Thursday, February 27, 2025 / by Vic Markarian
Are you having a hard time finding the right home in your budget? Or maybe you already own a home but could use some extra income or a designated space for aging loved ones. Either way, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) could be the smart solution you’ve been looking for in today’s market.
What Is an ADU?
According to Fannie Mae, an ADU is a small, separate living space that’s on the same lot as a single-family home. It must include its own areas for living, sleeping, cooking, and bathrooms independent of the main house. And they can take shape in a few different ways. Fannie Mae adds, an ADU can be:
Within a main home, such as a basement apartment
Attached to a main home, such as a living area over a garage
Detached from the home entirely; it could even be a manufactured home
The Benefits of ADUs
ADUs are growing in popularity as more people discover why they’re so practical. In fact, a recent surk ...
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Thursday, February 13, 2025 / by Vic Markarian
If you’re like a lot of aspiring homebuyers, there’s a major hurdle standing in your way — the cost of living. From groceries to gas, eggs, and just about everything else, prices have gone up. And that rings true for home prices, too.
But even when everything feels expensive, there are still ways to make homeownership more than an item on your wish list. You may just need to think about where you plan to buy a bit differently.
Think of Your First Home as a Stepping Stone
One of the biggest misconceptions among buyers is that their first home has to be their forever home – or that it has to check all the boxes of what they want right out of the gate. In reality, it’s just a starting point.
Once you own a home, you start to build equity, which grows over time as home prices rise. Down the road, if you want to move — whether to a larger space, a better location, or both — the equity you’ve gained can ...
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Thursday, November 7, 2024 / by Vic Markarian
Trying to decide between renting or buying a home? One key factor that could help you choose is just how much homeownership can grow your net worth.
Every three years, the Federal Reserve Board shares a report called the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). It shows how much wealth homeowners and renters have – and the difference is significant.
On average, a homeowner’s net worth is nearly 40 times higher than a renter’s. Check out the graph below to see the difference for yourself:
Why Homeowner Wealth Is So High
In the previous version of that report, the average homeowner’s net worth was about $255,000, while the average renter’s was just $6,300. That’s still a big gap. But in the most recent update, the spread got even bigger as homeowner wealth grew even more (see graph below):
As the SCF report says:
“. . . the 2019-2022 growth in median net worth was the largest three-year increase over the histo ...
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Thursday, October 10, 2024 / by Vic Markarian
If you’re toying with the idea of selling your house, you’re probably wondering how much it’ll cost. To be honest, the final number will depend on several factors like the offer you accept, if you help with your buyer’s closing costs, how many repairs you tackle, and more.
So, to give you a ballpark of what to expect, here’s some information on a few of the expenses you’ll want to be ready for (see graph below):
But here’s something that puts those costs into perspective. Most homeowners today have a substantial amount of equity built up in their homes, and that means they stand to make significant gains when they sell. Chances are, you do too. This can help quickly recoup these selling costs. You may even have enough equity leftover to put some toward your next home purchase too.
Let’s dive into a few of the costs from the graph above, so you have a bit more context on what they include and where you may be able k ...
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Thursday, September 19, 2024 / by Vic Markarian
If you’ve been hesitant to list your house because you’re worried no one’s buying, here’s your sign it may be time to talk with an agent.
After months of high rates keeping buyers on the sidelines, things are starting to shift. Rates are already coming down due to a number of economic factors. And yesterday the Federal Reserve cut the Federal Funds Rate for the first time since they began raising that rate in March 2022. And while they don’t control mortgage rates, this sets the stage for mortgage rates to fall even further than they already have – especially since more cuts from the Fed are expected into next year. And lower mortgage rates are bringing more buyers back into the market. Lisa Sturtevant, Chief Economist at Bright MLS, says:
“A drop in the cost of borrowing will help fuel more homebuyer demand . . . Falling rates will also bring more sellers into the market.”
The best part? You ck ...
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