Neil’s Buyer/Seller Posts

You know that reducing VOCs (volatile organic compounds) can make your home healthier and kinder to the environment. Now LEED, a sustainable building standard, is taking a stance against yucky environmental pollutants by encouraging manufacturers to green up building materials. If you’re not in the know, LEED is all about building practices that keep human […]

U.S. home sales hit a seven-year high in 2013, rising to their highest levels since the peak of the housing boom, data from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® shows. The median home price reached $197,100 in 2013, up 11.5% from 2012, NAR says. Sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops increased 9.1% in 2013

Pending-home sales stabilized in November 2013 with a slight gain, inching up 0.2% to 101.7% in November from a downwardly revised 101.5% in October. But the index is 1.6% below November 2012 when it was 103.3%, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. The Pending-Home Sales Index measures the number of homes that are under

As a serial remodeler, I’m looking forward to spending part of my winter holiday curled up on the sofa planning the wonderful things I’m going to do to my home in 2014. If you’re also day-dreaming about your next home improvements, these ideas (plus some eye candy) from the experts at realtor.com can help you

The median U.S. home price continued to rise in November, but existing-home sales fell 4.3% due to rising interest rates, tight inventory, and tough mortgage lending standards. It was the first time in more than two years that sales were below year-ago levels, data from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® shows. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence

It’s scary to sign a big remodeling contract. Even if you check your contractor’s licenses and references, it’s natural to worry that his work won’t be up to par, he’ll take your deposit and disappear, or he’ll tell you the cost has gone up halfway through the project. A new startup company, Bolster, is capitalizing

These days few things start a fight on Capitol Hill faster than taxes. Despite the fact that three important tax benefits used by millions of American homeowners are days from expiring, Congress is unlikely to do anything to re-up them any time soon. So if you’re eligible, tax year 2013 is possibly the last time

As the mother of a high school junior, I twitch a little bit every time she talks to me about where she might like to attend college. Far too many of her choices have a sticker price of $60,000 a year once you add up room, board, books, tuition, and pizza. So I’m not surprised

In this era of rising energy prices and cost-conscious homeownership, we’ve noticed wood heat is enjoying a resurgence. Makes sense — in regions where wood is plentiful, you can heat an entire house for less than $1,000 per year. All that makes us intrigued by a relatively new generation of multi-fuel furnaces that can switch

Homeowners across the country shouldn’t be forced to pay for the sudden and dramatic flood insurance premium increases that are the unintended consequence of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, insisted the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® in testimony before the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance. Some homeowners throughout the