Ten subject pages, written for this site. Each one stands on its own; together they run from how a local market is built, through the money and the paperwork, to the physical evidence a place leaves behind in its streets.
All pages
- MarketHow a local housing market actually worksSupply is slow, demand is fast, and money sets the pace.
- MarketWhat moves house pricesInterest rates, incomes, land and the ordinary friction of moving.
- ProcessBuying a home, step by stepThe order the steps actually happen in, and where they stall.
- ProcessSelling a home, step by stepPreparation, pricing, the offer window and the long tail of closing.
- ProcessSurveys, inspections and searchesWhat each check is looking for, and what it cannot tell you.
- MoneyMortgages in plain termsPrincipal, interest, term and the words wrapped around them.
- MoneyRenting versus owningA question about time and flexibility more than a question about money.
- PlaceReading a neighborhoodWhat a street tells you before anyone tells you anything.
- PlaceDunn and Harnett CountyA rail and highway town in the Carolina sandhills, and how that shaped its housing.
- ReferenceHousing words explainedTwenty-four words that do most of the work.
Where to begin
If you have never taken the subject apart before, read the market page first: almost everything else is a consequence of slow supply meeting fast demand. If you are in the middle of a transaction, the process pages are arranged in the order the steps actually occur. If a word is in the way, the glossary is the shortest route.