Heed warning signs of real estate scamsNews As housing recovers and technology evolves, real estate scams have not decreased. Despite government initiatives on both and federal and state levels, they’ve flourished into more elaborate cons. Homeowners have been scammed out of an average of $4,000 to $5,000 from scams, according to NeighborhoodWorks America, the nonprofit organization behind the Loan Modification Alert campaign.

How Good Are Zillow’s Estimates?In the year since its launch, Zillow Inc. has made millions of Americans familiar with computer-generated estimates of home values, created a new online addiction and become a staple of dinner-party chatter. But just how accurate is it?

The Passive House: Sealed for FreshnessSEATTLE – When you visit Sloan and Jennifer Ritchie’s new passive house in the Madison Park neighborhood here, it takes a while to notice all the things you’re not hearing. Look out the living room windows and you can see a gardener wielding one of those ear-piercing leaf blowers in the yard, but you would never know it inside.

Garbage Disposals Are the New Kitchen AmenityIn addition to large price tags, these listings have something else in common. They all puff out their chest to announce: This apartment has a garbage disposal. This little appliance of convenience has been widely available in much of the country since the middle of the last century, but residential garbage disposals were, in fact, illegal in New York City until 1997.