Buying a Home

People have been building homes on stilts since prehistoric times, and examples of stilt homes can be found all over the world. Elevating a home can protect against flooding and maintain a vermin-free living space, which is why stilt homes are ...

Condo living offers a low-maintenance lifestyle that is oftentimes more affordable than owning a single-family residence. This article details some of the pros, cons, and tossups of condo living and compares it to other options like living in a ...

Xeriscaping (pronounced “zer-is-caping") is landscaping that is designed to minimize water consumption. It is used most often in regions that receive little or sporadic rainfall. The overall goal of xeriscaping is to create an aesthetically ...

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a secondary residence that occupies the same property as a primary single-family residence. ADUs can be freestanding or attached to the main residence and cannot be sold separately. Depending on where you live in ...

Who Pays Closing Costs in California? Closing costs are a combination of service fees and taxes collected at the final stage of a real estate transaction. When you buy a home in California, local government entities are paid a portion of taxes ...

Most Realtors complete real estate transactions behind the scenes, only involving their clients when necessary. Realtors do this intentionally, as they understand that their clients hired them so that they need not be concerned with the day-to-day ...

“Active Under Contract” is a real estate term that indicates the status of real property (single family home, condo, townhome, etc.) that has been put up for sale wherein a seller has accepted an offer from a buyer, but the deal has not ...

If you’re a home shopper who’s made your way to this article, there’s a good chance you’ve already been pre-approved for a loan, searched houses online, viewed a few in-person, and narrowed down your choice to the home you ...

Realtors get paid on a commission basis, usually 5 to 6 percent of a home’s sales price, which is split between the listing broker and buyer's agent. Fees typically come out of the sellers’ proceeds while buyers generally pay nothing to ...

Real Estate FAQs As you might imagine, real estate agents field quite a few questions every day. People are naturally curious, and it’s an agent’s job to guide folks through the often-complex world of home buying and selling. You might ...

There’s no bigger emotional turning point in the home buying process than the moment a buyer makes an offer on a home. The transition from merely shopping to formally putting some skin in the game introduces higher levels of anticipation for ...