Celine Dion lists a private Canadian island for $29.3 million; Ryan Seacrest is in escrow to buy Ellen DeGeneres's home for $37 million; a midtown Manhattan duplex lists for $12 million. […]

Even if pushed, you don't have to share the details of your bank account or personal life. […]

The House Detective:  by Barry Stone, Certified Home Inspector Dear Barry: In one of your articles, you said, “The essential purpose of home inspection is to disclose property defects.” If that is true, why don’t home inspectors use the top tools of the trade, such as thermal cameras, borescopes, and moisture meters? In my opinion, most home inspectors are r […]

The House Detective:  by Barry Stone, Certified Home Inspector Dear Barry: We are in escrow to buy a home. When we made our offer, there was an attractive concrete walkway in the front yard. Since then, the sellers hired a contractor to inspect the septic tank. The contractor had to cut out two sections of the walkway, but when he replaced the pieces, he set […]

In Freddie Mac's results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, average fixed mortgage rates again reached new record lows. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 3.79 percent continues to remain well below 4 percent and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages are also slightly down at 3.04 percent. […]

Are we really poised for a recovery in the housing market? The latest encouraging words from the U.S. Conference Board's Demand Institute Division are that we are heading for a rapidly accelerating rental market which will lead to a housing recovery. […]