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Buying & Selling

Home buying guides, seller strategies, closing costs, negotiations, first-time buyer tips, and the process of purchasing or selling property.

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Buying & Selling

Idaho homeowners 65 and older with 2026 income up to $40,030 can apply January 1 to April 15 to cut their 2027 property taxes

Idaho homeowners 65 and older whose 2026 income comes in at $40,030 or less can apply to cut their 2027 property taxes starting Jan. 1....

Buying & Selling

California disabled veterans who file for the low-income property tax exemption by December 10 can still get 90% of their 2026 break after missing February 15

California disabled veterans who miss the February 15 deadline for the low-income property tax exemption still have until December 10 to file, and a claim...

Buying & Selling

Qualifying Massachusetts homeowners and renters 65 and older can get a refundable Senior Circuit Breaker credit of up to $2,820 for 2025 taxes

Massachusetts residents 65 and older can claim a refundable Senior Circuit Breaker credit of up to $2,820 on their 2025 state income tax return, whether...

Buying & Selling

Former owners and heirs of homes Washington County, Oregon, took for unpaid property taxes since 2017 can claim surplus equity by Nov. 30 from a $1.5 million settlement

People who owned homes that Washington County, Oregon, foreclosed for unpaid property taxes, and the heirs of those owners, have until Nov. 30 to claim...

Buying & Selling

New York’s full property tax exemption for severely disabled veterans becomes mandatory on assessment rolls finalized after October 1, 2026

New York is turning a local option into a statewide rule for the most severely disabled veterans. Under a law signed February 13, 2026, a...

Buying & Selling

Iowa disabled veterans who apply for the full homestead property tax credit on or after July 1, 2026 can cover only a half acre under a new state law

Iowa’s disabled veteran homestead credit still wipes out the entire property tax bill on a home, but for applications submitted on or after July 1,...

Buying & Selling

Tennessee homeowners who turn 65 by December 31, 2026 can get property tax relief if their 2025 income was $38,470 or less, through their county trustee

Tennessee homeowners who turn 65 on or before December 31, 2026, and whose 2025 household income was $38,470 or less, can apply for state-funded property...

Buying & Selling

Sellers in Salt Lake City and Portland cut prices on about a third of their listings in September, Realtor.com says

Salt Lake City had the largest share of discounted listings among the 50 biggest U.S. metro areas in September, with 33.6 percent of active homes...

Buying & Selling

Homeowners who switched insurers saved $440 a year compared with those who stayed with their carrier, ICE’s Mortgage Monitor finds

Homeowners who switched insurance companies over the past year cut their payments by a record 6.6% on average, while those who stayed with their carrier...

Buying & Selling

HUD plans standards for chassis-free factory-built homes for first-time buyers

HUD on October 7 released a plan to write federal building standards for factory-built homes that have no permanent steel chassis, a change that became...

Buying & Selling

Louisiana adds $20 million for Fortified roofs, lifting 2026 roof funding to $100 million, $30 million of it projected

Louisiana says it has added $20 million in federal housing money to a new roof-grant program, bringing the state’s 2026 spending on Fortified projects to...

Buying & Selling

Oregon takes late senior property-tax deferral applications through December 1

Oregon homeowners who missed the April 15 filing date for the state’s property-tax deferral program can still apply, but only until December 1. The Oregon...

Buying & Selling

Florida homeowners who establish residency after December 31 would start with a $50,000 homestead exemption for four years under Amendment 3

Florida homeowners who establish residency on or after January 1, 2027 would start with a $50,000 homestead exemption on non-school property taxes if voters approve...

Buying & Selling

Buyers applied for a median $2,162 monthly mortgage payment in August, MBA says

Home buyers who applied for a mortgage in August asked for a median monthly payment of $2,162, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported September 24, down...

Buying & Selling

Realtor.com says the median U.S. asking price fell to $419,250 in September, while 20.8 percent of listings had price cuts, the most for a September since 2018

The median asking price for a home in the United States fell to $419,250 in September, down 1.2 percent from August and 1.4 percent from...

Buying & Selling

Fannie Mae sets standard rules from December 1 for an investment property bought within 45 days of the home being financed

Fannie Mae has written one set of rules for a borrower who bought another investment property within 45 days of the home being financed, and...

Buying & Selling

Fannie Mae now requires an appraiser using the UAD 3.6 form to find a home’s highest and best use is residential, effective immediately

Fannie Mae now requires an appraiser using the UAD 3.6 form to conclude that a property’s highest and best use, as improved or as proposed,...

Buying & Selling

Fannie Mae gave lenders a temporary exception to its November 2 appraisal-form mandate

Fannie Mae’s Lender Letter LL-2026-08, issued September 30, 2026, lets sellers that cannot meet the November 2 mandate for UAD 3.6 appraisal reporting request a...

Buying & Selling

Home buyers whose purchase was listed on an MLS have until October 27 to claim from a $120,334,500 commission settlement, and sellers are expressly excluded

Buyers of homes that were listed on a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) have until October 27 to file a claim against a $120,334,500 commission settlement,...

Buying & Selling

Congress extended federal flood insurance through Dec. 11, so the program can keep writing and renewing policies past Sept. 30

A year ago, on Oct. 1, 2025, the National Flood Insurance Program stopped selling and renewing policies because Congress had let its authority lapse. The...

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