Implemented last spring by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) banned lenders from selecting appraisers to valuate homes in the deals which they are brokering. The purpose was to prevent inflated and fraudulent appraisals which played a part in the bubble leading to the mortgage crisis. While The HVCC does [...]

Rhode Island may be a small state, but we certainly have a lot of history. Since 2000, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has published its Dozen Distinctive Destinations and RI has had four locations cited – Westerly, Newport, Providence and Bristol. Some states have never had an entry. And there are those who wonder why we like to live here. The [...]

As we approach the Fourth of July weekend, I once again must sound my alarm for those renters on the fence about buying to finally declare your independence from the tyranny of your landlords! Why subsidize their lifestyle when you can be building equity in your own home ?  In many parts of the country markets are showing signs of [...]

On my recent Real Estate Insight Blog I wrote about having Chris West and David Kessler on the weekly radio show, where we talked about the LEED certification and a home we are listing for sale that is designed to meet the Platinum Certification.  They were just great guests and really are in tune to building green structures. One [...]

  Someday the term green will be obsolete and everything will just be done with sustainability in mind, but today, out of the 5,922 single family homes on the market in MLS   only one of those,  [...]

When we think of Newport, there is Fort Adams with the folk and jazz festivals, the mansions for touring, the Tennis Hall of Fame, Bowen's Wharf, Tall Ships and the U.S. Naval War College.  I know, you don't think of the Naval War College.  I had heard of it, but didn't know why it existed in Newport in the first place.

That was until Rear [...]

  June is National Homeownership Month and HUD and the FHA have been sponsoring activities across the country. The theme this year, "Promoting and Protecting Homeownership," emphasizes [...]

Everyone is asking the questions  "How is the housing market fairing these days, and what are the trends for the future?"  Those are always good questions to which one would like to know the answer, especially the latter. So, with that in mind, I searched for some interesting tidbits on the National Association of Realtors' site. NAR has a [...]

Created by architect Richard T. Foster in Wilton Connecticut this spinning house is certainly something you don’t see every day. Yahoo! Shine showcased the eight-room house with panoramic views this week. The rotation is activated by a push of a button. The base of the house contains a powerful motor allowing the house to spin. It takes 48 [...]

When I first got into this business, my mother was my mentor, she was a very successful agent and I learned a lot from her.   One thing she told me was to always dress like I was going to meet a client. That advice has done me well through the years, as people saw me out and about, they assumed I was successful and that helped to generate [...]