Tom Kelly

Tina McDonough, a broker from RE/MAX Select in Renton, has been named a finalist in the National Association of Realtors' 2013 Good Neighbor Awards, the nation's largest trade organization's top community service honor.

Eighty-eight percent of the agents surveyed say that it's more difficult to sell a home where the residents were smokers.

Single-family new-home sales across the country took an unexpected turn in July, dropping to its lowest level in nine months, the Commerce Department reported. Sales fell 13.4 percent to an annual rate of 394,000 units.

Fixed-rate mortgages will begin the week at their highest levels in two years as speculation mounts that the Federal Reserve will soon taper its bond purchase program.

The Aspen City Council is considering adding a "no complaining" clause on a new proposed luxury residence to prevent buyers of units there from complaining about the noise level of nearby restaurants and bars.

Many second-home owners - especially those in the full-time vacation rental business - are looking to purchase another property yet have faced tougher financing guidelines over the past few years.

The announcement comes on the heels of RE/MAX rival Realogy Holdings - which operates Century 21 and Coldwell Banker - filing for a $1 billion IPO.

More than half of all homes sold in the past 18 months have been purchased mortgage-free, according to economists at Goldman Sachs Group.

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae might limit its purchases of mortgages that require a minimum down payment of 3 percent, according to The Wall Street Journal.

When selling a home, we often neglect some outside spaces while highlighting only the inside. However, a home's outdoor space will set the first impression to prospective homebuyers.

A new study by Coldwell Banker Real Estate finds that younger parents are more forgiving of their kids living at home post-education than older parents.

The investigations by the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau center around how mortgages were priced by National City and PNC and whether pricing “had disparate impact on protected classes” of home owners, such as certain ethnic groups or income levels.

Less than one-third of all families (30.7 percent) in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett region could afford the median priced home of $370,000, according to the survey. The area's median income was listed as $81,400.

If Congress shuts down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, borrowers likely will end up paying slightly higher mortgage rates, according to a recent study by Moody's Analytics.

More Americans are opting to renovate their homes and are hiring contractors instead of doing the project themselves, Bloomberg News reported.

President Barack Obama reiterated his view that a recovering housing market is essential to an improving U.S. economy in an online forum where consumers questioned the president on his housing plans.

The Seattle metropolitan area saw especially steep increases in median prices - 14.7 percent in Snohomish County, 13.8 percent in King County and 12.5 percent in Pierce County.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has gone from a 3.59 percent average in mid-May to 4.39 percent this week.

Many timeshare resorts do not charge owners who want to use some or all of the facilities just for the day. This "day use" of a pool, tennis court, party area, spa or ski lift can be especially practical for owners who live near the resort. Perhaps they have traded their week at the resort for another elsewhere, yet they can still use facilities as often as they wish.

"The most important decision when selling a home is what price to charge," said Glenn Kelman, Redfin CEO. "The traditional process often amounts to a high-stakes guessing game with tens of thousands of dollars at stake for the owner."

Citi gave investors the impression it would not face large losses on its investment, when it actually faced more than $50 billion in potential losses.

The couple agreed to go, but immediately began having second thoughts. They said they could picture themselves being chained to a desk in a room with no windows until they signed on the dotted line, and the Vegas deal probably would be valid only on Christmas Eve and Christmas night.

The drop coincides with efforts by consumer groups and lawmakers to try to make home ownership more inclusive, particularly at a time when affordability is still high.

Pending sales have been above year-ago levels for the past 26 months, and the pace in May was the highest since December 2006 when it reached 112.8.