The early 1980s

Homebuilders, mortgage bankers, real estate agents, and homebuyers do not recall the early 1980s fondly. To reduce chronic inflation, the Federal Reserve dramatically raised interest rates causing severe economic recession in the U.S. The national unemployment rate peaked at 10.8%, the prime-lending rate hit a staggering 18.45%, and mortgage interest rates averaged 16%.
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Dutch colonial

The Dutch colonial home style peaked in the 1920s. The style was influenced by the early Dutch homes of New York and featured a barn-like gambrel roof, a ground-level front porch, and dormers. The Dutch colonial was popular because of its modern features, multiple rooms, vestibules, and its simple approach to decoration.
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America's first fire insurance company

Benjamin Franklin led the effort to create America's first fire insurance company. The Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire was established in 1752 with a board of directors and seventy shareholders. The first insured property to burn was repaired for 154 pounds, nearly a third of the Society's assets.
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Real Estate Daily

"The money you get from selling land, never buys the same land back." - Anonymous.
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Private mortgage insurance

Private mortgage insurance (PMI) protects the lender in the event the borrower defaults on a mortgage. Most lenders require annual PMI premiums of one-half to one percent of the amount borrowed if a buyer's down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price. Roughly half of all current homebuyers are putting less than 20% down as rising home prices outpace wages and savings.
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Landscaping

Landscaping is one of the few home improvements that adds more value than it costs. Adding landscaping instantly improves the curb appeal of a home. Landscaping is one of the most practical and cost-effective things a home seller can do in preparing a home for sale.
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Realtors Land Institute

The Realtors Land Institute (RLI) is a professional organization that provides education, networking, and marketing resources to professionals involved with sales of farms, ranches, and undeveloped tracts of land, as well as site selection and assemblage of land parcels. The RLI offers the Accredited Land Consultant designation. RLI was founded as the Farm and Land Institute in 1944.
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Los Angeles

According to a recent National Association of Home Builders study, Los Angeles has the least affordable housing among big cities (more than 500,000 people) in the U.S. Only 2.4% of the homes sold in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area were affordable to families making the median income of $54,500. The median home sales price was $495,000.
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Realty Times

Realty Times is a leading provider of daily online real estate news, advice, and market conditions. In addition to a searchable index of news and articles, the RealtyTimes.com website portal offers a wide array of services such as newsletter subscriptions, agent and vendor directories, event calendars, and resource directories. Realty Times also airs the weekend television show "Realty Times".
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ForSaleByOwner.com

According to Nielsen/NetRatings, ForSaleByOwner.com is registering more new web users than most other real estate websites. The National Association of Realtors estimates that about 15% of homeowners will choose to sell their home as a FSBO (for sale by owner).
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Real estate pioneer James Wilson Rouse

Real estate pioneer James Wilson Rouse was born on April 26, 1914. Rouse began his career working for the Federal Housing Administration and later introduced the term "urban renewal". Rouse's real estate company developed a large portfolio of residential and commercial real estate projects including Boston's Faneuil Hall, New York's South Street Seaport, and Baltimore's Harborplace.
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Fallingwater

Frank Lloyd Wright's "Fallingwater" was recognized by the American Institute of Architects as "the best all-time work of American architecture." Wright designed the home in 1935 for the Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh. Wright responded to the family's love for a waterfall on Bear Run by placing the house over the falls.
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Real Estate Tycoon

The "Real Estate Tycoon" video game is a challenge against other opponents, including Donald Trump, to build the biggest real estate empire. Players establish their empires by building, buying, and selling offices, condos and shopping centers throughout the world. A player wins the game by increasing their wealth while trying to sabotage the competition.
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Capital gains

Capital gains is the IRS term applied to the taxable profit earned from the sale of an asset or investment. The capital gains from a principal residence is profit over $500,000 (married filing jointly) or $250,000 (single). Before May 7, 1997, all home sale profit was considered a capital gain, unless the profit was used to purchase another higher priced home within two years.
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Landfill and hazardous waste sites

Living near a landfill or a hazardous waste site will take its toll on a home's value. Cleveland State professor Robert A. Simons recently studied the effects of environmental contamination on real estate values. Homes located within a mile of a landfill would see a 10% to 15% reduction in value, and homes located within two miles of a Superfund site would see up to a 25% reduction in value.
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Seattle houseboats

There are approximately five hundred houseboats moored on the various inlets and lakes of Seattle, Washington. The first houseboats appeared around 1895 to house fishermen, mill workers and loggers who could not afford housing. Seattle restricted residential use of waterfront areas in 1972. The remaining houseboat neighborhoods offer unique waterfront living in the heart of Seattle.
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The GI Bill

The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, also known as the GI Bill, provided returning World War II veterans with college or vocational education as well as one-year of unemployment compensation. It also provided low interest home loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses. Returning veterans purchased nearly twenty percent of all new homes built after World War II.
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Colors

When choosing colors, women are generally drawn to brighter tones and more subtle shades. Men favor darker neutrals and blues. Men and women are a bit more agreeable on exterior house paint colors. According to a recent American Demographics/BuzzBack color survey, the top exterior home color choice for men was white while for women it was beige.
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Home value

According to a National Association of Home Builders study, the key attributes that dictate a home's value include such things as the home's neighborhood, the age of the home, square footage, number of complete bathrooms, number of bedrooms, presence of a garage and/or basement, central air conditioning, a fireplace, and water within three hundred feet of the home.
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RAI

The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University publishes the Remodeling Activity Indicator (RAI) each quarter. The RAI provides a reading of national home remodeling activity levels. The Center has been conducting a comprehensive study of the factors influencing the growth and changing characteristics of housing renovation and repair activity in the U.S. since 1995.
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The Great Chicago Fire

The Great Chicago fire is the most infamous fire to occur in the U.S. Fire broke out at a farm on the evening of October 8, 1871 and quickly spread to other nearby buildings. The fire killed 300 people and destroyed more than 17,000 structures in 27 hours, including the entire downtown core of Chicago and most of its North side.
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Subdivision costs

The Great Chicago fire is the most infamous fire to occur in the U.S. Fire broke out at a farm on the evening of October 8, 1871 and quickly spread to other nearby buildings. The fire killed 300 people and destroyed more than 17,000 structures in 27 hours, including the entire downtown core of Chicago and most of its North side.
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COFI

The 11th District Cost of Funds index (COFI) is a popular adjustable rate mortgage index. COFI is based on the weighted-average interest rate paid by 11th Federal Home Loan Bank District savings institutions for savings and checking accounts, advances from the FHLB, and other sources of funds. The COFI is the slowest moving and most stable of all ARM indexes.
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The 28/36 rule

The 28/36 rule is used by lenders to qualify buyers for a mortgage. No more than 28% of a loan applicant's income should go to principal, interest, taxes and insurance. No more than 36% of income should go to payments on all debt, including mortgage.
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Liens

A lien is a claim by one person on the property of another as security for money owed. Such claims may include obligations not met or satisfied, judgments, unpaid taxes, materials, or labor. Consensual liens on mortgages and car loans are removed when the loan balance is paid. Non-consensual liens are imposed to collect unpaid taxes, unpaid payments for work, and unpaid non-secured loans.
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Comps

A rule of thumb for setting the price on a home for sale is to make twenty evaluations of comparable properties within a one-mile radius of the house. Collecting this information will provide a precise gauge of the home’s value and will increase the likelihood of attracting qualified buyers.
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Discount points

Discount points are fees a borrower pays toward a mortgage to lower the loan's interest rate. One point equals 1% of the total loan amount. If a borrower plans to stay in a house beyond ten years, paying a few thousand dollars in points at closing to lower the interest rate will pay off. In addition, discount points are tax deductible.
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HOAs

A homeowners' association (HOA) is a group that governs a modern subdivision or planned community. The HOA collects monthly fees from owners to pay for maintenance of common areas, handle legal and safety issues, and enforce neighborhood covenants. HOAs represent the fastest growing form of government in the U.S. over the last 15 years. About 1 in 6 Americans live in a HOA community.
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Market correction

In September 2006, the U.S. housing market recorded the steepest yearly average price decline since 1970. The Commerce Department reported that the price for a new home sold dropped by almost 10% from a year earlier. The decline reflected the correction in a five-year housing boom that saw significant home price appreciation driven by the lowest mortgage interest rates in nearly forty years.
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Realtists and Realtors

A Realtist is the designation for an agent or broker who is a member of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers. A Realtor is the designation for an agent or broker who is a member of the National Association of Realtors.
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Split estates

Split estates take place on land in which more than one person has separate and independent ownership rights. Split estate policy is causing tension across the American West where at least 50 million acres of split estate land involve energy developers who own the mineral rights beneath or lease them from the federal government. At issue is compensation, environmental impact, and land access.
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