If you're thinking of becoming a homeowner, you've likely spent time budgeting for additional expenses - property taxes, lawn care, a big-screen TV to fill up that extra space...you get the idea. But have you factored in protection for your new home?
While you're crunching numbers, remember to include homeowners insurance. A standard policy will cover exterior and interior damage from incidents like vandalism, fire, wind and lightning. 

Scottsdale, Arizona - Tucked under Pinnacle Peak and crafted with exceptional attention to detail this estate in Estancia offers every imaginable amenity. The oversized Great Room serves as the focal point of the home and is open to the gourmet kitchen with a wood burning pizza oven.

It’s not uncommon, as a buyer, to want to rush closing – you're steps away from owning a new home! – but there’s no such thing as a sure thing! Even if the finish line’s in sight, something can unexpectedly derail the sale during the final walk-through.

Owning a home is about a lot more than just making the mortgage payments, paying the property taxes and keeping it clean and tidy. A home requires maintenance too. Trying to take it on all at once can feel downright impossible, so consider breaking down your annual upkeep tasks into seasonal projects. By breaking your projects down into smaller pieces, you will give yourself more peace of mind and more time to save for repairs.

Luxurious custom touches and amenities abound in this 5 bedroom, 6 ½ bath, 9728 square foot home, constructed of solid adobe. Its' sumptuous living room offers a custom designed fireplace, and Duane Dahl hand blown glass wall sconces. The slightly sunken kiva-style dining room’s highlights include massive viga posts from Colorado, and a stacked viga ceiling.

Now that the cold, wet dreariness of winter is a distant memory, it’s time to rejoice in the sunny outdoors. But what do you do if you’ve gotten so used to spending your days cooped up inside that you’ve forgotten how to take advantage of your backyard? bring the indoors out! With a few DIY tricks, you can spend your summer indulging (comfortably and with style) in everything the outdoors has to offer.

Over 11,000 square feet of meticulously constructed improvements custom designed to embrace the spectacular setting atop nearly 100 peaceful, private acres. Amid the acreage are a main house, guesthouse, gatehouse, infinity-edged saline pool and pool house, gardens, and even a small vineyard.

When it comes to remodeling, the bigger the better is the motto most people go by. According to a recently released National Association of Home Builders survey, additions and whole-house remodels are on the rise. The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard predicts that the amount of money toward remodels will get up to $325 billion by the start of 2017.

Buying real estate is about more than just finding a place to call home. Investing in real estate has become increasingly popular over the last fifty years and has become a common investment vehicle. Although the real estate market has plenty of opportunities for making big gains, buying and owning real estate is a lot more complicated than investing in stocks and bonds. With the following points, you will learn to see real estate as an investment.

This majestic waterfront estate is 8,407 square feet of finely finished space above grade plus an additional 4,667 square feet of finished space below with a walk up to the incredible rear yard. The interior is finished with impeccable and meticulous details including hardwood floors, oversized arched mahogany doors, and sweeping lake views.

This beautiful and impressive mansion is situated on Geneva's Right Bank, just a stone's throw from the lake and international organizations. It boasts sublime unobstructed panoramic views of the lake and Mont Blanc. It is also surrounded by 9,400 m² of magnificent landscaped grounds including a swimming pool and stunning terrace. Built in 1840, this exceptional property benefits from 730 m² of living space and basement level split between 17 rooms. 

This beautiful 17th century villa is located in the beautiful countryside of Lucca and used to belong to the Mansi, a very well-known family in Europe in the silk trade. The original building dates back to the second-half of the 16th century and it has been largely transformed by arch. Oddi in the first half of the 17th century. The property was later re-transformed in the 18th century by the architect Giusti, in such a way as to give elegance to the facade, while the transformation of the park by Filippo Juvarra, endowed the villa of elegant green spaces for which it is nowadays famous. The property consists of a main house, stables and farmhouse, for a total of about 5,000 sq. m., all being surrounded by a park of about 4-5 hectares.

With the summer season ramping up, it’s a good time to take a look at the vacation-home market. The NAR reported lower vacation-home sales in 2015, despite the fact that the numbers were the second highest in about 10 years. There were approximately 920,000 vacation-home sales nationally compared to 1.13 million in 2014.

Le Chateau de Versailles is built in 2016. The property is spread over 4.4 acres set on the beach between the ocean and Intracoastal. 465 feet on the ocean and 492 feet on Intracoastal, with two docks for a 200-foot yacht. It features the most luxurious finishes, boasting incomparable design and technology; a $2-million Grand Staircase as the residence's piece de resistance, a 120-year-old chandelier from Austria, over $3 million in 22-Karat Gold Leaf, Le Cuisine du Chef features La Cornue Range.