The designers of Reston, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., left nothing to chance. Reston was one of the first centrally planned communities to pop up after World War II, when the “new town” concept involving Planned Unit Development (PUD) became popular.

It’s roasting hot, and you just finished a long morning of backbreaking yardwork. The sun is high and it’s only getting hotter. From next door, the sound of splashing floats over the fence. It’s a pool—and you’ve always wanted one. But does a pool add value to a home? Or should you take a cold shower instead?

While foreclosures have (finally) fallen to a 20-year low, thanks to a stronger labor market and better interest rates, the U.S. housing market has certainly had its share of rough spots over the past decade. At the height of the housing crisis in 2008, foreclosures spiked a staggering 81% and more than 860,000 families lost their homes. It’s taken a long time to recover from that. Truth be told, if you’re wondering how to find bank owned properties, there are plenty on the market today.

The US has 1.9 billion acres of land in the contiguous 48 states. Only 3.6% of it has been developed for residential use in urban areas. And even after accounting for all the acreage that’s dedicated to agriculture, crops and government use, that’s a lot of land that could potentially be available for private use. For decades now, the “American dream” has centered on owning a home with a picket fence and, if you’re lucky, a bit of land. Wondering how to find land for sale is something a lot of Americans do.

When you buy a home, covering the monthly mortgage payments may be one of your top concerns. Affording the payments—including the home’s principal, interest, homeowners insurance and property taxes—may seem easy in the beginning. But first-time homebuyers may not be planning for the reality of future property tax increases—a major oversight when considering assessed value vs market value. Your first property value assessment may be more than a surprise. The larger estimate of your home’s value, and bigger property tax bill that follows, can be downright shocking.

What does for-sale-by-owner mean? On its face, the term is a bit misleading, since all homes are technically sold by the people who own them. In the real estate context, however, for sale by owner has a very specific meaning. A for-sale-by-owner, or FSBO, home is one sold directly by the homeowners themselves without a real estate agent acting on their behalf.