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☆ Homebuyers Have Hope With Lower Mortgage Rates, More Houses Available
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Wild swings in mortgage rates discouraged almost everyone from venturing out into the market. As I wrote earlier this year, a gummed-up housing market — the Ice Age I was talking about — is good for nobody. When mortgage rates hit multidecade lows during the pandemic, millions of people were able to snag or refinance their way into cheaper monthly costs. That'd be within spitting distance of what the experts at John Burns Research and Consulting, a housing-research firm, call the "magic mortgage rate." In other words, trying to predict mortgage rates — and buying or selling a home accordingly — is a fool's errand.

Persons: Green, that's, Skylar Olsen, everyone's, it's, there's, Fannie Mae, John Burns, they'd, Ralph McLaughlin, Olsen, Lawrence Yun, Altos, Mike Simonsen, Chen Zhao, Zhao, We're, Mark Palim, Palim Organizations: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Federal Reserve, John, John Burns Research, Consulting, National Association of Realtors, Altos Research, Builders, Sun Locations: Sun Belt, Midwest

With one of the most powerful hurricanes in a century barreling toward Florida on Tuesday, the Twin City mobile home park was already a scene of devastation because of Hurricane Helene. Twin City Mobile Home Park in Saint Petersburg, Fla., on Oct. 8, 2024. Jesse Hancock and Ria Blaight tried to salvage what they could Tuesday from their flooded home in Twin City mobile home park. Matt Lavietes / NBC NewsBut Pinellas Park, just north of St. Petersburg, is also in a mandatory evacuation area. I don’t care what kind of home.”Twin City Mobile Home Park in Saint Petersburg, Fla., on Tuesday.

Persons: Hurricane Helene, Milton, Matt Lavietes, Mark Prompakdee, Helene, “, ‘, ” Prompakdee, Jesse Hancock, Ria Blaight, Hancock, Blaight, ” Hancock, ” Blaight, “ It’s, ” Walter Smutz, Smutz, I’m, ” Smutz, Ninda Menegias, Ninda, Menegias, ”, Corky Siemaszko Organizations: — Homes, Twin, Twin City Mobile Home, NBC, ” Twin City Mobile Home, Management, NBC News, Lakeshore Management Locations: PETERSBURG, Fla, Florida, Twin City, Hurricane, Saint Petersburg, Pinellas Park, Park, St . Petersburg, ” Twin City, Skokie , Illinois, St . Petersburg , Florida, New York City

☆ A stretch of Florida beaches has soared from a lesser-known gem to 'the Hamptons of the South'
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-24 | by ( Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. A decade ago, those visitors were mostly from Southern cities within driving distance, like Atlanta and Nashville, local real-estate agent Beau Blankenship told Business Insider. Sunset over Rosemary Beach, Florida, in 30A. The boom, Stewart told Business Insider, had two inflection points. Advertisement"There'd be a few vacant lots, and then a house surrounded by trees and brush," he told Business Insider.

Persons: —, Mexico —, Beau Blankenship, It's, Rosemary, Barry Winiker, Blankenship, Alys, Christian Blouin, Kemp Stewart, Rosemary Beach, Stewart, Truman, Kemp, hasn't Organizations: Service, Panama City Beach, Business, Hamptons, Street, The New York Times, Management, BI Locations: Florida, Rosemary, Seaside, Santa Rosa, Mexico, Destin, Panama, Southern, Atlanta, Nashville, Salt Lake City , Utah , Colorado, Walton County, Rosemary Beach , Florida, Inlet Beach, Chicago, Montana, Santa Rosa Beach, Oklahoma, Alys

☆ Zillow Gone Wild Is Making Weird Houses Popular and Easier to Sell
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Michelle Mastro | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

While most people follow Zillow Gone Wild to gawk at the weird and bizarre features of other people's homes, some are looking to buy. And with Zillow Gone Wild and a host of other real-estate influencer accounts, a wild home is now easy to find. At the end of April, Leyendecker had a listing in Plymouth, Minnesota, posted on Zillow Gone Wild. Her guests are always amused to discover the home was listed on Zillow Gone Wild. "My husband was a little bit more reserved and nervous about sharing that the house was from Zillow Gone Wild.

Persons: Matt Kugizaki, Nick Levenhagen, Joshua, Nick, Kugizaki, Patrick Hasson, Levenhagen, Levenhagen aren't, Samir Mezrahi, Mezrahi, Kate Wagner, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Dodger Andre Ethier, Nick Leyendecker, Leyendecker, Hasson, Millennials, Ashley Spencer, it's, Spencer, home's, I've, Michelle Mastro, she's Organizations: House, HGTV, Los, Los Angeles Dodger, Homeowners Locations: Joshua Tree , California, Zillow, Gilbert , Arizona, San Luis Obispo , California, Colorado Springs , Colorado, Plymouth , Minnesota, Austin, Minneapolis

☆ I paid just $135,000 for my house when homes in the area are going for twice that. Here's how.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The couple paid less than usual for the area by going through a community land trust, or CLT. Community land trusts allow low-income homebuyers to purchase homes at a reduced price in exchange for the trust's retaining ownership of the property's land. Community land trusts were an unfamiliar conceptI learned about community land trusts while driving through a neighborhood. It's a community housing organization that offers homebuyer education and also sells affordable homes through a community land trust program. Our lives are much betterWhen buying a land trust home, not only do you have to qualify for the land trust program, but you also have to qualify for a mortgage at the bank.

Persons: Melisa Gomez, Romo, —, It's, Gomez, we're Organizations: Service, Romo, Land Trust Locations: Duluth , Minnesota, Minnesotans, Duluth, Fayetteville , Arkansas, . Duluth, El Salvador, Mexican

☆ It's not just you: It's getting harder and harder to find cheap rent across the US
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Eliza Relman | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

If you've been struggling to find a cheap rental, you're not alone: Low-rent apartments are harder to find than ever. And homes with rent between $600 and $799 fell from almost 9 million to 5.8 million units. Meanwhile, the number of homes that rent for at least $2,000 per month more than doubled, climbing from about 3.2 million to 7.3 million homes. This is just more evidence of the housing affordability crisis many cities and towns across the country are facing. Middle-income renters — those who make between $30,000 and $74,999 annually — saw the most dramatic increase in housing costs between 2019 and 2022.

Persons: you've, — Organizations: Service, Business, Harvard's, for Housing Studies, Harvard Locations: California

☆ A millennial couple who moved from Baltimore to Florida explain why they bought a $65,000 mobile home as their starter house
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Mobile homes — a type of manufactured house — are a more affordable option for many. Jess Carpenter and her family are living in and renovating their mobile home in Sarasota, Florida. Housing advocates want to get rid of many regulations that bar manufactured homes from communities. AdvertisementJess Carpenter and her husband had never considered living in a mobile home when they moved from Baltimore to Florida in April 2022. In many states, mobile homes are categorized like cars or boats and don't qualify for home mortgages.

Persons: Jess Carpenter, —, Carpenter, Ringling, They've, Andrew Justus, Biden Organizations: Housing, Service, Carpenters, Sarasota, Sunshine State, Niskanen, of Housing, Urban Locations: Sarasota , Florida, Baltimore, Florida, Sarasota, Levittown

☆ Mortgage rate decline pulls buyers back into the housing market
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

watch nowA sharp drop in mortgage interest rates in December may have kickstarted this year's spring housing market early. Optimism about mortgage rates increased sharply in December, according to a monthly consumer survey by Fannie Mae. "This significant shift in consumer expectations comes on the heels of the recent bond market rally," said Palim. "Notably, homeowners and higher-income groups reported greater rate optimism than renters." The average rate on the 30-year fixed has been on a wild ride since the start of the Covid pandemic.

Persons: Fannie Mae, Mark Palim, Ryan Paredes, Ariadna Paredes, Ryan Ratliff, Joe Raedle, Paul Legere Organizations: Max Advance Realty, Getty, . Washington , D.C Locations: Cutler Bay , Florida, . Washington ,

☆ Chatbots just showed scientists how to make social media less toxic
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

AI bots, on the other hand, will do whatever you tell them to, practically for free. So researchers are starting to use chatbots as fake people from whom they can extract data about real people. In July 2020, Facebook introduced a walled-off simulation of itself, populated with millions of AI bots, to study online toxicity. His team created hundreds of personas for its Twitter bots — telling each one things like "you are a male, middle-income, evangelical Protestant who loves Republicans, Donald Trump, the NRA, and Christian fundamentalists." Scientists create experiments to be simpler than reality, to offer explanatory power uncomplicated by the messiness of real life.

Persons: chatbots, Donald Trump, Petter Törnberg, Törnberg, Emma, Terry Crews, mindlessly, we've, LLMs, Lisa Argyle, Joon, he's, Smallville's café, messier, it's, sims, Adam Rogers Organizations: ABC News, CNN, New York Times, Twitter, Institute, Logic, University of Amsterdam, Columbia University, Facebook, NRA, American, Election, Democratic, Chamber Twitter, Brigham Young University, Stanford University Locations: Alabama

☆ An Israeli man describes the moment he held his shelter door closed with his hands to stop Hamas militants on the other side from shooting his family
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Levy recalled harrowing moments holding a door closed against militants as his kids hid under a bed. The sirens and rocket attacks "aren't new," 45-year-old Levy told Insider in an interview on Tuesday. Homes across the village of Nirim were destroyed, and cars were burned to stop residents from being able to escape, Levy told Insider. AdvertisementAdvertisementWhen the attackers got to the shelter, they tried to open the door, Levy said. Levy said the militants banged on the shelter door and threw different objects at it before giving up and moving to the next house.

Persons: Shai Levy's, Levy, —, Shai Levy, who's, Shai Levy Levy's, General Antonio Guterres, Guterres, Gerald R, Alisa Shodiyev Kaff Organizations: Service, IDF's Paratroopers Brigade, Hamas, Sunday, Israel, UN, Palestinian Health Ministry, Ford Carrier Strike Locations: Gaza, Israel's, Israel, Nirim, Eilat

☆ These 16 cities offer the cheapest first year of homeownership in the US when considering down payments, taxes, and closing costs, according to Point2
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

But according to Point2, 16 cities including Detroit offer first-year homeownership costs under $80K. First-year costs include down payments, mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, and closing costs. In a recent analysis of the 100 largest US markets, the firm identified the 16 cities with the cheapest first year of homeownership after considering the average cost of a 20% down payment, closing costs, property taxes, monthly mortgage payments, and homeowners' insurance. In all 16 of the cities, the first year's cost of homeownership was under $80,000. We've listed the cities below starting with the least expensive, and have included Point2's price breakdown of each item noted above.

Persons: It's, homebuying —, Point2 Organizations: National Association of Realtors, homebuying Locations: Point2, Detroit

☆ Home prices see largest decline since 2012 as banking crisis hits demand: 'There's this fear that everything will crash'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"That killed the buyer momentum that had been building, and brought us right back to where we were last year when mortgage rates shot up. For example, prices in Boise surged a record 40.9% in May 2021 amid low mortgage rates, the remote-work trend, and relative affordability. But since then, mortgage rates have soared amid Federal Reserve rate hikes. While they have come off last year's peak of 7%, the 30-year-fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.54% in March, up from 4.17% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the higher mortgage rates are keeping buyers and sellers on the sidelines, and March saw new listings drop 23.3% year over year, Redfin said.

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