If you're planning to buy your first home, then you're probably focused on saving for all the costs involved in such a big purchase. One of the expenses that may be at the top of your mind is your down payment. If youre intimidated by how much you need to save for that, it may be because you believe you must put 20% down. That doesnt

Some Highlights

• If youre thinking of buying a home this year, be sure to factor in the long-term benefits of homeownership.
• Over time, homeownership allows you to build equity. On average, nationwide home prices appreciated by 290.2% over the last 32 years.
• That means your net worth can grow significantly in the long term when you own a home. Reach out to a real estate

If you're thinking about buying or selling a house, it's important to know that it doesn't just affect your life, but also your community.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) releases a report every year to show how much economic activity is generated by home sales. The chart below illustrates that impact:

As the visual shows, when

You may see media coverage talking about a drop in homeowner equity. Whats important to understand is that equity is tied closely to home values. So, when home prices appreciate, you can expect equity to grow. And when home prices decline, equity does too. Heres how this has played out

If youre thinking about selling your house right now, chances are its because something in your life has changed. And, while things like mortgage rates are a key part of your decision on what youll buy next, its important to not lose sight of the reason you want to make a change in the first place.

Its true mortgage rates have climbed from the record lows we saw in recent years, and that has an impact on

Media coverage about whats happening with home prices can be confusing. A large part of that is due to the type of data being used and what theyre choosing to draw attention to. For home prices, there are two different methods used to compare home prices over different time periods: year-over-year (Y-O-Y) and month-over-month (M-O-M).

Some Highlights

• Comparing housing market metrics from one year to another can be challenging in a normal housing market and the last few years have been anything but normal. In a way, they were unicorn years.
• Expect unsettling housing market headlines this year, mostly due to unfair comparisons with the unicorn years.
• Connect with a local real estate professional who can share the

When you look at the numbers today, the one thing that stands out is the strength of this housing market. We can see this is one of the most foundationally strong housing markets of our lifetime if not

Todays mortgage rates are top-of-mind for many homebuyers right now. As a result, if youre thinking about buying for the first time or selling your current house to move into a home that better fits your needs, you may be asking yourself these two

With all the headlines circulating about home prices and rising mortgage rates, you may wonder if it still makes sense to invest in homeownership right now. A recent poll from Gallup shows the answer is yes. In fact, real estate was voted the best long-term investment for the 11^th consecutive year, consistently beating other investment types like gold, stocks, and bonds