A slow economy is making it easier to nail down a contractor for home improvement jobs these days. (Photo: iStockphoto)

If you haven’t done any remodeling yet this year, now may be the time. The Wall Street Journal reports that thanks to the economic downturn and slow housing market, homeowners are paying as much as 20 percent less for home improvement projects, compared to what the same projects would have cost them a few years ago …Full Story

Gen Y buyers don't want a long commute to work. (Photo: iStockphoto)

From where Raffi Arslanian sits, Generation Y is the perfect home buyer. The architect and developer has 20 years experience designing and building commercial and residential properties, but turned his focus to Generation Y in the past five years. He tailors his units in northern New Jersey to these buyers—who Cyberhomes finds are increasingly picky and still want all the finer things in life. And despite the downturn in the economy, he says his units are still selling out.  …Full Story

Home prices in South Florida now match what buyers are willing to pay. (Photo: iStockphoto)

Before relocating to Georgia in 1998, I lived for nearly 20 years in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. South Florida has always been an interesting real estate market, driven in part by its natural, immovable boundaries. It has the Atlantic Ocean on the east, the Everglades on the west and the end of the United States on the south. There really are only two ways for the market to grow – you either tear down something old and replace it with something new, or you go vertical. During the real estate boom, the market saw plenty of both …Full Story

Which of the four "F's" are keeping you out of the housing market? (Photo: iStockphoto)

Home Sales: The Four "F"s are still taking hold of buyers -- Fear, Financing, Falling Prices and Finding a Buyer for their 'other' house. That was a tweet I saw the other day from Bradley Hunter, chief economist for MetroStudy, which is a housing market research firm. He leads up a team of 650 researchers in 25 major housing markets across the country …Full Story

The outlook is cloudy for many home buyers racing to meet the $8,000 tax-credit deadline. (Photo: iStockphoto)

About 1.4 million home buyers have used the $8,000 first-time home buyer credit, according to the Internal Revenue Service. And from the looks from comments to this blog, there are many, many more potential home buyers out there looking to benefit from the credit. But the catch is that the credit is only available to taxpayers who've purchased a home before Dec. 1 of this year, leaving those who haven't qualified yet for the tax credit a very limited time to do so. And while there have been some signs of hope that the credit could be extended into 2010, the jury is still out on whether it actually will be …Full Story

In many ways, the landscape looks bleak for large homes. (Photo: iStockphoto)

How big of a house do people really want? There was an interesting blog post on WallStreetJournal.com asking whether large houses are headed for obsolescence. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are because historically, they haven’t been the norm. I had a conversation with a builder not too long ago about what kind of houses are selling in today’s market, and he told me that until the advent of easy financing, their sweet spot was in the 1,200- to 1,500-square-foot range. When buyers started getting approved for bigger mortgages, the square footage jumped accordingly. Now, as loan approvals are tighter, people are looking once again at smaller homes …Full Story

A minor hole, or a money pit? (Photo: Fulton Homes)

I ran across a tweet the other day about Fulton Homes, a builder in Phoenix, Ariz., that appears to be successfully competing against the foreclosures that are prevalent in its market.

Part of its marketing strategy is a foreclosure cost calculator, which gives prospective home buyers who are considering buying either a foreclosure or a new house a list of the potential costs associated with each, so that they can make a realistic comparison. You can adjust the calculator for the condition of the house – good, fair, poor or wrecked. I questioned some of the numbers in their estimate – I thought the price for exterior painting, windows, and HVAC sounded low and I’ve done replacement cabinets and flooring for a whole lot less – but it’s a good starting point for doing some math …Full Story

Funding to build low-cost apartments has dropped by more than half in two years to $4 billion. (Photo: iStockphoto)

For thousands of low-income renters nationwide — but especially in rural towns and small cities — the recession is hitting home in an unexpected way.

Nationwide, funding to build low-cost apartments has dropped by more than half in two years to $4 billion. Hundreds of projects can't get off the ground because the federal tax credits that help offset development costs are currently worthless to traditional investors …Full Story

Blog readers hope the $8,000 first-time homebuyers' tax credit will be extended. (Photo: iStockphoto)

Do you want Congress to extend the deadline for the first-time homebuyer credit? If so, make your voice heard at the Cyberhomes.com blog and let everyone know why the credit should be extended. Many Cyberhomes' readers already have, in response to post, "Extension of homebuyer tax credit?" by my fellow blogger, Pat Curry …Full Story

Nigerian scammers are posting fake rentals for landlords they say are doing missionary work abroad. (Photo: iStockphoto.)

Nigerian money scams: They aren’t just for fake deposed royalty anymore.

Now, apparently, they're for fake bad landlords, too. And they’re working through that great clearinghouse of “sensual massages” and missed connections—Craigslist, without Craigslist's knowledge, of course …Full Story