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A record 7.7 million federal student loan borrowers had defaulted on $181 billion in loans by the end of 2025, and at least 3 million more borrowers are three months behind in payments, according to Education Department data. 
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Learn the major differences between traditional and luxury real estate markets, including sales tactics, property value, & client experience.
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Sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell more than expected in January, hitting their lowest level in nearly 3-1/2 years, likely weighed down by harsh winter weather.
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Many people believe the housing market is stuck right now.
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March 18, 12:50 PM
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Discover how next generation real estate brokerage is transforming property buying and selling with technology, AI, and customer-first strategies.
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March 18, 12:46 PM
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Immediate Demand: Most active buyers are waiting for new listings. Industry analyses consistently find that up to ~75% of sales occur within two weeks of listing
Search Visibility: When a home first hits the market, it is “new” and highlighted in most MLS portals and buyer searches. Fresh listings “rise to the top of search filters
Buyer Psychology & Urgency: The serious buyers – those pre-approved and motivated – are often first through the door. If they like the price, they may compete quickly. As one agent notes, “if your home is priced right and presented well, you may receive multiple offers within days. … On the flip side, if your home lingers on the market without interest, buyers begin to wonder why”. Long days-on-market create skepticism (“What’s wrong with it?”) that depresses offers later. In effect, overpricing kills the initial urgency.
Data on Showings & Offers: Agents and MLS platforms consistently track that showing activity is highest in week 1
Search Filters and “Invisible” Listings: Overpricing can literally remove your home from many buyers’ searches
Perceived Value & Anchoring: Buyers instinctively compare to recent sales. Homes “priced appropriately within the current inventory attract attention,” but a listing “far above market often kills serious early interest”
Loss of Urgency and FOMO: A well-timed launch can create FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) among buyers, but only if the price triggers that urgency. Underpricing a little can spark bidding wars, while overpricing does the opposite: it creates doubt instead of urgency.
Emotional Bias: Sellers often feel justified listing high (upgrades made, sentiment, etc.), but buyers do not share that view. “Buyers don’t buy sentiment; they buy comparison,”
Higher Price ⇒ Longer DOM & Lower Sale Price: Zillow (2016) empirically found homes that lingered sold significantly below list. Houses sold in ~2 months averaged 5% below list; after 11 months, ~12% below list. Notably, there is no “fast bonus” for underpricing: homes selling above list did not sell any faster than those at list. Put simply, overpriced homes pay a penalty (longer time and lower price) but underpricing yields minimal speed gains beyond fair value.
Hypothetical MLS Scenario: A house is truly worth $400K. If listed at $440K hoping to “see what happens,” it may get no showings for 3 weeks, then buyers begin lowballing. After two $10K cuts, it finally sells for $390K (10% below original list). In contrast, if listed at a competitive $405K, it might have drawn 4 bids in the first week and closed at $415K (above list) within 10 days. The difference isn’t guaranteed, but data shows faster sales often closer to market.
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AZ Mountain Lake Realty
March 18, 10:35 AM
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US home prices will rise modestly as high mortgage rates and a 2.5 million home shortage constrain housing supply and affordability, analysts say.
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March 18, 10:33 AM
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A pre-approval is a preliminary evaluation of a potential borrower by a lender to determine whether they can be given a pre-qualification offer.
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March 17, 9:51 PM
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It was a fairly uneventful day for mortgage rates, but also a fairly decent one. The underlying bond market made modest gains even without meaningful cues from oil prices. Lately, oil price volatility has been the most visible motivation for bonds and, thus, interest rates. After cresting 6.40% last week, the MND 30yr fixed rate index is back below 6.30% today, albeit just barely (6.29% for top tier 30yr fixed rates at the average lender). Looking ahead, tomorrow afternoon brings the latest Fed announcement. The market has conclusively decided there will be no rate cut. Even if the opposite were true, there would be no implication for mortgage rates (because the Fed doesn't dictate mortgage rates). Nonetheless, Fed days can still cause volatility in rates, for better or worse. In tomorrow's case, any impact from the Fed should be smaller than it otherwise would have been due to the market's preoccupation with geopolitical influences.
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March 17, 3:22 PM
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Melody got into the mortgage industry in 2006, riding the subprime wave up until it popped two years later.
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March 17, 3:21 PM
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Gen Zers are the new millennials—Americans in their late teens, 20s, and early 30s—who traditionally comprise the largest renter demographic in the country.
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March 20, 7:08 PM
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Spread the loveThe U.S. national debt has surged to an unprecedented $38.9 trillion, a figure that not only raises eyebrows but also has tangible impacts on the everyday lives of American homeowners. This staggering debt load is leading to increased borrowing costs, significantly affecting...
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March 19, 9:09 PM
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How to Start Your Real Estate Investing Business the Right Way!Follow Jay Conner's Proven Systems and Success Formulas...
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March 19, 7:41 PM
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Immediate Demand: Most active buyers are waiting for new listings. Industry analyses consistently find that up to ~75% of sales occur within two weeks of listing
Search Visibility: When a home first hits the market, it is “new” and highlighted in most MLS portals and buyer searches. Fresh listings “rise to the top of search filters
Buyer Psychology & Urgency: The serious buyers – those pre-approved and motivated – are often first through the door. If they like the price, they may compete quickly. As one agent notes, “if your home is priced right and presented well, you may receive multiple offers within days. … On the flip side, if your home lingers on the market without interest, buyers begin to wonder why”. Long days-on-market create skepticism (“What’s wrong with it?”) that depresses offers later. In effect, overpricing kills the initial urgency.
Data on Showings & Offers: Agents and MLS platforms consistently track that showing activity is highest in week 1
Search Filters and “Invisible” Listings: Overpricing can literally remove your home from many buyers’ searches
Perceived Value & Anchoring: Buyers instinctively compare to recent sales. Homes “priced appropriately within the current inventory attract attention,” but a listing “far above market often kills serious early interest”
Loss of Urgency and FOMO: A well-timed launch can create FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) among buyers, but only if the price triggers that urgency. Underpricing a little can spark bidding wars, while overpricing does the opposite: it creates doubt instead of urgency.
Emotional Bias: Sellers often feel justified listing high (upgrades made, sentiment, etc.), but buyers do not share that view. “Buyers don’t buy sentiment; they buy comparison,”
Higher Price ⇒ Longer DOM & Lower Sale Price: Zillow (2016) empirically found homes that lingered sold significantly below list. Houses sold in ~2 months averaged 5% below list; after 11 months, ~12% below list. Notably, there is no “fast bonus” for underpricing: homes selling above list did not sell any faster than those at list. Put simply, overpriced homes pay a penalty (longer time and lower price) but underpricing yields minimal speed gains beyond fair value.
Hypothetical MLS Scenario: A house is truly worth $400K. If listed at $440K hoping to “see what happens,” it may get no showings for 3 weeks, then buyers begin lowballing. After two $10K cuts, it finally sells for $390K (10% below original list). In contrast, if listed at a competitive $405K, it might have drawn 4 bids in the first week and closed at $415K (above list) within 10 days. The difference isn’t guaranteed, but data shows faster sales often closer to mark
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March 18, 12:58 PM
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HomeServices is among the brokerages participating in Zillow Preview, a program that allows agents to pre-market listings.
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March 18, 12:50 PM
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Do you want the benefits of investing in real estate without the hassle of being a landlord?There’s an investing strategy that could give you more passive...
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from Real Estate News and Auction
March 18, 12:48 PM
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A mortgage banker working at a bank must be an employee of the institution, such as JPMorgan Chase or Bank of America.
Why?
Because they are handling high-risk financial transactions worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
Real estate agents do the same thing:
Home purchases are often the largest financial decision in a person’s life
Agents guide negotiations, contracts, and pricing
Mistakes can cost consumers tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars
Supporters say that level of responsibility should require employer oversight, just like banking.
Banks operate under strict regulation enforced by agencies like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Because bankers are employees:
banks supervise them
banks train them
banks monitor compliance
banks can fire them immediately
In real estate, brokerages technically supervise agents, but because agents are independent contractors, enforcement is weaker.
Employment would make brokerages fully accountable for agent behavior.
Even outside banking, similar roles require employment-like oversight.
For example:
advisors working for Morgan Stanley
advisors at Charles Schwab
These professionals may earn commissions, but they still operate within employer-controlled compliance systems.
Supporters say real estate should operate similarly.
The historical reason agents became independent contractors is simple economics.
Under the contractor model:
Brokerages avoid paying for:
salaries
healthcare
retirement
unemployment insurance
payroll taxes
office costs
Agents effectively subsidize the brokerage by paying their own expenses.
Critics argue that model prioritizes broker profit over professional standards.
The U.S. has an unusually large number of agents relative to home sales.
According to the National Association of Realtors, there are roughly 1.5+ million Realtors.
If brokerages had to hire agents as employees, they would likely:
hire fewer agents
train them more thoroughly
invest more in productivity
That could move the industry toward smaller, professional teams instead of huge rosters of part-time agents.
Brokerages argue the opposite:
They say the contractor model:
allows entrepreneurial freedom
lets agents set their own schedules
keeps barriers to entry low
enables agents to work with multiple clients independently
And most importantly:
Employment would dramatically raise brokerage costs, forcing many firms to shrink or consolidate.
✅ The core reform argument:
If bankers and financial advisors must be employees because they handle high-stakes financial transactions, real estate agents should be too.
The current system exists largely because the industry fought hard for the independent contractor exemption decades ago.
Brokers control branding and marketing
Brokers enforce rules and training
Agents often work in the broker’s office systems
Commission splits are set by the brokerage
Yet agents get no salary, no benefits, and little job
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March 18, 10:35 AM
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Most proptech companies built their business models around agents and brokerages, not the actual end users trying to buy or sell a home.
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March 18, 10:34 AM
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Around a third of first-time buyers receive help from family and more than half rely on at least two full-time incomes, as access to first-time home ownership has collapsed this century.
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March 18, 10:33 AM
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A loan amortization schedule shows how much interest and principal you will be paying off each month for the term of a loan.
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March 17, 3:23 PM
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Explore luxury RV options and experience RV living at its finest. Discover private RV lots for sale in Arizona's beautiful landscapes.
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March 17, 3:21 PM
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Does the idea of a never-ending stream of potential renters, many of them with guaranteed payments, lining up to apply for your vacant apartments sound
