Portland, Ore., city council members want to put a stop to landlords sticking renters with higher rents.Last week, City Council members approved a “relocation assistance” bill that is raising eyebrows of landlords across the country. Here’s what the new bill does: If a landlord raises the rent by more than 10 percent of a renter -- and doing so would force the renter to have to move -- the landlord will have to pay the tenant between $2,900
The chairman of the tax-writing House Ways & Means Committee joined REALTORS® at NAR’s 2017 Federal Policy Conference in Washington yesterday and urged them to stay engaged over the next year while lawmakers in Congress look at a full-scale reform of the country’s tax code.This year, tax reform is expected to be high on the list of priorities Congress and the new Administration are expected to take up. Reform of the seco
A month and change into 2017, how are your resolutions doing? "My what?" you may ask. If you have already given up on exercise because you never find the time, fitness site Darebee.com devised a 15-minute exercise plan you can do almost anywhere.The plan uses six quick movements repeated from 10 times (push-ups) to 40 (punches), with the six stages repeated three times for maximum effectiveness.None of the exercises require any equipment, althoug
Consumers view homeownership as a priority and say they’re willing to make significant compromises in order to purchase a home, according to a survey of more than 1,000 consumers considering a home purchase in 2017, conducted by the online brokerage firm Owners.com.Sixty-nine percent of survey respondents say they’re concerned they won’t have enough cash for a down payment in order to buy a home. As such, they’re willing to forgo some fin
Austin, Texas, is the best place to live in the U.S. in 2017, according to the latest findings from U.S. News & World Report’s annual best places to live rankings. Publication researchers analyzed the 100 most populous metro areas to find the places that have the best value, strongest job markets, and highest quality of life.These cities ranked at the top of U.S. News & World Report’s list: Austin, Texas Denver San Jose, Calif. Washin
Housing affordability dropped to the lowest level in seven years at the end of 2016. It now takes 22.2 percent of a person’s median income to make the monthly principal and interest payment on a median-priced home, according to new findings from Black Knight Financial Services. That amounts to a 10 percent increase in the fourth quarter alone.Economists blame rising mortgage rates, price increases, and sluggish income growth for the growing hou
Here’s why brokerages may want to shush some of the politically oriented office banter: It could be making workers less productive. Since the presidential election, many coworkers are talking politics at work or with peers on Facebook. All of the political talk, however, is causing workers to feel distracted from doing their job, a new study of 500 U.S. adults employed full-time commissioned by Wakefield Research shows.Twenty-nine percent of wo
A slight decrease in mortgage rates last week gave home buyers a slight jolt to get moving. Total mortgage application volume, which includes refinancings and home purchases, increased 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. That said, applications continue to run 23 percent below year-ago levels, mostly due to a big drop in refinancing applications.Last week, mortgage application
Could your marketing be outdated, ineffective, or even harmful? Forbes.com columnist John Rampton recently featured several signs to watch for to know if your marketing is falling flat, including:1. You’re ignoring inbound marketing.It’s not just about the advertisements in magazines or online. Inbound marketing focuses on providing customers with valuable content, instead of pushing out a specific message. “Inbound marketing has been prove
The homeownership rate is on the decline again. The latest numbers reflecting the fourth quarter of 2016 show the homeownership rate fell from 63.8 percent a year earlier to 63.7 percent, the Census Bureau reported. While the drop may seem slight, it reflects an overall trend for homeownership in the country for the past few years. The historical average for the homeownership rate is about 65 percent.Despite improvements in the housing market, th
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