In all the excitement of choosing your lot, your appliance package and all the other extras that go into buying a new home, something important may fall through the cracks: your new home’s future resale value. Sure, it seems a bit early to be thinking of selling when you haven’t even moved into the home, but you should be thinking…

The weather folks are saying that residents of the eastern U.S. can look forward to warmer-than-average early-summer temperatures, while those in the west will have “well-above average” temperatures come mid-to-late season. Don’t even get us started with summer weather in our nation’s southwest. Suffice it to say that there, the sun is white-hot and even the sky is sweaty. Summer…

It’s Sunday evening and John and Mary Homeseller and Anita Deal, their real estate agent, are sitting at the dining room table, ready to confront a pile of purchase agreements. The Homesellers were smart to listen to Ms. Deal’s advice and decided to entertain all offers simultaneously, rather than have them trickle in, piecemeal. It’s a hot market, and the…

Across the country, inventories of available homes are suppressed and buyers in most price ranges are meeting stiff competition for homes that are in decent condition and priced right. As we climb the price range, however, the pace slows down and buyers can be more relaxed and pickier. Ah, what life must be like when money is no object. What…

Yikes! Doesn’t it seem that frigid temperatures greeted us in the morning just yesterday? Believe it or not, summer is knocking on the door. If you love entertaining outdoors during these glorious warm months, it’s time to turn your attention to your patio furniture, especially if you didn’t take steps to protect it during winter. Good foryou if you did…

big pile of the money. dollars usa Budgets: They reflect a reality that we either revel in or despise. If yours is reflecting the fact that, yes, you can afford to make a mortgage payment every month, but it will be tight, you have some tough decisions to make. These include the obvious, such as putting off the purchase until…

Caution: Taking action on a whim, without consulting your real estate agent, may be hazardous to your real estate transaction and, thus, your pocketbook. All questions, no matter how difficult to ask, or how small they may seem, should be run by your agent. Let’s take a look at three common scenarios and show you why you need your agent’s…

From the elderly couple who broke down in tears when they returned to find a pile of rubble where their home once stood, to the countless stories about brave and heroic neighbors, farmers, ranchers, veterans and complete strangers, wildfires make headlines. “We didn’t have a chance to react. It was here, and we got out with the clothes on our…