Getty Images

The once-hot housing market has been humbled in recent months. Higher mortgage rates, raging inflation, and widespread recession fears have brought the market to a standstill. Now a wave of mass layoffs at the country’s largest and highest-profile tech companies could hobble it even further.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, laid off about 11,000 workers. Amazon has plans to let go of about 10,000 employees. And there’s been an ongoing bloodbath at Twitter since Elon Musk became the “Chief Twit.” These are the kinds of companies that grab big headlines and often influence the direction of smaller organizations. They also play an outsized role in the nation’s psyche.

Most homebuyers want to ensure their jobs are secure before making what is often the largest purchase of their lives, one that many will spend the next 30 years paying off. Higher mortgage rates have sidelined scores of potential homebuyers, while concern over the economy has caused many others to hold off on purchasing homes.

Nearly 137,000 workers were let go from about 850 tech companies and startups this year, according to tracking website layoffs.fyi.

Rents don’t historically fall during recessions, even as home prices do. Investors should keep the following in mind moving forward.

There was no time to tour the run-down cabin before buying it. But that didn’t matter: All they could see were the majestic trees surrounding it.

According to expert Drew Meyers, everyone's talking about proptech without even a whiff of the defining company in the category in the conversation. In fact, the largest proptech company is rarely mentioned.

Not sure how to make a decision or guide your clients to one? Author and trainer Bernice Ross provides a simple formula that leads to clarity and confidence for you and your clients.

Expert Gerard Splendore takes us back in time to when pastels and metals dominated the design world for kitchens and baths in the 1950s. This amazing time in design changes is still very popular today with those who love vintage fixtures

The proof is in the numbers as financial expert and self-proclaimed "cocktail" economist Peter Prudden dives into the unknown to try to determine what current market conditions may mean for the correction ahead.

Converting leads into clients isn’t easy, but knowing various types of clients and how to market to them will help. Chris Heller offers step-by-step strategies for capturing and converting the leads you need now.

pawel.gaul/iStock

The annual percentage rate, or APR, is how much you’ll pay in interest and other fees when borrowing money (e.g., when you get a mortgage loan or a credit card). APR can also be considered the total cost for borrowing money over a one-year period.

The “and other fees” clause is key here. When home buyers get a loan, they often obsess over the annual rate alone—say, that 5% extra you’ll pay every year for the life of your $300,000 loan. But that’s not where your expenses end, and that’s where APR comes into play.

“The APR includes the interest rate and other charges, which is why it’s usually higher than just your interest rate,” says Michele Lerner, author of “Home Buying: Tough Times, First Time, Any Time.”

What to know about APR, and which fees are included?

People tend to think of annual percentage rate as the “true” amount they pay, because it includes all of the major upfront fees associated with the loan (e.g., closing costs, points, origination fees, and private mortgage insurance). It’s also known as the effective APR.

The former president and CEO died of natural causes on Nov. 27, according to a company announcement. The company will continue to support Burleson's philanthropic efforts.

designer491/Shutterstock

What is a pre-qualification letter? A mortgage lender will give you this official document once you decide you might want to borrow money from the lender. But how much will that letter actually boost your chances of successfully making an offer on a house? Experts say it offers very little help.

“I tell most people they can take that pre-qualification letter and throw it in the trash,” says Patty Arvielo, a mortgage banker and president and founder of New American Funding, in Tustin, CA. “It doesn’t mean all that much.”

Of course, this letter does serve some purpose for home buyers, otherwise it wouldn’t exist, right? So is it worth pursuing pre-qualification before bidding on a house? Read on.

What to know about a pre-qualification letter

Of the two kinds of letters buyers typically obtain before they start house hunting—pre-qualification and pre-approval—the pre-qualification letter is the lesser of the two when it comes to buying power, says Denise Shur, a Realtor with 1:1 Realty in San Jose, CA.

Realtor.com

A mansion known as the “Glass House,” in Boulder, CO, delivers crystal-clear Rocky Mountain views.

Built in 2008, the four-level masterpiece has hit the market for a whopping $12,995,000.

“The No. 1 feature of this home is the setting—sitting on a hill overlooking Boulder, offering incredible views to the west and to the east,” says Hunter Jorgensen of Compass, who is co-listing the property with The Patrick Brown Group.

And next on the long list of selling points? That would be the property’s luxe materials and impeccable construction.

Brent Dobsch joins the Chicago-based real estate brokerage as chief financial officer, Dana Bina was promoted to chief technology officer and Branden Lopez joins the firm as director of legal.

Fotoamator/iStock

Can you show your home with an offer on the table? Sure, you’ve found a (nearly) perfect buyer. You’ve accepted the offer, which means you’re in wedded bliss and off the market, so to speak, right? Not so fast! Just as a romantic relationship can go sour, so can your real estate transaction. No matter how perfectly matched your buyers are to your property, issues can arise that are out of your control, and sometimes the buyers’ too.

That’s why it’s in your best interest to let your real estate agent play the field and allow your home to be shown, even if you’ve accepted an offer.

Can you show your home with an offer on the table

“Until all contingencies on a contract are removed, anything can happen,” explains Jane Peters, broker and owner of Home Jane Realty in Los Angeles. “Each side has to meet certain contractual obligations, and if one side doesn’t, then the other side can initiate a cancellation of the contract,” she says.

Such contractual obligations can include both sides not agreeing on a request for repairs after an inspection, says Peters. Other times, the buyer believes there’s too much to deal with and decides not to go forward. It’s also possible that your buyer can’t get the loan approved. And if your home doesn’t appraise at the contracted price and you decide not to lower it or grant the buyer concessions, then the buyer can walk, too.

Getty Images

With mortgage interest rates near 7% and home prices hovering at a national median of $425,000, many homebuyers might be wondering how they’ll be able to pay for a property, and searching for ways to reduce costs.

While there are a variety of mortgages aimed at helping homebuyers afford a home—such as FHA loans and VA loans—one type that’s often overlooked are USDA loans, which offer excellent terms to those who qualify, including a 0% down payment and low interest rates.

Here’s everything you need to know about USDA loans, and whether they’re right for you.

What is a USDA loan?

A USDA loan is a mortgage that is either issued or guaranteed by the United States Department of Agriculture. Also known as Section 502 or 504 loans, these programs are specifically reserved for people with low or moderate incomes looking to buy in designated rural parts of the country.

SasinParaksa/iStock

To celebrate our first night in our new home, we ordered a feast of Chinese food. The next morning, to our horror, we found a huge stain on our kitchen’s marble counter where the moo goo gai pan had seeped out of its cardboard container into the stone. We went into a frenzy to try to find out how to remove stains from marble.

I know I’m not alone here. Even though marble counters and floors look like they can withstand whatever a cook can throw at them, these surfaces in fact are extremely porous and can soak up liquids. If it’s just water, it usually dries without a problem. But if you leave wine or grease spills on marble, you’ll have to deal with a stain.

The good news is that whatever goes in can come out, says Mark Meriaux, accreditation and technical manager of MIA + BSI: The Natural Stone Institute, based in Oberlin, OH. “But sometimes it takes a long time.”

How to prevent stains on marble

The best cure is prevention, of course: Always seal marble when it’s installed.

Revive won the 2022 Pitch Battle sponsored by the National Association of Realtors, claiming a $15,000 prize from Second Century Ventures, NAR's technology focused, for-profit investment subsidiary.

Getty Images (4)

Are you looking to live where your neighbors will mow your lawn when you’re away on vacation, donate diapers to a young family that’s just moved in, or buy school supplies for children whose parents can’t afford them?

Then you might want to start looking for homes in Georgia, according to a recent kindness survey led by kindness.org and commissioned by Nextdoor and Verizon.

The second annual survey interviewed 10,000 people across all 50 states to measure which acts of kindness people would do for their neighbors and ranked each state according to a “Kindness Quotient.”

Eight of the 10 kindest states in America are located in the South, known for its friendliness and sense of community. And all but one have a median home list price less than the national average of $427,250 in September. (Utah was the only exception.) Conversely, states such as New York, Hawaii, California, and Florida, where median home prices are among the highest in the U.S., didn’t even crack the top 25 for kindness.

designer491/iStock

FHA loans, which are insured by the Federal Housing Administration, help home buyers secure financing to buy a home despite their low income, lack of savings, or poor credit scores—the kind of things that often prevent people from getting a conventional loan.

“FHA loans are a great option for a lot of home buyers, particularly if they’re buying their first home,” says Todd Sheinin, mortgage lender and chief operating officer at New America Financial in Gaithersburg, MD. And while not all lenders offer FHA loans, many do, because their government backing guarantees that lenders won’t lose their money if the buyer defaults. So it’s win-win all round!

Yet although FHA loans have looser qualification requirements than traditional mortgages, that doesn’t mean they have none at all. While the exact rules and thresholds will vary a bit by lender, here’s a ballpark guide to what you can expect you’ll need to qualify.

1. A minimum down payment of 3.5%

With conventional loans, it’s generally recommended that you make a 20% down payment, which would amount to a whopping $50,000 on a $250,000 home. FHA loans lower the bar to a far more realistic level, requiring as little as 3.5%. So, on a $250,000 house, you would only need to plunk down $8,750 to qualify for an FHA loan.

Realtor.com

As a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright, Wisconsin architect Russell Barr Williamson designed many homes on Milwaukee’s North Shore—including this midcentury modern ranch house on the market in Fox Point.

Fittingly, this house was designed to showcase panoramic Lake Michigan views.

The 5,454-square-foot home was built in 1959. It has five bedrooms and 4.5 baths and is listed with Lauren Siegel of First Weber Real Estate for $1,995,000—down from the original asking price of $2,150,000 in September.

At the start of his career, Barr Williamson was Wright’s chief draftsman from 1915 until 1917. After that, Barr Williamson established his own firm.