Real Estate

If you’ve ever written a monthly check to Sallie Mae, the findings of a new study on student loan debt and millennial homeownership shouldn’t surprise you: College graduates with loan debt have a harder time saving up for a down payment than those who graduate debt-free. That’s according to a study released Thursday by rental website Apartment List.

After the recent birth of their second child, Grace & Frankie star Brooklyn Decker and Tennis Hall of Famer husband Andy Roddick decided to sell their vacation home in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. And it’s cabin fever in the best possible way.

Like many of you, I suspect, I love watching HGTV house hunting shows. It’s fun to guess how a wedding calligrapher and Frisbee golf instructor can possibly buy a $1.5 million house. When my husband and I decided to buy a house, we did not have a $1.5 million budget. But what we did have was a sizeable down payment.

Jane Fonda, workout-lover, environmentalist, star of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie, and all around octogenarian extraordinaire, has bid a fond-a farewell to her Beverly Hills estate. After calling it quits with long-time partner, record producer Richard Perry in 2017, the couple has sold the home they once shared together for $8.535 million — a much smaller sum than the original $12.995 million asking price.

In Los Angeles, a town known for outrageous spec houses and million dollar listings, it might come as a surprise that you can still find treasures from a bygone era. Take this light-filled 1932 home, whose delightful period details and cozy nooks makes it less reality TV and more real life.

Actor Alexander Skarsgård recently brought home a Golden Globe for his portrayal of abusive husband Perry Wright on HBO’s Big Little Lies. Now, Skarsgård is looking for a potential new mantle—and accompanying new home— to place his award on. The actor’s on-screen persona may call a cushy, modern Monterey mansion home, but Skarsgård’s real life tastes are far more urban—he recently checked out a $4.55 million fixer-upper in Brooklyn.

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that moving is stressful, even if you’re a big time celeb like Mandy Moore. The This Is Us star shared a sneak peek into the process of setting up her new place via Instagram. According to PEOPLE, the renovation has been going on for a year, and Thursday was finally the first day of furniture install.

Let’s indulge in a little luxury real estate daydreaming. Imagine you founded Pantone, and with all of your hard-earned money decided to buy an apartment. Would you chose a six bedroom, five and a half bathroom apartment in an exclusive building on the Upper East Side? Of course you would. Well we’re all in luck! Such an apartment not only exists in this bright and beautiful world, it is also for sale. Lawrence Herbert (aka Mr.

In the ever-increasing quest to “live the dream,” one travel blog rated their favorite small cities with fewer than 100,000 residents. And municipal leaders are now keenly listening for the feedback. According to travel blog Alot, these 30 smaller cities and towns rival the “big, crowded cities” for cultural offerings while they also “flow to a slower pace and have a lower cost of living.

A shutdown of the federal government — which will occur if Congress can’t approve at least a temporary funding bill today, an increasingly likely scenario — could throw a monkey wrench into many corners of our economy. And if you’re getting ready to close on a house, look out, because one of those wrenches might be headed your way.

With many major cities facing an affordable housing crisis, alternative modes of living have been on the rise. From tiny houses, to van life, to shipping container homes, we’ve seen a host of stories about the creative spaces folks are outfitting in order to live within their means. And while these alternative spaces work for many, there are drawbacks, usually in the form of permits and impermanence.

Real estate website PropertyShark recently released their annual rankings of the most expensive zip codes in the country for 2017. If you, like me, were alive in the ’90s, you probably assumed that the top spot belongs to 90210. Shockingly enough, Beverly Hills only came in at #5. The top spot is in California, but in Atherton in Silicon Valley—which doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?

Golden Globe and Academy Award winner Halle Berry’s former Mediterranean villa has just hit the market for $3.8 million, according to Architectural Digest. The home boasts an impressive 4,300-square-feet and sits on a third of an acre in the highly desirable Hollywood Hills. This home is all about the #1 rule of real estate: location, location, location.

Like a trendy modern trailer home park, two new developments in the Austin area are hoping to attract about 500 new residents with their “bring it or build it” tiny home community model.

You don’t have to be a helpless damsel in distress to have Rapunzel-esque dreams: this historic, turreted Crown Heights home is available for rent—though it would help to have a royal partner to actually foot the bill. Carved out of the “tower” section of this landmark home nicknamed “The Castle,” the two-bedroom, two-bathroom “penthouse” apartment has all the romantic character and charm one could want from a Brooklyn brownstone.

Swedish siren of the silver screen, Oscar winner, and actual film legend Greta Garbo had one hell of a home. The actor’s former apartment, located in the exclusive Campanile, hit the market in March and recently sold for well above the asking price. Up from the initial asking price of $5.95 million to a whopping $8.5 million, the home went under contract almost as soon as it hit the market, finding the final buyer in December.

It looks like James Bond himself may be Skyfall-ing into Brooklyn. Daniel Craig, the dashing Englishman known for his roles in Bond flicks like Spectre and Casino Royale, is rumored to be the new owner of a $6.75 million home in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood along his wife, the equally-as-stunning Rachel Weisz. Naturally, the brownstone, which was built in 1901, previously belonged to another famous Brit: author Martin Amis.

Frank Lloyd Wright fanatics everywhere are undoubtedly hoping a buyer who has an appreciation for the famed architect’s expansive legacy – along with a cool nest egg stashed away – will step in and save one of just three FLW structures in Montana from demolition. As Curbed reports, The Lockridge Medical Center in White Fish, Montana will meet a most unpleasant fate unless someone pays the $1.

If buying your first home is among your New Year’s resolutions for 2018, you might be viewing the current real estate landscape with equal parts hopeful wonder and anxious dread. As a first-time buyer, you can expect plenty of company at open houses and a lot of headwinds in your search. Experts predict 2018 will be another seller’s market, with demand far outpacing the available inventory of homes for sale. But that doesn’t mean you have to sit on the sidelines.

An airy loft with exposed brick and plenty of natural light has to be the ultimate urban real estate fantasy. This Chicago penthouse ticks off all those must-haves and more. Chef’s kitchen? Private roof deck? Incredible master suite? Check, check, check. 2105 West Concord Place, Unit 7 Located in Chicago, Illinois $999,000 3,200 square feet 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms, one half bath Tricked-out kitchens with not one, but two islands are usually the stuff of suburban real estate listings.

If you’re on the market for a home whose interior screams “are you gonna come my way,” then look no further. A spec home with interior design from none other than rock god/scarf legend, Lenny Kravitz, has hit the market in Los Angeles. The $38 million dollar mansion in the Hollywood Hills comes with such rockstar accoutrements as a nightclub, a 70-foot-wide wrap around swimming pool and lots of shag carpeting.

I’ve got bad news for you, writers who were working on their “Great Gatsby but 2018” projects. Truth has eclipsed all possible fiction with this $500 million dollar house about to hit the market. The plans for the house, like the price tag, are equal parts frightful and fantastic—so far from most people’s daily experience as to be some sort of joke.

Adding to the list of celebrity homes we want to live in but have settled for fawning over, actress and comedian Kristen Wiig recently acquired a new piece of real estate in Pasadena. The $2.96 million, 3,425-square-foot home sits on one-third of an acre in the hillside neighborhood of San Rafael, a picturesque post situated above the historic Rose Bowl. Father and son architect duo Kemper Nomland and Kemper Nomland Jr.

Has the hustle and bustle of the holiday season inspired you to get away from it all? Well, we might have found the perfect place—if you’re up for a project. Known as Craigencallie House, the property is situated within Galloway Forest Park, which happens to be Britain’s first Dark Sky park, a designation given to places with extraordinary views of the night sky.

Buying or selling a home is a daunting task and a massive learning experience.

Looks like New Yorker Abbi Jacobson is putting down roots out west. The Broad City co-creator and star scooped up a mid-century pad in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, according to Variety. The 2,032 square foot three bedroom, 2 bathroom house is set up from the street and overlooks downtown LA. The 1950s home features a stone fireplace, vaulted ceilings, and hardwood floors in the living room, though the palm tree framed view from the walls of windows is hard to compete with.

It’s that time of year when we reflect on the last 12 months, look dreamily out the coffee shop window, and think… “To hell with you, 2017! You were the [bleeping] worst. Let’s hope 2018 isn’t such a slimy armpit stain of a year.” Ahem, er… right. It was a tough year for homebuyers, and lots of other people, too. Is there any relief in store? It looks that way.

Las Vegas will be the hottest housing market in America next year, according to Realtor.com — and not just because the average high temperature is 100 degrees or more from June through August. Realtor.com analyzed data on home sales, prices, and new construction, as well as local economic factors, population trends, unemployment, and median incomes to determine its top 10 housing markets for 2018. Not a single metro area in the Northeast, Great Lakes, or Pacific Northwest made the cut.

Brace yourselves, we’ve got some Kardashian real estate news. If the K-word sends a shiver down your spine, might we suggest you not pass Go, close the tab, and find something else to read ASAP (there’s some really pretty fringe to look at over here). But if you fellow reality TV junkies are ready for a (not-so) shocking update, let’s proceed. Kris Jenner just bought the house across the street from her daughter Kim Kardashian West.

True relaxation is kicking back in a hammock—in your own living room. And until landlords come around to understanding the benefits of touting weight-bearing-bolts as an added apartment amenity, the best way to ensure you’re set up for lazing in the bohemian lounge of your dreams is to scoop this charming one up for yourself.

This house is fit for royalty; now that the future duchess is officially across the pond, Meghan Markle’s Toronto rental is on the market for $1.395 million.

A new baby on the way, a cockroach infestation, a creepy roommate: While there are many legitimate reasons to break a lease, it’s often easier said than done. But you’re not entirely out of luck if you’re looking to hightail it out of there in one piece. Here are our tips for escaping with your sanity and your security deposit: When you’re hoping to break a lease, time is of the essence. Be honest and open with your landlord, and explain your situation.

Charmed by Emma Stone’s vintage Spanish-style apartment in La La Land? We were too. And while golden age movie posters and floral wallpaper can go a long way toward bringing the look home, if you’re after some true authenticity, you can actually just buy one of the apartments in her building now. A 2-bedroom condo unit just went up for sale in this gorgeous flamingo pink courtyard-style 20-unit apartment complex in Long Beach.

How many times a day do you stop what you’re doing in order to wonder where in the world Diane Keaton hangs her many hats? What kind of furniture is she sitting on when she sips either the red or white varietals of her wine, The Keaton? Well, thanks to a feature in Wine Spectator, our Diane-design related questions have been answered. A serial house flipper and Pinterest enthusiast, it’s no surprise that her home is a stunner.

How many times have you heard that renters are “just throwing their money away”? Well that’s not true, for a few reasons. First, owning a home is expensive. There’s a mortgage — which, in the early years, is more taxes and interest than actual equity (i.e. the first few years of owning a home is also throwing a lot of money away; I broke down my actual mortgage payment in this post, if you’re interested in reading more about that).

Millennials get a bad rap. We killed chain restaurants, doorbells and, if you take this recent study at face value, we’re killing neighborly love. But not according to me. The team at Safe Home surveyed 1,000 Americans to discover how close we are to the people that live near us.

Update 12/6/17: the house is still on the market. Earlier this month, we reported that an Upper East Side townhouse where Michael Jackson once lived had hit the market for a pop royalty sized price tag of $39 million. If the rumors are true, this pedigreed pad has some new owners—Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman. Australian gossip magazine Woman’s Day reports that a source close to the Tennessee-based A-listers says Keith bought the property because Nicole wants to do theater.

Did you know that most studies of average rents pull their data from apartment listings? That can provide a pretty accurate snapshot of the prices a newcomer can expect to encounter on their apartment search—but it’s not always reflective of real-life rental situations. Asking rents generally skew higher, since there are plenty of listings for brand-new luxury units, but you’re not likely to find a rent-controlled apartment or a word-of-mouth hand-me-down deal listed online.

The new Property Brothers spinoff, Drew’s Honeymoon House, premieres this week on HGTV, and while the network has shared a couple before photos, we just found them all. Take a look at what the brothers are working with. Variety picked up that Drew and fiancée Linda Phan bought this house for $2.3 million in the Windsor Square area of Los Angeles, and as is the Bros’ penchant, it’s a fixer upper.

Reality TV star Kelly Osbourne, daughter of metal icon Ozzy Osbourne and talk show host Sharon Osbourne, is renting out her luxe condo in West Hollywood, California’s famed Sierra Towers building. This isn’t your mama’s Airbnb rental; Osbourne’s unit in this trendy tower means neighbors that include the likes of Courteney Cox and Sandra Bullock, as well as a rent payment of $19,500 per month.

The stars have aligned for those in search of putting down roots tiny house that’s situated in an equally tiny town. As long as you’re cool with having tumbleweeds as your nearest neighbor, this Old West-inspired tiny home located in Pioneertown, California will make for a suitable desert escape. The secluded 150-square-foot home on Saddle Lane is on the market for $120,000, and it’s absolutely charming.

No matter how much they gain in popularity, the majority of Americans still seem to feel that living in a tiny home just would not be enough space. But what about two tiny homes, combined?

Here’s a thriller of a real estate listing—this Upper East Side mansion is the former home of the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. Currently owned by billionaire Marc Lasry, the hedge fund manager bought the E 74th Street property back in 2001 for $11 million, according to the New York Post. Before modern billionaires, though, the manse has served as home for quite the illustrious list of residents.

A 20 percent down payment is the gold standard held up by every real estate resource ever. With less than 20 percent down, you’re on the line to pay PMI — private mortgage insurance — a fee that’s tacked on to your mortgage every month for no other reason than to protect the bank (not you) if you ever default on your loan.

Last month was the fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy’s deadly, destructive rampage through New York and New Jersey, which killed 157 people and left $50 billion in damage in its wake. Unfortunately, New York City is still unprepared for an increasingly likely flood disaster, and it’s among the U.S. cities most at risk from rising sea levels in the coming decades. A new analysis by Zillow found that nearly 2 million U.S.

Eva Longoria definitely isn’t desperate—at least if her new pad is any example. The actor and producer recently dropped a cool $13.5 million on a mansion in Los Angeles’ Beverly Crest area. Beverly Crest is a neighborhood within the western hills of Los Angeles, surrounded by Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, and the Hollywood Hills. The two story, 11,000 square foot contemporary home was built in 1996 and has eight bedrooms and ten bathrooms, reports the LA Times.

There’s a saying that’s always been popular with American homesteaders: “They aren’t making any more land.” While it still holds as modern conventional wisdom, that’s not stopping a handful of innovative city planning pioneers and startup founders around the globe, who are taking their utopian visions of manifest destiny to “the blue frontier” — and using Burning Man as inspiration.

Have you ever daydreamed about moving somewhere totally new and starting over? If you ever decide to make those dreams reality, consider some of the world’s least stressful cities. A recent report by Zipjet ranks the stress level of cities around the globe based on several factors: Individuals feel stressed for different reasons, requiring our study to look at data from a macro level to determine the comprehensive well-being of a city’s population.

Folks, I’m here with some revolutionary news. Eating well and exercising is the best way to get in shape, and the secret to paying off debt is having extra money. But as simple and, yes, obvious as those solutions are, they’re actually really tough to put into practice. So if you’re someone living with debt, and looking for a way to make “extra money” come easier, you may want to consider a move.

When the rent is too damn high, there are a lot of resourceful things people will do and sacrifices they’ll make in order to make ends meet, from a diet of boxed mac n’ cheese for the perfect 2/2, to compromising on location. But would you go an entire year without sex?

While longtime celebrity couple Diane Kruger and Josh Jackson may have parted ways romantically, their friendship and joint their real estate holdings remain as strong as ever — including the West Hollywood contemporary they built together in 2014. The hands-on couple of nearly a decade built the contemporary concrete, wood, and glass home together from the ground up in 2014, paying about $2.9 million for the corner lot property — which recently sold for $5.

Millennials can’t do anything without there being some sort of stigma attached—they’ve been accused of killing everything from chain restaurants to doorbells, and they’re constantly being labeled lazy and wasteful, despite countless studies proving that that’s not necessarily the case.

‘Tis the season to be house hunting. Yep, you heard us right; if you’re looking to score a deal on your dream home, the end of the year is a great time to do it. Now, you may be asking yourself, “Who would want to trek to open houses in 20-degree weather when you could be curled up by the fireplace at home?” And the answer would be: People who really, really want to get a good deal.

If you’re looking to pick up and move in search of adventure, a fresh start, or just a change of perspective, one mayor in Italy wants to literally pay you to move to his village in Puglia. According to a recent interview with CNN Travel, the mayor of the Italian town of Candela, Nicola Gatta, is trying to reverse the reduction in population of his once-thriving Medieval village by paying people a not-insignificant stipend to relocate there.

Tennis legend and new mom Serena Williams may have only recently listed her Bel Air bachelorette pad for sale (Williams is engaged to Reddit and Hipmunk founder Alex Ohanian), but she’s wasting no time on her house hunt. That’s right, in a move seemingly faster than one of her blistering serves on the court, Williams has already scored her new home.

Want to see your home get a full makeover on Fixer Upper? Well, it turns out it’ll cost you a pretty penny. According to TheCheatSheet.com, contestants must be willing to drop a minimum of $30,000 on renovations in order to have the wonders of Waco, Chip and Joanna Gaines, show up on your doorstep ready for a full demolition. All that shiplap is darn expensive, y’all!

Most of us have complicated relationships with the places where we live. Unless you have unlimited amounts of money, there’s probably something about your home that you don’t like. Maybe you don’t like the place where you live much at all, and are stuck there because of circumstances or budget.

You may have heard about guarantors during your apartment hunt, but if you’re not familiar with what they actually do—or how you can still find one if you don’t know anyone personally who can be a guarantor (or even land an apartment you love without one!)—we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about getting a guarantor. A guarantor is someone who signs your lease with you to guarantee payment in case you can’t pay for some reason.

Honestly, the closest we want to come to living in a real-life scary house is having a haunted mansion-inspired bathroom. For that reason, we’ll gladly leave this supposedly spooked out Staten Island manse listing to a less skittish bidder. Just in time for Halloween, this nightmare-inducing abode known as the Kreischer Mansion is up for sale for $2 million, plus $1,233 in monthly taxes (additional costs include: nerves of steel and an affinity for ghosts who may or may not be friendly).

If you hope to own a home some day, you may be under the impression that you need to save up for a 20 percent down payment—but the truth is, that’s just a myth. According to data from Better, an online mortgage platform, only 17 percent of homebuyers actually put between 15 and 25 percent down — and more than a quarter (27 percent) of them put down between 5 and 10 percent.

Just in time to give you the heebie-jeebies before Halloween, a recent survey from Insight Pest Solutions found some… well, surprising information about how far people will go for free rent. Apparently, nearly a third of respondents said that they would be willing to live in a house full of spiders in exchange for a year of free rent or mortgage payments.

Creating a comfortable residence when you have limited space requires sacrifice, ingenuity – and in the case of this train caboose tiny home known as “Side Trak”– an engine to haul it to your desired living location, along with a railroad track that can support its weighty frame. Currently on the market for $51,500, this uniquely converted home is not as spacious or pricey as this $2.

Serena Williams is having the best year ever: after winning both singles and doubles at Wimbledon in 2016, the tennis star announced that she and soon-to-be husband — Reddit and Hipmunk founder Alexis Ohanian — were about to welcome their first child together. And now that baby is here, Williams’ bachelorette pad in Bel Air’s “poshly rustic” Stone Canyon is on the market for $11.995 million.

This old house on the Upper West Side has been restored to some of its original glory, thanks to OG home renovation show host Bob Vila and his son Chris — who are now selling one of the brownstone’s five condos for $2.5 million. Built in 1909 by John C. Umberfield and designed by architect George Walgrove, the historic townhouse at 21 West 75th Street inspired many episodes of the This Old House show.

Tucked into the San Gabriel Valley about 22 miles from Los Angeles, this seemingly castle-like mansion has some quirky and eccentric secrets in store for a buyer with enough whim and the wealth to appreciate them. Dubbed “Castle in the Sky” by its builder, the mansion (sitting atop four-plus acres) is a “private Disneyland to entertain family and friends” — complete with a pirate-themed splash pad that was featured on HGTV’s Extreme Pools in 2014.

You know the saying, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is”? Well, that definitely applies to apartment hunting. If you see a listing for a beautiful, spacious apartment that’s well below the median rent for the neighborhood it’s in, for example, there’s gotta be a catch. Like, you know, it might not even exist (!).

If you’ve ever wanted to peek inside the home of Katie Couric, today’s the day. The news anchor’s Upper East Side home is on the market for $8.25 million. The sale comes after Couric and husband, financier John Molner, bought a full floor, five bedroom place about 20 blocks south for north of $12 million, according to 6sqft.

Buying a home can be crazy expensive, and for most first-time buyers, the hardest part is saving up a sizable down payment. You’ve no doubt heard that the traditional down payment should be 20% of the purchase price — any less, and you’ll likely have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) or get stuck with a higher long-term interest rate. And who’s got 20% of, say, $300,000 just kicking around in their bank account? However, that 20% figure isn’t set in stone.

In some expensive cities, it can feel like every dollar you earn goes straight toward housing. It turns out, it may not be your imagination. A new data visualization by HowMuch.net shows how many hours the average household in 98 U.S. cities would need to work each month just to afford the median mortgage payment in their city.

Jeff Lebowski’s feelings on the band notwithstanding, The Eagles were beloved to many and inducted in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame for a reason. Now, one lucky buyer can scoop up his or her own Hotel California: Eagles founder Glenn Frey’s widow just put their Brentwood Park mansion on the market for $15 million.

If the real estate gossip is to be believed, abbreviated power couple J-Rod is closing in on their new pad. The superstar actress and singer and former baseball player have been seen peeking around one (particularly tall) residential building. The New York Post’s Page Six reported that JLo and A-Rod have visited units at Midtown property 432 Park Avenue four times thus far.

A new study by Apartment List shows a stark and concerning racial divide in the homeownership rate.