The Department of Justice has warned buyers not to sign contracts binding them to the agent showing them houses. And maybe they shouldn’t. But sellers should also be leery of signing listing agreements that tie them to one brokerage firm for months at a time.

For example, sometimes a seller finds a buyer on their own, with no help or input from the listing agent. In traditional contracts, the agent has the exclusive right to sell -- meaning that they are still owed a commission, even if they didn't find the buyer.

If you intend to proactively work to sell your place while it is listed in the multiple listing service, you may want to consider an exclusive agency agreement instead. You'll still work with a listing agent, but if you find the buyer, you'll have the right to sell without paying a commission.

Sellers also might want to consider the type of deed of conveyance they provide, says Martin Segal, a lecturer at the University of Miami who writes the popular Ask Doctor Law blog.

Rather than warrant the entire chain of ownership, how about a special warranty deed that only guarantees a clear title during the time you owned the place? That gets you off the hook for unknown defects that occurred when you were not the owner.

While it's doubtful that a buyer would accept it, you can also offer a quit-claim deed, which conveys title without any warranties whatsoever.

Property taxes are the largest discretionary source of revenue for local governments, and tax assessors usually try to maximize the valuations of houses within their purview. But not so when it comes to their own residences, according to a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The “Assessing the Assessor” paper, which has not yet been peer reviewed, finds that assessors tend to rate their own properties “at significantly lower values” than those of their neighbors. Consequently, say authors Huaizhi Chen of the University of Notre Dame and Lauren Cohen of Harvard Business School, their tax bills “grow significantly slower” than their neighbors' do.

The paper also finds that the lower the value assessors assign to their own houses, the more likely other homeowners within the county are to sell their homes below their assigned taxation values. In other words, the lower the assessor's assessment, the less others will profit from the sale of their places.

Finally, the paper documents “a significant connection” between the under-assessment of assessors’ own properties and the tax-maximizing assessment gaps documented in the districts they operate.

Worrisome trends:

-- Renter households have formed faster than owner households for the past four quarters, as homebuilders have been unable to keep up with demand. But even if they could, the cost of buying is rising faster than the cost of renting. Owner households now number 86.9 million, according to data collected by Redfin. But the number of renter households hit a record 45.6 million in the third quarter of 2024.

-- The incoming Trump administration’s vow to deport illegal immigrants could slow builders' ability to construct houses. According to the latest Census Bureau stats, the number of immigrants joining the construction industry rose to nearly 130,000 in 2022. There’s no telling how many of those entered the country illegally. But in a business with persistent labor shortages, kicking out any gainfully employed immigrants will slow down the construction process -- probably considerably.

-- The percentage of “defective” mortgages -- those on which borrowers lie or otherwise supply bad information -- is low, but rising, according to quality control analytics company ACES. Less than 2% of all approved loans have issues, the company says, but the number is trending upwards. Most errors in this year’s second quarter were about borrowers’ incomes and employment, but applications with faulty appraisals saw the most significant quarter-to-quarter increase.

Ground has been broken outside of Atlanta for what the builder claims will be the largest zero-energy community in the country.

Located in Marietta, Georgia, the GreenHouse community will have 591 houses, all of which will be built to the Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready standards.

The builder is Beazer Homes, a company that has promised to build every one of its properties to high energy-efficient standards. Based in Atlanta, Beazer currently has 12 projects in various stages of development in the metro area, each of which offers Zero Energy Ready houses.

At GreenHouse, the houses' renewable energy systems will be so efficient that they could offset most, or all, of the home’s annual energy use, the company says.

The National Flood Insurance Program is working on allowing policyholders to pay their premiums on a monthly basis. Previously, premiums could only be paid annually.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which operates the program, is in the process of allowing both new and existing customers to pay monthly. The change won’t impact policy terms, just the payment schedule.

Policyholders who escrow their flood payments along with their property taxes and homeowners insurance are not eligible. But everyone else, at the time of application or renewal, will soon have the option of paying annually or monthly.

There will be no extra fees to pay monthly, but once you have selected a payment plan, you cannot change it during the policy’s term. However, federal law requires FEMA to charge certain fees, surcharges and assessments, and those charges will be collected upfront at the start of the policy’s term. For monthly payers, they will be collected with the first payment. Then, it will be the premium only for the next 11 months.

FEMA says it is working with all NFIP insurers to offer the monthly option as soon as possible.

Folks wondering what their homes might be worth if they made certain improvements will find a new tool from Revive helpful. Its artificial intelligence tool, called After Renovation Value, is now open and free for anyone to use.

Revive already works with real estate professionals to provide the guidance, contractors and funding that sellers need to make strategic presale renovations. Now, the ARV tool can estimate current value and reveal a property's untapped potential -- ensuring that sellers don’t leave money on the table by failing to bring their properties up to snuff. The tool also includes a neighborhood property condition analysis.

The program has gone through months of rigorous testing to ensure accuracy and reliability, the company reports. More info can be found at www.revive.realestate.

Speaking of renovations, you might want to think twice about remodeling if you plan to stick around awhile. According to a new study from Clever Real Estate, just under half the owners queried who had undertaken a project within the last five years liked their places better before the work was done.

Clever, which matches real estate agents with local buyers and sellers, actually found a bunch of negatives around remodeling:

-- Three in four owners went over budget on their last project, with nearly half exceeding it by at least $5,000 and a third going at least $10,000 over.

-- Of the about 3 in 4 homeowners who regretted remodeling in the past five years, 1 in 4 regret spending too much and 2 in 5 gripe that the renovation took too long.

Food for thought.

If you do undertake major improvements, don’t forget to tell your insurance company so your coverage can be adjusted accordingly. Many people don’t, according to a new survey by Nationwide.

Homeowners may not realize that taking on big projects could impact their insurance, says Casey Kempton, president of the insurer’s personal lines division: “We always recommend consulting with an insurance agent before diving into any major DIY renovation to ensure that all potential risks are covered.”

The poll found that 55% of owners who completed large-scale renovations within the past two years “have not adjusted their insurance policies, leaving themselves at risk of being underinsured.”

Homeowners should not wait to update their coverage until the project is completed. Do it before the work starts, so everyone will be covered.

I hate it when researchers come out with reports on the "best day to buy a house" or list one for sale. I am not going to name names, because these companies normally produce solid research, but studies about the "best day" are bogus -- pure and simple.

One recent study says the best day to buy is Dec. 5 -- but anyone who settles on that date would have signed their purchase contracts 30 to 60 days earlier. No one, not even the best researchers, can say with any accuracy what the best day to buy is, because sales only become part of the record when they go to settlement.

Building lots are in short supply in many major markets, but more sites are on the way. According to home marketing and research firm Zonda, lots under development are up more than 21% from the end of 2023.

Unfortunately, most new buildable sites are in the excavation stage -- the beginning stage of development -- and won’t be delivered until early spring at the earliest.

"Vive la difference" is a French phrase that encourages us to celebrate differences, usually among people. But real estate has its differences, too -- like the difference between spec houses and custom-built homes, or between a pending sale and a completed one.

Let’s examine a few of these distinctions, which homebuyers should be familiar with.

-- New houses. Builders who put up entire subdivisions are building “production” houses: homes that are built for the masses. Usually, they don’t start construction until they have a signed contract, but sometimes they move ahead with a house that has yet to be sold. In those cases, they are speculating that a buyer will come along soon -- hence the term “spec” houses.

“Custom” houses, on the other hand, are usually one-of-a-kind, architect-designed homes built for one buyer and one buyer only. With a production house, builders have made most of the design choices for you; all you have to do is pick the finishes. With a custom house, you choose everything. It may sound fun, but it’s a chore most people say they would never do again.

Also, some production builders allow their buyers to make more substantial design changes to their models, which then are called “semi-custom” houses.

-- Style. You can put any type of facade on a house -- colonial, modern, traditional and so on -- but there are only four basic plans: two-story, one-story, split-level and bi-level. And while single-floor houses can be called ramblers or ranches, the terms mean the same thing.

-- Agents. There are more than 1 million real estate agents and brokers plying their trade throughout the country, but not all of them are Realtors. To be called the latter, you have to be a member of the National Association of Realtors. In and of itself, though, being a Realtor does not make an agent any better or worse.

Loan officers and mortgage brokers aren’t the same, either. Loan officers work for banks or lenders and only write loans offered by their institutions. Brokers, on the other hand, are independent agents who originate mortgages for any number of lenders. They tend to offer a broader array of products.

-- Sold. A house is sold only when all the documents are signed at closing and money changes hands. Many agents post "Sold" signs on properties as soon as the seller gives their blessing, but the place ain’t sold until settlement. Until then, the seller can entertain more offers and even hold some as back-up contracts in case the original deal falls through.

A "Pending" sign offers another meaning: It tells other would-be buyers the seller has accepted an offer, all contingencies in the contract have been satisfied or removed, and the deal is heading toward closing.

-- Preapproved. In the financing world, there’s a big difference between being preapproved and prequalified. Generally speaking, with preapproval, a real estate agent or lending professional takes a look at your credit, debt, income and assets, then estimates how much you may be able to borrow. That information, and the amount you have put away for a down payment and closing costs, indicates roughly how much you can spend on a house.

But a preapproval is virtually worthless -- so much so that it’s called a "Swiss cheese loan commitment" because it's riddled with holes that lenders can use to deny your application. These days, agents and sellers won’t even talk to you unless you are prequalified for financing.

"Prequalified" means that you have been actually cleared for a mortgage at a certain amount. As long as the valuation of the house supports the price you're paying and does not exceed your maximum, you are good to go.

-- Examinations. A home inspection is different from a final walk-through. With an inspection, the buyer hires a professional to go over the house, top to bottom, looking for any defects, flaws or faulty systems and appliances. Armed with the inspector’s report, the buyer can make a decision on whether to proceed.

The final walk-through, by contrast, is when the buyer visits the house a few days prior to closing to make sure all the requested repairs have been completed to their satisfaction. This final look-see is also a chance to make sure the house is clean and possibly discover problems the inspector missed.

-- Remodel. There’s "remodel," which is changing something in the house for the better -- say, an all-new kitchen or bathroom. Then there’s "renovate," which is almost an entire makeover. And there’s also "restoration," which is returning a house to its original state.

Unless your property is historic, a restoration usually only occurs after a fire or other disaster. In those cases, the insurance company will pay to have the house restored to the way it was before the covered event. It will not pay for any upgrades or improvements; if you want to make the house better while you're at it, that's on your own nickel.

If the house has some historical significance, a restoration would hearken back to its original design, often using authentic materials and components from the time when the house was constructed.