Sales of existing homes are tracking at four-million-a-year as America’s strong record of value increases continues, according to the latest housing report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Prices are up 1.8% on 12 months ago, and we have chalked up our 22nd successive monthly increase in values. Existing home sales dipped 0.5% in…
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Conventional thinking suggests we all love a neat and tidy garden – flowerbeds are organised and weed-free, hedges clipped, roses in bloom and trees shaped to perfection. When selling your home, this is the perfect philosophy to attract the greatest number of potential buyers. Of course, it’s not the only approach to gardening. An increasing…
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Paying for closing costs is just a reality of life that comes with buying real estate. There’s no escaping it, but you can shop around to reduce the expense of this obligation. For first-time buyers, it’s worth stepping through this part of a property purchase. Closing costs include legal and title search fees, required insurances,…
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Who can blame any buyer and seller for beating a retreat from the property market with a global trade war looming involving our nearest neighbour. The shock and uncertainty of tariffs between the world’s biggest economies and ensnaring Canada has caused every Canadian to recoil and reassess. The latest figures from the Canadian Real Estate…
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It’s always good to know your options when it comes to mortgages. While so much time and effort is spent on finding and buying the right property, we often don’t think enough about the type of mortgage we’re choosing. And we think about mortgages even less when interest rates fall, as if that is the…
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Have you ever been to someone’s home and immediately felt the occupant led a busy and stressed life? Perhaps, you’ve seen clothes dropped onto a kitchen countertop, or the living room has throw-blankets scattered or left on the floor. These are signs of a person, couple or family on the hamster-wheel of modern life and…
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With America’s housing market caught in the spotlight of tariffs and even a trade war with China, owners looking to sell in the next few months will need to push a little harder to attract buyers and make a deal. A dip of 6% in home sales in March – a natural consequence of the…
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Who doesn’t love the idea of selling your home for more than expected? No one, of course. But what are the features of a home that command a premium with today’s cautious buyers? The aggregator Zillow loves to delve into its database and come up with answers to these types of questions. There’s no guarantee…
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Where is the opportunity in real estate when everyone is too scared to make a move? It’s the big question in Canada right now as we collectively try to second-guess or shrug at the tariff dramas that are playing out across the global economy. Even the Bank of Canada (BoC) appears caught in the headlights.…
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Buyer optimism and an interest rate cut have seemingly reversed the small dip in average Australian property prices that we witnessed at the end of last year. Once again, property values are on the rise and both the Sydney and Melbourne markets appear to have turned the corner. Industry researcher CoreLogic reports that values rose…
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