Housing Design Trends: Past and Future 

Want to avoid owning a white elephant when it's time to sell your home? Know what housing design features have lasting value, then renovate with an eye to the future and you'll make more when your home hits the market.

The U.S. Census Department's 30-year report on housing trends, which runs from 1975 through 2005, tracks the changes that shaped today's neighborhoods. Among the biggest losers in housing design: split-levels such as the one television's "Brady Bunch" called home.

What was trendy when the Bradys enhanced their space with shag carpeting and gold and avocado decor, has given way to the modern preference for size: higher ceilings, multiple garages and more square footage.

Also hot over the past 30 years are ways to keep cool — homes without central air conditioning, especially in the steamy South, aren't even on the radar these days. There's also little demand for places with fewer than three bedrooms and only one bath. While the Brady kids may have brushed six sets of teeth in one lonely bathroom, even today's singles crave an extra toilet and sink in their house design.

Read more about housing design trends of the past and future…

Home Prices Tumble in October

According to the National Association of Realtors, the pace of existing home sales unexpectedly rose in October to a 6.24 million-unit annual rate as a record drop in prices tempted buyers.

The median home price declined 3.5 percent from October 2005, marking the third straight month in which prices fell and the largest year-on-year decline since records began in 1968.

Sales volume rose for the first since February but the inventory of homes for sale was also up, rising 1.9 percent to 3.85 million units.

Analysts had expected home resales to slow to a 6.15 million-unit pace from the 6.18 million-unit rate in September.

Get the full story here…

Pulling Cash From Your Home

Not long ago, a well-known economist surprised me by suggesting that it's a good time for homeowners to tap their equity to buy stocks.

Crazy, I thought. If you had risked your house to invest in the stock market before the dotcom crash, you could have lost everything.

But his idea got me thinking. For many of us, our house is our biggest cash reserve, and raiding that piggy bank made financial sense for years because interest rates were low and rising home prices kept replenishing the bank.

Now, with rates up and prices soft, is there any reason to tap your home equity?

Opening a home-equity line of credit is no longer a slam dunk for three reasons.

Winterizing Your Home

With heating fuel prices generally lower than last year's levels, many homeowners this winter could be in for a pleasant surprise when they open their monthly bills. Those who take steps to improve energy efficiency might even start to recover some of the extra cash they spent keeping warm over the last few years.

On average, the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, reports households heating primarily with natural gas, the most popular source of heating fuel, can expect to spend about $119 (13 percent) less this winter in fuel expenditures. The price of natural gas last year was artificially high, a result of hurricane damage to oil refineries.

Households heating primarily with propane can expect to pay an average of $15 (1 percent) less this winter, according to EIA, while those that heat with electricity will pay out $58 more on average (a 7 percent increase). The relatively small number of heating oil users should expect to pay about $91 (6 percent) more.

If you do have a little extra in your household budget this year because of lower heating bills, and many Americans will, then consider investing some of that money in energy-saving products.

Home Ownership - Are You Ready?

Home ownership means you no longer pay monthly rent for the roof over your head. Now you own it, and most of what's under it too. You can do what you want with your house (within reason of course). When you leave, you can sell it to recoup the purchase price and — with a little luck — earn a profit too.

But like most good things in life, home ownership comes with a list of disadvantages, responsibilities and downright headaches. In fact, it's probably the second biggest financial commitment most people ever make — the biggest being children. So before going any further, consider whether your lifestyle and finances make homebuying a smart move.

Let's start with lifestyle.  Except in a roaring real estate market, it usually doesn't make sense to buy a home you'll own for less than three or four years. Reason: the high transaction cost of buying and selling property means you could lose money on the deal. If you do make money on the deal, you'll pay capital gains taxes if you're in the house less than two years.

So ask yourself if you can really stay put for that long. Will you need to move because you are transferred by your current employer or a new one? Are you thinking of going back to school? Will your income remain steady or grow, or is it likely to decrease?

Some more mundane, but equally important, questions: Do you want to call the plumber and pay for his services every time a pipe leaks? Or would you rather leave it to the landlord to fix the plumbing, paint the walls, patch the roof and buy a new refrigerator? There's nothing wrong with that.

On the financial side, one key question is whether it costs more, on average, to rent or own in your area. If you want to calculate this out on your own, the rule of thumb is that if you pay 35 percent less in rent than you would for owning — including the monthly mortgage, property taxes and any homeowner's fees — then it's smarter to keep renting.

Ask your real estate or rental agent to help you figure out whether now is the right time for you to consider owning, instead of renting.