All across the country, real estate agents are posting positive signs of change from the trenches and revealing they're suddenly dealing with packed open houses and intensifying bidding wars.

Revaluate announced a new database cleanup service for any and all agents who need a more accurate CRM to execute marketing initiatives.

UtahRealEstate.com, which partially owns Aligned Showings, says its integration offers agents listing-by-listing showing options.

Realtor.com

When one mansion isn’t enough, two will do.

That’s how twin brick mansions, built in different eras in Carthage, MO, came to be.

Together, the homes total 16,851 square feet and are listed for $2.1 million—after a recent $1 million price reduction.

The original mansion dates to 1890, while the other was constructed in the early 2000s. The older one is known as the Carter Mansion, named for the doctor who once lived and practiced medicine there.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is telegraphing one more small adjustment in March, but some bond market investors think the rate hike campaign may now be over.

"California, Nevada and Hawaii represent our largest market, and we are thrilled to have Wendy onboard to lead our teams and agent entrepreneurs in this key market," CEO Robert Reffkin said. "Her expertise and dedication to the industry are ideally suited to this important role.”

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Finding a place to rent in today’s tough market can sometimes feel like a full-time job between all the potential homes to view and all those applications you have to fill out—for each and every place.

Let’s face it: Competition is fierce for a great rental. So sometimes you have to fill out a ton of applications to land a new home.

And depending on the location, most renters pay anywhere from $25 to $75 per application. If you’re applying for more than one apartment and tallying up all those application fees required to apply for a rental? That’s when you start wishing house hunting was a full-time job—with full-time pay.

While application fees are intended to help landlords screen potential tenants, sometimes it can feel like the fees are in place to help them make money.

The company refreshes its brand identity for the main franchise and luxury brands ahead of its 10th anniversary. The new look will roll out through a phased approach starting this week, the company said.

Showings were way down year over year but only dipped a little bit month over month, according to a new report from ShowingTime. They remain up compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Realtor.com

An expanded Colonial Revival saltbox in the village of Chestnut Hill, MA, is the oldest property to hit the market this week on Realtor.com®.

Said to be the oldest house in the area, according to Wicked Local, the Lt. Thomas Hammond House has undergone a complete modernization. During the process, the owners took great care to preserve the property’s many historic details.

Other antique homes to hit the market this week include a multifamily Georgian spread in West Virginia, a Connecticut retreat coming soon, and a stone home in New Jersey.

Scroll down for a full look at this week’s 10 oldest homes.

Clear Capital CEO Duane Andrews issued a statement on Wednesday saying the software company "must now face a market that will represent the greatest challenge yet."

HGTV

On “Fixer to Fabulous,” Dave and Jenny Marrs have renovated some magnificent homes, but on the latest episode, they must work their magic on an extremely small house.

In the episode “Cottage Gets a Modern Upgrade,” the Marrses meet Nick and Johanna, who have just purchased a 1940s cottage within walking distance of downtown Bentonville, AR, for $385,000. Although this cottage is only 696 square feet, they want this cramped space to accommodate three bedrooms, two baths, four family members, and two large dogs—all without expanding the original footprint of the house!

They’ve budgeted $225,000 for the renovation, so Dave and Jenny have a lot of money to work with—but not a lot of wiggle room, so to speak. Nonetheless, they come up with some brilliant ways to squeeze in all the essentials, and they also might show you a thing or two about maximizing space in your own home. Here’s what Dave and Jenny taught us this week.

Before you do anything, check for lead

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Private placement with existing investors including CEO Brian Bair extends the company's cash burn runway by six months to a year, KBW analysts say.

With a clear roadmap laid out for your marketing, reaching your destination in 2023 is only a matter of time and effort.  

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The numbers: The housing market is not out of the woods yet, as mortgage demand fell again despite an improvement in rates.

Despite mortgage rates dropping for the fourth consecutive week, mortgage demand fell 9% in the latest week.

Demand for both purchases and refinancing fell. That pushed the market composite index down, a measure of mortgage application volume, the Mortgage Bankers Association, or MBA, said on Wednesday.

The market index fell by 9% to 232.4 for the week ending Jan. 27, from a week earlier. A year ago, the index stood at 617.8.

Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman acknowledged on Wednesday that, "Not all the people who go into real estate are William Shakespeare" during a wide-ranging discussion on the rise of AI and ChatGPT.

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What is Fannie Mae? What is Freddie Mac? These government-sponsored enterprises are responsible for helping thousands of people get a home mortgage.

Whether you’re shopping for a mortgage or just occasionally skim financial news headlines, you’ve probably heard of Fannie Mae.

But what is Fannie Mae, anyway? And for that matter, what about her buddy Freddie Mac?

While they may sound like names you’d encounter on a sitcom, they aren’t real people. Rather, they’re oddly cute nicknames for major forces in the mortgage market.

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National Football League coach Frank Reich is moving south—and shedding his Midwest home in the process.

After a less-than-stellar record, Reich was let go as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in November, and he promptly listed his local home for $1.9 million.

Unfortunately, he had to settle for much, much less—$687,500 for the five-bedroom, six-bath property. He purchased the place in 2018 for $1,250,000, so the sale leaves him with a huge loss.

And yet, there’s a silver lining: Reich was just tapped by the Carolina Panthers to be their new head coach, which means he’ll no doubt be house hunting in the Charlotte, NC, area.

The new location builds on Christie's existing Caribbean network, which has a presence in The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, St. Barthelemy and Turks & Caicos.

Recommendation engines, transaction automation and rapidly evolving chatbots have already transformed how agents, buyer and sellers tackle the housing market, Inman founder Brad Inman writes.