A 1911 Craftsman house in Oakland, a stylish retreat in Lake Arrowhead and a two-bedroom condominium in Malibu.

We’re at the very front end of changes that will forever alter almost every aspect of our lives, according to trainer Bernice Ross. While AI isn’t likely to replace agents any time soon, those who fail to embrace these powerful tools will lose significant market share to those who do. 

Modern homebuyers don’t want to get a loan during banking hours — they want to be able to access the calculators to help them shop confidently, and then text a loan expert if they have questions. And that’s exactly the kind of support a great digital lender can provide.

The social media ecosystem is complex, and established platforms are facing challenges. In this fraught landscape, which social media channels can luxury agents rely on? Two leading agents weigh in.

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It may sound like something straight out of “Star Wars,” but radon is actually a dangerous radioactive chemical that lurks far closer to home—in fact, it could be in your home right now. (Cue Darth Vader theme music.)

And there’s very good reason to learn more about this silent threat: Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in America, claiming about 21,000 lives each year. As it happens, January is National Radon Action Month. To acknowledge this month, let’s review the steps on how to check your home for this deadly substance, and what to do if you find it (don’t worry, there’s no need to don a hazmat suit just yet).

What is it?

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that comes from the decay of uranium found in nearly all soils, says Bruce Snead, director of National Radon Program Services at Kansas State University. It typically moves up through the ground to the air above, but it can also enter your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation, where it can become trapped and build up.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, some regions are more prone to radon than others, but there is no way to project whether your particular home may have an elevated level of radon, no matter where you live.

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What is a foreclosure? When a homeowner doesn’t pay their mortgage for an extended period of time, a lender will take possession of the home—which means the current owner must move out.

Foreclosure is a scary word and it’s become a real concern for homeowners as the economy continues to fluctuate. According to CoreLogic, the foreclosure rate (meaning the percentage of loans in foreclosure) currently hovers just under 3%.

If you’re struggling to make your mortgage payments, you’ll want to know what foreclosure means and how it works. Here’s what you need to know.

1. What is pre-foreclosure?

If you’re a few days late on a mortgage payment, don’t panic—the bank isn’t going to confiscate your house. In fact, most mortgage contracts have a 15-day grace period, with a late fee of 5% on payments made thereafter, says Jack Guttentag, author of “The Mortgage Encyclopedia.”

Half a century ago, Marc Harrison built a prototype for a home that would accommodate people of all ages and abilities. Now his daughter has restored it.

Half a century ago, the industrial designer built a prototype for a home that would accommodate people of all ages and abilities.

When the building itself is making noise, it’s not as simple as telling it to quiet down.

Your clients will always surprise you with questions that you may not know the answer to, but it is our duty to be educated, knowledgeable, and a source of information and value to our clients. 

Photos by @charleygreyantiques / @houseonthecorner_16 / @_colorfulhome_ via Instagram

If your dining room decor is looking as drab as a January day— we feel you. If you live in an open-concept home, the dining room can easily become a dumping ground for bags, bills, and other odds and ends. And if you have a separate dining room, you know that designing it can take lower priority than some of the higher-traffic areas in the house.

Which is why we’ve deemed it the perfect time to offer up five playful dining room decor trends we recently spotted on Instagram. The following inspiration photos don’t shy away from colors and patterns, and they epitomize joyful charm in the eating area.

So, if you’re ready to rethink your dining room—read on. We’re confident these captivating flourishes will lighten up even the dullest of dining spaces.

1. Mix-and-match crystal chandeliers

Installing a pair of crystal chandeliers in your dining room, like the ones seen here from @charleygreyantiques, will really stir up some happy glam.

Realtor.com

An eclectic Pittsburgh home has landed on the market again, and its wild design has already caused quite the social-media buzz.

At first glance, the 1,475-square-foot brick home looks like an average abode. But the trippy interior tells a different tale.

“When you walk in the front door, it seems like it’s a ranch-style house; but the previous owner cut the floor out to lower it to the basement level, so it’s all open,” says listing agent Chads Mullinary, of Berkshire Hathaway The Preferred Realty.

Mullinary explains that all of the unique changes were made by the home’s previous owner, and that the current owners loved the quirky spaceship theme.

Powered by an advanced natural language technology, homebuyers can enter longer, detail-rich requests, as they would on Google, to unearth more accurate inventory matches.

Realtor.com

What constitutes a mansion, anyway? Is it square footage? Price? Luxury facilities? All three put together in some sort of swanky combo?

For our purposes, size matters. We found five luxury homes, all measuring more than 7,000 square feet. And prices matter, too—budget prices. Can you believe all these giant, fancy pads cost less than $1 million?

We found these deluxe domiciles in places like Plattsburgh NY, Montrose CO, and Canfield OH.

Even if you’re not considering moving in, it’s fun to see the types of big houses you can still get for under a million bucks.

Zillow, Keller Williams and Realtor.com shared their respective takes this week at Inman Connect New York on the trends expected to take hold in 2023.

HGTV

California coastal designer Christina Hall has a new pair of shoes to fill (or boots, to be specific) now that she’s bought a house in Nashville, TN. Hall is busy creating a country-chic lifestyle for herself and her clients, on her spinoff series “Christina in the Country.”

In the episode, “Tennessee Transplants,” she helps fellow Nashville newcomers Kevin and Katie bring their edgy-yet-elegant style to a terrible Tuscan-style property on the outskirts of Franklin, TN.

What starts out as an unlimited budget to renovate the unusual home becomes very limited, indeed—but you’d never know it from the way Hall and this resourceful couple work together.

They deliver plenty of tips on how anyone can glam up a living space without breaking the bank. Take a look to see what Christina and crew can teach you this week.

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The numbers: U.S. pending-home sales rose 2.5% in December, reversing a six-month losing streak, according to the monthly index released Friday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Pending home sales were down for six months in a row, as the U.S. Federal Reserve increased interest rates and mortgage rates took off.

Pending-home sales beat analyst expectations. Analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast the pending home sales index to drop by 1%.

Contract signings rose in the South and the West.

Catch up on all of the latest news and this week's most-read stories. It's Inman's Top 5 for the week of Jan. 20-26 2023.

As the brokerage prepares for a slower market, agent recruitment, finding a permanent RE/MAX Holdings CEO and franchise consolidation are among the issues RE/MAX will face in 2023.

This week, Byron Lazine and Nicole White are talking about cities that are making it harder to own short-term rentals, how inflation has impacted millennial homebuying plans and the weekly media review Left, Middle, Right.