In a clear sign of the times, Zillow has announced a partnership to syndicate new-construction listings on Redfin.
This means home shoppers will see more new builds than they did in the past, at a time when existing housing supply has rarely been lower.
It also means home builders will gain even more exposure, further boosting their already-high market share.
Once launched, Redfin will source non-MLS new-construction listings exclusively from their competitor Zillow.
And any new-construction listings that are available through an MLS will continue to be discoverable on the Redfin platform.
Zillow and Redfin Linkup a Boon to Home Builders
Zillow apparently has the largest selection of new-construction communities of all real estate U.S. websites.
This seems to be due to their existing partnerships with home builders, whereby they advertise their properties on Zillow.
To broaden their reach, these listings are slated to be syndicated to Redfin starting in the fourth quarter of 2023.
And Redfin users will get to take advantage of new features designed specifically to discover new-construction communities and connect with home builders.
Powered by Zillow’s Community pages, they’ll list all available homes for sale within the community, along with their amenities.
Shoppers will be able to view move-in ready homes, nearly complete homes, and even lots.
Those interested will find a direct link to the home builder’s website, along with pertinent contact information and sales center hours.
New Home Sales Up Big Year-Over-Year
The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that sales of newly built single‐family houses climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 697,000 in June 2023, up an estimated 23.8% from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new homes for sale at the end of June was 432,000, which represents a 7.4-month supply at the current sales rate.
That’s down from 448,000 a year earlier, when supply stood at 9.5 months.
At the same time, Zillow reported that there were 28% fewer new listings in June compared to a year ago.
And Redfin noted that about one-third of all single-family homes available for sale were new construction, which is apparently a record-high share.
As you can see from the chart above (from early 2022), newly-built homes saw their market share rise from around 21% in 2019 to 34.1% by the end of 2021.
It appears their market share has climbed even higher since then, as existing supply continues to be hard to come by.
Where Did Existing Home Supply Go?
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that there were just 1.08 million unsold existing homes at the end of June.
That was down 13.6% from a year ago when there were about 1.25 million existing homes available.
This represents a 3.1-month supply at the current monthly sales pace. Interestingly, it’s up slightly from 3.0 months in May and 2.9 months in June 2022.
As for why, demand is also low, mainly because housing affordability is so poor at the moment.
Between much higher mortgage rates and all-time high home prices, there aren’t many willing and able buyers out there.
Still, inventory remains in short supply, especially due to the mortgage rate lock-in effect. In short, existing owners are staying put because of the stark difference in interest rates.
Even if they’re able to sell their home and buy a replacement at today’s rates, going from a 2-3% rate to a 7% rate isn’t ideal for anyone.
Home building has also lagged for many years, so inventory wasn’t great to begin with over the past decade.
This explains why the median existing-home price was $410,200 last month, the second-highest price of all time and just shy of its record-high $413,800 in June 2022.
Home Builders to the Rescue
To help alleviate this supply and demand imbalance, home builders have been stepping up their game.
They’ve been offering both temporary and permanent rate buydowns to ease affordability concerns.
And because they often have their own financing departments, they’re able to get creative and really push down rates.
While someone purchasing an existing home might be subject to a 6-7% mortgage rate, the home builders could be able to offer a 5% mortgage rate.
This is a huge advantage for builders. Additionally, they don’t have to worry about a seller finding a replacement property.
As such, there’s no mortgage rate lock-in to worry about, nor is a contingent sale necessary.
Collectively, this may explain why the market share of new homes has increased so much. And why Zillow and Redfin want more new home listings on their platforms.
So if you’re a prospective home buyer, don’t be surprised if you see more and more newly-built homes versus existing homes in your searches.
Read more: Should I buy a new home or an old home?
No matter what we’re planning to spend, whether it’s money or time, we want to make an informed decision so not to have a less than stellar experience. This is where online reviews, whether it’s for a positive experience or a negative review, can make a difference. We rely on feedback from others to help us make decisions. A well-written review of apartments or apartment communities is possibly the reason someone rents an apartment or not.
More than 37 percent of people live in an apartment, according to National Multifamily Housing Association, and reviews can help people decide whether to rent in a particular building or not.
Writing an apartment review isn’t difficult and can improve accessibility for some in your apartment community. Are renters’ rights protected, for example, or are the units safe and up to code? Sometimes, those things get mentioned in a review.
It’s also important to know as you read or evaluate reviews that not all are objective. An apartment’s website is only one piece of information but a great apartment review can share feedback on how management works and the overall strength of an apartment community. Keep reading to learn how to read and write accurate apartment reviews.
How do you evaluate an apartment review?
There are a few telltale signs of great apartment reviews that are helpful. Does the person begin with facts, including when they rented the apartment and details about maintenance issues or amenities on the property? Did the person have issues with others? Did they deal with the office staff, apartment manager or landlord with issues on their properties?
If you see multiple reviews by residents about details within the apartment that don’t work or they focus on specific issues they’re constantly bringing to their landlord, it’s worth noting because it’s more than just one person having a problem with their apartment.
Pay attention to how residents address or discuss what’s mentioned in the apartment reviews. Do they bring it to the attention of the property manager? Does it take five business days or more for management to respond once someone makes contact? Do they request a face-to-face meeting and share the progress of a complaint? Is the review written in complete sentences?
An apartment’s website is only one piece of information but apartment reviews hold so much information.
Be wary of the bad reviews
Also, consider an author’s motive when writing online reviews. Do they resort to bombastic name-calling? Did they write a review about the apartment? Did the author mention the company, apartment community or focus on a specific contact at the company?
Consider who would most benefit from this review. Remember, writing online reviews, whether it’s on a specific site or on a social media page, is free. It’s one thing to get feedback beyond what’s on a website that is helpful but writing a hit piece doesn’t benefit the apartment community as a whole.
How do you evaluate an apartment community?
Many people look at a specific property when searching for a new apartment but it’s a good idea to see how residents rate their apartment community on various sites, too. Those are helpful and are more objective than what a website includes in terms of how people who live in the apartment engage with various amenities and how they feel management handles things.
How do you write a review for an apartment?
When writing reviews to post on various sites, you want to share feedback you feel others would find helpful when deciding whether to rent a place. Apartment communities may matter just as much as individual apartment units so consider a review that covers as much detail as possible.
Polite articulation in any review will garner more appreciation from the reader. Whether you discuss relevant accessibility standards being subpar or share feedback about an issue in progress, those reviews can help the reader better understand what living in this apartment community will look like as a matter of course.
As you would expect to read in a review, post information including when you lived (or if you’re still living) in the apartment and any tips you’ve learned by living there. Is management generally responsive to issues or does the office staff ignore issues? Does the landlord read reviews and makes improvements based on any tips or suggestions that someone takes the time to post? All of these details can help someone make an informed decision about their next address.
How important are apartment online reviews?
A review is only as good as the author but apartment reviews that someone takes the time to write and post with great feedback and tips are very helpful. No one wants to move into a place that might have too many problems or that management ignores — those are the kinds of things that pop up in apartment reviews.
Reading and writing accurate apartment reviews can save you time and money
Writing online apartment reviews doesn’t need to take a lot of time but writing an objective one can help you learn and discuss what you find important when seeking an apartment to rent. Reading and knowing how to evaluate reviews can save you time and money in the long run. A well-written review that highlights key issues is a possible deal breaker, while one that mentions amenities and benefits can seal the deal. It’s worth taking the time to write a good (or bad) review, as well as reading them to help you make the best decision on your next place.
As a Chicago-based freelance writer, Megy Karydes has covered everything from space-aged tomato seeds grown in a Chicago Public School to Chicago Blues musician Lurrie Bell. Her work has been featured in USA Today, Travel + Leisure, Midwest Living magazine and other national and regional media outlets. When she’s not out exploring the city with her two children and husband, she’s perfecting her air hockey technique.
Zillow Group‘s new-construction listings will be automatically syndicated to Redfin. The deal between the listing platforms comes as new construction listings form roughly 30% of the housing sales market.
The partnership is aimed at expanding the reach of homebuilder listings on Zillow, allowing Redfin’s brokerage customers to explore a broader range of new construction for sale, the two companies said on Tuesday.
“Zillow’s Community pages, in particular, help buyers understand the benefits of a new-construction home and give home builders a place to highlight all the amenities within a new-build community,” Owen Gehrett, vice president and general manager of new construction at Zillow, said in a statement.
“The partnership with Redfin extends this unique and valuable resource to a wider audience. It benefits home builders by expanding their reach to additional home buyers,” Gehrett added.
Zillow and Redfin’s partnerships come at a time when buyers are increasingly turning to new construction due to a rate lock-in effect caused led by high mortgage rates.
New single-family home sales rose 23.8% in June from a year ago while the market saw 28% fewer new listings added during the same period.
With inventory of existing homes dwindling and buyers’ demand for new construction rising, one-third of single-family homes available for sale were newly built homes – marking a record-high share, according to a Redfin analysis.
“This (Zillow partnership) is a win-win-win for our customers, agents and the builders who advertise with Zillow, who will now reach the homebuyers on Redfin,” Adam Wiener, Redfin’s president of real estate operations, said.
“The partnership provides a new revenue opportunity while allowing us to focus on what we do best, helping customers buy and sell homes with local Redfin agents,” Wiener added.
Zillow, the country’s top real estate listing platform, recorded a $22 million net loss in the first quarter of 2023. Its business model relies heavily on revenue from real estate agent advertising, and it’s been a sluggish housing market.
Traffic to its apps and site remained flat compared to a year ago and other metrics including – Premier Agent and Zillow Home Loans – were not as strong.
Despite weak financial earnings, executives said they will focus on making the home-buying transaction more seamless for the remainder of 2023.
Real estate brokerage and listings platform Redfin was also in the red in Q1 — reporting a $60.8 million net loss, an improvement on the $90.8 million lost in Q1 2022.
While executives at Redfin noted that the company is headed in the right direction, the firm is unlikely to get in the black in Q2 – with net loss projected to be between $35 million and $44 million.
It is safe to say that purchasing a home is quite possibly the single largest investment most consumers will make during their lifetime. So, it is natural for them to be a bit cautious, ensuring they understand all the market nuances before making an offer on a home.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Some buyers purchase on impulse without checking the current market conditions, often times costing themselves money or purchasing the wrong property in the process.
When you are ready to start looking for a new house (after getting pre-approved and choosing an agent to represent you), it is a smart idea to do your due diligence to determine if the local market favors buyers or sellers.
Buying a home during a seller’s market is not ideal but it is still possible to get a great deal if you know what you are looking for and have patience in the process.
As a reminder, a seller’s market is one where there is 5 months (or less) of available inventory for consumers to choose from. Obviously, the less homes available, the fewer options both buyers and investors have. It can also mean a lot more competition for the existing properties as there are less homes to pick from. It is simple supply and demand!
In this guide, we will explore some of the strategies buyers should employ and provide essential tips on how to find the right home in a seller’s market.
Get Ready To Buy
The easiest way to lose out on the home of your dreams is to not be adequately prepared to purchase a home when you start actively looking for a property. You can avoid that concern by getting your finances in order quickly.
Start talking with a mortgage broker, lender, or financial institution before you hit the pavement to go look at homes. Getting a loan pre-approval will show you your loan ceiling (how high of a mortgage you qualify for) and will also tell sellers that you are serious about buying a house.
Once you have your pre-approval, your agent should be able to provide a list (many are automated) of all the properties that meet your search criteria.
In many instances, they can provide a drill-down to a specific home style, price point, particular amenity (i.e. pool, 3-car garage, acreage, etc.), school district, and a host of other key features that may be important to you.
The more specific your list is, the less time you will waste looking at properties you have no interest in, and the faster you will be able to check out the houses on your short list that interest you the most.
View Homes As Quickly As Possible
When there is a high demand for homes, do not be the buyer who waits until the weekend to view those properties. The faster you can see the home, the better chance you have of getting it contracted.
If you wait, others may are also interested in it and the property may already be off the market by the time you get around to seeing it.
As always, ensure you have an agent that represents you assist with all your real estate needs, including getting educated on anything you do not completely understand or need more clarification about.
When you can, have your agent schedule a visit as soon as the home is available for showings. This is especially important, critical even, for houses where the viewing times are limited.
Getting in quickly for a preview could be the difference between writing an offer on the house and continuing your search because another buyer beat you to it.
Eliminate Buyer Drama
When there are more buyers than homes to choose from some consumers can become overly aggressive. It is understandable that low inventory makes for a more competitive marketplace but you need to do everything in your power to steer clear of conditions that drive bad behavior and poor decision-making.
With the potential for bidding wars, above list price offers, cash proposals, and no/low home contingencies, you can easily get caught in a minefield without a solid exit strategy.
For instance, the vast majority of buyers will be looking for a good deal that includes a decent location and a home that is in reasonably good shape. The competition to see these homes can cause some buyers to act rashly when the same homes are being previewed and viewing overlap is occurring.
To the best of your ability, remove yourself from any situation where an altercation may occur, and you will minimize the risk of making a hasty decision to “beat the competition”.
Avoid Overpaying
Home prices often go up slightly during a seller’s market because the supply of homes is limited.
Whenever possible, buyers need to remove as much emotion as possible from their purchasing decision to ensure they do not get into a bidding war or rationalize why it is a good idea to pay beyond what the home is worth, especially if that amount is over the appraised value.
Remember, overpaying today could backfire as the market could become a buyer’s market by the time you get ready to sell.
This is why it is critical to have a buyers agency agreement to work with a real estate agent who understands the local market. Your agent can advise you on the price and provide other relevant information about the community as a whole.
They can also provide tips and information about similar homes in the area that have recently sold or are up for sale.
Once you find a home you want, do not rush into making an offer, even at the risk of losing the home to buyers who are willing to make a quicker decision. Re-look all the numbers and have patience through the process.
You may find you will get the home you want at a price you are comfortable with. When ready, always make a strong offer that will pique seller interest and perhaps get the home before others have an opportunity to bid.
Do Not Ask For Special Treatment
When there is minimal inventory, it is not always a good idea to put too many demands on sellers. This is especially true if the home is getting a lot of activity.
When the market is calm, it is normal for buyers to ask for various appliances like washers and dryers, refrigerators, lawn mowers, etc. as a sort of “freebie” with the home purchase.
You should not apply the same principle in a seller’s market because the odds are stacked in the seller’s favor. If there is more than one offer, you can bet the sellers will take the one with conditions that are most favorable to them.
Often times that is the offer without stipulations so keep that in mind when considering what to ask for as a condition of purchasing the property.
Negotiate In Good Faith
Savvy home buyers will attempt to negotiate for a lower price and favorable conditions any chance they get. You can expect sellers to use their leverage to get the most money for the home they can while giving up fewer concessions.
Being able to bridge the gap and find common ground will help the negotiation process go much more smoothly.
Some of the ways you can accomplish this are to avoid haggling over inconsequential items, determining if the items on your must-have list are really worth potentially losing the home over, ensuring you make a fair offer upfront (fair does not always mean your best offer, but a low-ball offer will typically get you nowhere, especially in a fast paced sellers market), and learning to compromise on issues that appear to be slowing down progress (i.e. closing costs, high cost maintenance/upgrade items, and closing dates).
Buying In A Sellers Market Parting Shots
Buying in a seller’s market is not an ideal situation. However, there are still plenty of opportunities to make it through the home purchase process without much fanfare and still buy the home of your dreams!
If you have a little patience, avoid being bullheaded, and keep your wits about you, the chances of getting conditions and a price favorable to you go up dramatically.
By following the tips provided above you will give yourself every opportunity to turn the home buying experience into a positive one that nets you exactly the type of property you are seeking.
Respect and adhere to the advice your buyers agent provides, while staying within your financial means, and the process of buying a home in a sellers market becomes much less daunting to navigate. Happy house hunting!
The Jefferson Avenue commercial district in Buffalo, New York, is anchored by a supermarket.
There are dozens of other businesses and services along the 12-block corridor — a couple of bank branches, a library, a coffee shop, gas stations, a small plaza with a dollar store and a primary care clinic and a business incubator for entrepreneurs of color.
But Tops Friendly Markets, the only grocery store on Buffalo’s vast East Side, is the center of activity. More than just a place to buy food, pick up medications and use an ATM, the store is a communal gathering space in a predominantly Black neighborhood that, for generations, has been segregated, isolated and disenfranchised from the wealthier — and whiter — parts of the city.
Which explains how it came to be the site of a mass shooting on a spring day in May of last year. On that Saturday, a gunman, who lived 200 miles away in another part of the state, drove to Jefferson Avenue and went into Tops, and in just a few minutes killed 10 people, injured three and inflicted mass trauma across the community.
It is a scenario that has sadly, and repeatedly, played out in other parts of the country that have experienced mass shootings. But this one came with a twist: The gunman’s intention was to kill as many Black people as possible.
To achieve that, he specifically targeted a ZIP code with one of the highest percentages of Black residents in New York state. All 10 who died that day were Black.
“The mere fact that someone can research, ‘Where will the greatest number of Black people be … on a Saturday morning,’ that’s not by chance,” said Franchelle Parker, a community organizer and executive director of Open Buffalo, a nonprofit focused on racial, economic and ecological justice. “That’s not a mistake. It’s a community that’s been deeply segregated for decades.”
The day of the shooting, Parker, who grew up in nearby Niagara Falls, was driving to Tops, where she planned to buy a donut and an unsweetened iced tea before heading into the Open Buffalo office, which is located a block away from Tops. The mother of two had intended to complete the mundane task of cleaning up her desk — “old coffee cups and stuff” — after a busy week.
She saw the news on Twitter and didn’t know if she should keep driving to Jefferson Avenue or turn around and go back home. She eventually picked the latter.
When she showed up the next day, there were thousands of people grieving in the streets. “The only way that I could explain my feeling, it was almost like watching an old war movie when a bomb had gone off and someone’s in, like, shell shock. That’s how it felt,” said Parker, vividly recounting the community’s collective trauma in a meeting room tucked inside of Open Buffalo’s second-story office on Jefferson Avenue.
Almost immediately following the May 14, 2022, massacre, which was the second-deadliest mass shooting in the United States last year, conversations locally and nationally turned to the harsh realities of the East Side and how long-standing factors that affect the daily life of residents — racism, poverty and inequity — made the community an ideal target for a white supremacist.
Now, more than a year after the tragedy, there is growing concern that not enough is being done fast enough to begin to dismantle those factors. And amid those conversations, there are mounting calls for the banking industry — whose historical policies and practices helped cement the racial segregation and disinvestment that ultimately shaped the East Side — to leverage its collective power and influence to band together in an effort to create systemic change.
The ideas about how banks should support the East Side and better embed themselves in the neighborhood vary by people and organizations. But the basic argument is the same: Banks, in their role as financiers and because of the industry’s history of lending discrimination, are obligated to bring forth economic prosperity in disinvested communities like the East Side.
I know banks are often looked upon sort of like a panacea, but I don’t particularly see it that way. I think others have a role to play in all of this.
Chiwuike Owunwanne, corporate responsibility officer at KeyBank
“Banks have been very good at providing charitable contributions to the Black community. They get an ‘A’ for that,” said The Rev. George Nicholas, an East Side pastor who is also CEO of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity, a four-year-old enterprise focused on racial, geographic and economic health disparities. “But doing the things that banks can do in terms of being a catalyst for revitalization and investment in this community, they have not done that.”
To be sure, banks’ ability to reverse the course of the community isn’t guaranteed — and there is no formula to determine how much accountability they should hold to fix deeply entrenched problems like racism. Several Buffalo-area bankers said that while the Tops shooting heightened the urgency to help the East Side, the industry itself cannot be the sole driver of change.
“There are a lot of institutions … that can certainly play a part in reversing the challenges that we see today,” said Chiwuike “Chi-Chi” Owunwanne, a corporate responsibility officer at KeyBank, the second-largest bank by deposits in Buffalo. “I know banks are often looked upon sort of like a panacea, but I don’t particularly see it that way. I think others have a role to play in all of this.”
A long history of segregation
How the East Side — and the Tops store on Jefferson Avenue — became the destination for a racially motivated mass murderer is a story about racism, segregation and disinvestment.
Even as it bears the nickname “the city of good neighbors,” Buffalo has long been one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States. Of the 114,965 residents who live on the East Side, 59% are Black, according to data from the 2021 U.S. Census American Community Survey. The percentage is even higher in the 14208 ZIP code, where the Tops store is located. In that ZIP code, among 11,029 total residents, nearly 76% are Black, the census data shows.
The city’s path toward racial segregation started in the early 20th century when a small number of job-seeking Black Americans migrated north to Buffalo, a former steel and auto manufacturing hub at the far northwestern end of New York state. Initially, they moved into the same neighborhoods as many of the city’s poorer immigrants and lived just east of what is today the city’s downtown district. As the number of Blacks arriving in Buffalo swelled in the 1940s, they were increasingly confronted with various housing challenges, including racist zoning laws and restrictive deed covenants that kept them from buying homes in more affluent white areas.
Black Buffalonians also faced housing discrimination in the form of redlining, the practice of restricting the flow of capital into minority communities. In 1933, as the Great Depression roiled the economy, a temporary federal agency known as the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation used government bonds to buy out and refinance mortgages of properties that were facing or already in foreclosure. The point was to try to stabilize the nation’s real estate market.
As part of its program, HOLC created maps of American cities, including Buffalo, that used a color coding scheme — green, blue, yellow and red — to convey the perceived riskiness of making loans in certain neighborhoods. Green was considered minimally risky; other areas that were largely populated by immigrant, Black or Latino residents were labeled red and thus determined to be “hazardous.”
“The goal was to free up mortgage capital by going to cities and giving banks a way to unload mortgages, so they could turn around and make more mortgage loans,” said Jason Richardson, senior director of research at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, an association of more than 750 community-based organizations that advocates for fair lending. “It was kind of a radical concept and it has evolved over the decades into our modern mortgage finance system.”
The Federal Housing Administration, which was established as a permanent agency in 1934, used similar methods to map urban areas and labeled neighborhoods from “A” to “D,” with “A” considered to be the most financially stable and “D” considered the least. Neighborhoods that were largely Black, even relatively stable ones, were put in the “D” category.
The result was that banks, which wanted to be able to sell mortgage loans to the FHA, were largely dissuaded from making loans in “risky” areas. And Buffalo’s East Side, where the majority of Blacks were settling, was deemed risky. Unable to get loans, Blacks couldn’t buy homes, start businesses or build equity. At the same time, large industrial factories on the East Side were closing or moving away, limiting job opportunities and contributing to rising poverty levels.
“Today what we’re left with is the residue of this process where we’ve enshrined … a pattern of economic segregation that favors neighborhoods that had fewer Black people in them and generally ignores neighborhoods that had African Americans living in them,” Richardson said.
Case in point: Research by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition shows that three-quarters of neighborhoods that were once redlined are low- to moderate-income neighborhoods today, and two-thirds of them are majority minority communities.
Adding to the division between Blacks and whites in Buffalo was the construction of a highway called the Kensington Expressway. Built during the 1960s, the below-grade, limited-access highway proved to be a speedy way for suburban workers to get to their downtown jobs. But its construction cut off the already-segregated East Side even more from other parts of the city, displacing residents, devaluing houses and destroying neighborhoods and small businesses.
As a result of those factors and more, many Black residents have become “trapped” on the East Side, according to Dr. Henry Louis Taylor Jr., a professor of urban and regional planning at the University at Buffalo. In 1987, Taylor founded the UB Center for Urban Studies, a research, neighborhood planning and community development institute that works on eliminating inequality in cities and metropolitan regions. In September 2021, eight months before the Tops shooting, the Center for Urban Studies published a report that compared the state of Black Buffalo in 1990 to present-day conditions. The conclusion: Nothing had changed for Blacks over 31 years.
As of 2019, the Black unemployment rate was 11%, the average household income was $42,000 and about 35% of Blacks had incomes that fell below the poverty line, the report said. It also noted that just 32% of Blacks own their homes and that most Blacks in the area live on the East Side.
“Those figures remain virtually unchanged while the actual, physical conditions that existed inside of the community worsened,” Taylor told American Banker in an interview in his sun-filled office at the center, located on the University at Buffalo’s city campus. “When we looked upstream to see what was causing it, it was clear: It was systemic, structural racism.”
Banks’ moral obligations
As the East Side struggled over the decades with rampant poverty, dilapidated housing, vacant lots and disintegrating infrastructure, banks kept a physical presence in the community, albeit a shrinking one. In mid-2000, there were at least 20 bank branches scattered across the East Side, but by mid-2022, the number had fallen to around 14, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s deposit market share data. The 14 include four new branches that have opened since early 2019 — Northwest Bank, KeyBank, Evans Bank and BankOnBuffalo.
The first two branches, operated by Northwest in Columbus, Ohio, and KeyBank, the banking subsidiary of KeyCorp in Cleveland, were requirements of community benefits agreements negotiated between each bank and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. In both cases, Northwest and KeyBank agreed to open an office in an underserved community.
Evans Bank opened its first East Side branch in the fall of 2021. The office is located in the basement of an $84 million affordable senior housing building that was financed by Evans, a $2.1 billion-asset community bank headquartered south of Buffalo in Angola, New York.
Banks have been very good at providing charitable contributions to the Black community. They get an ‘A’ for that. But doing the things that banks can do in terms of being a catalyst for revitalization and investment in this community, they have not done that.
The Rev. George Nicholas, an East Side pastor who is also CEO of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity
On the community and economic development front, banks have had varying levels of participation. Buffalo-based M&T Bank, which holds a whopping 64% of all deposits in the Buffalo market and is one of the largest private employers in the region, has made consistent investments in the East Side by supporting Westminster Community Charter School, a kindergarten through eighth-grade school, and the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood, a nonprofit organization focused on improving access to education in the city’s 14215 ZIP code.
Currently, Buffalo Promise Neighborhood operates four schools. In addition to Westminster, it runs Highgate Heights Elementary, also K-8, as well as two academies that serve children ages six weeks through pre-kindergarten. Twelve M&T employees are dedicated to the program, according to the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood website. The bank has invested $31.5 million into the program since its 2010 launch, a spokesperson said.
Other banks are making contributions in other ways. In addition to the Jefferson Avenue branch and as part of its community benefits plan, Northwest Bank, a $14.2 billion-asset bank, supports a financial education center through a partnership with Belmont Housing Resources of Western New York. Meanwhile, the $198 billion-asset KeyBank gave $30 million for bridge and construction financing for Northland Workforce Training Center, a $100 million redevelopment project at a former manufacturing complex on the East Side that was partially funded by the state.
BankOnBuffalo’s East Side branch is located inside the center, which offers KeyBank training in advanced manufacturing and clean energy technology careers. A subsidiary of $5.6 billion-asset CNB Financial in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, BankOnBuffalo’s office opened a month after the shooting. The timing was coincidental, but important, said Michael Noah, president of BankOnBuffalo.
“I think it just cemented the point that this is a place we need to be, to be able to be part of these communities and this community specifically, and be able to build this community up,” Noah said.
In terms of public-private collaboration, some banks have been involved in a deeper way. In 2019, New York state, which had already been pouring $1 billion into Buffalo to help revitalize the economy, announced a $65 million economic development fund for the East Side. The initiative is focused on stabilizing neighborhoods, increasing homeownership, redeveloping commercial corridors including Jefferson Avenue, improving historical assets, expanding workforce training and development and supporting small businesses and entrepreneurship.
In conjunction with the funding, a public-private partnership called East Side Avenues was created to provide capital and organizational support to the projects happening along four East Side commercial corridors. Six banks — Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the nation with $2.5 trillion of assets; M&T, which has $203 billion of assets; KeyBank; Warsaw, New York-based Five Star Bank, which has about $6 billion of assets; Northwest and Evans — are among the 14 private and philanthropic organizations that pledged a combined $8.4 million to pay for five years’ worth of operational support, governance and finance, fundraising and technical assistance to support the nonprofits doing the work.
Laura Quebral, director of the University at Buffalo Regional Institute, which is managing East Side Avenues, said the banks were the first corporations to step up to the request for help, and since then have provided loans and other products and education to keep the program moving.
Their participation “is a signal to the community that banks cared and were invested and were willing to collaborate around something,” Quebral said. “Being at the table was so meaningful.”
Richard Hamister is Northwest’s New York regional president and former co-chair of East Side Avenues. Hamister, who is based in Buffalo, said banks are a “community asset” that have a responsibility to lift up all communities, including those where conditions have arisen that allow it to be a target of racism like the East Side.
“We operate under federal charters, so we have an obligation to the community to not only provide products and services they need but also support when you go through a tragedy like that,” Hamister said. “We also have a moral obligation to try to help when things are broken … and to do what we can. We can’t fix everything, but we’ve got to fix our piece and try to help where we can.”
In the wake of a tragedy
After the massacre, there was a flurry of activity within banks and other organizations, local and out-of-town, to respond to the immediate needs of East Side residents. With the community’s only supermarket closed indefinitely, much of the response centered around food collection and distribution. Three of M&T’s five East Side branches, including the Jefferson Avenue branch across the street from Tops, became food distribution sites for weeks after the shooting. On two consecutive Fridays, Northwest provided around 200 free lunches to the community, using a neighborhood caterer who is also the bank’s customer. And BankOnBuffalo collected employee donations that amounted to more than 20 boxes of toiletries and other items that were distributed to a nonprofit.
At the same time, M&T, KeyBank and other banks began financial donations to organizations that could support the immediate needs of the community. KeyBank provided a van that delivered food and took people to nearby grocery stores. Providence, Rhode Island-based Citizens Financial Group, whose ATM inside Tops was inaccessible during the store’s temporary closure, installed a fee-free ATM near a community center located about a half-mile north of Tops, and later put a permanent ATM inside the center that remains there today. And M&T rolled out a short-term loan program to provide capital to East Side small-business owners.
One of the funds that benefited from banks’ support was the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund, which has raised $6.2 million to address the long-term needs of the East Side.
Bank of America and Evans Bank each donated $100,000 to the fund, whose list of major sponsors includes four other banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, M&T and KeyBank. Thomas Beauford Jr., a former banker who is co-chair of the response fund, said banks, by and large, directed their resources into organizations where the dollars would have an immediate impact.
“Banks said, ‘Hey, you know … it doesn’t make sense for us to try to build something right now. … We will fund you in the work you’re doing,'” said Beauford, who has been president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League since the fall of 2020. “I would say banks showed up in a big way.”
Fourteen months later, banks say they are committed to playing a positive role on the East Side. For the second year, KeyBank is sponsoring a farmers’ market on the East Side, an attempt to help fill the food desert in the community. Last fall, BankOnBuffalo launched a mobile “bank on wheels” truck that’s stationed on the East Side every Wednesday. The 34-foot-long truck, which is staffed by two people and includes an ATM and a printer to make debit cards, was in the works before the shooting, and will eventually make four stops per week around the Buffalo area.
Evans has partnered with the city of Buffalo to construct seven market-rate single family homes on vacant lots on the East Side. The relationship with the city is an example of how banks can pair up with other entities to create something meaningful and lasting, more than they might be able to do on their own, said Evans President and CEO David Nasca.
The bank has “picked areas” where it can use its resources to make a difference, Nasca said.
“I don’t think the root causes can be ameliorated” by banks alone, he said. “We can’t just grant money. It has to be within our construct of a financial institution that invests and supports the public-private partnership. … All the oars [need to be] pulling together or this doesn’t work.”
‘Little or no engagement with minorities’
All of these efforts are, of course, welcomed by the community, but there is still criticism that banks haven’t done enough to make up for their past contributions to segregating the city. And perhaps more importantly, some of that criticism centers on banks failing to do their most basic function in society — provide credit.
In 2021, the New York State Department of Financial Services issued a report about redlining in Buffalo. The regulator looked at banks and nonbank lenders and found that loans made to minorities in the Buffalo metro area made up 9.74% of total loans in Buffalo. Overall, Black residents comprise about 33% of Buffalo’s total population of more than 276,000, census data shows.
The department said its investigation showed the lower percentage was not due to “excessive denials of loan applications based on race or ethnicity,” but rather that “these companies had little or no engagement with minorities and generally made scant effort to do so.”
“The unsurprising result of this has been that few minority customers or individuals seeking homes in majority-minority neighborhoods have made loan applications … in the first instance.”
Furthermore, accusations of redlining persist today, even though the practice of discriminating in housing based on race was outlawed by the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
In 2014, Evans was accused of redlining by the New York State Attorney General, which said the community bank was specifically avoiding making mortgage loans on the East Side. The bank, which at the time had $874 million of assets, agreed to pay $825,000 to settle the case, but Nasca maintains that the charges were unfounded. He points to the fact that the bank never had a fair lending or fair housing violation, no specific incidents were ever claimed and that the bank’s Community Reinvestment Act exam never found evidence of discriminatory or illegal credit practices.
The bank has a greater presence on the East Side today, but that’s because it has grown in size, not because it is trying to make up for previous accusations of redlining, he said.
“Ten years ago, our involvement [on the East Side] certainly wasn’t what you’re seeing today,” Nasca said. “We were looking to participate more, but we were participating within our means and our reach. As we have grown, we have built more resources to be able to do more.”
Shortly after accusations were made against Evans, Five Star Bank, the banking arm of Financial Institutions in Warsaw, New York, was also accused of redlining by the state Attorney General. Five Star, which has been growing its presence in the Buffalo market for several years, wound up settling the charges for $900,000 and agreeing to open two branches in the city of Rochester.
KeyBank is currently being accused of redlining by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. In a 2022 report, the group said that KeyBank is engaging in systemic redlining by making very few home purchase loans in certain neighborhoods where the majority of residents are Black. Buffalo is one of several cities where the bank’s mortgage lending “effectively wall[ed] out Black neighborhoods,” especially parts of the East Side, the report said.
KeyBank denied the allegations. In March, the coalition asked regulators to investigate the bank’s mortgage lending practices.
Beyond providing more credit, some community members believe that banks should be playing a larger role in addressing other needs on the East Side. And the list of needs runs the gamut from more grocery stores to safe, affordable housing to infrastructure improvements such as street and sidewalk repairs.
Alexander Wright is founder of the African Heritage Food Co-op, an initiative launched in 2016 to address the dearth of grocery store options on the East Side, where he grew up. Wright said that while banks’ philanthropic efforts are important, banks in general “need to be in a place of remediation” to fix underlying issues that the industry, as a whole, helped create. (After publication of this story, Wright left his job as CEO of the African Heritage Food Co-Op.)
Aside from charitable donations, banks should be finding more ways to work directly with East Side business owners and entrepreneurs, helping them with capital-building support along the way, Wright said. One place to start would be technical assistance by way of bank volunteers.
“Banks are always looking to volunteer. ‘Hey, want to come out and paint a fence? Want to come out and do a garden?'” Wright said. “No. Come out here and help Keshia with bookkeeping. Come out here and do QuickBooks classes for folks. Bring out tax experts. Because these are things that befuddle a lot of small businesses. Who is your marketing person? Bring that person out here. Because those are the things that are going to build the business to self-sufficiency.
“Anything short of the capacity-building … that will allow folks to rise to the occasion and be self-sufficient I think is almost a waste,” Wright added. “We don’t need them to lead the plan. What we need them to do is be in the community and [be] hearing the plan and supporting it.”
Parker, of Open Buffalo, has similar thoughts about the role that banks should play. One day, soon after the massacre, an ATM appeared down the street from Tops, next to the library that sits across the street from Parker’s office. Soon after the ATM was installed, Parker began fielding questions from area residents who were skeptical of the machine and wanted to know if it was legitimate. But Parker didn’t have any information to share with them. “There was no outreach. There was no community engagement. So I’m like, ‘Let me investigate,'” she said. “I think that’s a symptom of how investment is done in Black communities, even though it may be well-intentioned.”
As it turns out, the temporary ATM belonged to JPMorgan Chase. The megabank has had a commercial banking presence in Buffalo for years, but it didn’t operate a retail branch in the region until last year. Today it has four branches in operation and plans to open another two by the end of the year, a spokesperson said.
After the Tops shooting, the governor’s office reached out to Chase asking if the bank could help in some way, the spokesperson said in response to the skepticism. The spokesperson said that while the Chase retail brand is new to the Buffalo region, the company has been active in the market for decades by way of commercial banking, private banking, credit card lending, home lending and other businesses.
In addition to the ATM, the bank provided funding to local organizations including FeedMore Western New York, which distributes food throughout the region.
“We are committed to continuing our support for Buffalo and helping the community increase access to opportunities that build wealth and economic empowerment,” the spokesperson said in an email.
In the year since the massacre, there has been some progress by banks in terms of their interest in listening to the East Side community and learning about its needs, said Nicholas. But he hasn’t felt an air of urgency from the banking community to tackle the issues right now.
“I do experience banks being a little more open to figuring out what their role is, but it’s slow. It’s slow,” said Nicholas. The senior pastor of the Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church, located about a mile north from Tops, Nicholas is part of a 13-member local advisory committee for the New York arm of Local Initiatives Support Coalition, or LISC. The group is focused on mobilizing resources, including banks, to address affordable housing in Western New York, specifically in the inner city, as well as training minority developers and connecting them to potential investors, Nicholas said.
Of the 13 members, seven are from banks — one each from M&T, Bank of America, BankOnBuffalo, Evans and KeyBank, and two members from Citizens Financial Group. One of the priorities of LISC NY is health equity, and the fact that banks are becoming more engaged in looking at health disparities is promising, Nicholas said. Still, they have more work to do, he said.
“I need them to think more on how to strengthen and build the economy on the East Side and provide leadership around that, not only to provide charitable things, but using sound business and banking and community development principles to say, ‘OK, if we’re going to invest in this community, these are the types of things that need to happen in this community,’ and then encourage their partners and other people they work with … to come fully in on the East Side.”
Some bankers agree with the community activists.
“Putting a branch in is great. Having a bank on wheels is great,” said Noah of BankOnBuffalo. “But if you’re not embedded in the community, listening to the community and trying to improve it, you’re not creating that wealth and creating a better lifestyle for everyone.”
What could make a substantial difference in terms of banks’ impact on the community is a combination of collaboration and leadership, said Taylor. He supports the idea of banks leading the charge on the creation of a comprehensive redevelopment and reinvestment plan for the East Side, and then investing accordingly and collaboratively through their charitable foundations.
“All of them have these foundations,” Taylor said. “You can either spend that money in a strategic and intentional way designed to develop a community for the existing population, or you can spend that money alone in piecemeal, siloed, sectorial fashion that will look good on an annual report, but won’t generate transformational and generational changes inside a community.”
Banks might be incentivized to work together because it could mean two things for them, according to Taylor: First, they’d have an opportunity to spend money in a way that would have maximum impact on the East Side, and second, if done right, the city and the banks could become a model of the way to create high levels of diversity, equity and inclusion in an urban area.
“If you prove how to do that, all that does is open up other markets of consumption all over the country because people want to figure out how to do that same thing,” Taylor said.
Some of that is already happening, at least on a bank-by-bank case, said KeyBank’s Owunwanne. Through the KeyBank Foundation, the company is able to leverage different relationships that connect nonprofits to other entities and corporations that can provide help.
“I see this as an opportunity for us to make not just incremental changes, but monumental changes … as part of a larger group,” Owunwanne said “Again, I say that not to absolve the bank of any responsibility, but just as a larger group.”
Downstairs from Parker’s office, Golden Cup Coffee, a roastery and cafe run by a husband and wife team, and some other Jefferson Avenue businesses are trying to build up a business association for existing and potential Jefferson-area businesses. Parker imagined what the group could accomplish if one of the banks could provide someone on a part-time basis to facilitate conversations, provide administrative support and coordinate marketing efforts.
“In the grand scheme of things, when we’re talking about a multimillion dollar [bank], a part-time employee specifically dedicated to relationship-building and building out coalitions, it sounds like a small thing,” Parker said. “But that’s transformational.”
No matter what we’re planning to spend, whether it’s money or time, we want to make an informed decision so not to have a less than stellar experience. This is where online reviews, whether it’s for a positive experience or a negative review, can make a difference. We rely on feedback from others to help us make decisions. A well-written review of apartments or apartment communities is possibly the reason someone rents an apartment or not.
More than 37 percent of people live in an apartment, according to National Multifamily Housing Association, and reviews can help people decide whether to rent in a particular building or not.
Writing an apartment review isn’t difficult and can improve accessibility for some in your apartment community. Are renters’ rights protected, for example, or are the units safe and up to code? Sometimes, those things get mentioned in a review.
It’s also important to know as you read or evaluate reviews that not all are objective. An apartment’s website is only one piece of information but a great apartment review can share feedback on how management works and the overall strength of an apartment community. Keep reading to learn how to read and write accurate apartment reviews.
How do you evaluate an apartment review?
There are a few telltale signs of great apartment reviews that are helpful. Does the person begin with facts, including when they rented the apartment and details about maintenance issues or amenities on the property? Did the person have issues with others? Did they deal with the office staff, apartment manager or landlord with issues on their properties?
If you see multiple reviews by residents about details within the apartment that don’t work or they focus on specific issues they’re constantly bringing to their landlord, it’s worth noting because it’s more than just one person having a problem with their apartment.
Pay attention to how residents address or discuss what’s mentioned in the apartment reviews. Do they bring it to the attention of the property manager? Does it take five business days or more for management to respond once someone makes contact? Do they request a face-to-face meeting and share the progress of a complaint? Is the review written in complete sentences?
An apartment’s website is only one piece of information but apartment reviews hold so much information.
Be wary of the bad reviews
Also, consider an author’s motive when writing online reviews. Do they resort to bombastic name-calling? Did they write a review about the apartment? Did the author mention the company, apartment community or focus on a specific contact at the company?
Consider who would most benefit from this review. Remember, writing online reviews, whether it’s on a specific site or on a social media page, is free. It’s one thing to get feedback beyond what’s on a website that is helpful but writing a hit piece doesn’t benefit the apartment community as a whole.
How do you evaluate an apartment community?
Many people look at a specific property when searching for a new apartment but it’s a good idea to see how residents rate their apartment community on various sites, too. Those are helpful and are more objective than what a website includes in terms of how people who live in the apartment engage with various amenities and how they feel management handles things.
How do you write a review for an apartment?
When writing reviews to post on various sites, you want to share feedback you feel others would find helpful when deciding whether to rent a place. Apartment communities may matter just as much as individual apartment units so consider a review that covers as much detail as possible.
Polite articulation in any review will garner more appreciation from the reader. Whether you discuss relevant accessibility standards being subpar or share feedback about an issue in progress, those reviews can help the reader better understand what living in this apartment community will look like as a matter of course.
As you would expect to read in a review, post information including when you lived (or if you’re still living) in the apartment and any tips you’ve learned by living there. Is management generally responsive to issues or does the office staff ignore issues? Does the landlord read reviews and makes improvements based on any tips or suggestions that someone takes the time to post? All of these details can help someone make an informed decision about their next address.
How important are apartment online reviews?
A review is only as good as the author but apartment reviews that someone takes the time to write and post with great feedback and tips are very helpful. No one wants to move into a place that might have too many problems or that management ignores — those are the kinds of things that pop up in apartment reviews.
Reading and writing accurate apartment reviews can save you time and money
Writing online apartment reviews doesn’t need to take a lot of time but writing an objective one can help you learn and discuss what you find important when seeking an apartment to rent. Reading and knowing how to evaluate reviews can save you time and money in the long run. A well-written review that highlights key issues is a possible deal breaker, while one that mentions amenities and benefits can seal the deal. It’s worth taking the time to write a good (or bad) review, as well as reading them to help you make the best decision on your next place.
As a Chicago-based freelance writer, Megy Karydes has covered everything from space-aged tomato seeds grown in a Chicago Public School to Chicago Blues musician Lurrie Bell. Her work has been featured in USA Today, Travel + Leisure, Midwest Living magazine and other national and regional media outlets. When she’s not out exploring the city with her two children and husband, she’s perfecting her air hockey technique.
Suburban, when defined, refers to anything related to or characteristic of suburbs. That part seems intuitive enough. A suburb is a residential area or community located on the outskirts of a city or urban center. Suburbs often offer quieter and more relaxed living compared to the nearby city centers, with a greater emphasis on green spaces and recreational areas.
However, there’s still some confusion floating around about the “suburban” definition and what exactly constitutes a suburban setting. What lies beyond the white picket fence? We’ll uncover this tricky definition and show you some pros and cons of living in this vaguely defined type of area below.
Unveiling the soul of suburbia
The definition of suburban varies from person to person because of the diverse and constantly changing features of these areas. Despite the confusion over the term, more than half of Americans identify with the label “suburban,” according to a study by the American Housing Survey.
Different interpretations of what makes a suburb, well, a suburb depends on both location and experience too. Some major urban areas, like Atlanta or Nashville, endlessly sprawl to the point that the line between urban and suburban further blurs. In more compact cities like San Francisco, it’s easier to draw those lines.
Further, diverse experiences with suburbs or suburban living influence the perception of the term, too. For some, the ‘burbs connote success, “making it,” quiet and safety. For others, it brings to mind a sterile, uninspiring, narrow-minded way of living that stunts growth and self-expression. Both viewpoints are valid, further complicating the definition.
Some defining characteristics
There are, however, general defining characteristics that are traditional tale-tell signs of a suburban area.
Resident lifestyle focus: Suburbs offer a quieter and more predictable lifestyle, catering to families, individuals and young professionals seeking a peaceful living environment.
Lower population density: Suburbs have spacious areas between buildings and larger property square footage, creating a sense of openness due to their lower population density than urban centers.
Proximity to urban amenities: Located on the outskirts of larger cities, suburbs provide residents with easy access to community offerings while only a commute away from city offerings.
Embracing suburban nuances
As we’ve touched on, subjectivity is especially present when it comes to the whole suburban definition. There are some areas where residents resist being labeled as suburbs due to their distinct identities and characteristics. Some non-suburban claim examples include Cambridge, MA, Hoboken, NJ and Santa Monica, CA.
Residents of these areas often see them as a city in their own right due to numerous factors like rich history, vibrant culture and prominent landmarks like universities. However, if we reference back to our general defining traits, these areas absolutely would be considered suburbs instead of compact cities.
Pros of suburban life
Suburban life has a lot of draws, helping contribute to the ever-changing nature of these areas. The suburbs are known to create a peaceful living environment. Because of the characteristic lower population density, residents experience a quieter and calmer environment which creates a drastic contrast to the city environment. This is especially appealing to people and families seeking a more serene living experience.
As popularly depicted in modern media, suburbs have spacious housing. We’ve seen this illustrated with the white picket fence surrounding a large yard for the picturesque family home, providing a visual representation of the suburban lifestyle that we know today. Even in apartments and townhomes, you’re guaranteed larger square footage for a better price than you’d find in the city.
Suburbs often foster a strong sense of community through neighborhoods and like-minded individuals who value the calmer, quieter lifestyle. Through the local schools, parks, community centers and recreational facilities that are commonly available, opportunities for social interactions and community engagement abound.
Cons of suburban life
The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Suburban life isn’t for everyone, especially depending on your preferences and future dreams and aspirations. For one, suburban life typically equates to a dependency on cars. These areas aren’t as walkable as city centers are, which means residents often rely heavily on vehicles for transportation. This also means experiencing traffic congestion, commute times and transportation costs.
We discussed some great community-building amenities suburban areas have to offer residents. These amenities are definitely not the same as city amenities, and it comes down to personal preference to determine if this is a pro or con. Suburbs typically lack cultural attractions, dining options and entertainment opportunities that are commonly found in larger cities.
The American suburban dream is beyond definition
The suburban American dream has been a cornerstone of the country’s cultural fabric for decades, representing picture-perfect living for many individuals and families. The promise of suburban living includes good schools, safety, green spaces and a sense of community, in hopes of building a secure future for yourself and your family.
For many Americans, this dream was all about finding good opportunities. While this dream has evolved over time, contributing to the changing definition of suburban, it’s still a symbol of hope for a happy life, for those who yearn for this. But we also know it’s not for everyone. This telltale list of qualities determines whether it’s suburban life or city life that fits you.
Your dream life is out there, whether it be in a bustling city center or in a suburban area. Find your perfect place today!
I hate plumbing. Whenever a faucet begins to leak or a drain clogs, my stomach sinks. I know it means hours of frustrating work. It’s not that plumbing is difficult — it’s just that I’m not well-versed in the ways of home-improvement. Somehow I missed that part of Manhood Training.
Despite my apprehension, over thirteen years of homeownership, I’ve made it a point to do as much repair work as I’m able. It has saved me a lot of money. And while I’m a ball of nerves going into a project, I get tremendous satisfaction when I finish something and know that I did the work with my own hands.
Yesterday we woke to find water on the floor of the upstairs bathroom. When we couldn’t immediately locate the source of the leak, we debated calling a plumber. Because it was the weekend, and because we’re trying to save money, Kris and I decided to tackle the problem as a team. While she buried herself in the Readers Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual, I took the toilet apart. Ultimately we diagnosed the likely culprit: corroded fasteners connecting the tank of the toilet to the bowl. We drove to the hardware store, picked up replacement parts, and then put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
We were able to repair our toilet for $6.49 and an hour of time. Had we called in a plumber, it would have cost much more. This is how home repairs usually seem to play out for us: some initial frustration, a Eureka! moment, a trip the hardware store for a $10-$20 part, and then a final repair.
Here are some things we’ve learned when dealing with home repairs:
Don’t panic. A zen-like state is important for repair work. I don’t mean this in any mystical sense, but it’s helpful to be calm and relaxed when doing this sort of thing. Rash actions can turn a small problem into a disaster.
Act quickly. Don’t put off repairs. While you don’t want to charge blindly ahead, you do want to take care of the problem as soon as possible. We once put off fixing a small leak in the roof. You can guess how that ended during a rainy Oregon winter.
Use a reference. Google is your friend. We’ve found lots of answers on the internet. As I mentioned above, though, Kris and I find it convenient to have a book on hand. In 1994, we paid about 20 bucks for a copy of the Readers Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual. The book has literally saved us hundreds of dollars.
Work methodically. When you take something apart, neatly set the pieces someplace safe. Label them, if appropriate. Be orderly. Follow instructions. Measure twice, cut once. If you have a digital camera handy, take pictures of how things were assembled before you dismantled them. These sorts of careful steps make repair work run smoothly.
Don’t make assumptions. Some of my most frustrating do-it-yourself experiences have come when I’ve made assumptions about a problem, only to be proven wrong. Here’s an example from my days as a computer consultant: I once spent several hours trying to fix a software problem that had caused a printer to stop working. As it turned out, it wasn’t a software problem at all — the power cord had gone bad. Boy did I feel stupid. Don’t assume things.
Pay attention. As you work, try to notice details. You never can tell what piece of information will be important. Are the electrical outlets you’re replacing two-prong or three-prong? How big were the screws on that gizmo, anyhow?
Be safe. Some tasks are dangerous. Electricity can kill you. So can a chainsaw. I have a friend who accidentally wired his outside power for 220 instead of 110. The first time he plugged in his Christmas lights, it was like the fourth of July! When one of our trees fell into the neighbor’s yard, I had my first experience with a chainsaw. I learned quickly that even a small tree has a great deal of mass.
Know when to call in an expert. Not everyone can fix every problem, of course. Some things do require a specialist. But there are many nuisances around the home that can be solved with patience, research, and elbow grease. Don’t be intimidated by replacing a light fixture or a garbage disposal. But call an electrician to replace the knob-and-tube wiring in your attic.
Home-improvement can be intimidating if you don’t have much experience with it. But with time, you can develop the confidence and the basic skills necessary to perform many common household repairs. If you’re interested in developing further competence, take classes from your local community college, or attend seminars at a home-improvement store. (I’ve also learned a lot by shadowing contractors as they work on our home. I always ask permission first, though. Some are happy to explain what they’re doing, but others are nervous to have an observer.)
Next on my home repair agenda: Diagnosing why the light in our guest room sometimes switches on, but mostly doesn’t.
Buying a home is never easy. It’s expensive, confusing and loaded with paperwork under the best circumstances. It’s even harder these days when the average price of a home is over $400,000 in the U.S., and higher interest rates are making homes that much more expensive.
That’s why it’s so curious that federal regulators might write rules to make homebuying even tougher, however unintentionally, for lower- and middle-income families with modest credit.
Currently, banks must look at three different credit reports from the major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) when a consumer applies for a conventional mortgage. It’s what’s known as a “tri-merge” requirement, and it makes sure every homebuyer has three opportunities to prove their creditworthiness and put their best foot forward.
One writer for Rocket Mortgage said it’s “the most comprehensive look at their borrowers’ credit history,” and that’s a good thing. But last year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) proposed to move away from the “tri-merge” system and require only two credit reports, not three — or what’s known as a “bi-merge” system.
That change barely got noticed at all until members of the House Financial Services Committee — Democrats and Republicans — started raising concerns at an FHFA oversight hearing in May. Congressman David Scott, Democrat of Georgia, had this to say: “My concern is that by removing one of the reports from a lender’s review, FHFA is potentially leaving out predictive and positive credit history … this action could have serious implications for consumers planning to purchase a home.”
FHFA no doubt has its reasons. In truth, a bi-merge might be just fine for consumers with perfect credit. But for low- to moderate-income borrowers, it could be a big deal.
Let’s face it: Sometimes, bills get overlooked. Imagine a consumer with a recent bill in collections. If that collection shows up on one of their three credit reports — and it happens to be the one their bank pulls for a loan — the consumer only has one more opportunity in a bi-merge system to demonstrate their creditworthiness instead of two.
The opposite scenario plays out for rent. Not all landlords send a history of on-time rental payments to a credit bureau, which means renters don’t always get (literal) credit for paying their rent on time.
But what if a consumer lives somewhere that does share those on-time payments with a credit bureau? Under a bi-merge system, homebuyers only get credit for the rental payments if the bank where they’re seeking a loan uses the credit report that lists those rental payments. If they pull one of the other two, that homebuyer could be out of luck.
The same is true if a potential homebuyer has a credit card through a local bank. If that bank only shares data with one of the three credit bureaus — instead of all three, like some bigger banks — the consumer may appear “credit invisible” when they go to get a mortgage at a competing bank if the bi-merge report used for that mortgage doesn’t include the “right” credit report.
That’s unfair to the consumer and reduces the incentive to use a small or community bank — good institutions that know the people they serve and play an indispensable role in suburban and rural areas.
Finally, there’s the question of equity. We all know who gets left out when financial opportunities narrow; consumers from historically disadvantaged communities are more likely to have modest credit.
Those potential homebuyers should have every opportunity to represent themselves wholly and completely when they apply for a loan. That’s exactly what the tri-merge represents, and it’s exactly why it should stay in place.
Something that’s simple and straightforward today becomes a roll of the dice in a bi-merge system. That means fewer choices for borrowers who want to shop around and a higher likelihood of missing out on the loan.
Here’s the good news: FHFA’s director, Sandra Thompson, is a smart leader with good intentions. The bi-merge idea is a simple oversight from an office working daily to support homebuyers, including those in disadvantaged communities.
Even better news: There’s still time to turn it back. That’s exactly what FHFA should do.
Northwestern Mutual Renews Partnership with Marquette University and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with New $35 Million Investment Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute champions southeastern Wisconsin as national hub for technology research, innovation and talent MILWAUKEE, Aug. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Northwestern Mutual, Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are deepening their commitment to the Northwestern Mutual … [Read more…]