In the world of real estate, "contingency" is a dirty word. It means something else has to happen before a deal can go through.

Maybe the property has to pass a clean inspection. Or perhaps the buyer has to apply for financing within a certain time period. If the inspection discovers termites or the buyer fails to seek a mortgage within the allotted time frame, the sale shifts back to neutral until those issues are resolved.

One of the most dreaded contingencies is the one that requires a would-be buyer to first sell their current residence. Generally, the buyer needs the money from that sale to buy the new place, so they make the contract conditional on selling it. If they can't sell it, or can't obtain the price they need to make the deal work, the contract on the new house becomes null and void.

Sellers don't particularly like the "sell-my-home-first" contingency -- some won't even accept offers that include it -- because, in effect, it takes their properties off the market until the buyers either sell or give up trying. Buyers are typically given between 30 and 90 days to sell; only after the contingency expires can the seller move forward.

A buyer could, of course, simply wait until their current place sells before buying another. But then they'd likely need a short-term rental or other temporary home between the purchases. They would also face the hassle, and expense, of moving twice.

Alternatively, they could move forward with buying a new place, carrying both mortgages until the old house sells. But that isn't feasible for most people.

Another option is a bridge loan, also known as gap financing, which fills the gap between the two properties. When your house sells, you use the proceeds to pay off the bridge loan.

Convenient, yes, but expensive. These loans often entail higher interest and origination fees compared to traditional loans. Furthermore, they are typically available only to those with excellent credit and low debt-to-income ratios.

Yet another option is to talk to your agent. Many real estate companies and/or agents offer "buy-in" programs, in which they purchase your place if it doesn't sell. But most often, they want a deep discount. Then, they might spend a few dollars to fix it up and paint it before selling it and pocketing the difference.

Over the last few years, entire companies have been formed to do what agents have long done on their own. But as prices and loan rates continued to rise, their business models became less attractive.

More recently, other options have come forth to solve the sell-buy conundrum. One is Flyhomes; another, Cash to Win. Each with its own MO, they essentially provide the money you'll need to buy a new house prior to selling your old one.

Flyhomes, which works with over 30,000 loan officers, isn't new: It is 10 years old and has helped over 6,000 clients bridge the gap. With its Buy Before You Sell program, the company places a guaranteed backup offer on the departing residence, thereby removing the home sale contingency.

Then, it places a "cost effective" home equity loan on the old place so you can use the proceeds as a down payment and closing costs for the new house. The rate: 9.99%. Loan origination charges are separate.

You continue to try to sell the house. But if it doesn't sell after 180 days, you can sell it to Flyhomes at the backup contract's agreed-upon price. If it eventually sells for above that contract's price, you get the overage, less the agent's commission and some other selling fees. The cost: 0.5% of the selling price, with a $2,500 minimum.

Flyhomes' CEO and co-founder Tushar Garg tells me that with the backup contract, it's "as though the old house is already sold." Consequently, the mortgage on it no longer counts as part of your debt-to-income ratio on the new mortgage, so you can qualify for a larger loan and better terms.

The Buy Before You Sell program may be called by a different name, depending on the lender, so ask around.

Cash to Win works differently. The company, in consultation with the seller and their agent and after a home inspection, determines a fair selling price. It then purchases the place at that price and lists it with the seller's agent. There's a 1% to 3% fee to use Cash to Win.

The company advances up to 70% of the equity to the seller, who can use the funds for a down payment and closing costs. The company holds back 30% of the equity to cover its selling costs, settlement charges and miscellaneous other fees, including 9% per day on all advanced funds. When the house is sold, what's left is remitted back to the seller.

If the house doesn't sell within 60 days, Cash to Win charges an additional 0.5% of the sales price. After the first 60 days, the company is free to reduce the listing price as it sees fit.

If the house is not sold after 180 days, the company retains what remains of the 30% holdback. But if it is sold above the original asking price, the owner gets the difference.

California broker Jeff Lazerson has done several deals with Cash to Win. He says the program is roughly a third the cost of a bridge loan. But he warns that sellers "must be realistic" when it comes to pricing their houses.

Renters often believe their landlord’s insurance policy will cover their belongings if they are stolen or damaged. It won’t. So if you are a tenant, you need to buy some coverage of your own.

At the same time, landlords need some extra coverage, too. Homeowners policies alone won’t cut it.

Let’s start with renters. Even if the place comes furnished, tenants bring along a lot of personal items and electronics. They need a policy that covers these things in case of theft, fire or other events. A good policy will also cover tenants against liability claims and additional living expenses if they have to relocate.

Renters should also look for a policy that includes no-fault medical coverage. That way, anyone injured on the property can submit their medical bills directly to the insurer.

Renters insurance isn’t a legal requirement, but some landlords insist on it as part of their leases. For others, it's a preference rather than a requirement. So if two people are vying for the same apartment and only one of them has coverage, guess who the landlord is likely to favor?

Most renters policies also cover the tenant against liability claims for damage to the property by the renter, their family and their pets. They also cover legal defense up to the policy’s limits, and additional living expenses should the property become unlivable because of a fire or other insured event.

The cost of coverage varies widely, depending on how much coverage you want. Most insurance agents should be able to give you a quote over the phone. But be certain to purchase enough coverage to replace all of your possessions.

Coverage can be canceled if you move out, and is transferable if you move to another rental property. But your policy should be updated. If you have a roommate, individual policies may be necessary.

Landlords policies do none of these things, at least not on the tenant’s behalf. Rather, they protect the property’s owner or their agent. They cover the physical structure and provide liability coverage in case a tenant or visitor is injured while on the property and holds the landlord responsible.

So, if someone were to break down the apartment's door and make off with a big-screen TV, jewelry and cash, the tenant’s insurance would cover those losses while the landlord’s policy would cover the damage to the door. If the tenant has no insurance, they're out of luck.

Landlord coverage also protects against the loss of rent in the event of a covered loss. For example, if a tree falls on the house and the damage is so extensive the tenants can no longer live there, a policy will cover the lost rent until the place can be occupied again. But landlords are not covered if tenants run into financial difficulties and can’t pay their rent.

Liability coverage pays for situations that are the landlord’s fault. Say the tenant fell on the steps because the handrail was not anchored securely. Without liability coverage, the tenant would likely sue.

Many landlords -- especially those who are new to property management -- believe their homeowners policy will protect them. But it does not. For each rental property you own, you’ll need a separate policy.

Like renters insurance, a landlord’s policy is not required by law, but obtaining coverage is highly recommended.

Speaking of insurance, after several years of aggressive rate hikes, the cost of homeowners insurance increased by "only" 8.5% last year. The average premium for a new policy hit $1,952, according to Matic Insurance Services, an insurance comparison site. While still a large increase, that’s less than half the 18% jump recorded in 2024.

Matic estimates that insurance now accounts for 9% of the typical homeowner’s monthly mortgage payment -- the highest share ever recorded.

The trend has direct implications on borrowers’ ability to qualify for mortgages and to afford ongoing payments once they are homeowners. Mortgage lenders echo this sentiment, with 64% of those surveyed by Matic reporting problems related to insurance either "frequently" or "somewhat frequently" over the last year.

Another potential insurance risk: People are increasing their deductibles to save money, but putting more of their own money on the line should they have to file a claim.

The average deductible rose 22% last year, up from 15% in 2024, per Matic. And the company says it’s likely that deductibles will continue to increase.

There's been a jump in the number of houses hitting the market in recent weeks. Hidden among them, there are likely some reasonably priced gems listed by owners willing to negotiate with interested buyers.

Many homes fitting that description are relistings: houses that had been listed previously, but were taken off the market because the owners couldn’t get their asking prices.

Delistings, the counterparts of relistings, surged during the second half of 2025. Every month since June, according to Realtor.com, some 6% of active listings nationwide were yanked off the market -- the highest rate since the metric was introduced in 2022.

Now, some of those sellers are coming back -- and with a different mindset. Toward the end of January, relistings accounted for 11% of the houses for sale nationwide, Compass economist Mike Simonsen reports. That works out to nearly 76,500 places that are now back on the market.

After experiencing months of showings, price cuts and stalled negotiations, frustrated sellers are more willing to bend on prices, concessions and repairs, says Lance Lambert, founder of real estate research firm ResiClub.

Moreover, relistings give buyers “an information advantage,” writes Lambert in an article on FastCompany.com. Buyers can find the prior list price, concessions that may have been offered, how many days the places were on the market and whether any earlier contracts fell apart. Armed with this knowledge, buyers can ensure their offers are tied to “true market-clearing levels.”

“Savvy buyers -- and their agents -- should always do their homework and confirm whether a property was listed in the prior year, how pricing evolved, and why it didn’t sell, as that context can materially strengthen negotiating leverage,” he writes.

How much does it cost to build a house? Surprisingly, the “sticks and bricks” of the typical house in 2024 were responsible for 64% of the cost, the National Association of Home Builders reports. The finished building site was the second-largest cost, at nearly 14%.

Building costs were broken down into eight major stages of construction: interior finishes (24.1%), major system rough-ins (19.2%), framing (16.6%), exterior finishes (13.4%), foundations (10.5%), site work (7.6%), final steps (6.5%), and other costs (2.1%).

Builders pocketed an average of 11% in profit, NAHB reports.

Time is slowly eroding the so-called “lock-in effect,” in which current homeowners don’t want to give up their low-rate mortgages.

There were already a large percentage of loans below 4% prior to the pandemic. And by the first quarter of 2022, 65% were below 4%. Nearly 86% were below 5%.

But as of last year’s third quarter, data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency show that 51.5% of active mortgages are below 4%, and 68.6% are under 5%.

On the flip side, the percentage of mortgages over 6% increased by more than 4% between the third quarters of 2024 and 2025.

Beware of so-called experts who say you can improve your credit score by filing a false report of identity theft.

Not only is doing so "a crime that could get you a fine, imprisonment or both," per a post on the Federal Trade Commission's website, but it would also leave your credit worse off than before.

Scammers claiming they can repair your credit may encourage you to dispute information in your credit report that you know is correct. They’ll also push you to pay them in advance, tell you to lie on loan or credit applications, and discourage you from contacting the credit bureaus directly.

Legally, credit repair outfits cannot remove information from your credit file if it’s up-to-date and accurate. In fact, it’s illegal for credit repair companies to lie about what they can do, or charge you before they help you.

Credit repair companies must explain your legal rights in a written contract that details the services they’ll perform, how long it will take to get results, and the total cost you’ll pay. They must also explain your three-day right to cancel without any charge and provide you with a cancellation form.

In short, anything a credit repair company can do legally, you can do on your own at little or no cost. The best way to improve your credit is to show, over time, that you pay your debts punctually.

It’s not any easier to time the housing market than it is the stock market. So don’t give much credence to reports that offer the "best months" to buy or sell, or the "best days of the week" to put your house on the market.

These dates are based on when a sale closed, not when a sales contract is signed. And since it takes roughly 40 days from the contract signing to settlement, the actual “best times” are about a month and a half earlier.

Rather than relying on the calendar, the best way to shop for a house is probably to compare mortgage rates, advises Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree.

“A fraction of a point difference can mean tens of thousands of dollars in savings over the life of a mortgage,” says Schulz in a recent Lending Tree article. “If you don’t take the time to comparison shop, there’s a good chance you’ll pay more than you need to.”