4 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Foreclosure

Foreclosures can offer big bargains, but buyers need to be careful that they don’t get over their heads in purchasing a home that may need more repairs than they bargained for.

Foreclosures are usually sold as-is, and homes that are left vacant standing too long can have a lot of maintenance problems. Read more

Homes Powered by the Sun: Sell For More, Becoming New Standard

They might be a costly addition to your home at first but solar panels are boosting a home’s resale value, according to a study earlier this year by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Homeowners may recoup their full investment from the installation and then some, when their home is sold.

Over a period of approximately a decade, about 2,000 solar homes in California were analyzed by researchers and compared to about 72,000 comparable homes not solar powered.

Here’s what the study found that estimates for average photovoltaic (PV) premiums among a large number of different model specifications coalesced at a $17,000 price increase for a relatively new “average-sized” (based on the sample of homes studied) PV system of 3,100 watts (DC).

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Top Reasons to Own a Home

There’s good reason that over half of all Americans are homeowners. Social and financial benefits are key factors when it comes to deciding to buy. Homeownership allows people to grow wealth slowly over time, to hold assets that build equity, and to bring stability into chaotic lives.

Despite these facts, homeownership rates have taken a hit since the recession in 2009. Falling home prices along with reduced access to credit has kept many would-be buyers from entering the market. According to Morgan Stanley, the current homeownership rate is around 59.2%. This is lowest rate since the Census Bureau began tracking in 1965. Has this reduction been a fear-based one?

The top benefits of homeownership haven’t changed, even in the face of a down economy. Here are the top five:

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