Homes.com | A place to dream, discover & decorate your home.

Refreshing Your Home Style? Top Trending Tips to Know

While it’s fun to stay on trend and up to date with the newest fads, it can also be intimidating to make a permanent decisions on new home decor and design. Thankfully, retailers have taken notice and created a wide array of products to help design your home in 2020.

Buying, Finance, Home Values

FICO’s® New Credit Scoring Method and the Effects on Mortgages

The company responsible for FICO® scores has built a new suite of credit scoring models that will be available by the end of 2020. So, if you’re going to be applying for a mortgage to buy or refinance your home, you should pay attention to the way it’s going to affect your credit score.

Buying, Going Green

How Climate Change Can Affect Real Estate

Many cities, states, product manufacturers and individual builders have thrown their weight into combating global warming– but just how important are the effects of real estate on climate change?

Home Decor

10 Easy Interior Design Trends to Incorporate Into Your Home

The new decade has arrived, and with that, new trends have arrived too. We’re seeing some new styles for the first time, and also a few returning trends looking to keep their status as a fan-favorite. Here’s what we’re seeing on trend for your home for 2020 and beyond.

Young contractor drilling a hole in a piece of wood in his workshop

DIY, Home Improvement

Important DIY Safety Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

Before jumping into any project or using a tool, often for the first time, it’s vital to make safety a top priority. Taking the proper safety measures not only projects yourself, but also those around you and your home.

love and homebuying lindsey mahoney building bluebird

Buying, Making a House a Home

My First Homebuying Experience and What I Learned | BuildingBluebird

I often think back to what made my husband and I fall in love with our first home and I can narrow it down to one word– potential. I had no idea what kind of passion this little fixer-upper would create inside of us or the path that it would set us on, but I am so happy that she was our first.

Celebrity Real Estate

The Late Gene Autry’s Former Estate Hits the Market for $8.25 Million

Everybody’s favorite country star had one of his residences hit the market late last month for $8.25 million. Autry, famously known for his Christmas hits like Rudolph the “Red-Nosed Reindeer” passed in 1998 and left behind the mansion that’s been dubbed “Rancho Autry.”

Chicago Skyline Scene in the Old Town and Gold Coast Neighborhoo

Buying, Finance, Foreclosures

The Best Markets If You’re Looking to Buy a Foreclosure

Whether you’re in the market for a family home or an investment property, you will find that foreclosure filings and prices differ significantly from one market to another.

Buying, Moving

My First Homebuying Experience with At Charlottes House

Charlotte Smith from AtCharlottesHouse shares her first-time homebuying experience. Living in NYC for many years, she never expected to become a homeowner. But, soon after getting married and having a couple of kids, her outlook changed! Here’s her story.

Home Tour

Historical Home Tour: Ghent, Norfolk

Once owned by memorable leaders in the Norfolk, Virginia area, 603 Redgate Avenue is a historical property brimming with 1900s architectural style and unique features to that era. Come with us as the owner, Gil, takes us on a tour of the luxuriously-made historical home.

DIY, Home Improvement

The Real Costs of House Flipping That HGTV Doesn’t Show You

With the rise in popularity of “fixer-upper” shows, more and more people are becoming intrigued by house-flipping. But, there’s one important thing most of these shows don’t reveal: the real costs that can be involved.

Row of large old brick houses with front porches and gardens

Buying, Finance, New Home Construction

Home Inventory Outlook for 2020: New Builds are on the Rise

For first-time homebuyers, new builds might be the way to go. The inventory of existing houses for sale is at an all-time low, but more new homes will be built this year than at anytime in the decade. Here’s a housing inventories outlook for 2020.

Buying, Moving

How Does Love Affect Homebuying?

When buying a home, what’s love got to do with it? As it turns out, more than we thought! Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we surveyed almost 800 people to find out how love shapes different attitudes and experiences of homebuying. (Don’t worry, we included singles, too!) Here’s what our survey found out.

living room with light purple couch and metal accents

Selling a Home

Should You Pay To Stage Your Home

It’s undeniable that they make the spaces their selling look incredible– and for a television show, it certainly makes sense to hire a professional stager. But what about the average homeowner? Should they pay to stage their home when selling?

Home Decor, Making a House a Home

Trending Interior Colors for 2020: Paint Trends to Know

Decor trends aren’t the only things that get to have fun each year, simpler things such as interior colors can help making your home trendy a lot easier. For 2020, some of the colors have us singing the blues while others are taking us back to nature, and we are just tickled pink.

Buying, Finance, Local Market Report

2020 Prediction: Top Performing Real Estate Markets for the Year

Analyzing the current conditions of local markets can help you anticipate price changes shortly. In no particular order, here’s a list of seven “Cinderella” markets– metros that stand a good chance of joining the top markets by the end year.

DIY

Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a DIY Renovation

Whether you’ve spontaneously decided to take on a renovation project yourself or have meticulously planned every step of the way, these are the five questions you should ask yourself before making the final commitment.

Kitchen Sink

The Royal Family as Neighbors: Who Was Voted the Best and Worst?

While we can all dream about the seemingly unattainable goal of being a part of the Royal Family, we can dream about something more feasible– being their neighbor. Homes.com surveyed over 1,000 people on which royals they think would be the best, and worst, neighbor to live next to.

Buying, Home Values

2020 Presidential Candidates: Policy Impacts on First-time Home Buyers

This year’s election is proving to be one of the most contentious battles for the White House the country has seen in years. Candidates from both sides of the aisle have established their platforms on hot-button issues from immigration reform to healthcare access. How might their plans affect young, first-time buyers facing higher home prices and tight inventory?

Buying, Finance

Loan and Grant Programs That Help With Closing Costs and Down Payments

While it’s encouraged to put 20% down to avoid additional fees, it’s sometimes just not possible. Luckily, there are options if you plan to purchase a home in 2020 that will help to alleviate the up-front costs of buying a home.

Buying, First Time Home Buyer's Guide, Foreclosures

Five Ways to Find a Bargain on a Home in 2020

Single family homes in America are more expensive today than they have ever been. However, inventories are slowly improving, and prices are growing at a much slower pace and, in many markets, sales have been relatively soft even at today’s low mortgage rates.

Home Decor, Selling a Home

The Ultimate Guide on Getting Your Home Ready to List

Thinking about listing your home? Not sure where to begin? Or what you should do before contacting an agent? We’ve got a list that breaks down all of the things you need to get your home ready to list. Consider it our ultimate guide to preparing your home for the real estate market and beyond!

Buying

Going Through the Homebuying Journey with Charlotte Smith from AtCharlottesHouse

Daydreaming about homes should be a prerequisite for any home buyer. The time spent searching, setting parameters and letting your mind wander truly helps you get comfortable with the language and the process of house hunting. Come with me as I go on the journey to shop for a new home.