Real Estate

Land, including all the natural resources and permanent buildings on it.

Sub-headings:

House and Home Consumer Issues & Services

Shopping and financing for house and home purchases, maintenance, and repair.

Resources in this category:

AOL Real Estate
http://realestate.aol.com/

"Resource of information for first time home buyers, sellers, staging information, investing advice, how to guides to home improvement, and real estate and mortgage tools."

Buying Your First Home
http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/48484

This IPL pathfinder is designed to help first time home buyers find information on several aspects of home buying. These include how to find the home of your dreams, how to finance your new home, and how to use the library to find out more about the home buying process. Print and Internet resources are listed.

Guide to Researching the History of a House
http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/76687

The purpose of this IPL pathfinder is to introduce sources for researching the history of a house. Included here are resources for discovering architectural facts as well as historical facts. Print and Internet resources are listed.

Home Buyer's Information Center
http://www.ourfamilyplace.com/homebuyer/

"Buying a house is an important decision. That's probably why you are spending the time you are preparing to buy your home... Here you will find helpful hints, checklists and "To-Do" lists for buying a home, as well as links to other sources of information. If you are considering buying your first house, begin by making sure buying a house is to your advantage--check out our buy or rent a house comparison. Don't go into your housing purchase unprepared--spend some time here and get the tools that you need."

Home Energy Saver
http://hes.lbl.gov/

"The Home Energy Saver was the first Internet-based tool for calculating energy use in residential buildings...By changing one or more features of the modeled home, users can estimate how much energy and money can be saved and how much pollution prevented by implementing energy-efficiency improvements." Includes a glossary and links to other sources of information about products, construction standards, and home building.

Homefair.Com
http://www.homefair.com/

Real estate site with articles on buying and financing a home, along with interactive calculators - a salary calculator for comparing the cost of living in different locales, calculators for moving costs and qualifying for a mortgage and a quizzer to help you understand some of the issues in buying your home and auto insurance.

Homes and Communities
http://www.hud.gov/

"For Citizens, we offer tips on home buying, mortgage shopping, and finding affordable rental housing. We list HUD homes for sale and opportunities for you to volunteer to help your community. And you can chat "Over the Back Fence" with your neighbors all over the Nation. For Community and Business Partners, we have information about funding, technical assistance, best practices, contracting opportunities, major HUD initiatives, and more." Searchable.

Housing - U.S. Government Consumer Information Center
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/results.tpl?id1=17&startat=1&--woS...

The Housing section of the U.S. Government Consumer Information Center has online pamphlets covering various aspects of home ownership such as buying a home, getting a mortgage, home improvements and safety.

Marketplace Money from American Public Media
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/

Daily radio show on National Public Radio (NPR) that discusses all matters financial, such as business news, retirement, home purchasing, asking for a raise, paying off credit card debt, and paying for college. All previous radio programs are available online, and be sure to check out features section.

Microsoft HomeAdvisor
http://realestate.msn.com/

Offers advice on buying a home, such as determining your price range and making an offer. Find information on national loan rates and specific neighborhoods. You can even look at and compare houses for sale.

Mortgage 101
http://www.mortgage101.com/

"Mortgage 101 is an informative mortgage resource for potential home buyers." Here you'll find information on current interest rates, a web board where you can ask for advice from mortgage professionals, and mortgage calculators that "can figure payments, amortize loans, calculate ratios, and compare living costs." There are also informative sections on applications, bankruptcy, refinancing, and related issues.

The Mortgage Calculator
http://www.interest.com/hugh/calc/

Interactive calculation and display of a payment schedule for a mortgage. Links to a number of other financial calculations produced by the same author, including savings accounts, retirement planning, FHA vs. conventional mortgages, and others.

Rentometer
http://www.rentometer.com/

Compare properties with current rental market values. Provides price scale based on rental properties near given address, and a map with local rental listings and prices in your neighborhood.