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Maybe you’ve been inspired by those “Sold” signs in your neighborhood; maybe you’re just ready for a change of scenery. Whatever the case, a great way to get an idea of how much your home is worth is to look at the recent sale prices of other homes in your neighborhood.

Comps can help you figure it out

By identifying the sale prices of similar properties in your area, known as “comparables” (or comps), you can come up with a realistic asking price. When using comps, you’ll want to compare apples to apples—that is, homes that have a similar square footage and amenities as yours. You also want to look at homes that were sold within the same six-month period and that are similar in style.

“I try to find properties within 150 square feet either side of the subject property with similar features,” says Rick Snow, a Realtor® with Exit West Realty in El Paso, TX.

“The number of bedrooms doesn’t really matter because they are all figured into the square footage, but baths—half, three-quarter, or full—give more value,” he says. “For example, a three-bedroom, two-bath home that is 1,800 square feet would come out the same as a four-bedroom, two-bath home that’s 1,800 square feet; but a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath would be worth more.”

While the 4.8 percent growth was still above historical norms, it’s the smallest increase since June 2021. Median asking rent in the nation’s 50 largest markets climbed to $1,979 last month.

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While this process—also known as “chimney sweeping”—might not be a regular stop in your housekeeping routine, it’s not something you want to overlook indefinitely. Every year, thousands of house fires originate in the chimney or fireplace, most often due to soot buildup that sparks and spreads from there. So now that the colder weather might inspire you to cozy up in front of a fire, here’s the info you need on how to clean a chimney—from where to find a professional cleaner to how to do this task yourself if you’re so inspired.

How to tell if your chimney needs cleaning

Chimney cleaning doesn’t need to be done every week or even every year, says Ashley Eldridge, director of education at the Chimney Safety Institute of America, in Plainfield, IN. It’s really necessary only if the chimney is full of soot. So how do you know if you have soot up there? You need to hire a pro to help you figure it out.

The National Fire Protection Association recommends homeowners get a yearly inspection of their chimney and fireplace to see if they need to be repaired or cleaned. There are two “levels” of an inspection. At the first level, certified inspectors will look for things like water damage to the masonry as well as the buildup of soot and creosote on the inside of the chimney.

This basic inspection involves things an inspector can check with the naked eye, and that’s all that’s typically needed for your yearly review. That said, some inspectors will bring a special camera that they will run up (or down) the chimney, for a second-level inspection. Although the NFPA doesn’t call for a yearly inspection of this intensity, it should be done every time a property changes hands—or if there has been a chimney fire. If an inspection uncovers a problem, then the chimney needs to be fixed and/or cleaned.

The new feature, prepared through a partnership between the brokerage and Wattbuy, will display an estimate of the homes' monthly electricity bills and seasonal changes in pricing.

For years, real estate professionals have looked to millennials to push the housing market forward as previous generations slow their homebuying and homeselling activities. However, several obstacles — overwhelming student loan debt, stagnant wage growth and skyrocketing home prices — have stifled millennials' homeownership dreams and turned them into what Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman calls "the roommate generation."

Realtor.com

Las Vegas is no stranger to lavish homes.

In the past year, casino mogul Steve Wynn unloaded a $17.5 million golf estate and ex-Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden sold his custom pad for $7 million.

A new listing for a 21,835-square-foot mansion, built in 1998, is finely tailored to the Vegas lifestyle. It boasts such extravagant novelties as a casino-game room and an indoor shooting range.

With 11 en suite bedrooms and 16 baths, the estate is listed for $7,900,000 with Don Kuhl of Douglas Elliman of Nevada.

This week, Byron Lazine and Nicole White are talking about the lagging growth at eXp, rising consumer confidence and the weekly media review Left, Middle, Right.

Zillow named this North Carolina city as its hottest market of the year, continuing the trend of cities with relatively warm climates taking the top spot, following Tampa in 2022 and Austin in 2021.

A financial firm recently set a $6 price target for Opendoor stock. That price would be substantially higher than what shares are currently fetching.

Realtor.com

Calling all science-fiction fans: A dome home in Otterville, MO, looks like it came from a galaxy far, far away.

Listed for $348,421, the otherworldly double-dome design measures 2,061 square feet, with five bedrooms and two bathrooms.

“It looks like something out of ‘Star Wars,’ because it’s two overlapping domes,” says listing agent Billie Barnes, of Re/Max of Sedalia.

There’s a reason for the unusual shape.

Real estate leaders are pessimistic about the state of the economy, but nevertheless upbeat about their ability to take share in a chaotic market, according to a new survey from Delta Media Group.

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Rent control is a law that means a home’s rent can be increased by only an incremental amount restricted by the government. As such, rent-controlled homes—typically apartments—remain affordable, shielded from landlords who, on the open market, can hike the rent to whatever people are willing to pay.

“In rent-controlled homes, the government regulates the rent with the goal of providing affordable housing to families in the area,” says law professor David Reiss, academic program director for the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship.

Rent-controlled apartments are most common in New York City (which enacted laws to this effect in 1943), but they’re also widespread in San Francisco and a handful of other densely populated urban areas. But rent control does come with some downsides and challenges—particularly if you’re trying to find one of these highly coveted units yourself.

What’s the difference between ‘rent-controlled’ and ‘rent-stabilized’?

The terms “rent-controlled” and “rent-stabilized” are often used interchangeably to describe any type of government-regulated rental unit, but there are substantial differences between these two terms that you should know.

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High mortgage interest rates were like a bucket of ice water dumped on the sizzling-hot housing market last year. Buyers could no longer afford to buy. So builders stopped building, sellers stopped selling, and the housing market froze.

However, mortgage rates are now coming down. And the slowdown in inflation could enable them to fall even further—perhaps even below 6%.

Mortgage rates averaged 6.33% for 30-year fixed loans in the week ending Jan. 12, according to Freddie Mac. Meanwhile, Mortgage News Daily, which reports average rates for the day instead of a whole week, had them at 6.07% as of Thursday afternoon. That’s quite a difference from when rates topped 7% just two months earlier.

The typical monthly mortgage payment is now below $2,000, a psychological milestone for many cash-strapped homebuyers.

HGTV

Property brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott are back with another season of “Brother vs. Brother,” where they compete against each other renovating different houses.

Season 8’s premiere episode is called “No Rules!” for good reason.

“We’re taking our sibling rivalry to a whole new level,” says Jonathan. “Because this time, our past rules have been tossed out the window. No limits on budgets, neighborhoods, or what we do to our houses.”

The only rule they’re sticking to is whoever makes the most profit from their renovation wins, with the proceeds being donated to charity.

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This repeating V or W pattern, often used for tiles on walls and floors, is inspired by the bone structure of the herring fish (hence its name). It’s also a popular decor trend today that can be traced back to Roman and Egyptian architecture.

“[It’s] the way ancient Romans set stones for paving thoroughfares, and the way they set stones for buildings and roof lines,” explains interior designer Debra Funt of Debra Funt Interiors in Scarsdale, NY. “If you look back at vaulted ceilings in churches, you will usually see some form of herringbone as well. It was used as much for structural integrity as for aesthetics.”

What to know about herringbone?

Herringbone has come back in a big way—you can spot it everywhere from haute couture to luxury home design. That’s because fashion and design are more closely linked than ever before, Funt says.

“Thanks to the popularity of midcentury modern ‘Mad Men’-inspired interiors and ’70s ‘vintage chic,’ we are moving into a period of more classic shapes and luxe fabrications like herringbone,” Funt says.

The once-frantic pace of consumer price growth has been slowing for months, which may bode well for buyers' budgets — and their financing, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Join us in person or virtually to learn from the best strategists, visionaries and agents in the game Jan. 24 through 26.

Lessen, a company that builds software to support the business operations of single-family rental investors and multifamily landlords has acquired SMS Assist, a facilities maintenance technology company.

Barry Jenkins, Better Homes and Gardens Native American Group chief marketing officer, sat down with Inman ahead of his appearance at Inman Connect New York.

Two decades of living below her means and socking away money paid off when a longtime Harlem renter went looking for the right one-bedroom. But first she had to figure out what the right one-bedroom looked like.