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Tucked between Park and Lexington avenues is one of the most prestigious homes on the New York market. The Thomas Lamont mansion at 107 E 70th Street, originally commissioned by Lamont himself, was recently listed for $45 million.
The 10-bedroom, 14-bath, midblock mansion was designed in 1922 by Walker & Gillette—an architecture firm best known for its work on the once-private residences now occupied by the French and Italian consulates and the esteemed Spence School.
Lamont, a partner at J.P. Morgan, acquired the plot of land in 1920 and proceeded to build the “the best house on the best block,” The New York Times boldly stated.
It is, after all, nearly 23,000 square feet.
Design experts Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent openly admit they’re not the biggest sports fans. But as we see on the latest episode of “The Nate and Jeremiah Home Project,” they sure know how to score points with sporty homeowners.
Go team!
In the episode, “Story of Sacrifice,” Berkus and Brent meet Mark and Laura, who have lived in Merrick, NY, all their lives. They bought their home 15 years ago and have been wanting to renovate ever since.
The family, which includes two children, has been scrimping and saving for years—with Mark working Saturdays, going in early, and eating PB&J sandwiches for lunch. Over the years, they have managed to save an impressive $175,000 for the remodel. No loans or credit card debt for them!
Rising interest rates have not only thrown a wrench into home sales but have caused some pretty seismic changes in home renovation, too.
According to the just-released 2023 U.S. Houzz & Home renovation report of more than 46,000 respondents, nearly 3 in 5 homeowners remodeled or redecorated their homes last year, and nearly half made repairs. And this urge to revamp will carry firmly through 2023, the report says. More than half of homeowners (55%) are planning renovation projects in the next year.
What’s spurring the continued interest in home reno? It seems partially fueled by the fact that people are planning to stay put in their homes for the long haul, rather than sell and upsize to a bigger and better place.
“Faced with shortages of housing stock and high interest rates, we’re seeing homeowners update their current home to make the space more functional for the long term,” said Liza Hausman, vice president of industry marketing at Houzz.
After binge-watching a few hours of HGTV, home flipping may seem like a good way to make some extra cash. But the shows don’t always dwell on the financial risks facing investors who jump into the game.
Home flippers flooded the real estate market last year, according to a recent report from ATTOM, a real estate data firm. But their profits fell, as the housing market corrected to the lowest levels since the Great Recession.
To come up with its findings, ATTOM looked at metropolitan areas with at least 200,000 residents and 100 home flips last year.
Flips comprised roughly 8.4% of all home sales in 2022, the highest percentage since 2005, according to ATTOM. More than 407,000 single-family homes and condos were flipped last year—up 14% from 2021 and 58% from 2020. Nearly two-thirds of flips were purchased in all-cash deals.
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Paramount+ / Realtor.com
Talk about stunning!
New York City brownstones and townhomes are in a class by themselves, simply because there are far fewer of them around, compared to apartments.
So when a property like this one, which is owned by the “X-Men” actress Rebecca Romijn, hits the market (even just to rent), it grabs some attention. Just be prepared to pay dearly: The elegant abode in Manhattan’s trendy Chelsea neighborhood is listed for $17,500 a month.
With historic bones and a modern gut renovation, this gorgeous four-bedroom, three-bath home is truly one of a kind. Romijn’s eclectic remodel was featured in Architectural Digest in 2020.
The numbers: A dip in mortgage rates propelled U.S. home buyers to purchase new homes, boosting sales for the fifth month in a row. The strength in new home sales is due to the low number of options buyers have with previously owned homes.
New home sales rose 1.1% to an annual rate of 640,000 in February, from a revised 633,000 in the prior month, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The number is seasonally adjusted.
The data from January was revised significantly. New home sales only rose a revised 1.8% to 633,000 in January, compared with the initial estimate of a 7.2% increase to 670,000.
The new home sales data are volatile month-on-month and are often revised.
The Hollywood star of “27 Dresses” and “Westworld” fame is ready to collect the rent.
Yup, James Marsden, who got his start in the “X-Men” franchise movies, has listed his tidy Studio City, CA, pad for $6,595 a month.
Marsden’s roles in a range of projects, including “The Notebook” and “Superman Returns,” cemented his celebrity status.
The 49-year-old purchased the “starter home” in 1998 for $454,000, Forbes reported.
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Those trying to avoid natural disasters and the fallout from climate change might want to move to the Southwest.
Counties in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah have the lowest risk of environmental peril, according to a recent study from CoreLogic, a real estate data firm. The study analyzed the risk of natural disasters over the next 30 years, to the nation’s 154 million properties. Wildfires, tornadoes, inland flooding, severe thunderstorms, winter storms, earthquakes, hurricanes, and storm surges were included in the analysis.
“Generally, good elevation shields places from thunderstorms, wildfires, and flooding,” says John Rogers, chief innovation officer at CoreLogic.
Other factors—such as soil type, proximity to flammable brush, and building codes and types—also play a part.
It’s always fun to see what the homes renovated on reality television really sell for. Do the sale prices given on the show accurately reflect the true sale? Did some offers fall through? And does a reality TV makeover increase a home’s resale value?
One of the most transparent renovators on television is Tarek El Moussa, co-star of three HGTV shows: “Flip or Flop,” “Flipping 101,” and “The Flipping El Moussas.” He not only reveals his purchase price and the cost of the renovation but also what it should cost to sell the house (taking into account the marketing, commissions, and staging expenses).
El Moussa also discloses the finance, or “carrying” costs, on his properties. This comes down to the monthly interest paid to the lender. Short-term loans usually demand a higher interest rate. A quick turnaround renders a higher profit.
He also attaches his name and the show name to his listings, which could add sales appeal for El Moussa fans who want to buy his renovated residences.
A 12-acre farm in West Chester, PA, where the first shots of the Battle of Brandywine were fired, is the oldest property on the market this week on Realtor.com®.
The place played a prominent role in the Revolutionary War. Today, the property’s fenced-in pasture and tack house make it an equestrian lover’s dream.
Other vintage dwellings to hit the market this week include a historic New England Cape in Connecticut, a Maryland cottage owned by an officer in the Continental Army, and a Colonial farmhouse in New Jersey.
Scroll down for a full look at this week’s 10 oldest homes.
The Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike may be like a late frost creeping over the fragile spring housing market.
In the wake of the Fed increasing its rates by 0.25% on Wednesday afternoon, mortgage interest rates are expected to rise again. That’s going to hurt buyers grappling with still-high home prices, mortgage rates that are already nearing 7%, and a lack of properties for sale. Sellers will also share in the pain as there will be fewer buyers who can afford to jump into the fray and pay top dollar for their homes.
The housing market had begun to thaw as mortgage rates had temporarily fallen to the low 6% range. But this expected rate increase could halt the momentum that had been building.
“With home prices and mortgage rates already pushing the edge of the envelope for many shoppers’ budgets, it’s not surprising to see homebuyers respond when rates fluctuate,” says Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “When rates rise, we see signs that buyers are pulling back, but when rates drop, homebuyers seem to jump back in the market.”
On “Fixer to Fabulous,” Dave and Jenny Marrs have been making over their hometown of Bentonville, AR, one house at a time. Now they’ve stepped it up and are revitalizing the whole town.
In the latest episode, “Historic Bank Into Mercantile,” they revisit Centerton. In this neighboring town, the couple have purchased a former bank built in 1905, for $130,000. They’ve already spent $100,000 converting the upstairs level into a chic apartment and office space.
Now, it’s time to tackle the first floor, spending $100,000 to transform it into a store called “Marrs Mercantile,” where they’ll sell baked goods and lifestyle items handmade by local artisans.
Remind you of anyone … or place? Sounds a lot like how Chip and Joanna Gaines of “Fixer Upper” fame morphed Waco, TX, into a tourist destination with a full slate of stores, restaurants, and attractions. It’s certainly a smart way to revitalize a sleepy downtown, and the renovations could apply to an assortment of spaces—residential, commercial, and otherwise. Check out how this latest project unfolds, and snag a little DIY inspiration.
Tax season is here—and while many gripe about forking money over to Uncle Sam, the real question is: Are your tax dollars being put to good use?
Odds are, you’re aware that certain areas have high taxes, while other places enjoy a lower rate. But rock-bottom taxes aren’t necessarily a good thing if your streets are riddled with potholes and petty crime. Ideally, the money people pay in taxes is used to improve their communities, but a recent study suggests that certain states are much better at this than others.
According to WalletHub‘s Best & Worst Taxpayer ROI rankings for 2023, Americans’ tax payments offer wildly different rates of return on that investment, depending on where they live.
To help break it down, their team of data analysts compared how much residents pay in taxes, on average, to how much those funds end up impacting five key categories of livability: education (graduation rates, pre-K funding), health (number of hospital beds, life expectancy), safety (crime, car crashes), economy (unemployment rate), and infrastructure (water/air quality and bridge/road maintenance).
Dennis Grombkowski/Bongarts/Getty Images / Realtor.com
The Deegan clan is headed to the Sunshine State.
Brian Deegan, the most decorated freestyle motocross rider in X Games history, is pulling up stakes in North Carolina so he and his family can spend more time in Florida, his wife Marissa Deegan announced on Instagram.
The couple have listed their 15,000-square-foot family compound on 35 acres in Cleveland, NC, for $3.95 million. The Deegans bought the property for $2.1 million in 2021.
This isn’t the pair’s first spin around the track with real estate. We’ve seen them sell a different mansion in North Carolina in 2020 and let go of a Southern California spread in the same year.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for SKIMS / Realtor.com
Reality star Kim Kardashian still needs buyer for her stylish Calabasas, CA, condo.
The three-bedroom home has been on and off the market over the last few years. The posh pad was listed once again last November, and Kardashian is holding firm on the $2.7 million price tag.
The 2,260-square-foot penthouse sits on the top floor of the luxury Avanti condo community. Reminiscent of an Italianate village, the 72-unit development was built in 2016.
Kardashian and her mother, Kris Jenner, purchased multiple condos in the luxury development before it was completed.
If you’re in the market for a home but are discouraged by the current high mortgage rates, you’ve probably heard the advice “buy now and refinance later”—maybe from your mortgage lender, real estate agent, or a well-meaning friend.
This seemingly simple solution might empower you to stretch your budget now, with the plan to refinance when mortgage rates drop.
But is “buy now, refinance later” the win-win it’s cracked up to be?
Let’s take a look at this homebuying strategy from all angles and explore the ways in which it could help—or hurt—buyers down the line.
Robert Knopes/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
That question keeps boiling up to the surface, as buyers grapple with the current state of the housing market. High prices and soaring mortgage rates are driving affordability into the dirt. And lurking at the center of all buyer challenges is one towering and inescapable bugaboo: the lack of available homes. It’s simple math. Fewer homes = increased competition, higher prices, and epic levels of frustration.
Last year, new-home construction permits for single-family dwellings declined by about 14% over the previous year—and it’s hardly a new trend. Since the 1990s, U.S. housing starts per 1,000 households have been about half of what they were for the preceding 30 years. The building slowdown spiked in the wake of the 2008 housing crash, then again with the supply-side issues of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current shortfall in new construction is estimated to be as high as 6 million homes.
But not all corners of the U.S. are quite as new-home parched as others. There are still places where builders are putting up new homes to meet buyers’ demands, especially in more affordable areas where dollars stretch further. And Realtor.com® searched out those metros.
Most of these places are in the South, where land is more readily available, expensive building regulations are fewer, and prices aren’t as crazy as they are in states like California.
Many homeowners have likely imagined the renovations that would transform their homes into the fabulously stylish and seamlessly functional abodes of their vision-board dreams.
But for those who have gathered the funds (and the strength) to actually tackle a remodel, those dreams can quickly turn into nightmares—without an established and realistic timeline, that is. And might we add, knowing when to bend those expectations is pretty important, too.
So we rounded up the four most common types of remodeling projects with a range of how long each typically takes—and what bumps homeowners might expect along the way.
First, remember timelines can change
Home renovation timelines can vary widely, depending on the scope and complexity of the project, says Andrew Lokenauth, the founder of Fluent in Finance, who is also a seasoned real estate flipper. Your location can also impact the length of your renovation.
A midcentury modern house that has been in the same family since it was built in 1960 has hit the market for the first time.
“My husband was born and raised here,” says listing agent and owner Kelli Weis, with Daniel Ravenel Sotheby’s International Realty. “It’s a steel and glass house, and [there is] a thoughtfulness behind every room and every design feature.”
This showstopper in Savannah, GA, is listed for $1.5 million. The home needed just five days on the market to land in contingent sale status.
ExteriorKeen Eye Marketing
Millo Moravski/Agence Zoom/Getty Images / Realtor.com
Whoosh! That was fast.
World-famous skier Lindsey Vonn seems to have tired quickly of her gated, waterfront abode in Miami Beach, FL.
Vonn purchased the posh property for $4.38 million just last May with boyfriend Diego Osorio, an actor and founder of a high-end tequila brand.
Now she’s making a run for a tidy profit—the house is priced at $6 million.
