A senior homeowner and her son were found dead last week by an agent who entered the house to preview it.Residents Margaret Montgomery Gibson, 86, and Eric Dana Gibson, 53, a mother and son, were found by an agent who called 911, according to WRAL-TV news.In the released 911 call, the unidentified real estate professional tells police, "I just walked in this house to preview it for a client and there's a dead person in the bathroom. There's bloo
A slight decrease in mortgage rates brought refinancers and home shoppers back to lenders last week.Total mortgage application volume for refinancings and home purchases rose 3.6 percent week-over-week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. However, the volume still is nearly 19 percent below the same week a year ago. Interest rates were lower a year ago.Home purchase applications increased 4 percent
Airbnb, a short-term rental startup, plans to overcome its disputes with cities over short-term leasing by building its own apartment buildings.The company plans to build a 324-unit apartment building near Walt Disney World Resorts in Kissimmee, Fla., and says it plans to build more in the near future.The first building in Florida will be called Niido Powered by Airbnb and will open in early 2018.Tenants will be able to rent out their units for u
Quicken Loans is commanding the largest share of the mortgage market, according to 2016 data recently released by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. But Wells Fargo boasts the highest origination dollar volume at $126 billion in 2016, compared to Quicken Loans’ $90.6 billion.iEmergent, which compiled the data, calculated the top mortgage lenders by looking at the number of purchase and refinance loans originated. The follow
A new study finds that properties that contain certain words in their listing comments tend to sell for higher prices.CoreLogic researchers analyzed more than 1 million single-family transactions that closed in the first half of 2017. Every property analyzed had public remarks and comments from which researchers extracted word pairs. Prices can vary geographically on how much weight certain words may have.But one house feature that stood out was
Real estate community assesses the long road to recoveryKey Takeaways Northern California agents roll up their sleeves and do anything they can to help their community, which may or may not have to do with real estate.It’s been just over a week since thousands of Northern California residents frantically left their homes in the early hours of the morning as fires raged into wine country’s highly populated areas.More than 100,000 people hav
Offices open their doors to the homelessIn times of disaster, real estate offices can turn into second homes for agents and their clients by providing them with a place to rest their head, take a breath and plan for the next step.It happened in hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico and Houston, and last week was no exception during the devastating wildfires that have so far killed at least 40 people and destroyed 5,700 structures in Northern Californi
Roommates are changing the numbersKey Takeaways If you live in one of the uber-expensive coastal cities of California and Washington state, then continuing to rent is often the only option. In Detroit, a median priced starter home costs $16,463 — the lowest median home sales price in the nation. Buying is typically cheaper, but that changes when roommates are thrown into the mix.In today’s market, renters and buyers often find themselves in t
Don't let your epitaph read 'forgettable' this Allhallow's eveAny holiday is a great excuse to engage with clients. With Halloween right around the corner, here are seven clever real estate agent “tricks” that’ll “treat” your clients to something fun!1. Pumpkin patch map Door-knock or send a Halloween mailer to your farm with a map of local pumpkin patches in the neighborhood.Make sure to put your face and contact information on the m
Smart landing pages, a synchronized database and automation generate resultsSpraying your message high and wide does not breed online marketing success; rather, standout results emerge when you pair smart, strategic decisions with the right tools.An integrated marketing strategy ensures your message reaches the right audience at the right moment—the marketing holy grail. It also multiplies your results.With your systems and tools aligned, your
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