Our partners are what make Inman Connect an industry-leading event for real estate professionals. Here are their key takeaways and impressions after leaving New York.

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Former University of Texas men’s basketball coach Chris Beard is leaving Austin, TX, behind.

He’s selling his four-bedroom, 4.5-bath, 4,000-square-foot home in the capital city for $4,950,000.

The listing follows his December arrest on a domestic family violence charge, after an argument with his fiancé. The school immediately suspended Beard without pay and eventually fired him in early January. And because his termination stemmed from a felony charge, the school won’t have to pay out the more than $25 million left on his contract.

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Homebuyers can put as little as 5 percent down when taking out a new construction loan, with one closing and an optional float-down to secure a lower interest rate, according to United Wholesale Mortgage.

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Home staging is a strategy that many sellers use to show off their property’s potential, and it’s one of the most important tasks you can do before putting your house on the market.

Staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize the space as their future home, according to 82% of buyer’s agents surveyed for the National Association of Realtors® biennial Profile of Home Staging. And nearly a quarter of buyer’s agents said that staging a home increased the sale price by 1% to 5%.

The survey also points out that the primary bedroom is one of the three most important rooms to stage. But staging a boudoir involves more than making the bed and calling it a day.

If you’re determined to stage your home to the nines and fetch top dollar, avoid these common missteps.

Illustration by Realtor.com; Photos: Getty Images (2)

Homebuyers who are closely watching the correction in the real estate market might believe now is a good time to pounce. After all, homes are sitting on the market for longer, those maddening bidding wars have dried up, and wild offers over the asking price are things of the past, right?

Well, not exactly. It all depends on what they’re hoping to purchase.

Those searching for a home are seeing plenty of fixer-uppers, homes lacking curb appeal, and those in less desirable areas sitting on the market for longer and undergoing price reductions. But well-appointed, well-situated turnkey homes are still selling fast, often receiving multiple offers, and even selling over the asking price. It’s as if the housing slowdown hasn’t affected these properties much at all.

“If it’s a good home in the resale market, it’s selling quickly,” says Ali Wolf, chief economist of the building consultancy Zonda. “The buyer who is buying today is not the same buyer buying 12 months ago. If [they’re] paying this much, it needs to be a nice home.”

A Spanish-style house in Los Angeles, a 1925 Mediterranean-style home in San Francisco and a renovated 1978 retreat in Encinitas.

These strategies work, whether you are establishing, growing or maintaining your real estate agent referral network.

Building a culture that no one wants to leave isn’t easy, writes DEI expert Julia Lashay Israel. Here she shares the core pillars of an inclusive culture and how you can leverage them as components to take your brokerage to the top.

It’s no surprise that for today’s eco-conscious buyers, LEED-certified residences represent a prize like no other. However, for now, such homes are a rarity. Here’s a closer look at why that’s the case, and why it could be changing.

See what’s happening around town!

February 1st – 28th: Black History Month

“Each February, Black History Month honors the achievements and contributions of African Americans to the country. Here’s how you can celebrate throughout the Denver metro area with lectures, dramatic performances, music and more, both before and after Black History Month!” Schedule & More Info!

There are various taxes and fees involved when relatives settle their parents’ estate, but the first step is figuring out what it’s worth.

A Slow Start, but Higher Consumer Confidence

In our local real estate market, the start to the first quarter of 2023 felt a lot like the fourth quarter of 2022; somewhat slow. With an official recession likely this fall, high inflation, and the mortgage rate hikes of last year, it’s understandable why many people have been apprehensive to make a move.

Despite the slow start, consumer confidence has been on a sharp rise recently. Consumer confidence is a great leading indicator of what will happen over the next few months. To try to anticipate what the market might do, the best metrics to pay attention to are consumer confidence, new mortgage applications, home showing activity, mortgage rate locks, and finally closings. 

The spike in consumer confidence indicates people are a bit more optimistic about the economy than before. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t apply for new mortgages. The increase in mortgage applications should eventually flow through the rest of the metrics, resulting in more home sales. It’s a great sign for the spring, which is historically the busiest time of year in real estate.

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A home with a unique viewpoint is coming into focus on the Oregon coast.

The 7,442-square-foot home, with its own lighthouse, sits on almost 26 acres along the Pacific Ocean in Cloverdale, OR. The stunning property is listed for $10 million.

“The Oregon coast is beautiful and rugged—they call it the wilderness coast, and it’s exceptional in its beauty,” says Brian Ladd, with Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s International Realty. He is co-listing the property with Josh Reed. “I think what’s so iconic about this property is the setting.”

Justin Jones/Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s International Realty

Florida's largest community bank, Amerant Bank, continues to grow the national footprint of its mortgage subsidiary, Amerant Mortgage, through acquisitions.

HGTV

Christina Hall might know a whole lot about renovating a house, but the latest episode of her new show, “Christina in the Country,” reveals she still has some major blind spots now that she’s moved to Tennessee.

In the episode “Some Like It Hot,” she meets Tom and Terese, who recently relocated from California. They want Hall to put together a stunning new kitchen and bathroom, with an $85,000 renovation budget.

See how Hall’s project unfolds—and the major stumbling block she encounters that forces her to put half of this renovation on hold. Let this serve as a reminder that remodeling in the country can be a whole different ballgame–and even accomplished designers will need to learn new things!

Rural homes may have a septic tank instead of sewage hookups

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Does the thought of paying for a home these days give you heart palpitations? We get it. After all, it’s hard enough to afford eggs right now. Affording a house? That’s a bird of a very different feather.

That’s why we searched our listings and found five turnkey homes in various parts of the country for under $100,000. Whether you’re looking for a cute cottage in a big city or an adorable starter home in a small town—we’ve got you covered.

And while these prices are on the low end, the quality is quite high.

Only $99,900 for a three-bedroom, two-bath Victorian with a wraparound front porch, and all the charm you could hope for in Mississippi? It’s available.

Things are looking up for homebuyers on a budget as mortgage rates fall from their 20-year highs, according to a report published Thursday by Redfin.

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After the past few years of isolating in our homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for seamless, indoor-outdoor living was very much on display in this year’s New American Home.

The 40th iteration of the show home, built every year to feature the latest and greatest building methods and products, was unveiled this week at the International Builders Show in Las Vegas.

The contemporary, four-bedroom, seven-bathroom home spans nearly 7,600 square feet and is located in a gated, upscale community in Henderson, NV, about 20 minutes outside of Las Vegas. The two-level residence, with a two-level pool, private patios outside most of the bedrooms, and outdoor kitchens, is on the market for about $15 million. The newly built home also features an elevator between floors, an office with a private bathroom, and a two-car garage.

“What’s the most impressive about this house is everything you don’t see,” said architect and builder Michael Gardner, of Luxus Design Build, at a press conference. “When you walk into the home, the simplicity of it and the complexity behind it, that to me is one of the coolest parts of it.”

Despite big rounds of layoffs by companies like Compass and Anywhere, payrolls throughout the real estate industry held firm in January, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

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Mortgage rates have dropped yet again—could this spell an opportunity for homebuyers?

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate home loan fell to 6.09% for the week ending Feb. 2, according to Freddie Mac. That’s down nearly a full percentage point from October’s 20-year high of 7.08%.

Meanwhile, the number of homes for sale is soaring, flying 71% higher for the week ending Jan. 28 compared with this same week a year earlier, according to a recent analysis by Realtor.com®.

This dip in mortgage rates, combined with plenty of homes on the market, adds up to a potential win for homebuyers.