From high-resolution security cameras to concrete walls and even safe rooms, some luxury homeowners are taking the idea of home security to a new level.The Wall Street Journal says high-end homeowners are adopting “James Bond-esque” security measures to combat potential burglars, kidnappers, and even terror attacks. They’re willing to spend millions on such measures too. Some middle-class homes are taking a smaller scale approach.Security f
Social networks can carry a lot of weight in people’s lives, even having an impact on their real estate decisions. In a recent REALTOR® University Speaker Series presentation, Dr. Johannes Stroebel presented research about the influence of social networks on buyers’ home purchase decisions.Housing investment is a regular topic of discussion on Americans’ social networks. About half of the respondents in the study had discussed—either som
LinkedIn isn’t just a "set it and forget it" resume and job posting site. It’s a social media platform for building business relationships, and marketing strategist Marc Gordon has a few tips to help brokers make the most of it. Maintain Your Profile. Sounds simple enough, but this step is often forgotten. Keeping your personal profile up-to-date is essential because you never know who will see it — possibly a potential client or a fellow r
Since the Great Recession from 2007–2009, renters have faced skyrocketing rents and landlords have enjoyed steadily growing profits. However, that may change in 2017, according to the latest forecast from Axiometrics.From 2010 to 2016, rent growth rose 150 basis points above the long-term average. But some markets where rents had been rising the most are starting to see declines occur.“The slower rent growth in 2017 is expected to benefit ren
California cities continue to dominate the list of the hottest housing markets in the country. In Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif., days on the market for listings have dropped by half over the past year, which helped propel it to the top of realtor.com®’s hottest housing market list for February.Across the country, homes for sale are more limited than ever before, and strong buyer demand mixed with that limited inventory is fueling higher home price
Your 10-year outlook: Expect business to get busier, but be ready for some major demographic shifts in housing.Housing demand over the next decade will be significantly higher than it is today, predicts Lawrence Yun, the chief economist of the National Association of REALTORS®, in his latest column at Forbes.com. Rising populations and a growth in the job market likely will release a pent-up demand in housing over the next 10 years, he says.The
For the past several years, real estate professionals have been using social media channels to sell more homes faster by creatively leveraging the tools at their fingertips.Social media marketing is one of the more cost-efficient forms of local marketing for real estate pros. However, an effective social media presence in today’s real estate market is no longer simply defined as setting up a business page on Facebook and hoping your promotional
Wells Fargo & Company says its new initiative aims to help at least 250,000 African-Americans become homeowners over the next decade.The bank giant says its initiative is directly in response to the lower homeownership rates among the African-American community. Wells Fargo will devote $60 billion to qualified African-American consumers for home purchases by 2027. It also will devote $15 million to support several initiatives that promote fin
Workers over the age of 65 are staying active in the workforce, opting to push back retirement.In the year 2000, about 13 percent of Americans 65 and over reported being employed full or part time. But, by May 2016, that percentage had increased to 18.8 percent. As such, nearly 9 million Americans who are age 65 and over are employed. Further, over the next five years, that percentage is expected to rise to 32 percent of the workforce.“The cont
McAllen, Texas has seen the highest rental cost increases in the nation over the past year, according to a new report released by RentRage. Their researchers collected rental data on about 250,000 three-bedroom, single-family homes and then ranked the top 25 metro areas by average rental rate increases for single-family homes between the fourth quarter of 2016 and the same quarter in 2015.While rents remain persistently high in the Bay Area, San
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