As nearly each month passes, home sales get slower and slower. New home sales in August declined 2.3 percent from July. The numbers were up 6.1 percent from August 2010, which isn’t saying much considering that was the 48-year low for the housing market. [More]
real estate
The Magic Of Doubling Down On Mortgage Payments
By 9.24.11
Most homeowners know it’s smart to make more than minimum mortgage payments in order to cut into the principal, but actually going through with the practice is as gratifying as opting for a meal of lettuce over pizza. The long-term gains of sending an extra $500 or so into a mortgage black hole is nowhere near as appetizing as doing something tangible with the money. [More]
3 Expenses You Can Deduct From Your Taxes, Even If You Didn't Pay Them
By 9.21.11
Just because someone else helps you with paying an expense doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t legally itemize that expense on your 1040 come tax time. [More]
Blind Woman Says Her House Was Stolen And Bulldozed
By 9.19.11
A 77-year old blind Texas woman says she thought she was signing a document to get relief from taxes, but instead she was tricked into signing over the deed to her house. [More]
House Purchased For $1 Now Facing Foreclosure
By 9.8.11
With so many abandoned and unfinished properties being sold at auction, a number of home buyers have been able to pick up property at a fraction of what the previous homeowners paid. But here’s the story of an Illinois homeowner who learned that even the best of deals can sometimes have unhappy endings. [More]
Will Insurance Pay If Irene Flooded My Basement After My Sump Pump Failed?
By 8.31.11
Ok, so you don’t have flood insurance, but what if your basement flooded after Irene because the sump pump failed when the power went out? That sounds “homeowner’s insurance-y,” right? Will insurance pay for it then? [More]
30-Year Mortgage Rates Now Lowest Ever, People Still Aren't Buying
By 8.18.11
It’s like that scene in Groundhog Day, where Chris Elliott’s character enters the Punxsutawney bachelor auction and is greeted by dead silence from the women in the crowd…. Once again, mortgage rates have dropped to record lows while potential home buyers continue to hold off on making a purchase. [More]
The 10 Best Towns In America That Also Have Affordable Homes
By 8.15.11
Once again, the folks at Money magazine have scoured the map of these fifty, nifty United States (from 13 original colonies) and, factoring in everything from jobs to schools to weather to stuff-to-do, come up with their list of the 100 Best Places To Live. But which of these towns have homes you can afford to buy? [More]
Pretend To Be A Dinosaur, Get A Free House?
By 8.5.11
Housing in a major city like Vancouver is expensive. In order to achieve the dream of homeownership, you can work hard for years in order to save up for a down payment on a house. Or you can be like one enterprising resident, and offer your services as a pet pretend dinosaur on Craigslist in exchange for a house. It’s just crazy enough that it might… nah, it’s still not going to work. [More]
Real Estate Ad: Fancy Apartments Lead To Sex With A "Better Quality Of Woman"
By 8.3.11
It’s not a shock that some people find a luxury home — especially something like a tricked-out, multi-million dollar NYC apartment — to be a bit of an aphrodisiac, perhaps to the point of overlooking the other person’s less attractive qualities. But a NYC real estate broker has decided to do more than just hint at this behavior in its new ad. [More]
Dealing With The Trials Of Apartment Hunting
By 8.1.11
Although the depressed housing market has made things easy for home buyers, it seems to have had an adverse effect on renters, who face more competition with perhaps fewer openings than ever. Thanks to former homeowners who suffered short sales or foreclosures and are forced into the rental market, there are more renters playing musical chairs. [More]
Contractor Tears Siding Off Wrong House
By 7.27.11
An Iowa homeowner was surprised when he looked at his house and half the siding on it was gone, leaving an exposed underbelly of bare white plastic. No other nearby houses were affected. Had a highly localized tornado swept through and targeted just the side of his house? Nope. A local contractor got the address wrong and taken the siding off the wrong abode. The timing was pretty poor, too, as the homeowner had just put it up for sale. And because of insurance bureaucracy, it may be a while before the siding goes back up. [More]
Wells Fargo Denies Mortgage 1 Day Before Closing To 800 Credit Score Buyer With 20% Down
By 7.26.11
After years of anything goes loans-writing, the pendulum has swung far, far, in the other direction. Patrick tells the story of how his loan with Wells Fargo was denied, 1 day before he was set to close on a new condo. Even though he has an 800 credit score and was putting 20% down, this hiccup was enough to make Wells Fargo back up. And because of it, he and his five-month pregnant wife now have one week to find a new place to live. [More]
Banks Letting Foreclosed NYC Homes Fall Into Dangerous Disrepair
By 7.25.11
Though New York City real estate remains at a relative premium, a new report says that banks have ignored the upkeep of thousands of seized foreclosure properties, allowing them to fall into horrid levels of disrepair. [More]
Protesters Stop Foreclosures For Strangers In Spain
By 7.19.11
Some people don’t even know their neighbors’ names, but in Spain protesters are gathering in front of people’s houses to stop or stall foreclosures. And they’re getting results. [More]
China's Hypergrowth Fueled By Building Giant Cities No One Lives In
By 7.15.11
Chin up, America. China ain’t so great. That 10% GDP growth they’ve been having? A lot of it is fake. Take this investigate report that looks at the big trend over there of Chinese ghost cities and ghost malls. China is building ten of these cities a year, cities that can serve millions, with rows of apartment complexes, shopping malls, and universities. But almost no one lives in them. By pouring materials and resources and labor in, the government can keep national GDP at its state-mandated levels, even if its not meeting any real demand. It’s like someone is playing SimCity with all cheat codes, but this is a game China is going to lose. [More]
Town Drops Charges Against Woman For Front-Yard Veggie Garden
By 7.14.11
A woman who faced the prospect of 93 days in jail for refusing to stop growing vegetables in her front yard is sighing with relief after the Detroit suburb dropped all charges against her. All charges regarding her garden, that is. Now they have renewed charges against her for having two unlicensed dogs, even though she got her paperwork taken care of in June. [More]
Woman Faces Jail Time For Growing Veggies In Front Yard
By 7.11.11
Who knew a Victory Garden could have you facing defeat? A Michigan woman is looking at the prospect of 93 days in jail because she planted vegetables in planters in her front yard and refused to abide by the town elders’ interpretation of the planning code, WJBX reports. [More]
