An ongoing feature in Tuesday Tactics is our “Great Read Roundup” in which we highlight some of the best pieces we’ve read recently and why they might expand your mind or help with your real estate career.
Are Houses With Names Making a Comeback?
(5 minute read)
To put their own unique mark on a home, some owners are naming their houses. The nation has a long historic tradition of named homes, and the practice is reportedly rising again, The Wall Street Journal reports.
A name for a home can add interest for would-be buyers and even generate more inquiries from those who are curious to learn more, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Bernard Herman, the George B. Tindall Distinguished Professor of Southern Studies and Folklore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says house names have proliferated to reflect the democratization of estate ownership.
“House naming as we know it is connected to the emergence of modern sensibilities of property and land,” he says.
“Most of our properties have house names,” Story Litchfield, a broker with LandVest Properties on Mount Desert Island, Maine, told the WSJ. “And if they don’t, we try to come up with them.”
Is now a good time to buy a home? Over 60% of surveyed Americans say yes
(10 minute read)
Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index, a composite index designed to track consumers’ housing-related attitudes, intentions and perceptions, increased nine points in June to 76.5. Although the HPSI is down 15 points year-over-year, June’s gain marked the second rise in HPSI since April’s almost record low.
According to the report, 61% of Americans now believe it is a good time to buy a home – an increase of 9 percentage points from May’s 52%. The share of respondents who say it is a good time to sell also increased to 41% from 32% the month prior.
