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Topouzis & Associates, P.C. Speaks
In this series, Topouzis & Associates, P.C. experts research and explore trends, sales strategies, demographics and dynamics poised to change the real estate industry.
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February 18, 2019
The Rise of Digital Closings
One of our service areas—Massachusetts—has joined fourteen other states in permitting its counties to utilize a new sort of notary [...]
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February 15, 2019
How Are Judicial Foreclosures Beneficial to Borrowers?
Foreclosure is not a word one regularly considers when pondering positives for borrowers in real estate. Yet there are a [...]
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February 14, 2019
How Dodd-Frank Provisions Affect Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs)
When the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (known colloquially as Dodd-Frank) was passed in the wake of [...]
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February 13, 2019
Some of the Most Common Issues We Find in Curing Title
In our business, there may arise any number of issues with the title to a parcel of real estate. The [...]
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February 12, 2019
Real Estate Investment: Flipping Houses
The concept of flipping houses—purchasing a home at a relative discount, performing a number of material enhancements or repairs, and [...]
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February 11, 2019
What the Fed Has to Say About Home Ownership
In a May report entitled “Report of the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2017,” the Federal Reserve Board (also [...]
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February 08, 2019
The State of Florida’s Housing Market
Florida tends to be a slight contradiction where real estate considerations are concerned. As mentioned in a prior post, a [...]
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February 07, 2019
Some Ways to Save Up for a New Home
Anyone looking to buy a new home should know that they will need to put some money down in order [...]
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February 06, 2019
On Tapping Home Equity
A home’s equity—the difference between what its owner owes and what the home is worth on the market—is often considered [...]
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February 05, 2019
The “Bilbao Effect’s” Influence on Home Ownership
When now-famous architect Frank Gehry designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain—which opened in 1997—he generated more than just a [...]
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February 04, 2019
Land Surveys—the What, Where, When, and Sometimes Why
The What: Land surveys are representations that define the legal boundaries and features of a property in graphic fashion, similar [...]
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February 01, 2019
Several of Our Client Markets Make a List of Cities in Which Millennials Can Afford to Buy a Home
One of the more spurious stereotypes about Millennials would have us believe that this large and mighty group of economic [...]
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January 31, 2019
REI: What is a “Bridge Loan?”
It is uncommon for bridge loans to be used in the residential real estate industry, especially in the years since [...]
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January 30, 2019
A Trend on the Rise: “Granny Pads”
While Baby Boomers are not on average looking to downsize their living arrangements, one must take into account that the [...]
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January 29, 2019
What is a Reverse Mortgage?
As homeowners age, they find they have paid down a great deal of the principal on their home, and eventually [...]
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January 28, 2019
How Retiring Baby Boomers are Approaching Homeownership
There’s a perception among the younger set that, as Baby Boomers age, they will naturally want to downsize from the [...]
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January 25, 2019
How Higher Mortgage Rates are Likely to Affect the Market—In the Short and Long Terms
An abundance of flawed assumptions seem to beset those who are unfamiliar with the real estate market. One of the [...]
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January 24, 2019
How Area Noise Has Been Shown to Affect Home Valuations
From time to time we encounter a client who has bought, or is considering buying, a home in an otherwise [...]
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January 23, 2019
Debt-to-Income (DTI) Ratio: What it is and How it May Affect You
When it comes to obtaining a loan for the purpose of purchasing a property, a lender naturally needs ways by [...]
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January 22, 2019
Hurricanes Cause an Increased Rate of Home Repair and Maintenance
When our communities are forced into a stare-down with the eye of a hurricane—such as 2018’s hurricanes Florence and Michael, [...]
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January 21, 2019
Which Zone of Housing is Most Costly For Homeowners?
Zoning ordinances are a standard feature of American real estate markets. These are sets of laws that set aside for [...]
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January 18, 2019
Home Appraisals—How They Affect, and Reflect, the Market
The home appraisal is a valuable tool used by lenders to determine the amount of money they are willing to [...]
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January 17, 2019
Where Property Values are Expected to Rise
Even despite the perception of a slowdown in the rise of prices of homes across the nation, there are always [...]
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January 16, 2019
How Do the Hearty Economy and the Labor Shortage Affect Home-Ownership?
We at Topouzis & Associates, P.C., keep a keen eye on the vicissitudes of the economy and the housing market. [...]
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January 15, 2019
What Is Today’s Middle-Class—and Where Do They Find Housing?
An early-October report by the Brookings Institute examined 382 metropolitan areas in order to take stock of the size of [...]
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January 14, 2019
How a Housing Foreclosure Crisis Can Re-arrange the Housing Landscape
A housing foreclosure crisis is a seismic economic event. When many people are losing their homes to foreclosure, it means [...]
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January 11, 2019
What Does The Increasingly Limited House Inventory Mean for First-Time Homebuyers?
The news media has been flush of late with concern about the housing market. The concern, stemming from the natural [...]
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January 10, 2019
Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac … What do These Names Refer To?
If someone pays even a cursory level of attention to news about real estate, they hear the names Fannie Mae [...]
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January 09, 2019
Standing Solutions for Victims of Hurricane Michael from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
When Hurricane Michael slammed into our Florida service area, the good people of this great state were subjected to the [...]
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January 08, 2019
Should Americans be Worried About the Recent Slowdown in House Sales?
Things were hot for a minute there. Home sales were rising over the past couple years, as people looked to [...]
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January 07, 2019
What Sort of Attitude Benefits a Prospective Home-Buyer in the Process?
When someone is considering getting into the market to purchase a home, we believe it is worth taking stock of [...]
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January 04, 2019
What Does “Subprime” Mean?
If there is one negative phrase most closely associated with the so-called “Great Recession,” it must certainly be “subprime mortgages.” [...]
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January 03, 2019
The Dismay of Delay—Reasons A Closing Might Get Postponed
If there’s one consistency through every type of real estate transaction, it’s that everybody on either side of the transaction [...]
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January 02, 2019
Issues That We Sometimes Encounter in Curing Title
Those who are unfamiliar with the real estate business can be blissfully unaware of the complications that tend to arise [...]
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January 01, 2019
Buying at Arm’s Length
When it comes to real estate transactions, it is essential—and only lawful—to buy and sell at arm’s length. This is a [...]
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December 31, 2018
Does it Ever Make Sense to Buy Condemned Property?
The prospect of purchasing a condemned property comes up from time to time in our discussions with clients. We tell [...]
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December 28, 2018
Contingency in the Real Estate Buying Process
Every real estate purchase is made with the involvement of a real estate contract, also known in residential real estate [...]
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December 27, 2018
When a Real Estate Contract Becomes Binding
At Topouzis & Associates, P.C., we understand that, for many potential parties to a real estate transaction, the nature of [...]
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December 26, 2018
The Mortgage Commitment Letter—and its Expiration Date
There are a number of steps to the real estate transaction process, which end with closing, which is where we [...]
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December 25, 2018
To Buy or Not to Buy: For Sale By Owner?
In the hunt for a home it is not uncommon for potential buyers to encounter a home that is for [...]
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December 24, 2018
Paying the Real Estate Agent—Whose Responsibility is It?
Real estate agents in all three of the markets we serve—Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Florida—mention from time to time how [...]
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December 21, 2018
Whether or Not to Buy a Fixer-Upper Property
There are among the prospective buying set a certain subset of individuals who consider themselves handyman deal-hunters—those who will make [...]
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December 20, 2018
Where Prospective Buyers Sometimes Get it Wrong
Every real estate transaction is in some ways unique—as unique as the personalities of the buyers and sellers—but there are [...]
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December 19, 2018
Getting Familiar with the Real Estate Purchase Agreement
In every residential real estate transaction, before the parties can close they must enter into a real estate purchase agreement [...]
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December 18, 2018
Costs to Buy a Home Beyond the Down Payment—and Why They Are Necessary
Prospective homebuyers are sometimes surprised by the costs and fees that must be paid in addition to the down payment [...]
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December 17, 2018
Considering the Investors-Only Short Sale
Occasionally one will encounter a listing labeled an “investors-only” short sale. This can at times turn prospective home-buyers away, believing [...]
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December 14, 2018
What are Short Sales and How do They Affect Title?
When a home goes through a short sale, it generally indicates hardship for those on the selling end of the [...]
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December 13, 2018
What Are Some Potential Delays to the Mortgage Closing Process?
While it does take some time to close on a home under even standard circumstance.s—a scenario that we described in [...]
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December 12, 2018
How Long Does it Take to Close on a Home?
We professionals and others experienced in the real estate industry know what those new to the experience sometimes find surprising: [...]
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December 11, 2018
Considerations When Looking to Buy in Suburbs vs. Exurbs
Every level of proximity to a major urban area has its share of benefits and drawbacks. The urban milieu offers [...]
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December 10, 2018
The Documents You Should Hold On to After Closing
Even though the law requires closing companies to retain a copy of all the documents produced for closing, it’s a [...]
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December 07, 2018
How Sellers Make Sense of Home Profitability
Where making a profit from the sale of a home is concerned, much relies on the housing market—both on the [...]
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December 06, 2018
How to Make the Most of Your Prospective Home Inspection
The home inspection is a vital stage in the process on the way to closing a home. Prospective buyers will [...]
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December 05, 2018
Active vs. Passive: Modes of Real Estate Investment
Real estate investors come in two types: those who like to be intricately involved in the minutiae of their investments, [...]
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December 04, 2018
The Three Ways to Make Money by Investing in Real Estate
Real estate is a valuable and fairly reliable means by which to increase one’s wealth through investment—the occasional market hiccup [...]
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December 03, 2018
The Three Types of Property in Real Estate Investment
A number of questions come up when someone is becoming interested in investing in real estate—whether they’re looking to buy [...]
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November 30, 2018
When a Property Disclosure Statement Reveals Negative Information
From time to time we close a sale in which the Property Disclosure Statement—on which sellers are required to reveal [...]
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November 29, 2018
What the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) Means for the Home-Buyer
We in the real estate business know that there was a time when the real estate market was not entirely [...]
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November 27, 2018
Just a Stack of Paper?—What is an Abstract of Title?
One of the many services we offer is the production of an Abstract of Title. Many clients find themselves curious [...]
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November 26, 2018
The Property Disclosure Statement: What to Look Out For
Whether in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, or Florida, when someone is looking to buy a home they go through a number [...]
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November 23, 2018
Millennials Are Buying Homes—But Why Are Their Numbers Relatively Low for Their Ages?
We’ve mentioned it before, and it’s worth mentioning again: contrary to the odd stereotypes attached to them, Americans of the [...]
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November 22, 2018
Raising Your Credit Score to Lock In a Good Interest Rate for Your First Mortgage
It may be the most well-known fact of property lending that the rates at which lenders are willing to lock [...]
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November 21, 2018
The Confusion Over “Deed” and “Title”
We have found, through the years, that there is considerable confusion on the part of both buyers and sellers of [...]
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November 20, 2018
Common Contingencies on the Way to Closing on a Home
A purchase agreement on a home may at times require certain contingencies be made. Contingencies in this context are certain [...]
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November 19, 2018
Some Considerations Before Deciding to Buy a First Home
The prospect of home ownership can be exciting. As compared to renting, purchasing a home means a person is going [...]
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November 16, 2018
How the Industry Decreases Defect Risk Using Technology
The title search, title insurance, and mortgage manufacturing and underwriting industries are, like every other aspect of American life, in [...]
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November 15, 2018
The Recent Rise in New Home Sales
While we’ve seen a recent relative drop in prices and demand for homes, the fact remains that the demand for [...]
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November 14, 2018
Rhode Island’s Decision to Extend Homeowner Foreclosure Protections
In the wake of 2010’s mortgage foreclosure crisis, Rhode Island—whose previous regulations had been fairly lenient toward lenders with regard [...]
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November 13, 2018
What the HUD Florida Disaster Plan for Victims of Irma May Mean for You
At Topouzis & Associates, P.C., we proudly serve customers in the Florida market who are seeking title search services for [...]
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November 12, 2018
The Link Between Student Loan Debt Payoff and Home Purchasing
We imagine that to our readers it will come as little surprise to learn—given the ever-increasing cost of higher education [...]
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November 09, 2018
Trends in Home-buying: Are Millennials Getting in the Market?
It’s easy to fall susceptible to some of the mis-information floating around about the “Millennial” generation. It’s remarkable just how [...]
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November 08, 2018
“Who is This Guy?”: The Role of the Closing Attorney
While we would like to believe that the attorney’s role in the home-buying process is common knowledge, it’s clear that [...]
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November 07, 2018
Ways Buyers Can Avoid Remorse in a Low Inventory Market
Any time we enter a seller’s market, the amount of buyer’s remorse goes on the rise—particularly with regards to the [...]
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November 06, 2018
Why Summer is Primetime for REO Sales
Part of the REO game is making sales as quickly as possible, in order to reduce the amount of lost [...]
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November 05, 2018
Fed Raising Interest Rates Means Higher Bar for Obtaining Mortgages
On the 26th of September, the Federal Reserve moved to raise the target range for the federal funds rate from [...]
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November 02, 2018
What Prospective Parents May Not Know to Look for in a Home
We often find that among first-time home buyers—that grand cohort that accounted for 46% of mortgages in the first quarter [...]
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November 01, 2018
Listing Prices Begin to Fall as Buyers’ Fatigue Sets In, But Single-Family Construction Permits are Down
It seems as though the market’s price-rise may be cooling off at last. In July and August, the prices at [...]
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October 31, 2018
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Peabody, Massachusetts Makes Realtor.com’s Hottest Markets of 2018
Each year, Realtor.com’s team of economics analysts pores over the housing market data gathered from throughout the United States and, [...]
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October 29, 2018
What a Recent Michigan Home Foreclosure Case May Mean for You
In July, a two-year-old case in Michigan, Morningside Community Organization, et al, v. Eric Sabree, et al, went into settlement, [...]
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October 26, 2018
“Zombie” Homes: What They Are and Issues to Consider
Where the process of foreclosure on a home—and the prospective change in title ownership that goes with it—are concerned, there [...]
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October 24, 2018
The Current Status of Homeowner Demand
It would seem that there are reasons for both hope and concern in the most recent data on the state [...]
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October 22, 2018
Why Americans Prefer to Buy Suburban Homes (For Now)
The number of factors that go into the desirability of certain kinds of home-ownership are legion. Americans are a striving [...]
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October 17, 2018
Land Recording or Land Registration—Which Applies to My Property?
There are two different types of “property title systems” that apply in the United States. I deal with both of [...]
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October 10, 2018
A Brief History of Title Insurance in the United States
I’m the sort of guy who likes to know how and why things work the way they do. So I [...]
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October 03, 2018
How Does a Title Search Ensure Clear Title?
I understand why clients ask me, “So what do you do, exactly?” I work in a very specific area of property, [...]
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September 27, 2018
What’s the Worst that Could Happen?—Hazards of Not Getting Title Insurance
When a client considers going without an Owner’s Policy of title insurance, it almost makes my hair curl. Life is [...]
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September 19, 2018
How To Get Title Insurance
In my years of dealing in real estate transactions, one thing has become clear: when you’re looking to buy a [...]
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September 12, 2018
What Does an Owner’s Policy of Title Insurance Cover?
I always recommend to purchasers of a home or other property that they be sure to get themselves an Owner’s [...]
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September 05, 2018
What is the Difference Between Lender’s Title Insurance and Owner’s Title Insurance Policies?
In the world of real estate closings, I regularly deal with two different types of title insurance: Lender’s Title Insurance [...]
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August 28, 2018
Why Does a Home-Buyer Need Title Insurance?
In last week’s post I discussed how title insurance is designed to protect a home-buyer from events that transpired in [...]
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August 21, 2018
How is Title Insurance Different from Other Forms of Insurance?
Sometimes when we’re discussing the necessity for title insurance, I’ll have a client question its utility. This question often comes [...]
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August 14, 2018
What is Title Insurance?—The Basics
I often find that, especially among new home-buyers, there is some confusion about exactly what title insurance is. It’s a [...]
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November 14, 2017
Price of Single-Family Homes in Rhode Island on Rise
The median sales price of single-family homes in Rhode Island for September rose by 13.1% over the same month last [...]
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October 25, 2017
Tampa Ranks as 6th Top City for Home Flipping
A new report by WalletHub ranks the best and worst cities for flipping houses in the U.S., and Tampa made [...]
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September 27, 2017
The Median Price of Single-Family Homes in MA Tops $400k
The median sales price of single-family homes in Massachusetts rose above $400k this summer for the first time, with some [...]
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September 18, 2017
Does $2 Million+ Buy a Better Home in Florida or Rhode Island?
A recent article in the New York Times compared how much house you could get for around $2.4 million in [...]
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August 30, 2017
Homebuyers Turning to Smaller Cities for Affordable Homes
More homebuyers are leaving the largest, most expensive cities to seek out affordable housing in mid-tier cities, according to a [...]
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August 07, 2017
Welcome to the new Topouzis & Associates, P.C. Website!
Topouzis & Associates, P.C. is pleased to announce the launch of its new user-friendly website featuring a modern, responsive design [...]
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July 31, 2017
Why work with a law firm instead of a title company?
In many, but not all, states, both attorneys and title companies may act as closing agents and issue title insurance. [...]
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July 17, 2017
Why Tech is the Future of Real Estate
Nav Athwal reported in Forbes on #NewTech in real estate in his article, “Predicting the 2017 Winners in Real Estate [...]
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June 30, 2017
10 Biggest Real Estate Comeback Cities in the U.S.
If you’re a real estate investor, your job is all about knowing the state of this or that housing market. [...]
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