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Finding a place to rent in today’s tough market can sometimes feel like a full-time job between all the potential homes to view and all those applications you have to fill out—for each and every place.

Let’s face it: Competition is fierce for a great rental. So sometimes you have to fill out a ton of applications to land a new home.

And depending on the location, most renters pay anywhere from $25 to $75 per application. If you’re applying for more than one apartment and tallying up all those application fees required to apply for a rental? That’s when you start wishing house hunting was a full-time job—with full-time pay.

While application fees are intended to help landlords screen potential tenants, sometimes it can feel like the fees are in place to help them make money.

The company refreshes its brand identity for the main franchise and luxury brands ahead of its 10th anniversary. The new look will roll out through a phased approach starting this week, the company said.

Showings were way down year over year but only dipped a little bit month over month, according to a new report from ShowingTime. They remain up compared to pre-pandemic levels.

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An expanded Colonial Revival saltbox in the village of Chestnut Hill, MA, is the oldest property to hit the market this week on Realtor.com®.

Said to be the oldest house in the area, according to Wicked Local, the Lt. Thomas Hammond House has undergone a complete modernization. During the process, the owners took great care to preserve the property’s many historic details.

Other antique homes to hit the market this week include a multifamily Georgian spread in West Virginia, a Connecticut retreat coming soon, and a stone home in New Jersey.

Scroll down for a full look at this week’s 10 oldest homes.

Clear Capital CEO Duane Andrews issued a statement on Wednesday saying the software company "must now face a market that will represent the greatest challenge yet."

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On “Fixer to Fabulous,” Dave and Jenny Marrs have renovated some magnificent homes, but on the latest episode, they must work their magic on an extremely small house.

In the episode “Cottage Gets a Modern Upgrade,” the Marrses meet Nick and Johanna, who have just purchased a 1940s cottage within walking distance of downtown Bentonville, AR, for $385,000. Although this cottage is only 696 square feet, they want this cramped space to accommodate three bedrooms, two baths, four family members, and two large dogs—all without expanding the original footprint of the house!

They’ve budgeted $225,000 for the renovation, so Dave and Jenny have a lot of money to work with—but not a lot of wiggle room, so to speak. Nonetheless, they come up with some brilliant ways to squeeze in all the essentials, and they also might show you a thing or two about maximizing space in your own home. Here’s what Dave and Jenny taught us this week.

Before you do anything, check for lead

Measuring the amount of lead in paint

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Private placement with existing investors including CEO Brian Bair extends the company's cash burn runway by six months to a year, KBW analysts say.

With a clear roadmap laid out for your marketing, reaching your destination in 2023 is only a matter of time and effort.  

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The numbers: The housing market is not out of the woods yet, as mortgage demand fell again despite an improvement in rates.

Despite mortgage rates dropping for the fourth consecutive week, mortgage demand fell 9% in the latest week.

Demand for both purchases and refinancing fell. That pushed the market composite index down, a measure of mortgage application volume, the Mortgage Bankers Association, or MBA, said on Wednesday.

The market index fell by 9% to 232.4 for the week ending Jan. 27, from a week earlier. A year ago, the index stood at 617.8.

Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman acknowledged on Wednesday that, "Not all the people who go into real estate are William Shakespeare" during a wide-ranging discussion on the rise of AI and ChatGPT.

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What is Fannie Mae? What is Freddie Mac? These government-sponsored enterprises are responsible for helping thousands of people get a home mortgage.

Whether you’re shopping for a mortgage or just occasionally skim financial news headlines, you’ve probably heard of Fannie Mae.

But what is Fannie Mae, anyway? And for that matter, what about her buddy Freddie Mac?

While they may sound like names you’d encounter on a sitcom, they aren’t real people. Rather, they’re oddly cute nicknames for major forces in the mortgage market.

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National Football League coach Frank Reich is moving south—and shedding his Midwest home in the process.

After a less-than-stellar record, Reich was let go as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in November, and he promptly listed his local home for $1.9 million.

Unfortunately, he had to settle for much, much less—$687,500 for the five-bedroom, six-bath property. He purchased the place in 2018 for $1,250,000, so the sale leaves him with a huge loss.

And yet, there’s a silver lining: Reich was just tapped by the Carolina Panthers to be their new head coach, which means he’ll no doubt be house hunting in the Charlotte, NC, area.

The new location builds on Christie's existing Caribbean network, which has a presence in The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, St. Barthelemy and Turks & Caicos.

Recommendation engines, transaction automation and rapidly evolving chatbots have already transformed how agents, buyer and sellers tackle the housing market, Inman founder Brad Inman writes.

The market went south, but consumers' appetite for power buying didn't, according to a new report from real estate marketplace zavvie.

Economic downturns have historically shrunk the number of practicing Realtors. But those who stick around can end up doing even more deals, economists told Inman Intel.

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The nation might be in the clutches of a dire housing shortage, but builders won’t be putting up enough new homes this year to make much of a dent.

Housing starts, which is when construction has begun but not yet completed, are expected to fall to about 744,000 single-family homes in 2023 as builders continue to pull back, according to the National Association of Home Builders forecast. That’s down about 12% from last year.

However, NAHB expects new construction will rebound in the second half of the year, giving a boost to the overall economy.

“Typically, single-family construction tends to recover before the economy rebounds,” says NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “By the time we get to the second part of the year, we should see brighter economic conditions.”

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Sellers know that staging their home is a vital step to take when preparing to put their property on the market. But not all sellers give proper due to the kitchen during this critical process. Staging your kitchen is an easy way to appeal to homebuyers without having to knock down walls or spend a lot of money on pricey renovations.

The goal is to pull off staging that enables potential buyers to envision themselves cooking, dining, and entertaining in the home. So if you’re planning to stage your place without the help of a professional stager, put your best foot forward and avoid the following rookie mistakes.

1. Leaving clutter on the countertops

Any clutter left on the counter—like a dish drying rack, mail, and personal odds and ends—will sully the appearance of your kitchen.

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Potential buyers want to see the full expanse of your kitchen counters.

Photo-Illustration by Realtor.com; Photos: Getty Images (2)

Homebuyers and investors looking for the next top real estate markets should head West—to the Midwest that is.

Seven of the top 10 up-and-coming housing markets in the country are smaller cities with strong economies and more affordable homes for sale in the center of the country, according to the quarterly Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com® Emerging Housing Markets Index. The index is a look at the real estate markets that economists believe will be strong in the months ahead.

“These markets are bargains for real estate relative to other areas in the country,” says Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “Home prices are still high, climbing on a year-over-year basis. Mortgage rates are down from their peaks but still high. Budgets are stretched because of inflation. So buyers are looking for affordability, and they’re finding it overwhelmingly in the Midwest, South, and pockets of the Northeast.”

“These are markets where workers can find jobs if they’re looking,” says Hale.

This Fairfield County city is working to shed its ‘rundown’ image, although progress is happening slowly: “The city’s turning itself around.”