Real Estate - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

Agents in Florida, Canada Build Global Referral Network

The Florida REALTORS® and the Canada Real Estate Association have entered into a cross-border cooperation agreement to exchange information about international transactions and customers. The groups have signed a memorandum to develop a “mutually beneficial relationship” to encourage the sharing of information, including customer referrals.“The value of international collaboration cannot be overstated,” says CREA’s CEO Michael Bourque.

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HUD Looks to Raise Rent for Public Housing

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released a proposal on Wednesday that would increase the amount of income that Americans living on housing assistance pay toward rent on public housing.Currently, most tenants who receive federal housing assistance pay 30 percent of their adjusted income toward rent. The government then pays the remainder, up to a certain amount. But under HUD’s new proposal, renters would devote 35 percent o

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May Is Luckiest Month for Sellers

May is the best month to sell a home nationwide, according to a new analysis by ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm. Researchers evaluated the sales of 14.7 million homes from 2011 to 2017 to pinpoint the month or date that offered the highest sales prices.May saw the largest premiums above the estimated market value of 5.9 percent, on average—higher than any other month during the year.Mark your calendars: The best day of the year to

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Buyers Stretch Budgets to Be More Competitive

Buyer demand is high but the number of homes for sale is low. This is prompting more shoppers to stretch their budgets, put less money down, or turn to adjustable-rate loans to prevail in a bidding war for a home.“The frustration with the lack of inventory is, so many of the houses are going in bidding wars, and so you know you really have to step up to the plate and you have to do your homework to be a competitive buyer,” Patrick Clark, a r

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Owners Earn Big Monthly Income on Airbnb

Property owners who offer short-term rentals on sites like Airbnb and Getaround have the most lucrative type of side gig today, with the majority earning an average income of $1,000 to $5,000 per month.In March 2018, Dealspotr, a shopping and promotion-based social network, surveyed nearly 10,000 Americans across all age groups to learn about the state of the gig economy. About 500 people who responded said they have side gigs, which accounts for

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Mandarin-Speaking Robots Could Assist Foreign Buyers

Juwai.com, a Chinese international real estate website, announced it’s partnering with a tech firm to introduce a line of Mandarin-speaking robots that real estate agents and developers can use to serve Chinese buyers. The firm Singou Technology of Macau will develop the “Butler 1” artificial intelligence robots.The robots could be used in real estate offices to assist with Mandarin-speaking clients.“The robots are really designed to help

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The West, South Lift New-Home Sales

Builders saw more sales of newly built single-family homes last month, as the spring selling season got underway. New-home sales posted a 4 percent increase in March month over month, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday. New single-family homes reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 694,000 units in March, the second highest reading since the Great Recession. The West and South regions of the U.S. led to most of that uptick.“We

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The Art Factor Boosts Housing

Public art has been linked to building booms and price increases for residential real estate. That's why developers and city planners alike are working to weave art throughout new real estate projects and public spaces.“Developers are beginning to see that if they want to attract tenants, they have to offer them more than just four walls,” says Barbara Goldstein, a public art planner and consultant in San Jose, Calif. “We’re going to see

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Masses of Tumbleweed Bury Homes Out West

Strong winds have blown masses of spiky tumbleweed into homeowners’ yards and streets across Southern California and Utah. Tumbleweed reportedly has piled up to 5 feet high on some homes and has even blocked some homeowners from being able to get out. Sue Jones, a spokeswoman with the city of Victorville, Calif., the epicenter of the latest tumbleweed chaos, says that in some cases tumbleweed was as high as the second floors of homes.Victor

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Landlords, Associations Take Aim at Marijuana

Despite the movement to legalize marijuana for both medicinal and recreational purposes in many states, homeowners associations and landlords are showing a preference for banning the substance—which remains illegal on the federal level—in their properties.Condo and co-op associations, as well as individual landlords, have been cracking down on residents who use or grow marijuana inside their units or in common areas, realtor.com® reports. In

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