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Magnetic paint will not magically make your wall as sticky as your refrigerator door, but it can create a cool design effect throughout your home if you use it right. It might sound as easy as slapping on some paint and instantly having a magnetic surface, but proceed with caution.

Creating a magnetic surface that will successfully hold up papers requires some know-how, a lot of paint, and the right magnets.

Ready to transform a corner of your home into a nail-free, magnetic gallery wall? Here’s what you need to know.

The science of magnetic paint

Before you go out and buy a quart or two, you should have some understanding of how the paint actually works.

Dan McDonald

Dan and Marissa McDonald were in their mid-20s, paying $2,000 a month for an old, outdated apartment in Boston when they started thinking about buying their first home.

“I was sick of paying such high rent,” Dan recalls. “I wanted to really jump into actually having an asset to my name beyond my 401(k).”

While many couples in their shoes might have begun searching for a single-family home, Dan was intrigued by a trend called “house hacking,” which involves renting out rooms or parts of a house to help cover the cost of a monthly mortgage, and perhaps even make a profit.

“I have always been interested in real estate investing, but I didn’t really ever think it was possible, being young and not having a lot of money to put down,” Dan admits. But through house hacking, he had learned that buying more space—and renting it out—could end up costing less than simply buying their own place.

ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, but it's not perfect (yet). Before you use it, understand how it works, the wide variety of serious pitfalls and the potential risk to your business if you fail to fact-check the responses it provides. 

Mark Wahlberg and his wife, Rhea Durham, initially listed the 30,500-square-foot property for $87.5 million in April 2022 but dropped the ask by $8 million after it sat on the market for several months.

Buying Realtor.com was viewed as a potential way for CoStar to take on Zillow. But CoStar CEO Andy Florance said Tuesday that his company would instead focus on its Homes.com business.

Photo-Illustration by Realtor.com; Photos: Getty Images (3)

Price is one of the most critical factors in buying a home. But there’s something else you need to consider when budgeting for a new house: property taxes.

When scrolling listings for your dream home, you’ll typically see property tax estimates listed. But that doesn’t mean the current tax will be your effective tax rate as the new property owner.

Instead, when a home changes owners, the property taxes sometimes will be higher than what the current owner pays.

This could have some bearing on whether you can afford a certain home. For instance, when you’re qualifying for a home loan, you have to show you can handle paying the property taxes and the principal and interest of your mortgage.

Now is the time to take constructive action that can impact the trajectory of your whole year. Do these three things to successfully set the tone for this year’s unique market conditions. 

The company's revenue jumped 13 percent year over year between October and December. CEO Andy Florance also promised Tuesday to continue CoStar's push into residential real estate.

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The rent isn’t just too damn high—the apartment that you’re renting may well be getting too damn small, too.

In 2022, the average size of new apartments was 887 square feet, a drop of 54 square feet over the past 10 years as developers increasingly focused on putting up more studios and one-bedroom apartments. That’s according to a new report from RentCafe, which shows how the surging demand for rentals continues to play out across the nation.

Despite people clamoring for more square footage during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 had the biggest year-over-year decline in new apartment sizes—down 30 square feet, or 3.2%, from 2021.

“This goes to show just how different the 2022 rental market was compared to previous years,” says RentCafe writer Adina Dragos. It also demonstrates how the pandemic-era need for “more space” has given way to a need for “more apartments,” she adds.

After nearly five years away from Keller Williams, Florida-based indie brokerage Laurie Finkelstein Reader Real Estate has rejoined the Texas franchisor. Finkelstein Reader initially joined Keller Williams in 2011 as the leader of the Laurie Finkelstein Reader Real Estate Team. Her team served buyers and sellers in Broward County, Florida.

Realtor.com

Paging Rapunzel: If you’re looking for a waterfront property in Newport, RI, where you could perhaps let down your hair, this fanciful penthouse (with its own turret!) could be for you.

It’s currently listed for $1,450,000.

While you won’t own every bit of the Gilded Age stone castle, known as Beechbound, you will be the proud owner of luxurious apartment No. 6. The space offers a private roof deck and a castle-style turret right out of a fairy tale. Get up there, and gaze upon breathtaking Newport Harbor.

This two-bedroom, two-bath condo is one of seven in the old manor house. The dwelling is situated on a 3.8-acre, waterfront lot.

The federal voucher program has fallen far short of its goals, according to strategy expert David Piscatelli. By making minor adjustments to federal policy, an entirely new generation of children can enhance their chance to achieve better health and greater economic mobility. 

The Chicago-based team has exceeded $50 million in sales volume since 2021 while still at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Compass told Inman exclusively.

The state's population exodus was second only to New York, which lost 15,000 more people. The sky-high cost of housing was the residents' primary reason for departure.

Whether you’re looking for inspiration to get out there and conquer your day or looking to improve your real estate content on TikTok, here are some of the best real estate-related follows on the platform.

HGTV

Erin and Ben Napier, the hosts of “Home Town,” have noticed one big problem with home renovations today: They often strip an old home of its character.

In the Season 7 episode “A Drop of Sunshine,” the Napiers help California couple Tony and Jennifer create their dream home in Laurel, MS. The couple have fallen in love with a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home listed for $140,000. But they can tell, immediately, that this 1955 house was recently flipped since it possesses very little of the structure’s original charm.

“When a house gets flipped, it’s like they go out of their way to disguise any tiny variation that would make it have character of any kind,” Erin laments.

Armed with a budget of $100,000, the Napiers work hard to add charming touches back to the architecture and fill the space with finishes that seem like they could be original to the home. Read on to learn how to spot a cheap flip—and fix it up.

Even though the extreme seller's market is in the rearview mirror, disgruntled clients have been filing more lawsuits against their agents, according to an analysis by Victor Insurance Managers.

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The numbers: U.S. existing-home sales fell 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million in January, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

This is the 12th straight monthly decline in existing-home sales. The 12-month losing streak is the longest since NAR began tracking sales in 1999.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal were expecting existing-home sales to drop to 4.2 million.

The level of sales activity was lowest since October 2010.

Total existing-home sales slid 0.7 percent between December and January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million, according to new data released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors.