View Photo Gallery — Well-known design blogger and interior stylist Eddie Ross shares easy and affordable ways to redecorate using what you have around the house.

By Terri Sapienza, Published: February 1

My name is Terri, and I’m a serial redecorator.
I admit it, and I’m not ashamed. Because as vices go, I don’t think this is a bad one. Unless, of course, you are my husband.e On many days he can be found schlepping large pieces of furniture around our house, rehanging heavy mirrors and shelves or patiently holding a piece of fabric against a wall or chair so I can stand back for a better perspective.

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Mortgage rates tumble to record low

Average on the 30-year home loan slides to 3.87 percent from 3.98 percent

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

updated 37 minutes ago

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to the lowest since records have been kept, creating a tempting target for people to refinance their homes.

Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage hit 3.87 percent, down from 3.98 percent the prior week. That's below the previous record of 3.88 hit two weeks ago.
The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.14 percent, also a record low. Records for mortgage rates date back to the 1950s.

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Real Estate Outlook: Existing-Home Sales Rise Again

by Carla Hill

The National Association of Realtors latest existing-home sales survey shows that sales are on the rise again. This is the third straight month of increases as well the rate rising above year ago levels. December saw a 5.0 percent rise and is now 3.6 percent above December 2010. The entire of year of 2011 experienced an overall 1.7 percent rise in existing-home sales over 2010.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said these are early signs of what may be a sustained recovery. "The pattern of home sales in recent months demonstrates a market in recovery," he said. "Record low mortgage interest rates, job growth and again home prices are giving more consumers the confidence they need to enter the market."

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Become your kid's mortgage lender

By Janice Revell, contributor @FortuneMagazine February 1, 2012: 5:35 AM ET

FORTUNE -- Between slumping prices and low mortgage rates, it's a good time to look for real estate bargains. But thanks to tightened lending standards, legions of young would-be homebuyers aren't exactly in a position to take advantage of the opportunity. That's where their parents come in: One in three first-time buyers received either a gift or a loan from their families to help buy a home in 2011, according to the National Association of Realtors.

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Get organized in 20 minutes

View Photo Gallery —  Bethesda-based professional organizer Rachel Strisik spends her days helping folks around the region get their lives in order. Here, she offers a peek inside her own home and shares some of her favorite organizing products.

By Terri Sapienza, Published: January 25

Whether your home is 700 square feet or 7,000, having organized spaces will make your life easier and less stressful, says professional organizer Rachel Strisik, who is based in Bethesda. Here, she offers three household projects that should each take about 20 minutes to accomplish.

If you’ve been ignoring the need to get your home in order, this is an easy way to get yourself motivated. Setting aside time this weekend to tackle one of these projects will not only leave you feeling a little more organized come Monday morning, it might even give you incentive to keep going.

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Heritage trails mark the path to preserving D.C. history

View Photo Gallery —  As H Street NE gentrifies, neighborhood natives are working with historians to uncover and restore the corridor’s history.

Others contain largely unknown D.C. tidbits: Who knew that go-go king Chuck Brown was a shoeshine boy outside the Howard Theatre as a child? (That story is on the Georgia Avenue/Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail) Or that deaf football players at Gallaudet University invented the American football huddle, so they could conceal their signs from opponents. (Photos of that first huddle are on the Greater H Street NE Heritage Trail).
Bennett says tracing the neighborhood’s history also brought her family together. As part of the research for the upcoming LeDroit Park/Bloomingdale trail, her cousins got together over breakfast to research the story of two priests in the family. One was Father Leslie Branch, the first African American Catholic chaplain in the U.S. Navy.

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A lesson on real estate deductions

Daniel Acker/BLOOMBERG - U.S. Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service 1040 Individual Income Tax forms for the 2010 tax year are arranged for a photograph in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, March 23, 2011.

By Benny L. Kass, Published: January 27

“People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women.”
— Unknown

Selling your home (including condo or co-op) in today’s market is not easy, but when you are successful, you may be pleasantly surprised by the favorable tax laws.
In general, if you are married and meet two legal tests, you can exclude up to $500,000 of the profit you have made. If you are not married or file a separate tax return, the exclusion is reduced to $250,000.

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