What are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? How these mortgage giants shape US home loans.

Buying a Home

What are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? How these mortgage giants shape US home loans.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — respectively the Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. — are government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, created by Congress to support the nation’s housing finance system. Their mission is to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the mortgage market. What do they do? Fannie and Freddie purchase mortgages from lenders. They either hold these loans in their portfolios or package them into mortgage-backed securities an

1 day ago

Buying a Home

Buying a home in 10 steps

Buying a home in 10 steps

Buying a home is a major milestone and a significant financial decision that involves careful planning and research. It typically begins with assessing your financial readiness — reviewing your credit score, determining your budget and getting preapproved for a mortgage. Once you have a clear understanding of what you can afford, the next step is to identify your needs and preferences, such as location, size, amenities and proximity to work or schools. Working with a real estate agent can help

Jul 28, 2025
The pros and cons of living in a master-planned community

The pros and cons of living in a master-planned community

More than two decades ago, Ann and Landon Perdew bought a home in The Villages, a master-planned community about 60 miles northwest of Walt Disney World in Central Florida.At the time, the 55-and-over community had about 20,000 residents, mostly retirees eager to take in the development's robust roster of shops, restaurants and recreational activities."It was planned and well-thought-out," resident Ann Perdew told Homes.com. "All the conveniences you needed were put into place." Residents o

Aug 04, 2025
Design studio 101: What to expect and how to save money when customizing your new build

Design studio 101: What to expect and how to save money when customizing your new build

For many buyers, a major draw of purchasing a new home over an existing one is the ability to customize its design and functionality. Often, that customized design process occurs in a design studio.Design studios typically offer samples from various product categories, from exterior siding to kitchen countertops. They are often staffed by team members trained to guide buyers through the selection process. These can be designers, consultants, selection coordinators or salespeople.Of course, not

Aug 01, 2025
Understanding the types of new home walk-throughs and what to expect

Understanding the types of new home walk-throughs and what to expect

When people buy a new home before it is built, they often have the chance for several “walk-throughs” — tours of the property at different stages in the construction process to make sure it meets their expectations.The number of these walk-throughs depends on a builder’s process and how involved buyers want to be. Sometimes, walk-throughs are written into the sales contract before the house rises out of the ground. Some builders and agents encourage four or more tours, but in some cases, like

Aug 01, 2025
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Selling a Home

Selling a home in 11 steps

Selling a home in 11 steps

To sell your home, you’ll need to know your market: How much are similar homes selling for in your neighborhood, how fast are they selling and what type of upgrades will boost your selling price. A real estate agent can provide crucial guidance on these decisions, from determining the listing price of your home and how to stage it to evaluating offer terms. However, the first steps can be taken months or even years before you decide to sell. Here are 11 steps to selling your home: 1. Start de

Aug 04, 2025
6 tips from a photographer to prep your home to sell

6 tips from a photographer to prep your home to sell

Having a professional photographer take real estate photos is recommended, but regardless of their talent, a home needs to be camera-ready.Just as you want to look your best for photo day, you want to showcase the best parts of your home when getting real estate photos taken. When a photographer comes, they won't have time to stage the house. While they may tweak a few last-minute details, it’s the seller and real estate agent's responsibility to prepare the home for photos.“Your photo is your

1 day ago
How to make the best use of drones to sell your home

How to make the best use of drones to sell your home

Video taken by a drone is increasingly common on websites selling homes, as the technology allows sellers to market distinctive features and gives buyers a better feel for what the property will be like.“Using drones in real estate marketing allows you to show the property from many unique angles, allowing the prospective buyer to view not only the house, the roof and yard, but also the surrounding neighborhood and views,” the National Association of Realtors said on its website.Views of the s

May 15, 2025
12 questions sellers can ask prospective agents

12 questions sellers can ask prospective agents

Interviewing several real estate agents to find the one best suited to sell your property is a standard, welcome practice that can often make or break the experience.Agents offer different personalities, backgrounds and approaches that can work well for some clients but fall flat for others. Many real estate professionals suggest interviewing a few candidates about your goals for the transaction; whether you want to sell quickly or are willing to wait to make the most money, for instance.“Once

May 15, 2025
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Local Insights

10 ways to fit in like a true Rochesterian

10 ways to fit in like a true Rochesterian

For decades, Rochester experienced a population and economic boom led mostly by Xerox, Kodak and Bausch and Lomb, employing tens of thousands of residents at their corporate offices, laboratories and factories. However, prosperity fueled by the optics industry took a nosedive in the 2010s, leaving Rochesterians with fewer middle-class jobs.Despite losing a large chunk of its local economy, Rochester and its greater Monroe County — near Lake Ontario on the northern New York state border — is st

Oct 15, 2025
10 ways to fit in like a true Richmonder

10 ways to fit in like a true Richmonder

Richmond, Virginia, is an increasingly popular city to move to, with a vibrant culinary and arts scene, but residents say it’s sometimes plagued by the assumption that it’s a stodgy place.Sure, there are folks who appreciate Richmond's older traditions in the state capital, but they live side by side with a lot of newcomers with different perspectives, sometimes on the same block, Bill Martin, who directs the history-oriented Valentine Museum, told Homes.com.“There’s always been this group of

Sep 26, 2025
12 ways to fit in like a real Orlandoan

12 ways to fit in like a real Orlandoan

Orlandoans can come from anywhere, and in recent years, that has meant from everywhere. Since 2020, this cultural center of Central Florida has added more than 144,000 residents, with more than 41% attributable to international migration, according to the Orlando Economic Partnership. The result is a diverse and welcoming community of wide-ranging opinions and lifestyles.The one idea that binds locals is that they are not tourists, i.e. the people locals spend all of their time driving around.

Jul 07, 2025
The cost of living from state to state

The cost of living from state to state

A buyer looking to move to a new state needs to consider costs beyond the mortgage payment, costs that can vary greatly.Property taxes are climbing with home values in many cities, and so is the cost of insurance, as natural disasters mount. What will it cost you to gas up for your commute to work? Factor in the cost of childcare, if that is a concern, and the state sales and income taxes before you decide whether the move is in your best interest economically.Major cities in California and pa

May 16, 2025
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Architectural Styles

Wondering whether it's a Second Empire home? Just look at the roof.

Wondering whether it's a Second Empire home? Just look at the roof.

Sometimes, parsing out which architectural style a home fits into feels like splitting hairs. But with Second Empire homes, it’s easy — just look at the roof.“The number one feature of the Second Empire style that allows anyone to recognize it on any building is its distinctive roof,” said Peter Barr, a professor of art history at Adrian College who documents the architecture of Adrian, Michigan, for Adrian Architecture. “And the roof is called a ‘mansard roof,’ M-A-N-S-A-R-D.”Adorned with fla

5 hours ago
The humble Chicago bungalow is more than a century old and still beloved

The humble Chicago bungalow is more than a century old and still beloved

There’s a housing type that makes up one-third of Chicago’s inventory, and it’s been around for more than 100 years: the humble Chicago bungalow.Across the country, the term “bungalow” often refers to a small, one-story house. These characteristics apply to the Chicago bungalow, but the Windy City’s variety brings its own Midwestern flair that harks back to the economic and design ethos of the 1910s-1930s when they were built.Today, there remain 80,000 Chicago bungalows throughout the city, ac

Aug 28, 2025
What is a midcentury modern house?

What is a midcentury modern house?

After World War II, residential design, like much of the globe, was in flux.Perhaps in reaction to the violence and sweeping loss experienced from 1939 to 1945, architects and designers began reconsidering what homes and the furniture inside them looked like, and how they shaped the relationships between residents and their surrounding communities and environments. The resulting designs — some from well-known modernist names including Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Paul R. Williams

May 16, 2025
What is a Victorian-era home?

What is a Victorian-era home?

Victorian homes have a little bit of everything going on.The opulent style — often associated with intricate moldings and detailing — emerged on the architectural scene in the United Kingdom during Queen Victoria's reign, which began in 1837 and ended in 1901. By the 1850s, architects and homeowners in the United States had caught on, incorporating the aesthetic into the country’s residential landscape.“They are typically very fancy, typically heavily ornamented,” said Brent Hull, founder of H

May 15, 2025
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