Homes.com Staff

What Does a Real Estate Agent Do? 15 Benefits Explained

Buying or selling a home is not just about finding the perfect place or getting the best price. Every real estate transaction involves a maze of legal details, negotiations and countless moving parts. While it’s an exciting process, it can feel overwhelming without the right help. 

January 1, 2025

10 Tips for Making Home Buying Negotiations Go Smoothly

Buying a New Home? Here Are Some Helpful Negotiation Tips

January 1, 2025

How to Remodel your Bathroom for Under $1000

Contrary to popular belief, updating your home doesn’t have to require a complete gut job. Often times just updating a few things can help change your perspective and breathe new life into your space. Bathrooms rank as one of the most important rooms in our homes, especially when you consider return on investment, but also in terms of comfort. Whether you’re looking for a spa like environment or a space that reflects your personal style, there are a lot of budget friendly ways to update your space. [caption id="attachment_322613" align="aligncenter" width="683"]

January 1, 2025

Guide to Flooding, Home Insurance, and Waterproofing

After you buy your first home, trying to understand your home insurance options isn't easy. There are coverage excursions, property requirements, and multiple kinds of policies. Property coverage can be especially confusing when looking at water damage, flooding, and foundation repairs. For example, homeowner's insurance typically covers floods that originate indoors, such as a plumbing problem. On the other hand, flood insurance is focused on floods from external sources such as hurricanes, storms, and rivers.In this essential guide to flooding, home insurance, and waterproofing, we'll break down exactly what you need to know about water in your home.

January 1, 2025

Five Ways to Get Your Money Back From Bad Contractors

Millions of homeowners hire contractors every year, and are thrilled with the results they get, but it's "practically the norm of homeowners who get a horror story about their contractor instead," said Jody Costello, a San Diego resident and "pre-renovation coach." Costello runs a website dedicated to providing information and resources on the dos and don'ts of home remodeling, hiring contractors, and homeowner's rights. "It's the homeowner's responsibility to ensure that their rights are protected and not violated by unethical contractors," Costello said. "The contractors have rights and the homeowners have rights. They understand both, and so should you." At the least, those unhappy homeowners are victims of contractor incompetence, and at worst they're victims of outright fraud and failure of performance.Many homeowners consider contractor failure and their financial losses part of being a homeowner, but others choose to go after the contractor to recover their money. Is it worth the hassle, time and effort? Yes, say experts. It is."It depends on what you've already lost and how mad you are," Costello said. Costello and her husband took a contractor to court 15 years ago and won. "It was a long, expensive, drawn-out fight," she said. But out of that was born her business: Contractors from Hell.Obviously, the best way to ensure you don't lose money to a fraudulent contractor, Costello says, is to do your due diligence and research as much as you can before hiring them, like their credit scores, whether they're on a cash and carry, or credit basis with local suppliers, and how many liens and lawsuits they have against them. But if you haven't done that there are things you'll need to do if you decide to pursue collection.Homeowners have more options to get their money back than they think. Using one or more will help, but getting your money back is often a long, painful, and expensive process. It's better, Costello said, to do your due diligence beforehand to ensure you're hiring a competent, legal contractor:

January 1, 2025

13 Essential Things To Look For When Viewing A House

13 Essential Things to Look for When Viewing a House (According to the Experts)

January 1, 2025

Buying a Home in an Earthquake Zone

Once considered rare or unusual occurrences, earthquakes are now daily events, in part because of better monitoring, and communication of the quakes. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) now estimates that several million earthquakes occur in the world each year, although many go undetected because they occur in remote areas or have very small magnitudes.In the U.S., the USGS now locates about 50 earthquakes each day, or about 20,000 a year. Oklahoma, for instance, had 623 earthquakes of 3+ in 2016; 903 in 2015; 579 in 2014; and 109 in 2013. According to E&E News (a news organization focused on energy and the environment), it's the most seismically active state in the lower 48. The quakes are believed to be manmade, due to fracking and oil drilling, but still, they're quakes and still do damage.

January 1, 2025

Can a Buyer Back Out of a Home Purchase Contract?

In an intense seller’s market, buyers may consider waiving contingencies to give them an edge on the competition. What is a contingency, exactly? Simply put, a contingency is a stipulation put into the purchase offer that protects the buyer in case something goes wrong. Basically, the buyer can back out of the contract without losing their earnest money deposit or facing penalties.If a buyer decides to waive a contingency in order to entice the sellers to accept their offer, the buyers may not be able to back out of the contract without penalty if something goes wrong. What are the most common contingencies, and what should you know if you choose to waive them?

January 1, 2025

Beyond the Curb Appeal: How to Choose a Neighborhood

Finding the perfect neighborhood may vary depending on your lifestyle, but there are common factors that almost any homebuyer would name. These include safety, conveniences and accessibility. Good schools also have an impact on property values, even if you don’t have kids. 

January 1, 2025

Is "Rent to Own" a Safe Option for First-Time Homebuyers?

Since last year, news of housing markets has centered on low inventories and rising prices. But, an often-overlooked option to down payment and affordability challenges is "rent to own." This involves renting a home for a predetermined period, such as three years, and then buying the home at a predetermined price. Homeowners who have had problems selling, and investors in single-family rentals, often use the rent-to-own option.

January 1, 2025