If you're thinking about refinancing your home, it can save many thousands of dollars over the life of a mortgage; however, home refinancing is not without peril. You have to be willing to make a sober assessment of your financial situation and conduct your own research before making the decision to refinance (refi) your home. There are potential pitfalls to a refi if you aren't careful. An old and...

don't mind doing your own marketing, there are some steps you can take that will help prevent your home from languishing on the market. Here is some Internet marketing advice for FSBOs: Join a local FSBO groupList Your Home on the MLS Many communities have local FSBO groups that already have a website and have lots of tips and tools for selling your own home. They generally allow someone to build a...

Buying a home is a major financial commitment; however, taking this step affords the owner many significant tax benefits that they can enjoy year after year. The federal government has created these tax advantages in an effort to promote home ownership across the country. The tax rebate for first-time home buyers makes owning a home an even better deal. Here is a brief outline of the tax...

The Federal Reserve issued its Beige Book report for July 2009 recently and the report indicated that the rate that economic activity declined in Louisville, other Eighth District cities and towns had moderated somewhat since the last report. When Business First of Louisville asked their contacts in Louisville commercial real estate and local home construction industries about current market conditions,...

Louisville officials are lobbying for a $20 million grant from the federal government to help offset the costs of razing the Sheppard Square public housing complex in Smoketown and develop mixed income homes and Louisville apartments. The proposed project would level the 326-unit complex and would be Louisville's third project in the HOPE VI federal program that intends to destroy the barracks-style...

Selling your Louisville home and saving money by doing it yourself via the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) route is much easier than you may think if you're willing to do some research and handle the marketing yourself. Many people have discovered that the FSBO tools and resources available online make it much easier to accomplish this and the money you'll save makes a sizable down payment on your next home!...

Louisville real estate professionals report that 1084 single-family homes and condominiums sold in the area this past August, which represented a 12.3 percent increase from August 2008, but a slight decline from July's home sales in the Louisville metro area. The increase in home sales for August over the previous year was the second straight month for members of the Greater Louisville Association of...

While dire economic news and forecasts dominate the media in Louisville and other parts of the country, some good news about Louisville real estate showed up in a most unlikely source. A report on the Philadelphia website, Philly.com, recently discussed a Louisville neighborhood's success story. Twenty-five years ago, Louisville's Phoenix Hill neighborhood was a typical example of urban blight with...

An organization created to save Louisville's distinctive and vanishing homes and buildings recently presented its 2009 list of endangered properties. An article published in the Louisville Courier-Journal describes a presentation given by the organization that was an overview of the group's successes and its current targets of endangered Louisville real estate. The program was presented at Bearno's...

This year's version of the annual Louisville Homearama showcase of new home designs and ideas provided examples of new home features, such as elevators, wine tasting rooms and dog washing stations, along with far more practical home attributes intended to increase a home's energy efficiency. The Courier-Journal said that twelve of the thirteen entries in the Homearama show will receive the federal...