Shopping for mortgage rates can save borrowers a lot of money -- $222 a month on average, according to a June report from LendingTree. But there’s a trick to browsing the field for the best rate.

For one thing, compare rates on a single day -- ideally, around the same time of day, advises David Reed, a loan officer for 20-plus years.

Rates react to market conditions, which can change over the course of a day -- let alone several days. So a quote you secured on Monday could be very different from a quote from the same lender on Thursday, explains Reed, who has written several books on mortgages.

If you are reviewing rates online, pay attention to when they were posted, Reed advises. If they were put up a few days earlier, he says to pick up the phone and ask for the current numbers.

It’s equally important to compare rates at the same time of day: Market conditions can change so quickly that a quote in the morning could be different from one in the afternoon.

Next, be certain you are comparing apples to apples by getting quotes for the same mortgage program, Reed counsels. For example, a 30-year mortgage is not comparable to a 15-year loan, nor is a fixed-rate loan comparable to one where the rate adjusts every few years.

Also, lenders offer various rate guarantees, or locks, for set periods of time. When shopping around, get quotes that lock in the rate for the same specific period -- say, 15 or 30 days -- from each lender. But be aware that the longer the lock-in period, the higher the rate.

Finally, along with the rates themselves, compare the fees each lender will charge. The lender with the best rate might tack on higher fees to compensate.

Life events -- divorce, death and bankruptcy, to name a few -- often dictate when someone has to sell a home. Now, a new tool alerts real estate agents to listing opportunities that result from these life-altering events.

Daily Lead Alerts monitors public records for such events as mortgage defaults, divorce filings and involuntary liens. Agents can sign up for alerts within a 3-mile radius of a location of their choosing and will be alerted when these situations are recorded.

According to a statement from Benutech, the real estate technology company offering the feature inside its Title Toolbox platform, "most 3-mile radiuses will include between 10,000 and 40,000 properties, generating a sizable list of potential new listing leads for agents to pursue."

Benutech’s Brian Fox calls the feature “a true game changer,” noting that "there’s a clear link between major life events and real estate decisions ... this tool empowers agents to connect with potential clients at exactly the right moment.”

Sellers are yanking their houses off the market at record levels, mostly because they have been unable to obtain the prices they are looking for. But for some, removing their properties from the multiple listing service is a marketing ploy designed to give their outdated listings a fresh start.

They are taking down their listings, then relisting them later at a lower price. That way, house hunters won’t see it as a “price drop” or be alarmed by the high number of days the property has been on the market.

According to Redfin, the majority of "delistings" in September had been on the market for more than 100 days -- far beyond the 60-day definition of a “stale” listing.

Apparently, the technique works. Redfin reports that almost a third of the houses delisted in July sold when they were listed again.

Gated communities are falling out of favor with buyers of new homes, according to NewHomeSource data that tracks house hunters’ amenity searches.

The listing site for newly constructed houses says searches for gated communities have been slowing since 2024, while interest in community pools has more than doubled.

Gated communities gained popularity in the 1970s and '80s, as rising crime rates increased some buyers' perceived need for an extra layer of security. But now that crime rates are down, would-be buyers are paying more attention to the costs associated with gates and guards. Those costs are usually included in homeowner's association dues -- which are increasing, right along with insurance premiums and property taxes.

"Many consumers are finding that the high homeowner's association fees and the premium price often attached to gated communities have made them less favorable for the time being, as they grapple with rising housing costs,”

says economist Ali Wolf of NewHomeSource.

Robots are moving beyond 3D printed walls to take on such finishing projects as painting and finishing drywall.

One model can paint a four-room apartment in 60 to 90 minutes, according to the manufacturer, and two units can be run simultaneously by one operator. Another robot, says its maker, can paint about 1,000 square feet per hour, about 10 times faster than a human. And a third is said to paint 14 times faster than a human.

Robots can drywall, too. One model muds and sands the gypsum, sprays compound on the joints and, once dry, sands the seams -- while capturing 99% of the resulting dust. And another applies plaster, finishes drywall and paints. The all-in-one model, which is designed to work alongside human laborers, can finish 1,000 square feet an hour -- about 10 times faster than manual methods.

Most homebuyers figure that their property taxes will be the same as those paid by the house's previous owner. That’s a common mistake.

They might be the same for a few months, or even a year, but eventually they’ll be recalculated. And when they are, they’ll most assuredly increase -- sometimes substantially.

But what if it's a new house that no one has ever owned before you? How can you know what the tax levy will be?

Most homebuilders make a good-faith estimate of the taxes their buyers can expect to pay. But some notoriously underestimate these fees to make their estimated mortgage payments appear more affordable.

Some builders go even further, basing their tax estimates not on the finished house, but on the value of the lot before a shovel was ever turned. And now a class-action suit protesting that practice has been filed in Florida.

Filed by a group of unhappy buyers, the suit charges the nation’s largest homebuilder, D.R. Horton, and its mortgage affiliate, DHI Mortgage, with a “deceptive scheme” that led to unexpectedly higher mortgage payments.

The buyers didn’t learn that their payments would be hundreds of dollars higher until after they closed on their mortgages and the loans were sold to new servicers on the secondary market, the lawsuit maintains. Once the new servicers took these loans under their wings, they adjusted the monthly payments so that they were based on the property tax assessment of the finished house -- not the empty lot.

In one instance, the suit alleges, a Horton homebuyer chose DHI Mortgage because the estimated monthly payment was lower than comparable houses with similar sales prices. But less than a year later, the new loan servicer conducted an escrow analysis that included all property taxes -- as well as back taxes to cover the previous shortfall.

The buyer’s monthly payment jumped nearly $1,000.

The lawsuit alleges that the builder and lender were "running a 'Monthly Payment Suppression Scheme' to mislead first-time homebuyers into thinking their total monthly housing costs would fit their budgets," said Jennifer Wagner, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), in a prepared statement. The NCLC is co-representing the buyers in this case.

Only time will tell what becomes of the lawsuit. But it should stand as a warning to all homebuyers to make sure their property tax estimates are as accurate as possible. Buyers should try to determine on their own what their taxes will be. You can call the local assessor's office to find out, or you can ask for the tax rate and do the math yourself.

Realize, too, that your tax levy is not static. It's going to go up -- if not right away, then the next time the local tax assessor reviews your house. Housing prices are still rising, and property tax assessments are rising right along with them.

Part of the problem with underestimated property taxes lies with loan officers, who should make a concerted effort to determine what borrowers will pay prior to closing. Lenders should qualify borrowers for a mortgage based on the taxes at closing, not on what the seller is currently paying. But some don’t, and as a result, their clients' monthly charges will definitely go up, sometimes by hundreds.

Although you can pay your taxes annually on your own, most borrowers set up escrow accounts at closing to collect one-twelfth of their property taxes and homeowner's insurance fees each month. Then, when those charges are due, the loan servicer pays them on the homeowner's behalf, thereby removing the burden of coming up with that lump sum every year.

Eventually, the servicer will run an escrow analysis to make sure your payments are accurate. If not, it will adjust them accordingly. If you haven’t been paying enough since you took on your loan, you will be required to make up the difference.

You may be required to pay it all at once, or the servicer may agree to divide what you owe into equal amounts and add it to your monthly payment. Either way, the hit could be devastating to someone on a tight budget.

The tax collector will reassess your property at least once every three years. If values are rising in your area, you should expect your taxes to rise. But you also should expect your servicer to make annual adjustments to your escrow accounts.

If you disagree with either the tax assessment or your servicer, you can ask for a review. But in the end, there’s no way to avoid an increase, and it is your responsibility to pay it. It is one of the costs of owning a house.

To guard against unexpectedly large increases, some people pay a little extra every month into their escrow accounts. Others deposit money into a separate savings account so they’ll have funds set aside when the new bill arrives.

Buying a house is always a taxing experience. But when you are expecting a child, it turns into a “high-stakes, emotionally charged and biologically timed sprint,” says California real estate agent America Foy.

A 20-year veteran of the industry, Foy has worked with a number of pregnant buyers. In a series for RealtyTimes.com, Foy writes that the experience has taught him more about real estate than any seminar or licensing course.

"If you're expecting and looking to buy, you’re not just competing with other buyers," he writes. "You're racing against your own due date."

For Foy's clients, the second trimester "seems to be a sweet spot" for striking a deal: "If we can get into contract during the second trimester, things usually go smoothly."

Clients don't find the third trimester quite so sweet, he writes: "Every showing becomes an endurance test. Every flight of stairs feels like a mountain. The phrase 'appraisal contingency' can trigger a wave of nausea that has nothing to do with the baby."

A mother's "nesting instinct," Foy has learned, can be both a help and a hindrance: “It sharpens your focus on what truly matters. You stop caring about the open-concept layout for entertaining and start measuring bedrooms for cribs and calculating how many steps it is from the master bedroom to the kitchen for 2 a.m. feedings.”

But pregnant clients can be vulnerable to unscrupulous agents and sellers who can sense the buyer's urgency. “They know a pregnant buyer might waive contingencies or stretch their budget to secure the nest,” Foy writes.

Sometimes, the nesting instinct can actually turn dangerous. Foy writes that one expecting client, driven by the "biological imperative to secure a safe space," floated the idea of skipping the inspection just to get into the house quicker.

Whatever the cause, impatience "can turn rational buyers into deal saboteurs," he writes. Inspections are important tools for finding a house's problems before the buyer -- pregnant or not -- is committed to the place.

Sometimes, inspections find things that can pose serious health risks: mold, lead and animal feces, to name a few. These hazards aren’t necessarily deal-breakers -- not if you find them early. Rather, they can be used to negotiate price reductions, repairs or other concessions.

"Health hazards are expensive to fix, which means they’re powerful leverage points if you find them before closing," Foy writes.

In short, he says, “Your nesting instinct is powerful, but pair it with necessary additional inspections, and you get both the haven you crave and the financial protection you need.”

Now, the third trimester, Foy writes, is when “pregnancy brain meets mortgage bureaucracy.” Juggling pregnancy's many challenges while also comparing loan offers, reviewing contracts and negotiating contingencies can add up to what Foy calls “a perfect storm for decision fatigue and costly mistakes.”

Some soon-to-be moms don’t realize that their upcoming maternity leave is “a ticking time bomb in your loan file.” Even when the buyer has been preapproved, an underwriter sometimes panics about the looming income interruption.

"I learned this lesson the hard way, with multiple clients who got ambushed by lenders who suddenly decided unpaid leave was a 'material change' to their financial situation," Foy writes.

Here, Foy advises pregnant borrowers to disclose their situations to the lender from day one and to provide the following: a letter from HR detailing their company’s leave policy, including documentation of paid leave benefits (if any); a return-to-work commitment letter; and bank statements that show enough savings to cover the upcoming gap.

The real pressure cooker comes toward the end of the pregnancy. Things can really pile up. Picture Foy's list of hypothetical stressors: "Your rate lock expires in 45 days. Your baby is due in eight weeks. The appraisal is delayed because the appraiser got COVID. The title company found an easement issue. Your doctor just put you on bed rest.

"This is why front-loading the loan process matters," he writes. “Every day of delay (during this period) adds exponential stress to an already maxed-out system.”

He suggests creating buffer zones and cushions into every part of the process. For instance, lock in your mortgage rate for 60 days, not 45. Collect your loan documentation papers immediately. Schedule closing at least four weeks before your due date, and implement as many backup plans as possible.