If you’re at or nearing retirement age and living in a house with rooms you don’t use, it would seem to make sense that you could save by downsizing to a smaller abode. But unless you have significant equity on your home and are willing to make big changes, that might not be the case. [More]
real estate
Homeowner Says He Lost $250K In Equity To Foreclosure
By 12.5.12
When a property is sold at foreclosure for more than what is owed on the mortgage, the homeowner is supposed to receive that difference. But what happens when the bank sells the home for hundreds of thousands of dollars less than what it is worth? [More]
If You Buy A House Next To A Golf Course, Don’t Be Surprised When Your Lawn Is Littered With Balls
By 11.15.12
There are some real estate surprises that are actual shocks — oh, look, someone covered up some nice built-in shelves! — but then there are things that shouldn’t be seen as out of the ordinary. A couple in Montana bought a home nestled along the 18th hole of a golf course and subsequently sued the golf club and the county because they were annoyed at golf balls landing in their yard. Again, they bought a home basically on a golf course where there will no doubt be golf balls flying everywhere. [More]
Homeowner Realizes Too Late That A Home Inspection Is Better Than Uncovering A Mouse Infestation Later
By 11.5.12
Talk about a nightmarish scenario: A Canadian woman discovered that the $1 million house she’d just bought had a mouse infestation so thoroughly entrenched that she’s had to rip apart the home down to the framework to get rid of it. So how did she miss it before buying the home? She says she didn’t get a home inspection. [More]
Couple Says Church Wouldn't Let Them Buy Mansion For Fear They'd Turn It Into Gay Wedding Site
By 9.10.12
Potential homeowners may have a slew of ideas for what they’d do with a house once it changes hands, but is it discrimination to prevent someone from buying a property because of what that home could become after the sale takes place? A gay couple in Massachusetts says that’s the case with a mansion the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester is allegedly refusing to sell them. [More]
House Flipping Is Cool Again, Say Reality TV Producers With Very Short-Term Memories
By 7.25.12
When the housing market went into the toilet in 2008, all of those house-flipping shows that were hits on basic cable went down the drain too. But now that the housing bust is apparently over, reality TV producers seem to think it’s once again high time to dedicate hours of airtime to flipping. [More]
Today’s Young Adults: Home Ownership’s Lost Generation
By 7.18.12
The housing market is stalled, and the reason why is pretty simple: young adults aren’t all that interested in buying houses. It’s not hard to see why. Americans who are currently between 25 and 34 spent their formative years watching housing prices soar, then abruptly collapse, taking the entire global economy with them. Among those Millennials who haven’t already purchased and lost an underwater home…who wants to buy a starter condo after that? [More]
Bloomberg’s Shrink Ray Hits Again: NYC Mayor Seeking Designs For Teensy Tiny Apartments
By 7.10.12
For New Yorkers who already feel like they’re living in an expensive shoebox stacked into buildings with tons of other shoeboxes, it might come as no surprise that Mayor Mike Bloomberg is trying to downsize yet another part of city life. First it was sugary drinks, and now the mayor has launched a competition for plans to develop dozens of “micro-units.” In other words, teensy tiny apartments. [More]
Botched House Construction Forces Couple To Tear Down $150K Worth Of Building To Make Room For A Pool
By 7.2.12
What’s a little thing like $150,000 when a pool is on the line? A couple in the Hamptons on Long Island, N.Y. went on vacation while their new house was being built, and weren’t too happy when they came back to find it had been situated too far away from the curb. Not because they looove watching street traffic, but because that left no room in the back back the pool that was planned for the house. So they had it torn down to rebuild from scratch. [More]
Condos Sold Without Owners’ Permission For 1/3 Their Value
By 6.28.12
Imagine that you’ve recently purchased a condo for $100,000. The complex where it’s located is about 90% rented, and 10% owner-occupied. The complex’s owner struggles, and the whole neighborhood goes up for sale in a foreclosure auction. The new owners dissolve the condo association, since they own all of the rentals, or 90% of the homes in the complex. This gives the owners permission to sell the entire complex at once, including what used to be condos. Your proceeds from having your home sold out from under you: $33,000. You still owe the rest of your mortgage, but have nowhere to live. Condo owners in Reading, Pennsylvania experienced this nightmare recently, and there is no legal way out for them. [More]
Church Buys Foreclosed Property, Ends Up With $170,000 Tax Bill
By 6.18.12
Members of a Dallas-area church congregation thought they had done their due diligence when they looked into buying some foreclosed property. They were told that all the back taxes had been cleared off the books; so why are they now facing a tax bill for $170,000? [More]
Residents Of NY Town Face $1,000 Fines If They Fail To Mow Lawns
By 6.12.12
Most suburban neighborhoods have at least a handful of residents who just can’t be bothered to roll out the lawnmower and opt for the “natural” look on their yards. The problem has gotten worse in some areas hit hard by foreclosures. Now one town on New York’s Long Island has decided that folks who can’t maintain their lawns are deserving of thousands of dollars in fines. [More]
Woman Hires Family To Liven Up For-Sale Home, Now She Can’t Enter Her Own Property
By 6.6.12
With so many abandoned and vacant homes on the market, some sellers are hiring companies to place families in their properties in the hopes that doing so will make the house feel less empty and more appealing to buyers. But one woman in Texas says she’s been bitten on the butt by her decision to use a so-called “staging” family. [More]
9 Examples Why You May Want To Avoid Homeowners Associations Like The Plague
By 5.15.12
We watch a lot of real estate shows here at Consumerist HQ, especially the many variations on the “show three places and pretend to pick the one that you’re already in escrow on.” And while home buyers always remember to ask, “Are there HOA fees?”, they don’t ask the more important questions, like “Why in the world am I buying a place with an HOA?” [More]
How Does A 14-Year-Old Girl Buy A House?
By 3.9.12
You occasionally hear about teen pop stars and actors buying their own homes, but it’s not every day that you run across a seemingly average 14-year-old girl who not only purchased a property but has already turned it into an income generator. [More]
What To Look For In A Not-So-New Home
By 3.2.12
When real estate agents take you through houses, they often like to dazzle you with frivolous, eye-catching aspects. Unless you ask tough questions and pay for a professional inspection, you won’t get much insight about whether or not the home is livable and truly worth its asking price. [More]
Got $29 Million To Spare? Then Michael Jordan Has The Mansion For You!
By 2.29.12
Apparently no one told basketball legend and ardent wearer of Hanes Michael Jordan that home prices have dropped to a level not seen since 2006, because he’s trying unload his super-fancy suburban Chicago living quarters for a hefty $29 million. Good luck with that one! [More]
Detroit Tax Officials Tells Squatters In Foreclosed Homes They're Welcome To Stay If They Pay
By 2.7.12
It’s too bad our pal Kenneth, the $16 house guy, doesn’t live in Detroit, or he might’ve been able to keep on squatting: Tax officials in Wayne County are going to offer those living in thousands of foreclosed homes the opportunity to stay in those homes for as little as $500. [More]
