Back in 2012, appraisals were a hot item. Thanks to a myriad of factors – chief among them inexperienced appraisers and dramatic changes to how the industry was organized – low appraisals were the cause of numerous contract failures

Ninety-eight percent of Realtors believe buyers respond to curb appeal, a National Association of Realtors report found. Improving a home’s curb appeal is a quick and relatively inexpensive way (as far as home-improvement projects go) to boost a home’s

Last week, we reported on NAR’s “Profile of Real Estate Firms,” an exhaustive look at the composition of today’s realty businesses and a projection of where they are heading. Our first report looked at the state of real estate firms

For most buyers and sellers, contacting a real estate agent isn’t their first step. Their first move is to go online. Sixty-six percent of Realtors and 70 percent of brokers have a website, the National Association of Realtors’ 2015 Member

Home prices in the Greater Boston housing market have continued their ascent in 2016, according to the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Indices from Standard & Poor’s. Greater Boston prices rose 0.6 percent monthly and 4.2 percent year-over-year, both of which were slower

September is Realtor safety month – an important month for real estate. As a real estate agent, you are vulnerable to harassment, being robbed at gunpoint, kidnapping and even murder. Your job can be risky – in fact, nearly 40 percent

In one of his more famous speeches, Don Draper, the central character of the “Mad Men” television series, stated that advertising is based on one thing – happiness. And though his focus was on the ad world, Draper could

The “Profile of Real Estate Firms” is among the most interesting annual surveys from the National Association of Realtors. Conducted among its executive members, the profile offers an in-depth look at the higher echelons of the industry, as well

For some time now, agents and analysts alike have wondered why so few Millennials are buying homes, but new Census data has provided a remarkably straightforward answer – they’re all living at home with their parents. Compiled by Time magazine,

The National Association of Home Builders wants to organize its membership to help pass 15 of what it describes as “critical” building code changes. In its release, the association wrote: “NAHB is urging its members to get involved locally

Both economic and personal concerns are stopping renters from buying homes, according to the latest Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey from NAR. Conducted on a quarterly basis, the HOME survey polled Americans about their confidence in the

In Jan. 2005, Alan Reynolds, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, said that it would be “financially foolhardy” to listen to “housing bubble worrywarts.” A few months later, Jude Wanniski, a former adviser to President Ronald Reagan, authored

The American public views the real estate industry more positively than at any time in the last decade, according to new research from Gallup. Based on its annual polling of public sentiment, Gallup found that 44 percent of Americans

When TRID came into effect in Oct. 2015, the big fear was a consumer-facing one. “TRID is going to delay loan closings,” the industry said. But it hasn’t – at least not for the majority. In Ellie Mae’s most

In use for more than 25 years and the preferred credit scoring system for 90 percent of top lenders, the FICO Score has long been the dominant metric of creditworthiness for auto lending, credit card decisioning and, of course,

Last year, one in five homebuyers purchased a property sight unseen. According to a new survey from Redfin, that number is holding true this year, as well. This may be a trend agents should follow. Crissy Dyer is a