Housing Chatter delivers the news you need to know about current events in the housing market in simple terms. We have no political or institutional affiliations so you can be confident that our content and commentary is unbiased. Housing Chatter is brought to you by your professional Realtor®.

How to Reduce Stress by Learning the Science Behind What’s Causing It

You can’t conquer stress until you understand exactly what it is and the physical effect it has on you. Stress triggers a chain reaction of physiological effects in our body. When your brain detects a stressor, your hypothalamus releases the hormone cortisol, which then jumps into your blood stream and locks into receptors in your tissues and organs. Your b ... Read More »

Today’s first-time homebuyer is 32 and more likely to be single

A lot of people have this idea that buying a house is something you do once you’re married and ready to “settle down.” Maybe you buy your first house so you have room for your kids, or you’re preparing to need that room. That’s mostly how it used to be. Historical data shows that the majority of first-time homebuyers in the ’70s were about 29 or 30, marrie ... Read More »

7 Reasons Your Last Email Pitch Didn’t Get a Response

People tend to make these mistakes over and over again. The good news is, they’re all fixable. This story first appeared on The Muse, a Web destination with exciting job opportunities and expert career advice. You’re eager to contribute a guest blog, land an interview with a trade publication, or speak at an upcoming event—so you hit send on a pitch you w ... Read More »

8 Ingenious Open House Hacks

When it comes to assessing a potential new place to live, savvy shoppers know how to get the most out of an open house tour. From testing the sound quality to scoping out your new neighbors, here’s how to sleuth out some important features that you can’t tell from a listing. 2015-08-28-1440792020-9854853-August2015Trulia8SneakyWaystoTakeYourNewPlaceforaTest ... Read More »

Getting Your Home Ready to Sell

The recovering U.S. economy has many homeowners considering whether it’s finally time to sell. Making that decision requires a thorough overview of household finances, local economic conditions and lifestyle objectives. If your last real estate closing occurred more than a decade ago – before the 2006 housing bust – a little home-sale retraining might be in ... Read More »

LENDER SCORECARDS ON TITLE COMPANIES

Starting October 3rd, lenders will begin the newly revised process for real estate transactions. This process does not only change the forms, but how each entity conducts their business. Lenders will be issuing scorecards out to title companies who fully meet, or not meet, their expectations. Leniency can no longer be tolerated because TRID will affect all p ... Read More »

Gift Yourself a ‘Staycation’ This Labor Day!

It is hard for me to believe that summer is over. It seems like just last week it was May, and now we are already past the first of September — mere moments away from Labor Day. When I was a child, summers seemed to last forever. As soon as we ran out of the building on the last day of school, it felt like September was years away. As a kid, my summers were ... Read More »

The Top 10 Cities for a Worktirement

It’s called a worktirement and it’s becoming increasingly common. Instead of leaving the workforce entirely sometime in their 60s, many seniors are continuing to work (at least part-time) well into their 70s and 80s. There are the obvious benefits to a worktirement like having an additional source of income to go along with Social Security disbursements an ... Read More »

6 Things About Leadership That Business Gurus Can’t Tell You

Are some business leaders too dependent on business gurus? Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek. Business, like any other religion, has priests. They find pithy ways to sum up their homilies. They have (usually more than ten) commandments that they readily update. And, like every cleve ... Read More »

6 Surprisingly Straightforward Ways to Tell If Your New Salesperson Can Really Sell

Hiring the right salesperson for your company is rarely easy. A sales recruit may impress you in the interview with the gift of gab but not be able to close once hired. He may have been good at selling something else, but not your product. Yet more than with any other position, the future of your company rests on making the right choice. So how do you tell i ... Read More »

Instead of Happiness, Build a Culture on Wholeness Instead

We’re all about humanizing brands now. But what about our employees? I often wonder why we divide our lives into work vs. play, work days vs. weekends, and professional vs. personal. It feels like most of us apply our whole selves to only half our lifetimes, and work is the half that suffers. Something is keeping us from embracing work as meaningful and ful ... Read More »

Build Your Home Equity Now

When you buy a home, there are a few main ways to build equity. You can put money down in the down payment, take advantage of market upswings, or pay your lender back. The market lately has been helping many homeowners do just this with sales volume climbing. With this market momentum, you can easily take advantage of the low interest rates and housing su ... Read More »