On July 17, 1947, The National Association of Real Estate Boards applied to the United States Patent Office to register REALTOR as a trademark. The date claimed for first usage was March 31, 1916. It first came into common parlance with an utterance by a witness at a subcommittee hearing in...
While “green” has become quite the buzzword when it comes to home building and design, what exactly it means isn’t always clear. There are a few standards for eco-friendly homes, but the term “green” doesn’t have a universal definition beyond being a color...
What Is The Definition Of Cap Rate, And Why Does It Matter?
In commercial real estate, cap rate, or capitalization rate, is used to determine the values of income producing properties such as apartments of five units or more, office buildings, strip malls and other such properties. The...
Love at first sight is a concept that applies to the real estate market. So, what is the best house color to sell your home to a love struck buyer?
What Is the Best Color For Selling A Home?
When you go to social events, do you make an effort to snazzy yourself up? Of course you...
Understanding the appraisal process and what drives home values.
Written by John Tatman
Retired Real Estate Appraiser
Actually, there are two home values, the value to the homeowner and the value to the potential buyer. Unfortunately, both values are emotional and not facts...
What is Medium Density Fiberboard And What Is It Good For?
Medium density fiberboard, also known as MDF, is type of wood that is similar to particleboard. It is made out of wood waste fibers glued together with resin, heat, and pressure. Medium density fiberboard can be used for a...
Many people ask “what is fractional ownership?” and the closely related question “Is it timeshare? In this article I will attempt to answer these questions. This article is concerned exclusively with the fractional ownership of leisure/luxury assets. However most of the...
Introduction
Mortgages come in many different shapes and sizes, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Since mortgage debt is often the largest debt owed by the debtor, banks and other mortgage lenders run title searches of the real property to make certain that there are no...
Any Sally and Sam Homebuyer can look at a home and decide whether it is attractive. They might notice it is freshly painted in pleasing colors, has the requisite number of rooms, a cooks kitchen and is located in a location with top schools. But what about less obvious parts of the...
For some of the best deals in real estate, you have to dig a little deeper below the surface. It’s tough to find good discounts on homes from a real estate agent, since often times they will be selling them for as much as possible to satisfy both the homeowner they represent and pad their...
The notion of a final walk-through seems to confuse both buyers and sellers of homes. Here is an explanation of a walk-through.
Walk-Throughs
What is a walk-through? What is its purpose? Is it important or just a formality? Can it be used to re-negotiate the terms of the contract...
Listen to advertisements for mortgages and you will hear everything under the sun regarding terms. So, what exactly is a down payment for a house?
What Is A Down Payment For A House
Considering todays market prices for homes and how they have drastically risen, mortgages have...