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Now that we are deep into August, with summer in full swing, there might be vague thoughts running through your mind about some potential real estate moves—but certainly not until the fall. Right now all most of us are thinking about is whether another chilled glass of summer-something-or-other is in order. Western New York mortgage rates and what the folks in Washington might be doing to affect them are not exactly what occupies an idyllic July afternoon.

But if you’ve been paying attention...

The number of households belonging to older adults is on the rise across the nation, and (let’s face it) the homes themselves aren’t getting any younger. So states the Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies' Housing Perspectives (JCHS), which recently published the projection that, if true, makes it likely that Western New York home remodeling activity will spike in the coming years.

Abbe Will, research analyst for JCHS drew this conclusion:

"Since much of the housing stock is...

The good news is, yes, you read that headline correctly: there are drop-dead gorgeous oceanfront island vacation homes on sale for you right now—this summer! The bad news, however, (depending on your vacation and travel plans) is that these homes for sale aren’t as convenient (geographically speaking) as some others.

They are in Greece. There’s always a catch, isn’t there?

CNNmoney’s website reported last week that the recent escalation in Greece’s financial trouble has produced a notable in...

If you are bound and determined to try to sell your East Aurora house without the aid of a real estate professional, you will quickly discover that one critical element that can’t be overlooked is marketing. Just planting a ‘For Sale by Owner” (FSBO) sign on the front lawn and taking an 8-line classified ad in the East Aurora paper is a good first step—but that’s all it is. Not only must you immediately embark on a do-it-yourself real estate marketing campaign, you will be doing so against com...

As soon as you decide that you will be putting your East Aurora property up for sale—whether soon or at some point in the foreseeable future—it’s also time to get strategic about growing your property's value—starting with a generous dollop of objectivity.

The difficulty stems from a truth about how everybody perceives much of their property’s value. We escape from hurly-burly of daily living by retreating to the comfortable confines of our home—our place. A good part of its value to us and t...

Suppose you are an East Aurora homeowner who intends to move to a different home eventually, but for the moment, you aren’t under any particular deadline pressure that would dictate when you have to put your home on the market. In that case, you’re likely to keep tabs on overall market conditions, awaiting what looks like circumstances favor those with homes for sale.

Twice a year, the National Association of Realtors® issues their economists’ midyear forecast—it appeared last week. For those...

“WHY YOUR RENT CHECK JUST KEEPS GOING UP” was the headline in CNN Money’s real estate special report last month, which could have explained to East Aurora renters why it is that U.S. rents keep rising faster than home values. After all, that doesn’t seem to make sense!

The list of reasons was long, and taken all together, fairly convincing:

Millennials are renting longer Housing inventory is tight and getting tighter The housing crash scared those who would otherwise have become homeowners...