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On “Home Town,” Erin and Ben Napier work hard to renovate homes with their clients’ styles in mind. But not everyone knows the best way to decorate their house, so the Napiers must often intervene to make sure the space turns out great.

In the Season 7 episode “Windy City to City Beautiful,” the Napiers meet Karen and John, a couple who are moving from Chicago to Laurel, MS. The pair buy a 1965 home for just $170,000 and plan to spend $120,000 on updates to make the house feel clean and fresh.

However, as Erin points out, “Fresh is a foundation, it’s not a look.”

Karen and John clarify that their style is modern and minimalist. Yet the risk with this, Erin notes, is that the home ends up having no personality at all.

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Those enormous bags lining the aisles aren’t just tripping hazards—they’re also well-calibrated mixtures designed to protect and enrich your plants and and boost your curb appeal with minimal effort. Here’s the lowdown on all things mulch, including types of mulch, how much mulch you need, and more.

Get ready to pamper your plantings!

What is it made of?

Photo by Huettl Landscape Architecture

With the tagline, "The right agent can lead the way," the campaign includes broadcast spots and digital assets that emphasize RE/MAX agents as experienced real estate professionals equipped to help consumers through any market.

The next few years appear to be "in solid shape" for off-campus student housing as students flock back to campus and send the demand upward, according to a new report.

As a leader, you need to focus more on systems and processes and let your agents determine their own ways of ensuring accountability and motivation, writes Adam Hergenrother. Now is the time for prescriptions rather than descriptions, the what rather than the how.

In good times and bad times, there are some folks you can just count on. Tell us about someone who has made a difference in your career.

In advance of his appearance at Inman Connect New York on Jan. 24-26, the franchisor's chief technology and digital officer told Inman what agents are asking for since the market changed.

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Waterfront property is pricey, but you can create your own if you know how to build a pond! And unless the body of water you want is truly massive, this can definitely be a DIY project that most homeowners can do with a little elbow grease.

So if you’ve been pining for a pond, here’s how (and where) to dig in.

Pick your pond spot

Before you settle on a location to build a pond, call 811, a government service that helps homeowners avoid cutting utility lines as they dig holes on their property. After you call, your local utility companies will send locators to your home to mark the location of buried lines so you can steer clear.

Place your pond, ideally, where you’ll see it from either a window or patio/deck, so you can enjoy your new view. You will also want to choose an area that’s fairly level so your pond will look full all the way around, rather than half-full on one side. And make sure the pond is within reach of a grounded exterior outlet, where you’ll plug in your pump, filter, and an outdoor spigot that will replenish evaporating water.

Realtor.com

To sell or to lease? It’s the question Guy Attal, president of clothier Fabrizio Gianni, has been asking himself for more than two decades.

Right now, the answer is pointing toward a possible sale. Attal’s star-studded estate in Beverly Hills, CA, recently reappeared on the market for $22,950,000.

The 1.38-acre property in the swankiest part of 90210 has been available over the years as a luxury rental for as much as $130,000 per month, which means Attal could be raking in $1.56 million in annual rental income.

Considering he bought the place in 2000 for just $2.55 million, the lavish estate paid for itself many years ago.

San Diego-based Splitero has secured more than $1 billion in total financing to back its model, which offers cash payments, or Home Equity Investments (HEI), to homeowners of up to $500,000 without income or credit score requirements and no monthly payments.

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One of the reasons many homebuyers are drawn to buying a brand-new home is that they often get to choose many of the home’s features to suit their tastes. With a resale home, you pretty much get the place as is. But with new construction, you can call the shots on countertops, fixtures, flooring, paint colors, and so much more to make your home feel like, well, you!

However, prospective new-construction customers should realize that certain builders may offer a wide array of options, whereas others may offer few to none. Or, some may offer changes, which they charge extra for.

“When shopping for a builder, it is important to understand what is included in the base price for the plan you like—or you could end up spending thousands more to add the options and features you want,” says Kimberly Mackey, founder of New Homes Solutions and a sales and marketing management firm in residential homebuilding.

In other words, it’s important for anyone shopping new-construction homes to have an understanding of what is standard and what will likely require an upgrade (meaning more money out of your pocket). Here’s how to know the difference, and what’s worth the additional investment.

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A kitchen work triangle is the shape formed when you connect your kitchen’s main three work areas—fridge, stove, and sink—where most of the prepping, cooking, and cleaning take place.

If you’re in the process of renovating your kitchen, this “work triangle” term is bound to be bandied about—and for good reason: If there’s one room in your home that you’d like to be as streamlined and efficient as possible, it’s the kitchen. Whether you’re heating up a frozen pizza or preparing a Thanksgiving feast, you don’t want to waste time needlessly navigating between your appliances and cleaning and prepping places.

So, how do you set up your main work spaces to facilitate flow and functionality in the room many consider the heart of the home? In this installment of our Dream Kitchen Remodeling Guide, we’ll explore the wild world of kitchen work triangles, as well as how to size up your own to see if it needs improvement.

What to know about a kitchen work triangle

This formation rose to popularity in the 1940s.

The CNN correspondent was traveling for work during construction of his family’s house, leaving the decision-making to his wife. (Yes, they’re still married.)

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Most homebuyers embark on their house hunt with a list of deal breakers, but an outdated bathroom typically isn’t one of them. Sure, it might be hard to imagine yourself relaxing in a bathtub surrounded by stained tile, but most buyers can get past this flaw because it can be fixed rather painlessly.

That’s why bathroom renovations are common among new homeowners and people who have owned their homes for decades. Studies show that in the past couple of years, guest bathroom and primary bathroom renovations ranked just below kitchen upgrades as the most popular interior overhauls. And experts predict that these trends will continue into the new year and beyond.

So if your bathroom is ripe for a face-lift in 2023, we invite you to think beyond the most overused design moves and get creative. Say bye-bye to boring, and cross the following tired bathroom design rules off your list.

1. Plain subway tile

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Opendoor faces a fight for survival after "an abrupt strategy pivot" sent Opendoor into 2023 "without a proven business model." Here are the five biggest challenges facing the king of a troubled business model.

The market isn't done falling but could soon stabilize, according to a survey of real estate executives and economists conducted by Point.

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It might sound like a ridiculous question—after all, it can’t be stained, right? Wrong. Your appliances, range, or countertop may be stainless steel but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t get any less of a cleaning than other surfaces in your kitchen. So let’s take a look at why it’s important to keep your stainless-steel appliances in tiptop shape and how easy maintaining them actually is.

What is stainless steel?

Stainless steel is a steel alloy that doesn’t react with oxygen and is resistant to oxidation. That means it doesn’t rust, stain, or corrode easily. Because it’s one of the least corrosive materials on the market, manufacturers use stainless steel to make everything from car parts to kitchen appliances.

Why do you need to clean stainless steel?

As we’ve mentioned, despite its name, certain types of stainless steel can actually stain. Each type or “grade” has a different level of quality and ability to hold up to wear and tear, says Tricia Holderman, CEO of Elite Home Services and Elite Facility Systems in Dallas.

But even the highest grade of stainless-steel products can be ruined if they’re not cared for properly.

Realtor.com

An eight-sided house in Sultan, WA, didn’t have to wait around long for an offer.

The octagonal home angled its way onto the market in December and found a buyer within eight days.

Needless to say, there was plenty of curiosity surrounding the oddity.

“There are rumors that swirl,” says listing agent Angela Nebeker, with John L. Scott Sammamish. “It’s this house behind iron gates, so we’ve had a lot of local community people that have always wanted to come in there and see it.”

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Most home buyers applying for a loan know what a mortgage is, but a reverse mortgage may seem far less familiar. Maybe you’ve heard this mortgage term bandied about, and maybe have even seen the late-night TV ads promoting them. But people are often confused or all-out clueless on the details of this type of loan, so allow us to explain.

What to know about a reverse mortgage

True to its name, this type of mortgage is the opposite of a traditional loan, where you borrow a couple of hundred thousand dollars for a mortgage from a lender and then slowly pay it back month by month—plus interest. In a reverse mortgage loan, your lender pays you, slowly turning the home equity you’ve earned back into cold, hard cash.

However, just because you qualify for this type of mortgage doesn’t mean this loan option is a good idea for you. Read on to make sure you understand the risks and benefits, and how this will affect your home equity.

Who can get a reverse mortgage, and what are the benefits?

This type of mortgage is available to homeowners 62 and older, and can be useful for seniors searching for a loan who may not have much in terms of income or assets. A reverse mortgage taps into their home equity and increases the amount of money they have coming in to cover various living expenses.

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The short answer is no. However, if you want your offer to be taken seriously and to stand out from any competing bids, this little piece of paperwork can really give you the edge.

“While you do not ‘need’ a pre-approval letter from your lender in order for your offer to be accepted, I highly recommend all of my buyers present it,” says Denise Shur, a Realtor® with 1:1 Realty in San Jose, CA. In fact, “I do not look for homes with my buyers until they have a pre-approval letter from their lender. To me, it’s that important.”

What is mortgage pre-approval?

Basically, a mortgage pre-approval letter is a guarantee from a lender that it’s willing to finance your home purchase up to a certain dollar amount, based on financial info you’ve shared with it, such as your pay stubs and tax returns. Pre-approval should not be confused with pre-qualification.

“These terms are often used interchangeably, but there is a big difference,” explains Scott Ricamore, a Realtor with Keller Williams Park Cities in Dallas. “A pre-qualification is provided based on info shared verbally that has not been verified. Pre-approval requires an underwriter to scrutinize your documentation and approve the income and assets for a loan.”