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If you’re gearing up to buy a home, there’s a bitter pill you’ll have to be prepared to swallow. You don’t just have to pay for the house itself.

You’ll also need to open your swiftly slimming wallet for a myriad of costs, fees, and taxes—the infamous closing costs. They encompass a wide variety of fees that average between 2% to 7% of your home’s purchase price. So for the purchase of a $400,000 home, your closing costs could add up to anywhere from $8,000 to $28,000. As we said, be prepared.

After the stress of house hunting and the anxiety of the offer, you might feel like you can’t handle yet another hurdle. But closing costs are an inevitable (and unavoidable) part of the purchase process. Happily, there’s often wiggle room—at least on the costs that could be covered by the seller. Learn about what goes into your closing costs—and, even more important, how to whittle them down to size.

Inspection and appraisal fees

You won’t have much luck lowering appraisal fees. The lender selects the appraiser, so you’ll likely be stuck paying their costs without much room to negotiate.

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New home construction bounced back in February for the first time in six months, led by apartment buildings, but it’s unclear if the bounce translates into a recovery for the housing market.

The numbers: Construction on new U.S. homes rose 9.8% in February to 1.45 million, the government said Thursday. The numbers are seasonally adjusted.

The rise in construction of homes follows a decline in January, when housing starts fell by 2%. New home construction is up for the first time in six months.

The increase was larger than what Wall Street expected. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal expected housing starts to stay at a 1.31 million rate from January’s initial estimate of 1.31 million.

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The perfect arty perch in New York City is now on the market for $2 million.

Located in Chelsea, in the heart of Manhattan’s gallery scene, the one-bedroom, two-bath apartment is currently owned by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei.

The loftlike apartment last changed hands in 2008 for $1,695,000, according to Realtor.com® data.

Ai is famous for his social activism as well as his contemporary work in such diverse fields as sculpture, photography, and public installations. But at home, he kept things plain and simple.

Photo courtey of Alair Homes Dallas via Houzz

If you can imagine a storybook cottage straight out of a fairytale, then you have a good idea of what a Tudor home looks like. Tudor homes originated in England during the Tudor period (between 1485 and 1603) and ranged from smaller cottages to larger country manor homes.

“You know you are looking at a Tudor home when it has a steeply pitched roofline, all brick exterior, stucco accents with wood patterns, and arched doorways,” says Sandra Shurling, broker/owner at Re/Max in Greensboro, GA. “Also, the enormous chimney is a must in a Tudor home—not only was it used to heat the home but to also make a statement.”

Tudor homes are quaint and cozy and can still be found throughout the U.S. For historic home enthusiasts, there’s lots to love about Tudor homes. Here’s a little background on this classic architectural style.

A brief history on Tudor homes

Tudor architecture reflects a style that became popular in Europe during the reign of Henry Tudor VIII.

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While kitchens and bathrooms tend to be the focus of homeowners’ renovation dollars, designer Jenny Marrs from HGTV hit “Fixer to Fabulous” says there’s one room you should not overlook if you’re hoping to truly relax at home: the bedroom, of course!

This busy mom of five, who’s been making over homes around Bentonville, AR, with her husband, Dave, is well aware that getting a good night’s sleep isn’t as easy as it should be these days. This might be why she’s teamed up with sleep aid supplement Natrol to help spread the word on turning our bedrooms into warm, relaxing retreats.

Read on for details that might inspire you to see your own bedroom’s potential in a whole new light.

What’s your and Dave’s bedroom design like?

Our home was built in 1903, so I wanted our room to be pretty simple and classic. We have what I call car siding on the wall. I try to incorporate some of those historic elements, and it’s painted a soft, creamy white. Then Dave built all of our furniture. So we have a wooden headboard, we have wooden side tables, and then a little dresser. I had Dave build it with drawers because I love drawers.

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A California home renovated by HGTV stars Heather Rae and Tarek El Moussa popped up on the market recently.

Their modern Mediterranean in Long Beach was just sold for $1,635,000. It was listed in January at $1,699,900.

This home was featured on the second episode of the couple’s new series, “The Flipping El Moussas.” On the show, Tarek works on flips with his new wife, Heather Rae, a real estate agent on the Netflix reality show “Selling Sunset.”

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A Colonial that was relocated from Lexington, MA, to New Canaan, CT, is the oldest property on the market this week on Realtor.com®.

The spacious home boasts a central chimney extension through the roof in a T shape, a “hallmark of the earliest Colonial period,” according to the listing. The 4-acre property also includes a two-car garage and a barn.

Other vintage dwellings to hit the market this week include a Greek Revival estate in Virginia, a Rhode Island riverfront gem, and a New Jersey townhouse that survived the Revolutionary War and later hosted Ernest Hemingway.

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

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Wondering how to water a lawn? Sadly, it’s not quite as simple as just turning on the sprinklers and walking away. The number of times you water your lawn throughout the year and how much water you give the grass matter—so if you’re foggy on the details, allow this latest installment of our Lawn Lover’s Guide to show you the ropes!

Read on to learn how to water a lawn, and when, how often your grass needs water, and a whole lot more to amp up your lawn care.

Why you should water your lawn

Grass may not be as difficult to maintain as a vegetable garden, but if you want to keep your yard looking green and gorgeous, you can’t just treat it with benign neglect. Aerating, seeding, and watering your lawn are all part of keeping your curb appeal intact.

“When you don’t give your lawn enough water, it grows with shallow roots,” explains Don Botts, the president of Quality All-Care Services, in Bonner Springs, KS. “This can stunt the growth of your grass and make it harder for your lawn to survive severe temperatures or disease.”

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Learning how to aerate your lawn is a must for homeowners who want to keep their yard looking lush. So if your greenery is looking a little thin or (yikes) has a bald patch here and there, you’ve come to the right place!

Welcome to our Lawn Lover’s Guide—a series of articles that will help guide you through all the maintenance tasks you’ll need to know for a gorgeous yard and maximum curb appeal this summer. First up? How to aerate your lawn—an oft overlooked chore that can easily revive your grass, no reseeding or fertilizer required.

Why is aerating important?

Between hot sun, harsh weather, and weekly mowings, thatch (dead grass, roots, and other organic material) can build up on the ground. This can prevent oxygen, water, and the other nutrients your grass needs from reaching the roots, says Brad Leahy, owner of Blades of Green in Harwood, MD.

“Aeration is the process of punching through those layers of thatch and compaction in your lawn,” Leahy explains.

A home with a gorgeous yard isn’t just easy on the eyes: Well-landscaped homes also sell for 5.5% to 12.7% more, according to research at Virginia Tech. Only problem is, professional landscaping costs an average of $3,219, according to HomeAdvisor.com. But pros aren’t the only way to go. Here’s proof: seven cheap landscaping ideas that provide all the lush greenery you need without your gushing greenbacks.

1. Show your lawn a little TLC

While overgrown plants and weeds can make a home look run-down, a well-manicured lawn signals to prospective home buyers that the house is maintained well inside as well. So start by cutting the grass, trimming shrubs, and pruning hedges.

Buried in weeds? Cherie Lowe, blogger and author of “Slaying the Debt Dragon,” recommends a homemade weed killer: Mix white vinegar, 1 to 2 cups of salt (table or Epsom), and a small squeeze of dish detergent.

“It takes one to two days for it to activate, killing off unwanted weeds, and costs a fraction of the price,” Lowe says.

2. Install drought-tolerant plants

One-third of all household water use typically goes to landscaping, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s no surprise, then, that sustainable design (i.e., yards that require low maintenance and less water) is one of the hottest trends in residential landscaping, according to a recent survey by the American Society of Landscape Architects.

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Knowing when to fertilize a lawn—and how—is a big part of keeping your yard lush and amping up that all-important curb appeal. Fertilizing, after all, is a way to give your grass the extra nutrients it needs to flourish.

Only how do you fertilize a lawn, and how often, and what is the best fertilizer to buy? For this second installment of our Lawn Lover’s Guide, we talked to experts to help you figure out everything you need to know to keep your lawn looking gorgeous all summer long.

When to fertilize your lawn

Fertilizing your lawn is a critical part of helping the grass grow, kind of like giving your yard a multivitamin. But unlike the One a Days that people take, a good fertilization game plan only needs to be done a few times a year, says Kevin Shanks, manager of retail training at Scotts Miracle-Gro.

In the North, where cool-season grass types like Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and fescues dominate, Shanks says you’ll want to feed your lawn twice in the spring and twice again in the fall.

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The backyard landscaping ideas you choose aren’t just about keeping the neighbors from complaining about the mess. Your backyard should be an oasis, a place where you want to spend time. But while most homeowners pine for a green patch of land to call their own, once they’ve got it, they very rarely visit the place.

While outdoor living spaces topped the 2015 Home Design Trends survey by the American Institute of Architects, UCLA’s “Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century” study showed that adults spent less than 15 minutes per week out in their yards (even kids log in just 40 minutes).

Perhaps the reason you aren’t in your yard isn’t due to laziness; it might merely be because you have nothing to do there. That’s where an infusion of backyard landscaping ideas could help.

Backyard landscaping ideas

“You need a legitimate reason to go out there,” says Chad Bostick, a Huntsville, AL, landscape architect and member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. So before you start putting your backyard landscaping ideas into action, take stock of how you like to spend your free time. If growing green things is your passion, then your yard should be filled with vegetable and flower gardens. If listening to lapping water soothes you, then a water feature is a must. If you can’t take the sun, plant shade trees. If kicking a soccer ball around with your kids is your “together time,” create a level lawn where you can play. Build a purpose into your yard and suddenly you’ll be out there. All. The. Time.

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When it comes to choosing the right mortgage for your home purchase, there are many factors to consider, including the interest rate, terms of the loan, qualifying criteria, and finding the best possible lender for your needs.

For those who meet the eligibility requirements, a USDA loan is a smart option since most of these loans can be 100% financed, requiring low or no down payments.

Just like any other mortgage seeker, however, individuals thinking of trying for a USDA loan should shop around, comparing various lenders by asking them lots of questions. Here are some topics to hit to help you figure out if a particular lender is right for you.

1. Does your company offer USDA loans?

First off, homebuyers should check that the lender they’re considering working with actually offers USDA loans, since not all do.

HGTV

Renovation experts Dave and Jenny Marrs have an opportunity to break the bank on the latest episode of their show, “Fixer to Fabulous.”

We don’t mean spending more money than they can afford. We’re talking about doing a demo on a former financial institution.

In the episode “Historic Bank Turned Apartment,” they have the unprecedented opportunity to renovate the upstairs apartment in a 1905 commercial property in Arkansas.

“About 10 years ago, Jenny and I bought a historic building in Centerton,” Dave explains, referring to a very small community just a stone’s throw from Bentonville, where they currently live. “It’s a really old bank.”

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The numbers: Mortgage demand rose over the past week, despite news of bank closures and an uncertain economic outlook.

Demand for mortgages rose 6.5% in the latest week as rates dropped slightly.

Demand rose for both purchases and refinancing. That pushed the market composite index—a measure of mortgage application volume—up, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said Wednesday.

The market index rose by 6.5% to 214.5 for the week ending March 10 from a week earlier. A year ago, the index stood at 496.5.

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Madonna is looking to unload her SoCal property once again, after trying to sell it last year for nearly $26 million.

The nine-bedroom, 11-bath mansion is now available for $23.5 million. Could this lower price be Madge’s magic number?

It would certainly net her a nice profit, as she bought the Hidden Hills, CA, property from fellow pop star Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, in April 2021 for $19.3 million.

The popular neighborhood is also home to some of the Kardashians and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matt Stafford.

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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are reportedly looking at a $64 million mansion in Pacific Palisades, CA.

According to TMZ, the married couple canceled the $34 million purchase of a nearby house and are said to be now considering this larger and pricier one.

This lavish home, which is said to be owned by the Milken family, is still an active listing for sale on Realtor.com®.

The A-listers have been reshuffling their real estate portfolio of late. Just last month, Lopez put her massive Bel-Air spread on the market for $42.5 million. Affleck also let go of his Los Angeles spread last year.

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Calling all sellers. Do you want a quick home sale at a higher price, even in this troubled real estate market? Then open your calendar to April, uncap a bright yellow marker, and highlight the week of April 16–22. This seven-day stretch was identified by Realtor.com® as the best week to list your home in 2023.

Just how much extra cash can a seller potentially pocket and how fast can a home go from a new listing to the closing table?

During the best week to list, home prices are expected to be $8,400 higher than the typical week—and a whopping $48,000 above early 2023 prices. Real estate listings are expected to receive 16.4% more views than in the typical week.

And while spring is generally considered prime selling season, demand is likely to surge in the third week of April, with homes predicted to move off the market 18% quicker than an average week.

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Siegfried & Roy’s former home in Las Vegas didn’t stay on the market long.

The compound was sold within days for the $3 million asking price to Brett Carden, owner of the Carden International Circus, according to multiple reports. However, the listing still shows as active on Realtor.com®.

Commonly known as the Jungle Palace, the compound was where magicians and entertainers  Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn lived with many of their exotic animals.

Fischbacher and Horn bought the compound in 1982 and transformed it into a place where they could live with their animals, including lions and tigers, some of which were said to sleep in the bed with Horn.

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We’ll get right down to it: Shopping for a home is fun. But once you find the home that makes you swoon, things start to get real—real fast.

Think of making an offer on a home as setting the roller coaster in motion: You might have sharp drops in emotion and slow, trudging climbs to success, but the ride won’t end until the car slows down and the safety bar is lifted. (OK, this metaphor is now officially over.)

But to begin the process, you need to know how to make the right offer, an offer that will end with your receiving the keys to your new house. So check out some of these agent-approved negotiation tactics to make the offer process a whole lot less bumpy.

Pick the right price

Just because a home is listed for $400,000, it doesn’t mean the home is actually worth that much.