Real estate listings can be weird — from a woman dressed in a panda suit popping up in every photo to a glorious 1980s time capsule — but there’s a difference between “kooky” and “creepy mannequins attached to the ceiling, ready to come alive and suck out your soul.” [More]
houses
If You Love The Ceiling Baby Scene In ‘Trainspotting’ Here’s A Real Estate Listing For You
By 7.18.17
Shocked Homeowners Learn That Their Houses Are Collapsing In Slow Motion
By 6.7.16
Houses are the most expensive items that most people purchase, and we assume that they will last a long time, remain standing, and rise in value over the time that we own them. Because of bad concrete, though, some houses in Connecticut are slowly collapsing because of materials used in their construction, and homeowners’ hopes for the future and their finances are collapsing along with them. [More]
After Surviving A Tornado, House Gets Accidentally Destroyed By Wrecking Crew
By 3.24.16
Mother Nature may pose a danger to mankind at times, but we humans can do a pretty good job of messing things up all on our own. For example, a homeowner in Texas was relieved when her house was spared from a tornado… and then incredibly upset to find that a wrecking crew had demolished the house accidentally. [More]
No, This Denver Broncos Fan Isn’t Trying To Sell His House For Super Bowl Tickets
By 1.27.16
In yet another example of why you can’t trust everything you read, a Colorado man is trying to set the record straight so his phone stops ringing: despite an ad in Denver-area papers that indicated otherwise, he is not selling his house in exchange for a pair of tickets to Super Bowl 50. [More]
Family Claims “Hoverboard” Scooter Exploded, Burned Down House
By 11.30.15
You’ve probably seen all the videos on Facebook, Vine, and YouTube of people cruising around on “hoverboard” scooters (that don’t actually hover at all, in spite of the nickname). While the product might be a hot item for the holidays, one Louisiana family says their not-actually-a-hoverboard caused a fire that burned down their home. [More]
Home-Builders Glad People Have Jobs Again, Can’t Find Enough Workers To Build Houses
By 9.17.15
For most of the last decade, people haven’t been all that interested in building new houses: they were worried about their jobs, didn’t have jobs, or were underwater on the mortgage on their current home. While the economy has improved enough that people feel confident building houses, it’s also improved enough that it’s hard to find construction workers. [More]
Why Builders Are Tearing Down Old Suburban Houses And Replacing Them
By 5.27.15
I was recently alarmed to see a modest-sized house in my neighborhood demolished to make way for a much larger residence that straddles two lots. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see that house knocked down: it was a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home built during the Great Depression taking up space in a wealthy suburb, and the real estate market won’t stand for that. The little house’s demolition fits with a nationwide pattern: older suburbs are turning over. [More]
When Is A Treehouse No Longer Just A Treehouse?
By 5.7.15
Did the treehouse of your childhood dreams include WiFi, cable TV, a mini fridge, fireplace, deck and air conditioning? Maybe not, but does having the space to fit all those amenities in a homemade structure residing in a tree mean it’s still a treehouse, or is it more like an elevated guest house? One town is seeking to define what a treehouse is, to keep people from going overboard with their aerial retreats. [More]
Sales Of $100 Million Homes Are Way Up
By 4.30.15
The housing market simply can’t keep up with the demand from a very specific part of the market…people who seek houses worth $100 million or more. Sales of houses with nine-figure price tags have reached an all-time high of…well, five of them sold last year, but there are many more on the market or being sold away from the general real estate market, and the fabulous-homes-for-billionaires market will just keep growing. [More]
![The CFPB's electronic version of its Know Before You Owe Mortgage Toolkit includes interactive forms to help consumer find the right mortgage for them. [Click to Enlarge]](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/screen-shot-2015-03-31-at-2-08-15-pm.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
CFPB Releases Mortgage Toolkit Aimed At Making The Home Buying Process Easier
By 3.31.15
In January, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report suggesting that many homebuyers spend more time looking for a TV than shopping around for the right mortgage. In an attempt to make things a little less daunting for prospective borrowers, the Bureau today released the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage shopping toolkit. [More]
Man Buys Foreclosed House, Finds Decomposed Previous Occupant
By 11.6.14
Earlier this week, a man won a foreclosure auction in Cape Coral, Florida. He stopped by yesterday to check out his new purchase, a pink house with metal bars on every window. Neighbors hadn’t seen the previous occupant in a few years…because she had moved away. Or so they thought. The house’s new owner found a very decomposed body inside. [More]
Enormous Beach Vacation Home Built On Wrong Lot
By 10.14.14
How do you accidentally build a beach house in the wrong place? We wondered that back in June, when sharing the story of a $1.8 million home in Rhode Island that was accidentally built on public park land. Meanwhile, in Florida, a couple spent $680,000 building a custom beach house…on the lot next door to the one that they actually own. [More]
5 Signs You’re Gazing Into A Money Pit, Not Buying A House
By 6.13.13
There are responsibilities that come with the joys of home ownership, like paying property taxes and repairing things that go wrong. Some houses are pits into which you can expect to throw all of your time and money for the foreseeable future. You can’t magically predict which houses these will be, but there are some warning signs that our domesticated cousins over at Consumer Reports rounded up. [More]
Real Estate Political Correctness: ‘Master Bedroom’ Becomes ‘Owner’s Suite’
By 4.17.13
Anyone can own a house. Why, women are even allowed to own property all by ourselves now! That’s why we suppose it’s good that The word “master,” with its connotations of slaveholding and maleness, is slowly fading from its intended use in the residential real estate business. [More]
Stuff To Consider Before Building An Addition Onto Your Home
By 2.24.12
Some homeowners are convinced that they need more space, and glance through their walls with visions of new rooms dancing in their heads. The trigger-happy subset of these folks jumps into these projects with abandon, certain that the addition will “pay for itself” by upping the value of the home. But in a housing market like this, such assumptions can be faulty. [More]
The Ins And Outs Of Short Sales
By 1.25.12
When you owe more than your ever-plummeting home is worth, a foreclosure or short sale — in which you sell the home for less than you owe — can seem like an attractive escape. The move may make financial sense, but it comes with repercussions to your credit and somewhat strict qualification parameters. [More]
Quick, Easy DIY Home Maintenance Tips
By 4.23.11
By expending a little effort to keep your stuff in good condition, you can save yourself the pain of costly repairs or replacements. [More]
Couple Uses Legal Loophole, Gets House Practically For Free
By 4.20.11
How did an Iowa couple with two foreclosures already under their belts get to own their house free and clear after making only one mortgage payment? By taking advantage of a law designed to keep married couples from making huge financial commitments without the other’s consent. Since the wife was late to their closing and didn’t sign the mortgage, the couple now owns their house free and clear after making only one payment. [More]
