love-to-bargain, Internet data-filled world. It's a re-examination of home buying in a Groupon …
3 Hot Real Estate Markets That You’ve Likely Never Heard Of
Rarely does a week go by without someone publishing a list of real estate markets that are recession-proof, or that have recovered already, or that they predict will recover sooner than others.