Most homebuyers know that the key to obtaining a lower mortgage rate is a good credit score. But new research has also found a direct link between credit scores and insurance premiums.

In a report released in August, the Consumer Federation of America and the Climate and Community Institute found that having a low credit score (around 630) drove up consumers' premiums to more than double what they’d be with a high score (around 820). All told, those with a low score spend nearly $2,000 more per year on insurance premiums.

For those with middle-of-the-road scores, say around 740, the average annual premium increased by $792.

The study also found that average premiums for homeowners with low credit scores who live in "low-risk" insurance areas (those less prone to natural disasters) were often higher than those for high-credit-score homeowners in "high-risk" communities.

Where do old blue jeans go? Some are recycled into insulation that is said to be as strong as the pink stuff, but with less of an impact of the environment.

The process works like this: Old denim is sent to a recycling center, where the zippers and buttons are removed and mechanical shredders grind the cotton into small pieces. Once it is in a fibrous state, the cotton is pressed into large mats that can be cut to fit into wall and floor cavities.

One producer of recycled denim insulation says the process diverts 20 million pounds of fabric from landfills annually, and recycles 500,000 pairs of jeans -- and 5 tons of zipper fragments -- every month. Best of all, there are no itchy fiberglass particles to aggravate installers and homeowners.

Have you reached out to your real estate agent lately? Most homeowners don’t, according to a survey by marketing firm 1000watt.

Nearly two-thirds of the buyers queried have not contacted their agents since buying their homes, the company found. Of the 31% who did, almost half were looking for a recommendation for a painter, plumber or some other service provider.

Slightly more than a third were seeking an update on their home’s current value, while 1 in 8 wanted to get the agent’s opinion on an upgrade, such as a new kitchen or landscaping.

These are all services your agent can -- and should -- provide.

Think mortgage rates are still too high? In October 1981, rates reached 18.45%, and people still purchased houses.

Jobs are still going unfilled on construction sites across the country, but houses these days are being built faster than at any time in the past two years.

On average, it takes 9.1 months from start to finish -- 1.4 months for government approval to start construction, and 7.6 more to build the place, according to Census Bureau data. Speedy as that seems, it's still almost two full months longer than it took in 2015.

The National Association of Home Builders says the turnaround is due mostly to the fact that builders have solved the supply chain challenges they faced during the pandemic. But construction is still taking longer than a decade ago because of the more stringent regulatory environment, elevated mortgage rates and a shortage of skilled labor, the trade group says.

Counterintuitively, it takes longer to build a small house than a big one, largely because half of such structures are being built for rent, and therefore must go through a lengthier approval process.

Going against the industry grain, KB Home is opting for transparent pricing, rather than using incentives like rate buydowns or upgrades to lure buyers.

“By advertising the true base price on our website, we let buyers know exactly what to expect before they ever visit a community,” Robert McGibney, the builder’s president and chief operating officer said during a recent earnings call. “It is a clear, upfront way of doing business.”

The company emphasizes built-to-order homes, with buyers picking the base model and price and then adding on whatever options they wish to make.

Phishing -- in which scammers send fraudulent messages designed to impersonate trusted parties, manipulating recipients into revealing sensitive information or authorizing financial transactions -- remains the No. 1 entry point for wire fraud in real estate. The practice is responsible for nearly half a billion dollars in annual losses.

But phishing doesn’t look like spam anymore, says Will Looney of CertifID. “Today’s attacks mimic lenders ... with frightening accuracy," he writes. "Fraudsters are studying real transactions, replicating branding and using AI to write emails that read exactly like the real thing. One misplaced click or rushed reply can move hundreds of thousands of dollars out of a closing account in seconds.”

The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants -- and on many people of color, regardless of immigration status -- could wreak havoc on the construction business. Hispanic workers make up nearly a third of that industry's labor force, per the 2023 American Community Survey. White workers account for 57% of construction industry workers; Hispanic workers make up 32%; and Black workers account for 5%.

The National Association of Home Builders calls the steady rise in Hispanic workers on construction sites "the most notable trend in construction labor." Between 2010 and 2023, their numbers in the industry increased from 2.5 million to almost 3.8 million.

Large-production homebuilders now account for nearly two-thirds of all new-home sales. But there are signs many of them, and even their smaller brethren, have gotten too far out over their skis.

According to one report based on U.S. Census Bureau data, the inventory of completed but unsold houses has more than doubled over the last decade, and now sits at a 16-year high. Some 124,000 finished houses are sitting there, empty -- and draining their builders’ balance sheets.

Not to point a finger at any particular builder, but the United Homes Group is a case in point. The company ended the third quarter with 264 homes in backlog and 413 “spec” homes under construction. Orders -- that is, signed contracts -- declined over the first nine months of this year, yet the builder started 66% more houses in the third quarter.

“Elevated new-home inventory levels continue to drive competition for new sales activity across our markets, and as a result we are not immune to the industry-wide pressures affecting other homebuilders,” said CEO Jack Micenko during a recent earnings call.

And therein lies an unprecedented opportunity for buyers to snap up brand-new houses at bargain prices.

As previously reported here, builders are doing practically anything to move product, from drastically cutting prices, sometimes by as much as $100,000, to offering incentives from cheaper mortgage rates to free upgrades. Some are even throwing in an automobile, a vacation package or a free golf cart.

Lennar, one of the country’s largest builders, has gone so far as to add a tab on its website to help investors find more than 2,000 of its houses that it considers rental-ready. The company says these “investment-friendly” properties are in 90-plus locations nationwide. The builder says they are attractive to seasoned investors as well as those new to the real estate market. Lennar promises investors “end-to-end purchasing support,” including pre-negotiated financing, property management, insurance and title services through its affiliates.

In another case, news and research site ResiClub is helping its members find investment properties. While there’s no definitive market-by-market breakdown of where the inventory exists, the company believes much of it is likely in the West and in the Sun Belt, particularly around the Gulf.

Members can look for county- or ZIP code-level markets in the Sun Belt, say, then drill down to specific locations where house prices are declining -- a sure sign of market softness. Then, the “Public Home Builders” tab will list which giant builders are active in members’ target markets.

“That’ll give you a starting point to figure out which homebuilders might be eager in those markets to discount in order to move (inventory),” the company says.

While giveaways may be enticing, bargain-hunting buyers should be careful which concessions they choose. Some are worth more than others. So you should ask questions -- lots of them.

Take “buydowns,” in which builders pay lenders a fee upfront to lower their rates. But how long does the lower rate last? A year? Two years? Obviously, the longer, the better, so ask -- and then try to get the builder to extend it a little longer. A few builders are going the whole nine yards by buying down the rate for the entire term of the mortgage.

Another popular but tricky concession category is free, or deeply discounted, options and upgrades. Some builders offer thousands of dollars' worth of upgraded appliances, countertops and cabinetry, for example. But are you really receiving as much value as you think?

Builders often mark up their extras, sometimes by as much as 100%. So if they say the refrigerator you are getting is worth, say, $4,000, it might have only cost them $2,500.

Here, try to get your builder to up the ante. Or at least ask what their cost was before you sign a contract. Another tactic would be to price out the upgraded kitchen cabinets on your own to see what kind of deal you are really getting.

In many large-scale communities, builders are offering free golf and swim club memberships. But again, for how long? A few years, or for as long as you own the house? It’s worth asking and trying to get the grace period extended. After all, memberships can be costly.

And speaking of memberships, find out what the monthly or quarterly dues are for the community’s owners association, and what services are covered. Landscaping? Golf? Snow Removal? Some utilities?

There’s nothing you can do about homeowners association dues other than to get the builder to pay them on your behalf for a period of time. Every buyer in the project has to join, whether they use the amenities or not. And the cost can eat you up.

Finally, some of the best deals are tied to completed houses, so you may not nail the lot of your choice. The houses with the best perks may be on the worst lots in the community. But it’s worth a shot to ask what the builder is willing to do for you on other sites. They already know you are interested, so they might be amenable to making a deal to keep you on the hook.

[EDITORS: This is the second column in a two-part series.]

Homebuyers looking to pay their agents directly have found little success, according to a new consumer group study.

Instead, buyers are being told not to worry -- that the seller would pay the commission. Some are being told that buyers never pay any agent fees, just sellers.

That’s not what was supposed to happen as a result of two landmark antitrust lawsuits, settled a year ago, between disgruntled homebuyers, the National Association of Realtors and several large brokerages.

Under the new compensation rules put in place because of the class-action cases, sellers and their agents were no longer required to post how they intended to pay agents who were working with buyers. Also, before being shown any houses, agents are now required to have buyers sign a contract that includes how, and how much, the agents will be paid for their services.

It was hoped that both steps would “uncouple” buy- and sell-side commissions, allow for more negotiation over sales fees on both sides of the table and eventually lead to lower costs for both buyers and sellers.

For the most part, though, it’s pretty much business as usual, per a report by the Consumer Policy Center, an independent think tank.

Removing the barriers to negotiation “was not sufficient” to move the needle, according to the report’s authors, CPC Senior Fellow Stephen Brobeck and Fellow Wendy Gilch.

The reason: The real estate profession has found ways to minimize the settlements’ impact.

While attempts to negotiate "might increase" as buyers and sellers learn about the new regulations, Brobeck and Gilch write that "it has become increasingly apparent that successful agent work-arounds have greatly limited these opportunities. Buyers are still assured by most agents that sellers will pay their commissions.”

Other studies have found similar results, and other groups agree that commission rates have barely budged since the NAR settlements. But the CPC was the first to take a ground-level look at what’s actually happening in the realty trenches.

To wit, CPC’s researchers mystery-shopped 281 buy-side agents from "the most active brokerages in 26 diverse metro areas."

They found it “very difficult” for buyers to bargain lower fees, with those who try being “met with a barrage of arguments.” Typical excuses included insisting that most sellers in a particular market pay the commissions, or that buyers are never expected to pay these fees.

Buyers are also often told that if the seller and their agent don’t pay the buyer-agent’s share, buyer-agents won’t show their houses. “Typically sellers pay because they don’t want to be at a disadvantage,” is a frequent refrain.

Based on these findings, Brobeck and Gilch believe the presettlement goal of truly separating commissions “should be revived and prioritized.”

They also call for allowing buyers to include agents' commissions in their mortgages, calling it “the most practical mechanism” for driving down costs. Right now, federal regulators do not allow borrowers to finance sales commissions, even though it is generally accepted that sellers include their fees in their selling prices.

Until lenders are permitted to include commission charges as part of the loan amount, buyers are on their own in trying to negotiate what their agents charge. But they should not take no for answer.

Interviews with the agents revealed that while they resisted at first, they were willing to bargain when faced with pushback. A full two-thirds said they would accept a lower fee, and of those, a third would agree to lower their fee by a full percentage point.

If your agent balks, find another one who is more amenable to cutting their levy -- at least a little.

Sellers also should try to negotiate their side of the commission, but Brobeck and Gilch advise against offering a specific percentage. Instead, sellers should just indicate they want to bargain.

Researchers also found that a number of agents ignored the requirement calling on them to have buyers sign contracts before showing them the first property, with some saying it wasn’t necessary.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with these contracts, but buyers should be careful of their terms. Some tie you to the agent for months, while others allow the broker to turn you over to another agent if you are dissatisfied with the original one.

However, rather than signing formal agreements, nearly half of the agents interviewed said they would offer short-term “touring” contracts, which could be terminated without penalty if you became unhappy with the agent's services.

Meanwhile, industry practices remain a fertile ground for more class-action suits, the CPC report warns, if only because agents and their brokers all tend to charge the same rate. Some 95% of the agents interviewed quoted a commission between 2.5% and 3%, with nearly three times as many citing the higher figure.

“The continuing uniformity of rates provides prima-facie evidence of price fixing and an easy, tempting target for critics,” reads the CPC report.

Interestingly, all agents quoted their fees as a percentage rather than as a fixed dollar amount. Some believe that if commissions were presented in flat monetary terms, buyers and sellers alike would realize how much they are spending -- and would be more likely to try to bargain those fees down.