How big should your down payment be? Hint: It doesn't have to be 20%.

Buyer Guide

How big should your down payment be? Hint: It doesn't have to be 20%.

A down payment is when you pay a fraction of the cost of a home upfront and take out a loan to cover the rest. You don’t have to put 20% down on a house A common misconception is that 20% is the standard down payment on a house. That’s not the case, according to Melissa Cohn, regional vice president at William Raveis Mortgage.Instead, depending on what kind of mortgage you take out and what kind of homebuyer you are, you can pay as little as 3.5% down. And if you’re taking a mortgage from the

May 16, 2025

Buyer Guide

How to find a home for sale before anyone else does

How to find a home for sale before anyone else does

The United States has a significant housing shortage that, for now, shows little end in sight, creating intense competition among buyers looking for the perfect property. For some buyers, the only real shot at finding a home to purchase means striking before it hits the market. Experienced real estate agents are trained to find homes that will be listed soon. But for the layperson, here are some ways to find a home for sale before anyone else does, according to real estate professionals: Becom

May 16, 2025
How to make your offer for a home stand out from everyone else's

How to make your offer for a home stand out from everyone else's

A nationwide shortage of listings has created intense competition among buyers — many of whom will be submitting offers to purchase the same small pool of properties in a given community. It's commonplace for homebuyers to see their offers rejected a dozen times because someone else has put forth a stronger purchase package. But amid such high competition, there are ways homebuyers can bring their offers to the front of the line — without having to waive critical contingencies, like the home i

May 15, 2025
How big should your down payment be? Hint: It doesn't have to be 20%.

How big should your down payment be? Hint: It doesn't have to be 20%.

A down payment is when you pay a fraction of the cost of a home upfront and take out a loan to cover the rest. You don’t have to put 20% down on a house A common misconception is that 20% is the standard down payment on a house. That’s not the case, according to Melissa Cohn, regional vice president at William Raveis Mortgage.Instead, depending on what kind of mortgage you take out and what kind of homebuyer you are, you can pay as little as 3.5% down. And if you’re taking a mortgage from the

May 16, 2025
Can you buy a house if you have a lot of personal debt?

Can you buy a house if you have a lot of personal debt?

If you plan to buy a home with a mortgage, your lender will want to know what kind of debt you have. But some things are more important than others, experts say, and even if you have debt, you can still buy a house.Here's how: Lenders look at your credit report Mortgage lenders care most about what's in your credit report, according to Nicole Rueth, a residential lender in Denver."We're hyper-focusing on that credit that's on the credit report," Rueth said.That report includes breakdowns of y

May 15, 2025
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Seller Guide

When is the best time to sell your home? It’s not necessarily the spring.

When is the best time to sell your home? It’s not necessarily the spring.

It’s often thought that the best time of year to put a house on the market is in the spring, because people are more in the mood to be out shopping once the unpleasant winter weather is over. But there are other factors at play.One way to measure how much better the spring season — specifically, April through June — is for sellers is the median number of days a house is on the market. In 2024, it dropped from 38 days in February to 22 days in June before starting to rise again, according to Na

May 15, 2025
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
How to negotiate the commission you pay

How to negotiate the commission you pay

A commission is the fee homeowners pay a real estate agent for helping them sell their property, typically a percentage of the sale price. A seller's agent commission could be 3%, for example. If the sales price is $500,000, the agent would receive $15,000. In some cases, the homeowner will also pay the buyer’s agent. If you want to negotiate a lower commission, there are a few tricks sellers should be aware of: Understand your rights as a seller Melvin A. Vieira Jr., who represents buyers an

May 01, 2025
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Local Insights

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
10 ways to fit in like a true Denverite

10 ways to fit in like a true Denverite

Denver is an attractive move for out-of-staters who want to be closer to the great outdoors while maintaining an urban lifestyle. Just don’t think it’s a mountain town.Like any city, there are misconceptions about Denver. One of them, many say, is that Denver is in the mountains. It may be the "Mile High City" because of its elevation of 5,280 feet, but it's actually in the high plains.“It’s not like we’re right in the mountains, and people think everybody skis, and that is not true,” said Den

May 14, 2025
Tips for finding the right schools

Tips for finding the right schools

Public boards of education in Atlanta, New York City, Chicago and other large markets tend to assign school districts by home address, putting the onus on prospective buyers to select the right neighborhoods to set their children up for academic and social success.Complicating the situation: There are limited numbers of homes for sale in certain areas, especially in low- to mid-price points."If you get a good house in a good school district, bang, it's going to be gone," Douglas Rill, broker o

May 15, 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

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
What makes for a successful modern farmhouse?

What makes for a successful modern farmhouse?

Somewhere along the way, the "modern farmhouse" got a bad reputation.Anchored in a lived-in and accessible appeal, the rustic style gained traction in the 2010s, partially thanks to HGTV personalities — and eventual media moguls — Joanna and Chip Gaines. Although inspired by farmhouses and barns in form and some materials, the homes often favored a bright white exterior sharply punctuated by black-framed windows. Homebuilders embraced the stark look for some new builds and flips, leaning into

May 15, 2025
What is a Prairie-style home?

What is a Prairie-style home?

Known for its horizontal lines, organic materials and low-slung forms, Prairie-style architecture emerged onto the U.S. scene toward the beginning of the 20th century.Often heralded as its creator, architect Frank Lloyd Wright popularized and honed the naturalistic style in his work, stitching together approaches from the Arts and Crafts movement with architectural theories from mentor Louis Sullivan, a modernist architect and skyscraper pioneer.“Wright was on a trajectory where he continuousl

May 15, 2025
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