Adrian Higgins

Columnist

Clearing out the garden for a spring that’s already here

View Photo Gallery —  Whether your garden is a few potted plants in your apartment or a whole field in your backyard, we want to see how your garden grows!

By Adrian Higgins,

We are still a week away from the equinoctial start of spring, which is a bit of a joke if you look about the garden: Spring has been quietly raging for weeks. The hellebores are in full flight, the rhubarb has begun to sprout and the early daffodils are hoofing it off the stage. Spring doesn’t so much start as gather momentum. Plants are primed to react to a strengthening sun, warming soil and longer days, phenomena that came early after winter had cut and run.

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Paint choices: A color story told with bravado

View Photo Gallery —  Color comes alive in Michael and Margie Golden’s Alexandria home, where vivid reds, yellows and bluish greens adorn the walls.

By Jura Koncius,

It was Annie Oakley and Gen. George Custer who finally helped nail the right paint color choices for Michael and Margie Golden’s Alexandria home. The American icons are subjects of two Andy Warhol screen prints in the Goldens’ home. Oakley’s and Custer’s vivid reds, yellows and bluish greens inspired the Goldens and their color consultant, Jean Molesworth Kee, to go bold for the walls.

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Builders ready for home construction rebound

By Chris Isidore @CNNMoney March 20, 2012: 9:37 AM ET

Builders are anticipating a strong housing construction season.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Home builders are getting ready for a stronger construction season, filing for the most building permits in more than three years, in another sign of recovery in the long-battered housing market. The government reported builders filed for permits at an seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000 in February, the strongest reading since October 2008, which was the month after the meltdown in financial markets. It marked a 5.1% rise from January and a 34.3% increase from year-earlier levels. Actual starts of new homes slipped slightly from a very strong start to the building season in January, down 1.1% to 698,000. Still, that was 35% ahead of starts in February 2011.

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Home sales up from last year, despite monthly dip

By Les Christie @CNNMoney March 21, 2012: 11:22 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The housing market slipped slightly in February compared with a month earlier, but improved substantially compared with the prior year, according to a report issued Wednesday.
Sales of existing homes fell 0.9% to an annual rate of 4.59 million last month from 4.63 million in January, according to the National Association of Realtors. But sales were 8.8% above the pace of 4.22 million of a year ago. The median price of homes sold was $156,600, up slightly from last February but near 10-year lows and only a modest rise from the $154,700 reached in January. "The market is trending up unevenly, with record high consumer buying power and sustained job gains giving buyers the confidence they need to get into the market," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. With home prices are at their lowest point since 2002 and mortgage rates hovering near historic lows for months, buying a home is cheaper than renting in almost every part of the United States.

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Home buying much cheaper than renting

By Les Christie @CNNMoney March 21, 2012: 8:22 AM ET

Honolulu is the nation's best market to be a renter rather than a buyer.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It's the eternal question in real estate: Should I buy or rent?
The answer has never been clearer: Buy.

In 98 of the top 100 housing markets, buying a home is more affordable than renting, according to the online real estate company Trulia. Only Honolulu and San Francisco buck the trend. There are several reasons. Home prices are falling. Mortgage interest rates are at historically low levels. And rents are on the rise. Of course, many renters are not in a position to buy. For one, it's hard to get a mortgage these days, despite low rates. And paying rent can push them further away from being able to afford to buy. "Rising rents make it harder for people to save for a down payment, which is the biggest barrier to buying a home that aspiring homeowners face," Jed Kolko, Trulia's chief economist.

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FHA may soon further limit how much sellers can contribute at settlements

By Kenneth R. Harney, Published: March 8

If you’re considering buying a house with an FHA mortgage and expect the seller to help out with your closing costs, here’s a heads-up: The Federal Housing Administration plans to impose significant restrictions in the near future on the amount that sellers can contribute at settlements. On top of that, FHA also will be raising its mortgage insurance premiums during the coming weeks, increasing charges for new purchasers across the board.
You might ask: Why hit us with additional financial burdens right now, just as housing is showing modest signs of recovery in many areas and the spring buying season is getting underway?

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BofA to slash mortgage balances by $100,000 or more

By Les Christie @CNNMoney March 9, 2012: 3:09 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Bank of America will significantly slash mortgage balances for as many as 200,000 borrowers.
As part of the $26 billion settlement reached between the five major mortgage servicers, the federal government and the attorneys general of 49 states and District of Columbia last month, Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) customers who qualify could see their mortgages reduced by an average of $100,000 or more, according to bank spokesman Rick Simon.

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Remodeling? How to get a better bid

By Josh Garskof @Money March 12, 2012: 5:38 AM ET

When remodeling, create a financial plan upfront and contractors can tailor proposals to fit what you can afford.

(MONEY Magazine) -- Budgeting for a large remodeling project presents a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem: You won't have a feel for the cost until you get bids from contractors.
But unless you give pros a ballpark figure from the start, they'll have to guess at what to include in their bids -- and they'll come back to you with a huge range of prices for very different plans.

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8 Ways to Boost Your Home’s Appraisal

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