Latest Real Estate, Economic, and Financial News

The origin of Valentine’s Day is mysterious. Valentine’s Day comes from a figure in Christian history but the exact identity of St. Valentine is difficult to prove. Tradition holds Valentine was a priest in Rome, who aided and sheltered Christians in persecution under Claudius II. In addition, he married Christian couples under the newly found faith of Christianity. Valentine was caught, and sent to…

Are you fighting a bad case of cabin fever this Winter? If so you're not alone! Dormant flower beds all across the nation are begging for some splashes of color. Here's a list of the top 10 inexpensive, easy-to-maintain flowers that will please those beds, your budget, and your neighbors.  

Curb appeal is your home's first impression to buyers and neighbors alike. It can say a lot about how you respect your home and property.

  Ask yourself these questions: How do you feel about a home with an overgrown lawn? Do you prefer flower beds that are empty and full of weeds or beds that are planted with new Spring flowers? The answers are easy! We all prefer yards that are well-kept. That includes buyers.  

When a buyer makes an offer on your…

President Obama is calling for $6 billion in his 2013 budget to expand home energy retrofits. Obama unveiled his $3.8 trillion budget for 2013 on Monday. 

The home energy retrofit allocation aims to revive Obama’s Home Star program, which passed the House of Representatives in 2010 but never won over final congressional approval. The Home Star program would grant home owners rebates for efficiency upgrades, including sealing ducts, installing efficient water heaters and heating units, windows, doors, and adding insulation. The program was previously dubbed “cash for caulkers.” 

Still, some are skeptical the full $6 billion will win final approval. "While Home Star is unlikely to make it through Congress (this year) due to its price tag, we…

Rates for 30-year U.S. mortgages held at the lowest level on record as fewer Americans sought loans for home purchases.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan was unchanged in the week ending Thursday at 3.87 percent, the lowest in records dating to 1971, Freddie Mac said in a statement. The average 15-year rate climbed to 3.16 percent from 3.14 percent, according to the mortgage-finance company.

Financing applications for home purchases declined 6.9 percent in the past four weeks, said Paul Diggle, property economist for Capital Economics in London, citing figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The data suggest that recent improvements in U.S. home sales may not be "built on solid foundations," he wrote in a note to clients…

Decades from now when you retire, you are going to take a look at your income and assets to see if you will be living a comfortable retirement. One big portion of your retirement picture will probably relate to real estate. You may have paid off a home, and/or rental properties; and that would be great. Or you may still be paying a fairly large amount on your home mortgage or paying rent each month to a landlord.

Obviously, the scenario where you are still paying monthly for your housing is not an optimal scenario. Luckily, you can do a lot to increase the chances that the real estate you own will have been a net wealth builder over your lifetime. You do this by educating yourself and reducing the risk on real estate you buy and own. It is the real…

The number of homes receiving a foreclosure filing — from notice of default to repossession — hit a 49-month low in December, as legal issues, documentation delays and weak housing demand all served to stall the processing of mortgage delinquencies.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 205,024 U.S. properties in December, a 20% decrease from the year before, a 9% decrease from the previous month and the lowest total since November 2007, according to foreclosure-data firm RealtyTrac.

It's not that the housing market and economy are getting that much better; it's just taking lenders 24% longer to foreclose on a home than it did before the robo-signing scandal made headlines in the third quarter of last year, said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac's…

There is no doubt that home improvements can increase the resale value of your home.  However, you should know that not all types of home improvement projects will add to the value of your home – lots of research has been done on this.  Here we discuss which home improvements generally increase resale value and what type of home remodeling does not recover its money back after a sale.

Home Improvement Dos:

• The first thing that home owners need to do to increase the resale value of their homes is to beautify the façade/outside of their homes.  Home improvements such as landscaping your front lawn, adding some plants and shrubs in your yard, and cleaning up the exterior of your home do not cost a lot of money but can make a huge…

So you’ve got a monthly budget and have already started saving for retirement, either through your company’s programs or your own. You’re well on your way to a comfortable post-career period, but just when is that going to be? If you’re like many people, you have only thought of that in the broadest terms, but part of the plan is setting the goal line. For help with that, financial planner Jeff Rose offers advice in his article, “How to Calculate Your Retirement Savings and Retirement Date,” on the Equifax Finance Blog.

Following the estimation of your retirement budget and income, you will need to multiply your monthly retirement budget out to a yearly budget. From there, it’s a guessing game about how long you think you will live –…

According to housing market reports, there has been a recent increase in mortgage applications, while mortgage delinquencies are expected to decline during 2012. This forecast comes as potential homebuyers become more confident in the nation's housing market.

The most recent Mortgage Bankers Association Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, spiked 12.8 percent in the week ending December 2. Meanwhile, the Refinance Index rose 15.3 percent from the previous week and now makes up 76 percent of total loan applications.

"Coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday, applications increased significantly as mortgage rates dropped to their lowest levels in about two months," said MBA vice president of research and economics…

CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYSE: CBL) has formed a 75/25 joint venture with Horizon Group Properties, Inc. (OTC: HGPI) to develop The Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta in Woodstock, GA.

Construction on the 370,000-square-foot project is expected to begin in spring 2012, with the grand opening scheduled for late summer 2013. CBL and Horizon are co-developing the project with Horizon responsible for leasing and management.

The Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta is currently more than 70 percent leased or committed with tenants including Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH, Nike, J. Crew, Nine West​, Brooks Brothers​, Johnston and Murphy, Levis, Skechers, Chico's, Guess, Michael Kors​, Puma, Under Armour​ and more. The project is in a northern suburb of Atlanta…