A couple weeks ago, I mentioned an article about a great solution to let natural sunlight into central rooms using solar tubes. This company has taken a literal quantum leap in providing virtual sunlight using LED lighting and nanotechnology. The razor-thin material mimics the color, temperature and intensity of the sun by imitating 6 miles of the earth’s atmosphere in just a few millimeters of a nanoparticle layer. The price is still a bit out of reach, but hey, it’s the leading edge, give it time. Read more here.

Where you live is fundamental to how you live. The old adage about location is as relevant today as it was when it was coined in 1926. People move to their homes; homes don’t move to people so easily. So, when considering a home, location is inevitably the primary concern, even when other concerns seem more important. Everything from a safe neighborhood to good transportation-access ties in to a shopper’s ideal location for his or her home. Learn about five prime points that determine a good location here.

Your new home, just the way you want it. Everything done by you, for you. You are the architect. Are you ready for a new option in home building? Online home design is gaining traction, and there are more opportunities than ever to design your dream home from start to finish, online. With design templates and premium prefab units, homes can be customized to meet every taste. Read more here. 

Are you the sun-and-sand type, or more of a snow-and-mountains kind of a person? Either way, you have probably spent some time looking around the places you have vacationed and thought, “I should buy a place around here”. While buying a property in a great vacation spot is probably a safe investment, it is by no means without risk. Getting swept away in the moment and failing to do due-diligence is just one problem facing these kinds of purchases. Learn more here.

Drones are currently illegal for use in real estate, so why is the future for drones and real estate looking bright? Well, the FAA expects that by 2020, more than 30,000 drones will be active in a wide range of industries. With that, the FAA is implementing policies that “will allow for commercial operations in low-risk, controlled environments.”. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is actively working to create regulatory exemptions for the future use of drones, especially in real estate.  That means an aerial tour of your future property is around the corner. Read more here.

In the days of paper, a mortgage burning party was a pretty big event. You’d invite the neighbors, have some drinks and light it up. Today however, in the digital age, there are no more paper mortgages really. It probably wouldn’t be as much fun watching someone’s iPad get tossed on the BBQ (or maybe it would…). But paying off the mortgage, like mortgage burning parties, may be a thing of the past, and with good reason. Paying off the mortgage may actually hurt your credit score. Strange as it may sound, it’s true. Read more about how it can happen here.

Capitol City Bank and Trust was shuttered last Friday afternoon by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. It’s the 3rd bank this year to fail. So what happens if the bank through whom you got a mortgage fails? If your mortgage is like the vast majority, it is often sold on to larger institutions like Fannie and Freddie, who then pay banks to service the mortgages. In cases where the bank servicing your loan should fail, that servicing agreement is a tangible asset that can be bought. Read more about what happens here.

Spray-foam insulation is a fantastic product that will keep out the noise, the heat, and the cold to keep your home comfortable and quiet in all seasons. The quality is undeniable, but even still, there are some issues that you should watch out for. Installation methods and the contractors understanding of your home’s envelope can affect quality. Technique, amount, age, and other factors all can contribute to a breach in the seal as well. Read more about these issues here and what to do about them.

The recession that began with the housing collapse affected virtually every homeowner in the country. From wealthy neighborhoods to less well-off inner city neighborhoods, everyone felt the pinch. However, now that the recovery seems to be taking hold, there is a noticeable difference in the return of value in Black and Hispanic areas. The effects of subprime mortgages and no doc mortgages are still being felt. For a discussion on economics tied to minority communities and housing values, read more from Zillow here.

Natural light makes all the difference in the world when it comes to making things look as good as possible. It isn’t uncommon for people to ask about the orientation of a room to get a sense of the sunlight available. So why not bring that sunlight into any part of your house, even a hallway with no windows, or to the center of a room? Solar tubes are a very economical way to let in natural light, and at a fraction of the cost of skylights. Check out more here.