If you’re like a lot of homeowners these days, you’d probably love to go green. Energy efficiency retrofits, high-efficiency furnaces and solar panels are home improvements that can save thousands and thousands of dollars in energy bills over the years. But high upfront costs have so far kept many folks from adopting practical energy saving […]
It’s been hammered into people’s heads for so long that home ownership is the way to go, that potential buyers forget that’s not always the case. Especially right now, when real estate markets remain shaky in many parts of the country, the home you buy today could fall in value tomorrow. Of course, the decision […]
Even though the word “foreclosure” has lost much of its stigma in recent years, thanks to Wall Street recklessness and subsequent bailouts, it’s still a state most homeowners would prefer to avoid. Not only does foreclosure wreck a homeowner’s credit score for years to come, but the very word conjures up feelings of failure. (Banks’ […]
With interest rates still at a historic low, some homeowners may consider refinancing from a standard 30-year fixed rate mortgage to a 15-year mortgage. Nationally, it seems a lot of folks are doing just that—the Mortgage Bankers Association says that one in four refinance applications in March was for a 15-year loan, up from 12.2 […]
Buyers know they hold the cards in the current lackluster housing market, but there’s one obstacle they might be wary of: misrepresentations by home sellers. Nationwide, there have been reports of eager sellers exaggerating square footage and acreage, minimizing property taxes or utility bills, conveniently forgetting about past problems with termites or insisting that charming […]
For Kim West and Ed Clark, it was love at second sight—the first sight failed to ignite passion
One of the most stressful aspects of buying a home? The closing —signing a bunch of documents you may or may not fully understand (are you buying a house or signing away a limb?), forking over a big check, and, perhaps worst of all, discovering your estimated closing costs far exceed what you were originally […]
In real estate, timing is everything. And no time is that more true than when gearing up for the spring selling season, traditionally the most brisk time for moving homes during the year. But a big mistake a lot of buyers and sellers make is actually waiting until springtime to get serious about putting a […]
The love story between Wendy Browning and Randy Lynch is one of two ships passing in the night
Jay Gwaldis and Louise Largiadèr are really into motorcycles. The two met in June 2007 on their way to a BMW motorcycle rally at the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina. Louise, 46, was on her very first solo ride, accompanied by her brother Anton, a BMW motorcycle technician, and his girlfriend. Jay Gwaldis and Louise […]