Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips - George Zoumot - iPro Real Estate

Eye-catching twilight photos without the hassle

VHT debuts Virtual Twilight digital editing service for $39 per photoVHT Studios, the nation’s largest real estate photography studio, has added Virtual Twilight to its suite of virtual staging and editing services. With this debut, agents are able to showcase their listings in the very best light possible — literally.As a convenient alternative to traditional twilight photo shoots, the image specialists at VHT take exterior photos shot dur

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You Can Help Assess Hurricane Damage

The Small Business Administration is looking for damage verifiers in the parts of Texas and Florida that were hit by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Damage verifiers are people who use their knowledge of real estate to give the agency their assessment of how much damage a structure sustained in the storm. According to one estimate, almost 150,000 structures were damaged by Harvey. In the Florida Keys alone, at least a quarter of all structures were d

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Is This House Indestructable?

The Crete House, a precast concrete structure designed for the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon competition in Denver this month, is being touted as a home that is impervious to extreme weather, fires, moisture, mold, and insects. The Solar Decathlon, being held Thursday through Oct. 15, is a biennial competition that challenges teams of college students to design and build full-sized solar-powered homes. Thirteen teams from universities

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Top 10 Places to Retire in 2017

Sarasota, Fla., was named the best city in the U.S. to spend your golden years. U.S. News & World Report analyzed the 100 largest metro areas to find the top places for retirees. They factored in housing affordability, tax rates, health care quality, and surveys that gauged happiness of local residents. The following cities landed in the top 10 as best places for retirement in 2017: Sarasota, Fla. Lancaster, Pa. San Antonio Grand Rapids, Mi

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REALTOR® Among Victims of Vegas Massacre

Andrew Gudmunson, a real estate professional with Century 21 Action, REALTORS®, in Minot, N.D., was among the hundreds of people wounded after a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concert goers in Las Vegas on Sunday night. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, leaving 59 people dead and 527 injured, according to news reports.Gudmunson, 30, who was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital with a gunshot wound and underwent emergency sur

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States With Highest, Lowest Property Taxes

New Jersey continues to lead the nation with the highest annual real estate taxes in the country. The state’s residents pay an average of $8,374 a year, which is about $7,000 more than Alabama residents—who pay the lowest property taxes in the country. The findings from the 2016 American Community Survey were detailed on the National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing blog.Northeastern states tend to have the highest property ta

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Scope of Equifax Breach Widens Further

Some 2.5 million more people than originally reported were affected by the recent Equifax data breach, the credit bureau said Monday. The estimate of the number of Americans whose personal information was potentially exposed is now 145.5 million—the largest hack on record. Cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which was hired by Equifax to investigate the hack, found the additional compromised accounts in a forensic review.The information hackers were a

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5 Fall Maintenance Tips

The changing of the season brings several household tasks you should perform to keep your home safe as colder temperatures approach. Realtor.com® recently featured several chores to do for fall and winter preparation. Clean the dryer vents. Excess lint in a dryer can pose a fire risk. “A key indicator of a dryer vent needing to be cleaned is if clothes aren’t drying as fast as they usually do, or if it takes multiple cycles to get them com

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Best and Worst Cities for Car Lovers

Car lovers “want to jump in the car with their family or friends and go on scenic drives—and maybe some open spaces where they can kick up the turbo,” Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, told realtor.com®. “Car lovers will gravitate to those cities that provide a good network of streets and roads. And they want to avoid intense congestion.”Realtor.com® researchers looked at the best and worst urban

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Dying Malls Could Give Birth to New Inventory

As housing shortages persist, developers are eyeing old shopping malls—which often include large parcels of land—for redevelopment into residential projects. In California, which is suffering from severely tight housing inventory, developers are jumping on the trend. A nearly vacant mall in the San Fernando Valley, for example, will soon be turned into a residential neighborhood with 1,400 homes, retail shops, and a concert venue. And a mall

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