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A recently renovated antique owned by the same family for 11 generations in Farmington, CT, is the oldest property to hit the market this week on Realtor.com®.

Originally built in 1660, the 3,635-square-foot home was remodeled down to the studs. Three original fireplaces remain, but the interior now boasts a new look.

Other historic homes on the market this week include a Colonial-era house in Rhode Island, a Quaker stone home in Virginia, and the former Pennsylvania home of U.S. President James Buchanan.

Scroll down for a full look at this week’s 10 oldest homes.

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On “Good Bones,” Mina Starsiak Hawk flips run-down homes across Indianapolis, usually for big profits. But, as the latest episode illustrates, she still makes mistakes.

In the episode “Soft Stark Southside House,” Starsiak Hawk has paid $30,000 for a house sight unseen. This has become a common practice for many homebuyers, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, when she and her assistant Cory arrive at the property for the first time, she is completely deflated.

“To be honest, I thought it was a different house,” she admits. “I thought it was the one across the street.”

So far, this gamble seems to be a bad bet. Can Starsiak Hawk turn it around? Check out how she attempts to recoup her losses while delivering plenty of smart tips that might apply to any abode, even your own.

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Rising mortgage interest rates have hit the housing market like a sucker punch—and they’re poised to deliver another bruising blow.

Mortgage rates could climb even higher after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it was increasing its short-term interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point. The Fed has been steadily hiking rates this year in its quest to bring inflation down, even at the risk of plunging the economy into a recession. And while mortgage rates are separate from the Fed’s rates, they generally follow a similar trajectory.

“People want to know when it’s going to end and how high rates are going to be when it does,” says Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “Housing is an interest rate-sensitive sector. When interest rates are high, it’s much more challenging for buyers. And it looks like interest rates are going to stay high for the foreseeable future.”

Record-low mortgage rates during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed home prices to reach new heights. The lower the rate, the lower the monthly housing payment buyers were making to their lenders. But the reverse is also true. Every time rates rise, even by just a fraction of a percentage point, it becomes more expensive for homebuyers to purchase the same property.

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A 3,000-square-foot dwelling built into the caves near Glenwood Springs, CO, is a rocky sight to behold.

Cave of Chimes is a one-of-a-kind home nestled in the walls of the Glenwood Springs Canyon. It could be yours for the steep price of $2,450,000.

The cave home is only a small portion of the property. (There’s also space above ground to build another home.) Getting to the underground dwelling is an adventure in itself.

Integrated Mountain Properties

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Sizzling hot hip-hop artist Lizzo will have plenty of room to throw her hair back and check her nails now that she’s purchased a $15 million Beverly Hills, CA, mansion once owned by fellow chart-topper Harry Styles, according to Dirt.

It seems great musical minds and close friends think alike.

But then again, who wouldn’t appreciate this modernist treehouse-inspired residence designed by Sam Gnatovich and Alexi Rennalls, the husband-and-wife team behind L.A.’s design-build studio Simo Design.

In fact, actor Jon Hamm and socialite Nicole Richie are among the celebrities who own homes done by Simo Design, Dirt notes.

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The one-two punch of high mortgage rates and inflation has caused would-be homebuyers to reconsider buying a house right now. This notion, in turn, has caused some home sellers to rethink putting their homes on the market.

If you’ve chosen to stay put for now in favor of making improvements to your home, we suggest you focus on the kitchen.

“A kitchen update can improve your home’s resale value, yield a healthy return on your investment, and breathe new life into the most popular room in the house,” says David Steckel, a home expert with Thumbtack. “A few small changes can lead to an unrecognizably beautiful kitchen space.”

Whether it’s new countertops or an appliance upgrade, here’s how to make your kitchen look as gorgeous as you’ve always wanted it to. Plus, if you do decide to sell in the future, your new kitchen will be a highlight for potential buyers.

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Q: Is buying my first home right now a mistake?

Homeownership has long been the American dream. A picturesque house of your own with a bright green lawn is deeply ingrained in our culture as something to aspire to. It has helped generations of homeowners build wealth that has been passed down to their children and their children’s children.

That’s why the following idea might shock you: Most people probably shouldn’t be buying a home in today’s market.

Many first-time homebuyers might be better off giving up, at least for now.

Home prices are high, mortgage interest rates have exceeded 7%, and there aren’t many properties to choose from. Inflation and rising rents are eating into down payment funds. And the economy and the financial markets are shaky. Even if the nation doesn’t fall into a messy recession (which is looking ever more likely), many Americans might find themselves out of work.

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Lots of local folklore surrounds a property once owned by country music legend Willie Nelson.

The 150-acre property is in Goodlettsville, TN, close to Nashville, and is listed for $2.5 million. It comes with pastures, woods, trails, and a secluded cabin.

The musician is one of only two owners of the sprawling property.

“From what we can find from tax records, there have only been two owners. One is the current seller and different members of that family. And the other is Willie Nelson,” says Ross Welch. Welch and Matt Lawson, both with Zeitlin Sotheby’s International Realty, are representing the property.

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A beautiful home has come on the market in the town that serves as the backdrop of the Netflix show “Outer Banks.”

TV producers are always on the hunt for interesting neighborhoods to film, so it’s no surprise, really, that the mystery teen drama is filmed in the Old Village Historic District in Mount Pleasant, SC.

The South Carolina beach town stands in for the barrier islands along the coast of North Carolina known as the Outer Banks on the Netflix show.

“The Old Village has a few shops and one of those old-fashioned pharmacies (Pitt Street Pharmacy) with a soda fountain … for that Americana, throwback feeling,” says Maison Real Estate’s Mary Lou Wertz.

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As home prices have soared throughout the Sun Belt, many retirees are trading the warmer winters there for a more affordable lifestyle elsewhere.

U.S. News & World Report named Lancaster, PA, about 90 minutes west of Philadelphia, as the best place to retire in its 2022–23 annual rankings. Home prices in the snowier metropolitan area were a median $344,700 in September, according to Realtor.com® data. That’s significantly less than the national median price of $427,250.

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“Pennsylvania just edged out Florida,” says Emily Brandon, U.S. News senior editor for retirement. Retirees “still want to live near the beaches in Florida. [But] retirees and soon-to-be retirees told us this year that the thing that matters most to them is affordability.”

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What is a home equity line of credit? If you’ve been looking for a way to get a little money out of your home without actually selling it, you’ve probably come across this option, known as a HELOC for short (pronounced “heelock”). Clear as mud, right? Now that you’re no doubt wondering what is a home equity line of credit going to do for me, let us clarify.

What is a home equity line of credit?

Like a Home Equity Loan (also known as a “second mortgage”), a HELOC allows you to borrow money using the equity in your home as collateral. But the thing that differentiates a HELOC is that it’s like a credit card: You can borrow on an as-needed basis, up to the loan’s limit, over the term of the loan (usually 5 to 20 years). In fact, your lender will actually issue you a small plastic card that looks just like a credit card, to allow you to access your money easily.

This works well for those who want to borrow money but don’t know exactly how much they’ll need, or for people who don’t need to borrow a lump sum all at once and will be paying for something over time —i.e. medical bills, college tuition, or major additions to their home.

For example, let’s say you want to add an extra bedroom and bathroom onto your house, and a contractor has given you an estimate that the project would cost $50,000 total. You could set up a Home Equity Line of Credit for $50,000, and pay for the materials, services, and labor over time, as the bills come due.

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On “Help! I Wrecked My House,” host Jasmine Roth knows that it’s all too easy for homeowners to start a home renovation project—but then never quite finish.

That’s what’s happened in the latest episode, “You Don’t Complete Me,” where homeowners Audrey and Darin attempted some DIY upgrades around their house in La Palma, CA, got stuck halfway through, then gave up.

Throughout their house, Roth finds holes in walls, tiles pried off countertops, and exposed wires in the ceiling. Darin is a union pipe fitter trying to become a full-time longshoreman, and Audrey is a communications coordinator. They also have two young children. With so much going on, it’s no wonder their home projects stalled.

“They do not have any extra time to work on their house. Yet, for some reason, they keep taking on projects that are above their skill set and are way too ambitious,” says Roth.

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It makes sense that mortgage rates are up. But by this much? That requires some explanation.

Freddie Mac’s weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has cracked 7% for the first time in two decades, a rise just shy of 4 percentage points from the end of last year. By contrast, benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields are up around 2.5 points. What this means is that the gap—or spread, in financial lingo—between mortgage rates and Treasury yields has ballooned.

For the past decade, the spread between a measure of average national mortgage rates and 10-year Treasury yields has averaged 1.8 points, according to figures tracked by Autonomous Research. This year began right around that level. But with Treasurys yielding over 4%, the spread now at roughly 3 points is about as high as it has been this century.

Other times that the spread has seen comparable widening were in late 2008 and March 2020, when the financial crisis and pandemic, respectively, were driving investors to the haven of Treasurys. In both cases, the Federal Reserve stepped up to buy more mortgage bonds, bringing spreads and mortgage rates down, as spreads on mortgage bonds are a key component in the mortgage rates ultimately charged to borrowers.

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At the end of a long day of packing your possessions, labeling boxes, and fretting about moving everything from Point A to Point B, you might suddenly realize you have no idea how much to tip—you know, those guys who hauled your couch up three flights of stairs, along with all the other stuff you’ve accumulated in your lifetime. How much gratuity is customary for such service?

Generally, 15% to 20% is a customary tip in metropolitan areas, and 10% is on par for smaller areas, according to T.J. Peterson, digital marketing manager of Oz Moving & Storage, based in New York City.

Do you have to tip movers?

Yet tipping movers, like tipping any service worker, is a matter of discretion. In other words, if your movers took extra care when lifting boxes onto the truck or carefully wrapping your grandmother’s mantel clock, then show your appreciation with a nice gratuity. If the movers treated your possessions like junk, there’s no obligation to tip them at all.

“If you’re unhappy with your experience, you’re not obligated to tip,” says Peterson.

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Want to live like a sports star? The spectacular 9,395-square-foot megamansion in Paradise Valley, AZ, built for Major League Baseball legend Charles “Chili” Davis is now being offered for $8.5 million.

The home was originally listed in July for $9.5 million, so the current price represents a $1 million reduction.

The five-bedroom, six-bathroom house was custom-built in 2000 for the three-time All-Star. It has since changed hands a couple of times. The current owner picked it up in 2013 for $4,950,000.

‘Masterpiece property’

Sitting on 3 private acres on a hilltop, the elegant home in the Montana De Bonitas Casas neighborhood offers awe-inspiring views of Mummy Mountain.

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Maybe you’ve found a property that will be a killer investment at a bargain price. Or perhaps the beach cottage you’ve had your eye on for years just came on the market. Whatever the reason, if you’re considering applying for another mortgage while refinancing your current home, the process can be a bit complicated. To give you the full picture, we consulted mortgage experts and broke down the rules.

What to know about refinancing while buying a second home

There’s nothing wrong with refinancing one mortgage at the same time that you are buying an investment property or second home with a mortgage, according to Andrew Weinberg, principal and licensed mortgage broker at Silver Fin Capital Group, in Great Neck, NY.

The key factor to making both the refinance and new purchase work is to ensure you will qualify for the new home loan.

“This means taking into account your current home payment,” says Ralph DiBugnara, president of New York’s Home Qualified and vice president at Cardinal Financial. A mortgage bank can very easily tell you the total payments and loan amounts you’ll be able to carry based on your current income.

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Homeowners across the country are sitting on a record amount of home equity.

Home equity refers to the difference between the current value of a home and how much is still owed on the mortgage. Therefore, if you have a house worth $400,000 and you’ve paid $100,000 toward your mortgage, your equity is equal to 25%.

As a share of total real estate value in the country, home equity has risen along with home prices to currently hover at 70.5%—its highest level since 1984. To put that number in perspective, 10 years ago, in 2012, home equity hovered at just 46%.

“For over a decade, home prices have climbed consistently, with an acceleration to a double-digit pace over the most recent two years,” notes Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. This, in turn, has helped push the total value of owner-occupied real estate in the United States to a new high of $41.2 trillion.

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A 1913 Swiss chalet–style Craftsman in Long Beach, CA, comes with a heckuva story.

The 4,809-square-foot home with four bedrooms and four baths is on the market for $3,495,000 with Loree Scarborough of Compass.

That’s the storybook ending. How it got to that point is hard to believe. The tale involves saving the home from the wrecking ball, relocating it, and then renovating it.

Saved not razed

First, the seller snapped up this home at no cost—that’s right, free—in 1989. While “free” is certainly a deal, this home came with quite a catch—and a cost.

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The term, Hawaiian in origin, describes an open-air porch that’s furnished for comfort, with couches, ceiling fans, and—on the design side—tropical flair.

Not surprisingly, lanais are par for the course in homes across Hawaii, but their popularity has caught on throughout many warmer climes, from Southern California through Florida. Even homes located in temperate zones can have a lanai that can be used during the warmer months.

So if you love spending your summers lounging on your porch with a cocktail in hand, you’ll likely love it even more if you turn this outdoor space into a lanai. Here’s what you need to know about this fun home feature, so you can decide whether you want one of your own.

What to know about a lanai

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Oscar winner and wellness entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow got her start in this little ol’ mansion in Santa Monica, CA—and it can be yours if you’ve got $17.5 million.

Yup, Paltrow‘s parents, Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner, snapped up this massive property in 1976. The future Goop founder was just 4.

The Paltrow clan called it home until 2008, when it was sold to Jerome Dahan, co-founder of the denim brands Citizens of Humanity and 7 for All Mankind.

As would befit this legendary Hollywood family, the home is spacious at 6,900 square feet and ultraplush with six bedrooms and  6.5 baths.