Buying & Owning Home

That three-digit number isn't always as stable as you'd like it to be.

Buying a home is most likely the largest purchase you'll make in your lifetime—and one of the most confusing. Why wouldn't you want an expert you know you can count on?

When you finally get your hands on the keys to a new place, there’s lots to do: unpack, decorate, and maybe even renovate. But before you dive into the fun stuff, Redditors say there’s one thing every new homeowner needs to do.

There are no “hacks”, per se, when it comes to reaching a perfect credit score, but there are habits you can start now that will pay off over time.

Remember the joy you experienced going to the candy store growing up, when a couple bucks meant the opportunity to load up on every sweet treat your little heart desired? Well, homeowners can recapture that childlike glee with a trip to their friendly neighborhood dollar store.

Even enthusiastic, well-intentioned upkeep isn't safe from costly mistakes.

While a hands-off home owner's association is the ideal, that's not always what you get.

Freshly-painted walls and new hardwood floors might actually be a bright and fresh disguise for shoddy work and a whole mess of other problems lurking beneath the surface.

Sometimes your washer/dryer dreams are bigger than your new condo's closet.

Could it be ours someday? In Bieber’s own words, “Never Say Never."

When buying a home, you don't really get to decide your must-haves: The market does.

While ranch homes may call to mind cookie-cutter suburban developments, the core of its design is proving to have a timeless appeal to young, working families—even if it's not what they first had in mind.

While you may think your proximity to cauliflower gnocchi and Candy Cane Joe Joe’s is draining your bank account, a new analysis says it may actually be making you money if you own a house.

You have questions about what is probably the biggest purchase of your life, and your real estate team should be on standby with answers. But experts say that over the years, one common question has surprisingly gone by the wayside.

The walls were there for a reason!

While they love being your trusty “phone-a-friend” during your home shopping (or selling) experience—they really, really do—there are some questions that get, shall we say, a little tedious.

While you may think real estate agents are too clever (and qualified!) to make rookie mistakes in the home-buying process, they're prone to the same excitement that can cloud rationality, too.

From complicated cleaning to uncontrollable heat, these architectural wonders may not be all they're cracked up to be.

You may have realized that not everyone who wants to own a home does (especially if they're a Millennial). It's not because they can't afford the monthly mortgage payment, it's because there is a barrier to entry for mortgages in the tune of thousands of dollars, a.k.a. that pesky down payment.

Though I really just want to ignore the weeds and towering grasses surrounding my home, the reality is that I have to do something with my yard.

Though adjustable-rate mortgages have gotten a bad rap post housing crisis, experts say they can actually make financial sense in certain situations.

We went through all the credit score-focused articles we've published in the past year and rounded up the best tips experts have shared with us. Here, the best of the best credit score tips and tricks.

It seems quite absurd now that this sealed the deal for us, and lead us to close on the biggest single purchase of our lives.

I've corralled eight of the most Googled questions about tiny homes and spoke with real owners, builders, and dwellers for real answers. Here, they clear up some of the uncertainty.

Although having a pool in your own backyard provides plenty of perks, it also comes with a slew of (expensive) pitfalls—some of which you might not realize until it’s too late.

After a year of researching, we felt prepared to purge our stuff and find a tiny house for our family, but there was a lot that we had to get used to that we didn't expect.

To me, the math was clear: The longer I paid mortgage payments, the more that house was going to cost.

Finance is boring, but our Real Estate Editor, Liz, sure isn't! In our new series called Liz$plaining, Liz will guide you through all your toughest financial questions.

You could see Mom's tree from every rear-facing window in the house, and just as it was the centerpiece of our home, it became the focal point of our family life.

You may not have a green thumb, but that’s no reason to let your yard become an eyesore. Not only will maintaining your lot keep your neighbors happy, landscaping can actually also help boost your home's value.

But what separates the "meh" kitchens from the ones you'll actually enjoy cooking dinner in? I tapped real estate experts for their advice.

Real estate experts say these five purchases are the ones first-time homebuyers often regret after move-in day.

Buying a home is stressful. Here's how to make the process a little easier.

Aside from “washer and dryer included,” what else should homebuyers keep in mind when it comes to this functional space? Here's what experts say.

Professional home inspectors see what goes wrong in maintaining a home. Here, the half-dozen tasks and missteps they say homeowners often make when it comes to home maintenance 101.

Though I was able to find the perfect home for our whole family—pets included, I've heard many stories from those who were less fortunate.

Potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars and years off your mortgage with these smart payment tricks.

These three features separate a so-so home office from one that inspires your best work.

Even if you're not putting your home on the market any time soon, you might want to invest in a bit of landscaping to up your curb appeal.

Trying to find your first home is very exciting. But somewhere between the online research and countless showings, house hunting loses its luster. The whole thing just overwhelms. In this mix of ever-changing emotions, it’s easy to make mistakes. And while you can expect to make a few blunders the first time you do anything new, the stakes are a bit higher when buying a home. A few slip-ups can end up costing thousands of dollars—and possibly your dream home.

Real estate agents spend countless hours in living rooms of every color. They're unexpected experts in knowing which shades will work well and which ones you should avoid at all costs.

A decade ago, real estate agents struggled to get clients to look beyond burnt orange shag carpet or avocado green tiles. Now, agents say buyers excitedly search for homes they can renovate.

Audiences loved “Tiny House Nation”, the reality show that premiered in 2014 and, for the past five seasons, has invited viewers to get a bird’s eye view of micro-living by showing audiences what it’s really like to live in a space no larger than 500 square feet. So, is the show giving viewers an accurate portrayal of what it’s really like to live small?

Unlike your kitchen cabinets and front door, your bedroom’s paint color has no sway on your home’s selling price, according to Zillow’s 2018 Paint Color Analysis. But that doesn’t mean you should go ahead and order that neon yellow paint. It’s likely you’re looking to style your space to promote some R&R. And, fact is, there are certain paint colors that do that better than others.

It left me surprised and dismayed.

To the uninitiated, the home-buying process may feel like a never-ending cycle of hoops to jump through. But those hoops are there for a reason—there’s a lot of money at stake and so many moving parts between buyer, seller, and lender. The more firewalls prior to closing, the less likely someone’s getting stuck with a bad deal. One of these tedious, but necessary final steps is the home appraisal.

For the past 20 years or so, granite has reigned supreme as the most popular choice for countertop materials in homes. But, in recent years, a new competitor has emerged: quartz. But, putting trends and popularity aside, which countertops actually do the best job, year in and year out? To find out, we talked to two home builders about the best countertop materials in terms of durability, maintenance, and aesthetics.

You’ve survived months (and maybe even years) of scrolling through house-hunting apps and hitting up open houses every weekend. You’ve held your breath through the bidding wars and those scary weeks before closing, and now the deal is finally done. You’re a homeowner—WOOHOO! But before you stick your keys in the door and celebrate, there are a few things to keep in mind.

The countdown to buying your first home is innately defined by one thing: the balance in your savings account. Unlike car loans and the too-expensive shoes you put on your charge card, you can’t exactly buy a home with zero money down, so most people who have their sights set on homeownership begin by saving for a (sizeable) down payment.

We shop around for furniture, cars, even food bargains. So why is it that when it comes to saving on a mortgage, many people don’t bother to look around for the best deal? Of course, it’s not everyone that’s ignoring the possibility of shopping around. A new study conducted by LendingTree found that it’s actually first-time homebuyers who are more likely to shop around for better mortgage loan terms, versus repeat buyers.

San Francisco is a dream city for many, but it comes at a cost—it’s the most expensive city in America. But, if you had an unlimited budget and the daydreams to make it happen, you might consider moving into one of the most expensive homes you could find. To help you picture it, we combed through listings to find the highest priced homes for sale right now in San Francisco.

It’s an old real estate trope, but it seems to be true: Paint color can heavily sway a prospective buyer’s opinion of a home. While a seller might think throwing a fresh coat of paint on the walls will boost the value of their property, in reality, doing so might actually leave a bad impression on buyers; depending on their individual tastes and styles.

When you purchase a home, it’s smart to invest in homeowners insurance. In fact, you probably don’t have a choice: Your mortgage lender will more often than not mandate it. As a first-time buyer, you might wonder exactly what is and what isn’t covered by your new homeowners insurance policy. It turns out, your standard homeowners insurance isn’t exactly a one-stop shop that covers every and any disaster. Sure, it covers a lot of them, but not all.

Since 1997, HGTV has made viewers’ lives by giving away their annual Dream Home—a picturesque retreat most people can only dream of owning. And this year’s grand prize was no exception: A 3,500-square-foot home on the waterfront in Gig Harbor, Washington, the four-bed, three-bath beauty came with a Honda Accord and $250,000 from Quicken Loans.

While some folks just cannot get enough of all things Fixer Upper and Chip and Joanna Gaines, others are cooling on the couple and their Magnolia empire in Waco, Texas — including, it would appear, local home buyers. A few years ago, after Fixer Upper was well into its third season, each real estate listing for a home featured and fixed up on the show could command a bidding war, but now the same or similar inventory sits on the market, even seeing reductions in price.

While you may love your barn red kitchen, a new report released today by Zillow finds that it could cost you when looking to sell your home someday. The report found that painting your front door, kitchen, or bathroom with certain color palettes can drastically depreciate your home value by more than $2,000.

My daily use of real estate apps started off as a justifiable act: my husband, Kumar, and I we were in the market for a house after receiving the news that he’d matched for a gastroenterology fellowship in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the time, we were living in New York City, paying budget-breaking rent for a tiny apartment. Thus, we figured—why not put our money into a small starter home when we move? We wanted a yard for our two little dogs to run around in.

It’s not all puppies and kittens, folks. These days, there’s an Instagram account (and #influencer) for pretty much everything. And that includes real estate. (The word “real estate” alone garners over 15 million hits when entered in the social media app’s search engine). Whether you’re buying, selling, or just like to look, here are a few accounts you might like to add to your feed.

After years of renting in San Francisco and Oakland, we bought a home in Walnut Creek (a small city in the Bay Area) for $545,000 in 2010—when the market was relatively slow. The house was the smallest model in a 1960s neighborhood at 1,445 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. But it sat on a spacious 9,375-square-foot lot. It was a dream cosmetic fixer. Over seven years, we made it our own.

Beloved family sitcom “Full House” ended back in 1995, but thanks to reruns and a spinoff that debuted on Netflix in 2016, fans continue to be enamored with the Tanner family. Almost as iconic as the show’s characters is the beautiful San Francisco home they lived in.

We called on a real estate expert to help us break it down.

Real Talk: The chances that you could commit mortgage fraud unknowingly are minimal. The industry has become much more highly regulated in recent years to prevent issues like this. “If you’re working with a reputable lender or a bank and you’re a fairly savvy consumer, it’s probably not something you’ll come across,” say Ed Deveau, a realtor with Century 21 Mario Real Estate in Boston.

These are super useful, real estate agent-approved reasons all happy homeowners should spend time at open houses in their neighborhoods.

"You only have one credit score." True or false?

While stuck in the middle may not sound too appealing, it's exactly where you want to be when it comes to real estate.

Carpentry is at the heart of the entire structure of your home, yet chances are, you don’t know much about it.

What, exactly, separates a so-so space from one you'll want to spend every extra minute in?

Trying to save money on these home goods are likely to cost you more over time.

​Few experts know the ins and outs of a home's lifespan better than real estate agents.

It’s one thing to have buyer’s remorse when it comes to an over-size sectional that doesn’t exactly fit in your living room. But what’s the best way to handle buyer’s remorse over the purchase of your home—perhaps the biggest purchase of your life so far—which you are now seriously regretting? First of all, keep in mind that buyer’s remorse may be a mask for something deeper.

Every year, you’re entitled to a free credit report. You can consider it a financial wellness exam of sorts as the comprehensive report details your credit activity, getting into the nitty-gritty details of on-time payments and credit limits. But, this all-encompassing report won’t just automatically arrive in your mailbox. You’ve got to ask for it. Here’s what you need to know about requesting your Annual Credit Report, and what it all includes.

If you’re under 30, buying a home might sound like a far-fetched dream: Fewer people between ages 25 to 34 are buying homes now compared to older generations at that age, according to a July 2018 report from the Urban Institute.