Weekly Housing Trends

The big story

Greg Baumann/Pest Control Warrior; NeagoneFo/Getty Images (bat).

Forget ghosts. Something just as spooky has 52% of homeowners calling exterminators in a panic: pests. From spiders to snakes to roaches, these unwelcome guests cause billions of dollars in damage annually. Here are a few spine-tingling stories from the front lines of pest control, along with some advice to keep these creatures from moving in.

Pests can be tough to find

“As someone who works in pest control, it takes a lot to give me the creeps,” says David Joles at PURCOR Pest Solutions. A faint rattling inside his house did the trick. “I thought it was an insect, but realized it was a rattlesnake,” he says. He rushed his pets to a neighbor’s and turned his house upside down, but found nothing. His advice: If you’re not sure what kind of pest you have or where it is, call a pro instead of poking around yourself. Joles’s own team found the snake under a chair he’s very glad he hadn’t sat in.

‘Small bug problems’ get big fast

When an elderly customer reported a “small bug problem,” Ralph Masferrer of Aruza Pest Control arrived to a strong odor that got worse as he neared the bedroom. “The furniture looked like it was moving. Every surface was covered in cockroaches,” he recalls. When he opened the drawers, “roaches poured out and crawled up my arms and pant legs.” It took four trips, a hazmat-style suit, and a roach vacuum to get the insects under control. His advice: Roaches can multiply quickly and cause indoor health issues, so homeowners should contact a pest professional at the first sign of activity.

Certain pests are protected

Bats eat other pests, so many states legally protect them from being removed from attics or other areas while they’re raising their young, typically during summer. Even after your area’s “bat blackout period” ends, you still need to handle them carefully. Boruch Akbosh at Titan Pest Pro uses one-way tunnels that let bats fly out but not back in. His advice: Never plug a hole in your home until you’re certain the animals have left.

Find their entry points

Greg Baumann of Pest Control Warrior once crawled under a house hunting for termites and “counted 17 snake skins hanging from the wood joists”—proof that creatures can always find a way in and you may not even realize they’re there. Garages are another weak spot; a quarter-inch gap is enough for mice, warns David Yifrach, owner of Seaside Garage Door Experts. His advice: “Shut the door, turn off the lights, and look for cracks of daylight along the floor,” he says. The fix is a rubber seal with a stainless steel mesh core that rodents can’t chew through.

Pest problems are pricey

Rodents chew wires, causing electrical shorts and fires. Termites alone cause $11 billion in damage a year, and treatment can cost homeowners anywhere from $621 to $8,000, depending on the severity of the infestation and the type of termite you’ve got, says Baumann. His advice: Most homeowners’ insurance policies classify pest infestations as a maintenance issue, so the damage is rarely covered. That’s all the more reason to call a pro at the first sign of trouble and invest in a pest control warranty for added peace of mind.

      

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What's up this week

Realty check

The Washington Post/Contributor/Getty Images

🪦 “Best neighbors possible”: The weird reason some buyers love living near a graveyard.

🥳 “Hurray for higher mortgage rates”? The unexpected upsides, explained.

🏖️ America’s best place to retire is an affordable city you’ve probably never heard of, even though it’s topped the rankings two years straight. Best of all, the average home costs just $206,176.

🧹 New rules for Airbnb hosts are dividing the internet. See which side you fall on.

🤑 Bargain alert: Home prices are about to hit bottom in these seven cities.

💰 President Trump can’t control interest rates, so he’s going after mortgage fees instead. Here’s what’s in the new executive order.

💔 These homebuyers have regrets. One in five wish they’d asked this question before closing the deal.

👻 A 15-acre ghost town—complete with a sheriff’s office, jail, church, and general store—can be yours for $300,000. Plus, the seller is willing to be your bank.

🎬 The Netflix effect: Check out where the streaming giant is building “The Hollywood of the East”—and real estate is poised to become the runaway star.

😱 This neighborhood Halloween display came with a terrifying lesson: One innocent addition could get you sued.

🍬 Trick or treat where?! The best cities for Halloween—based on candy haul and costume stores—aren’t the usual haunts.

You asked, we answered

Q: Have high rates brought the ‘lock-in effect’ back from the dead?

Data source: FHFA National Mortgage Database; Designer: Realtor.com.

The Fed left rates unchanged this week, but that won’t save the housing market now that a familiar monster is back: the lock-in effect. The number of homeowners clinging to low-rate mortgages and refusing to sell eased earlier this year when rates dipped below 6%. But with rates above 7%, the problem has returned with a vengeance.

The numbers paint a stark picture: Currently, 78% of homeowners with mortgages have rates under 6%; nearly half (49.1%) have rates of 4% or lower. The wider the gap with current rates, the less incentive homeowners have to move.

Still, not everyone can hunker down indefinitely. “Even in today’s high-rate market, homebuying activity around major life events, such as having kids, a job change, or a divorce, keeps the market in motion,” explains Realtor.com economist Hannah Jones. Now, the share of homeowners with mortgages above 5% and even 6% is slowly growing—and since mortgage rates are expected to remain elevated over the next year, the over-6% club is about to get a lot more crowded.

Meanwhile, many expect the Fed to raise rates at its next meeting in December, which could push mortgage rates higher. So buyers holding out for relief may be waiting a long time and could be better off trying a more creative route to a lower rate.

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Real talk

Derek Stonebarger/Airbnb

Derek Stonebarger didn’t believe in ghosts. Then he bought a fixer-upper in Beatty, NV, and, mid-renovation, spotted a stranger under his roof. After getting over his heebie-jeebies, Stonebarger and his wife realized their unexpected house-ghost could be good for business. Here’s how they’ve made the most of it as an Airbnb.

Q: Why did you buy a haunted house? “We actually bought the house without knowing it was haunted. It began strictly as an investment during the pandemic. My wife and I purchased it as a project to fix up while our other businesses were closed. It was only during the renovation that we saw our first ghost. As someone who didn’t believe in ghosts before I saw one, you can imagine how life-altering that is.”

Q: Tell me more about this ghost you met. “While we were remodeling, I saw a grizzly older man who looked like a miner standing near the kitchen and laundry room. He appeared to be polite and was just looking at me. I imagine this might have been his home originally. Our property is a historic miner’s cabin originally brought down from the nearby ghost town of Rhyolite around 1925. Beatty is actually experiencing a third ‘Gold Rush’ right now, with over 400 new miners moving into the area, so miner activity is a major part of the local atmosphere.”

Q: When you’ve told others about the ghost, how did they react? “I eventually met Zak Bagans from Ghost Adventures on the Discovery Channel and told him about my experience. I introduced him to our house, and he and his crew ended up staying overnight to do a paranormal investigation.”

Q: How has this property been as an investment? “It has been extremely profitable, and stays are booked constantly. The revenue far exceeds the mortgage required to acquire it.”

Q: Any advice for others who might end up with a haunted house? “Embrace the history and lean into it. It gives the property a unique identity that draws people in and keeps the calendar fully booked.”

      

Housing market of the week

Clockwise from top left: andykazie/Getty Images; One Kingsland/Sun Homes.

Sleepy Hollow used to be called North Tarrytown, but was rebranded after Washington Irving’s famous tale in an effort to attract visitors. It worked. Every October, over 200,000 revelers head here for hayrides and to see the Headless Horseman. And many end up staying—particularly New Yorkers craving more space and small-town vibes just a 40-minute train ride to the city. Here’s more about why Sleepy Hollow makes sense from Kerry Fedigan at Sun Homes.

How she got started: Eight years ago, Fedigan arrived on a wide-open stretch of riverfront in Sleepy Hollow to sell homes that weren’t built yet. Today, her focus is One Kingsland, which comprises the last 90 townhomes being offered at Edge-on-Hudson, a master-planned community of 1,177 condos, townhomes, and rentals.

The pros: Sleepy Hollow offers a rare combination: historic character, easy access to the city, and waterfront real estate. Values hold, since “waterfront is finite, especially this close to New York City.”

The cons: Historic charm comes with a catch—like ongoing maintenance and layouts “designed for a different era,” Fedigan says. New construction offers open floor plans and less upkeep, but doesn’t come cheap: Homes at One Kingsland sell for $2 million and up, plus HOA fees starting at $822 per month.

Her advice: Before you buy into any HOA, check its rules on renting out your place. Although spaces here can draw “attractive rental returns” of $12,000 to $14,000 a month, One Kingsland generally expects leases of a year or longer to preserve the neighborhood’s residential feel.