Bill Whitlatch, longtime owner of one of the leading home builders here in northeast Ohio, is among the casualties. Three years ago, he borrowed from regional banks to start six developments in the Cleveland area. Soon the region’s home market turned cold. Buyers vanished. Mr. Whitlatch drained his personal savings of $2 million to keep his company going.
houses
Mortgage Meltdown Woes Spread To Home Builders
By 3.21.08
Crazy Realtor Torments Rival With Sex Ads
By 12.26.07
Well, this just further proves that real estate is the meanest profession. Dean “Cookie Kwan” Isenberg was arrested a week ago and charged with “posting fake escort ads on the Internet using a rival’s phone numbers, sparking hundreds of raunchy calls” and text messages to the woman and her daughter. The victim, Debbie Blasberg, was a former coworker of Isenberg’s who had “closed on a property he had been trying to sell.”
Freddie Mac: Don't Let Fraudsters Steal Your Home
By 12.16.07
Con artists use publicly available foreclosure notices to find victims for their equity stripping scams.
Facing Foreclosure? Take A Deep Breath And Don't Panic
By 9.8.07
The ongoing subprime meltdown will claim its next victims in October, when adjustable rate mortgages worth over $50 billion reset, but homeowners facing foreclosure can keep a roof over their head by following a few common-sense tips. Above all, don’t panic, and don’t ignore the problem – instead, try the following:
Take Advantage Of The Subprime Meltdown
By 8.19.07
Prospective home buyers shopping for houses worth around $500,000 are taking advantage of rising interest rates caused by the ongoing subprime mortgage meltdown. Buyers and sellers alike are becoming increasingly mindful of one magic number: $417,000. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will only guarantee mortgages worth less, forcing some sellers to lower their asking price to accommodate buyers looking to avoid so-called jumbo mortgages. From the Wall Street Journal:
Spring Project: Get Your House Ready For Summer
By 4.15.07
A little house work in the spring means more time for photographing cats in the summer. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
Buy Your House Online And Save Thousands
By 2.9.07
The Van Eses are using Seattle-based Redfin, one of several new brokerage services that hope to revolutionize home buying by rebating part of their commissions back to buyers. The challenge is aimed at traditional firms that charge full commissions, which often total tens of thousands of dollars in today’s high-priced Southland market.
Class Actions Loom For Subprime Lenders
By 1.11.07
Soon, the piper may have to pay the piper: class actions against sub-prime lenders could be just around the corner.
The Best Time of Year to Buy Item X
By 1.23.06
God bless this no-nonsense column over at CNNMoney that explains with a minimum of cruft when exactly is the best time to buy everything—if everything is airline tickets, televisions, houses, cars, videogames, and toys. Here’s the bit about airline tickets that you can put in your pocket right now for it is as simple as the organism sure to infect you on your next flight:
For all the seeming complexity that goes into the price of airfare, the answer to when some of the cheapest tickets can be found is surprisingly simple: Wednesday.
