Millennials Are House Hunting Virtually to Save Time
The days of homebuyers going from one house to another, looking for the perfect fit, may be over. Real estate agents now want to bring listings to you!
Bill Brown, the CEO of virtual and 3D camera company Matterport, says that millennials welcome the added convenience.
“People can go and see 20 or 30 properties in the time that it’ll take them to drive and see 1 or 2 properties,” Brown said. “It makes the process that much more efficient, you don’t waste a lot of time going and walking through properties that you could’ve easily eliminated upfront.”
Matterport’s technology allows homebuyers to digitally tour and explore a home they might want to move into through headsets, tablets, or other devices.
The trend is catching on. Real estate firm [Redfin](https://www.redfin.com/) says that 1 in 3 people buy homes they have not seen in real life. And the number of people making offers on properties they’ve only visited virtually grew 19 percent in 2017.
Millennials particularly are jumping on board. Redfin says the demographic is three times more likely than Baby Boomers to bid on a home, sight unseen.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-reality-of-real-estate).
In his second day of testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that the board is considering more interest rate hikes.
The government will require heavy trucks and buses to include automatic emergency braking equipment within five years, the federal traffic safety agency said Thursday, estimating it will prevent nearly 20,000 crashes save at least 155 lives a year.
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it has sent warning letters to dozens of retailers selling fruit- and candy-flavored disposable e-cigarettes, including the current best-selling brand, Elf Bar.
Whether your credit card has declined or if you had difficulty splitting a bill at an outing, those awkward financial moments can get the best of us. Bobbi Robell, founder of Financial Wellness Strategies and author of "Launching Financial Grownups," joined Cheddar News to provide tips on how to handle those tense situations.
With inflation in the United States still excessive, most Federal Reserve officials expect to raise interest rates further this year, Chair Jerome Powell told a House committee Wednesday.