The financially savvy are truly different from the rest of us. Know why? They get to use the tax code to their advantage in ways most other folks can’t or don’t or won’t. They are borrowing against the equity in their homes at low rates and then investing the money in tax-deferred accounts, according to the co-authors of a new study, “Financial Sophistication and Housing Leverage among Older Households,”...

Whether renting is better than buying depends on many factors, particularly how fast prices and rents rise and how long you stay in your home. Compare the costs of buying and renting a home in the calculator below. Click the ADVANCED SETTINGS button to change inputs such as your rate of return on investments, condo/common fees and your tax bracket. Run your analyse:...

The $25 billion settlement with banks over foreclosure abuses may result in a wave of home seizures, inflicting short-term pain on delinquent U.S. borrowers while making a long-term housing recovery more likely. Lenders slowed the pace of foreclosures as they negotiated with attorneys general in all 50 states for more than a year over allegations of faulty and fraudulent paperwork used to repossess homes. With yesterday’s agreement,...

Many people say it’s the kitchen and bathrooms that really sell a home. Buyers prefer that both are clean and in move-in condition. They want to unpack their dishes and glassware as well as their toiletry bag and feel comfortable in their new home right away. Here’s 3 quick and easy touch-ups you can make before you start showing your home to potential buyers: Paint the kitchen cabinets. If your cabinets are a but dated, you...

It will be a year of not-as-bad numbers for home values. Zillow’s home-value forecast released on Thursday predicts a drop of 3.7% this year, which only looks like an improvement when measured against the 4.7% drop in 2011. Some markets hammered by the housing bust, such as Phoenix, Los Angeles and Riverside, Calif., should bottom out for home values in 2012, according to Zillow, and might even see a slight increase in values. But...

Top-earning real estate agents — those who take in $100,000 or more per year — tend to work more hours, close more transactions, favor Apple devices, spend more on marketing and technology, have higher commission splits, and update their websites and social media accounts more often than agents earning between $30,000 and $50,000, according to a survey conducted by InmanNext, an agent-focused website operated by Inman...

ORLANDO — Maybe the clearest way to look at the housing market is through a nice glass window. Susan Marvin, president of Marvin Windows and Doors, a small, privately held family company based in Warroad, Minn., wants to believe that the housing market is improving, but the numbers say otherwise. Housing starts and permits are at or near all-time lows. So are new-home sales. Existing-home sales, while improving, remain at near-historic...