Whether you're relocating across town or across the country, check out these common moving missteps so you can have the easiest of transitions.

Source: realtor.com

​If you're out shopping for a home this weekend, bring your checkbook.

There may still be ice on the ground in much of the nation, but the spring housing market is the hottest it's been in a decade. Consumer sentiment in both the economy and the housing market is rising and that is translating into strong demand from homebuyers. The trouble is, the supply of homes for sale is incredibly weak and getting weaker. What is for sale is selling fast.

​​The typical home that sold last month went under contract in 60 days, eight days faster than one year ago, according to a new report from Redfin, a real estate brokerage. Nearly 15 percent of all homes listed for sale in February were off the market within two weeks, up from 11.7 percent last year. This is the fastest February market Redfin has recorded since it began tracking in 2010.

Dana Bull and her husband bought their first home, a condo in Salem, Massachusetts, just nine months after graduating college.

But after deciding they wanted to be in Boston instead, where most of their friends were living at the time, they rented out the condo and used the income to cover rent and expenses in the city.

"[I]n our first two months of being landlords we had a mouse problem and one of the guys put a shot glass down the disposal, so we had our first taste of it [then]," Bull, now a realtor with Sotheby's International, told Business Insider.

"But ultimately, we were like 'You know, it's frustrating to have to deal with the maintenance and have this whole other thing that we have to worry about ... but it's a lot easier than our full-time jobs, which are extremely time-consuming and stressful ... so we started thinking, 'Hey, maybe there's something here,' and that was really where it all started."
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Today, the couple earns passive income from their six homes and 18 apartments in Boston and the North Shore.

​Despite working in one of the most expensive rental markets in the world, Bull says there are four important things every investor should consider in a rental property, regardless of location.

There’s no doubt the Federal Reserve’s low interest rates have helped the housing market recover from its 2007 bust.

But now as the central bank prepares to hike rates more frequently over this year, mortgage rates are expected to rise in tandem, and there could be a couple unintended negative consequences.

​Diana Olick reports on why home buyers should do their homework on a “flipped” house before buying it.

Should you buy or rent your next home? It’s a major decision for many.
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To make that decision a bit easier, real estate database ATTOM Data Solutions has released a report that breaks down the math in New Jersey’s housing markets and determines whether it’s more affordable to rent a three-bedroom home or buy one in each of them.

[Editor’s note: The following is meant for informational purposes and is not legal advice. For information pertaining to your specific legal situation, please be sure to consult your attorney.]

​Real estate asset protection is a favorite strategy used by rich real estate investors. The rich don’t take the same risks you do; they use the law to their maximum advantage. It’s not sleazy, it’s using the rules available to your maximum advantage. The most underutilized tool is an effective contract. Below, I’ll show you one little used trick to create maximum leverage in a lawsuit — and the most effective way to protect yourself should one ever result.

​A highly effective tool that many don’t use is a contract with terms that favor you when a deal goes sideways and litigation could result. We don’t want litigation to actually happen because it is expensive — what we do want is a contract that gives us huge amounts of leverage to get the settlement we want quickly.
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To protect yourself from lawsuit — and to protect yourself even in the event you need to sue someone (YES, suing someone does put you at risk) — you will want to use an LLC. The rich use LLCs.

When you're buying a home, you can create your own discount with a lowball offer. But if you go about it the wrong way, you risk insulting the seller and losing the home altogether. Here are five tips for getting that lowball offer accepted.

Source: realtor.com

Rents fell last month for Manhattan apartments of all sizes, the first across-the-board price decline in at least four years, as a construction boom brought more buildings to market and allowed some tenants to leave for bigger or newer units.

For studios, which held their own last year while costs for bigger apartments slid, the median rent dropped 2.6 percent, appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report Thursday. It was the biggest year-over-year decrease since the firms started tracking the data in 2012. The median price of studios last month was $2,500, the lowest it’s been since January 2015.

​TRENTON -- Seniors and citizens who benefit from New Jersey's Senior Freeze property tax relief program could receive credits against their real estate bills instead of rebates under a bill in the Legislature.

The Assembly State and Local Government Committee on Monday approved the bill, which would convert the Senior Freeze reimbursements into credits -- a change the sponsors said would cut state administrative costs and spare eligible homeowners from having to pay the full bill before receiving a reimbursement check in the following tax year.

The Senior Freeze programs is slated to help offset property tax increases for about 166,000 property owners this fiscal year. 

When it comes to homeownership, there are people who think it's "an escalator to wealth" and others who claim it's "the American nightmare."

What does self-made billionaire Warren Buffett say? His advice is to buy.
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Real estate is a valuable asset "for a great many people," particularly for families that plan on being in the same location for many years, he tells CNBC: "If you know you're going to live in a given area, or think it's very likely, for a considerable period of time and you've got a family, the home is terrific."

It’s a slow Sunday morning. You’ve just brewed your Nespresso and popped open your laptop to check out the latest home listings before you hit the road for a day of open houses.

You’re DIYing this real estate thing, and you think you’re doing pretty well—after all, any info you might need is at your fingertips online, right? That and your own sterling judgment.

Oh, dear home buyer (or seller!)—we know you can do it on your own. But you really, really shouldn’t. This is likely the biggest financial decision of your entire life, and you need a Realtor if you want to do it right. Here’s why.

Summertime is the season for real estate, so if you’re looking to put your home on the market, make sure it’s ready to sell. Host of HGTV’s “Rehab Addict” Nicole Curtis is dishing on four inexpensive insider tricks to help market your home and get the best price.