Homes for $170,000 Across America

The battered housing market saw a glimmer of hope last month when it was reported that for the first time in five years, homes values are rising. The blip on the screen is not huge — the increase was 0.1 percent from June to July, according to the latest report — but it was an increase, nonetheless.
In looking more closely at the housing data, 25 metro areas in particular have seen a little more of a jump, boasting two consecutive quarters of home value appreciation. There are many recognizable locales, including Fort Myers, FL, Pittsburgh, PA, Battle Creek, MI, Durham, NC, Boulder, CO and Knoxville, TN, to mention a few.
While it doesn’t mean that the nation is quite out of the woods, there are places where you can snag a house for the current median home value of $172,600 and expect a return on the investment.
Here are five cities from the list where we found excellent values in homes priced at $170,000 or below:
Spokane, WA
1017 E 14th Ave, Spokane, WA
For Sale: $169,900

The second-largest city in Washington, Spokane is relatively inexpensive compared to many of the larger cities in the state. The metro area has had two consecutive quarters of appreciation (1.9 percent and 6.6, respectively) and median Spokane home values have risen 0.6 percent year-over-year.
Although this Spokane home for sale was built in 1911, it’s chock-full of 21st century upgrades including a new roof, new gas furnace, flooring and new paint. However, with a romantic master suite balcony, front porch and rear patio, the 4-bedroom Craftsman still retains much of its turn-of-the-century charm.
Washington D.C.
49 Danbury St SW, Washington D.C.
For Sale: $160,000

The economy is on the mind of every lawmaker in D.C., so it’s only appropriate that we take a look at Washington D.C. real estate, whose home values have appreciated in the last two consecutive quarters. Current median D.C. home values have risen 1.9 percent year-over-year.
As median home values in D.C. peak over $360,000, finding a single-family home at the $172K mark is downright impossible. But, for $160K, it is possible to find a newer condo, like the one pictured above, with cherry hardwood floors and an eat-in kitchen with granite counter tops.
Nashville, TN
4429 Frost St, Nashville TN
For Sale: $169,961

Nashville has a lot going for it. Not only is it considered the home of country music (Grand Ole Opry), but it is the state capital, home to several pro sports teams (Titans in NFL and Predators in NHL), and several major colleges and universities. Perhaps these are all reasons why Nashville’s home values have been stabilizing. Median Nashville home values have risen for the past two consecutive quarters, with a 2.2 percent rise from June to July.
While Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and other country music stars have multi-million dollar mansions in Nashville, you can pick up a relatively new home in the on the Abbington Park real estate market for just under $170k. This 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath home was built in 2003 and features a formal dining room and a great room with custom built-ins and fireplace.
Pueblo, CO
3811 Bison Ln, Pueblo, CO
For Sale: $169,900

Located 100 miles south of Denver, Pueblo is in the “banana belt” and gets significantly less rain and snow than other Colorado cities. Steel work is the dominant industry of Pueblo, and the Colorado city is often called “Pittsburgh of the West” or “Steel City.” Median home values in Pueblo have had a boost the last two quarters of 2.5 percent and 5.5 percent respectively.
This home on the Pueblo real estate market was built in 2001, but has also had numerous upgrades. The 3-bedroom, 3-bath home has hardwood floors throughout, a heated enclosed porch, and mature landscaping. owners. The home includes a pool behind a screened lanai and is situated in a quiet neighborhood with easy access to freeways and shopping.
Springfield, MA
41 Nevada St, Springfield MA
For Sale: $158,900

Situated on the banks of Massachusetts’ largest river, Springfield is only a few hours from Montreal, Boston and New York City. The city has a modest growth in home values in the past two consecutive quarters and median Springfield home values remain affordable, at $123,600.
This 3-bedroom, 3-bath home on the Springfield real estate market sits on a quiet dead-end street and has opportunity for expansion on the third of an acre lot and third-floor walk-up attic. The home features plenty of updates, including a new roof, new windows, and new two-car detached garage.

“Wherever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” – -Peter Drucker

Amazing Treehouse Homes

Treehouses are no longer just for child’s play. While they still do serve as playhouses for lucky kids, they’ve taken on new functions as private home offices or studios, as elevated guest quarters, and as hotel accommodations, as well. Some are real houses that just happen to be located in trees.
Modern treehouses are also typically quite eco-friendly. They have traditionally been built using salvaged materials, and now designers and builders have taken it further with energy-efficient features, such as composting toilets, or utilizing solar panels and fuel-cell power.
We found cool treehouses located all over the world. They’re also all over the map in terms of style: Some are proper houses on high, but this collection also showcases the variety of uses for buildings in trees. One structure is intended as an office, one is a restaurant, one very big example is partly a church, and one house actually is for kids but will no doubt inspire envy in adults.
Here are five treehouses worthy of a climb:
Swiss Chalet
Location: The Olympic Peninsula, Washington

This small-scale charmer built in 2005 by Treehouse Workshop has a kitchenette, a bath, a sitting room with fireplace, balconies, and it sleeps four. It has a window seat accessible by ladder, and the house itself is accessible by ramp, which was built using salvaged Madrona logs.
Alnwick Garden Treehouse
Location: Northumberland, Scotland

The Treehouse at The Alnwick Garden is one of the world’s largest treehouses, and it’s probably safe to say it’s the world’s largest treehouse restaurant. The restaurant serves a seasonal menu sourced from local fare. This patchwork wooden structure of shingles and planks features a fireplace, decks, rope bridges, and, of course, tree limbs growing through the rooms. It looks like something out of a fairy tale or Harry Potter, which is appropriate given its proximity to Alnwick Castle, which starred as the Hogwarts School in two of the Harry Potter films.
The Minister’s Treehouse
Location: Crossville, Tennessee

This 10-story treehouse towers nearly 100 feet tall and has an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 square feet of space—it may be the largest treehouse in the world. That space includes the only penthouse for miles around, a basketball court, a church (including a choir loft), and a VIP balcony. Builder Horace Burgess told USA Today that his inspiration came from God: “I was praying one day, and the Lord said, ‘If you build me a treehouse, I’ll see you never run out of material.”‘ Those materials have included recycled wood from sheds and bars, and judging by the size of this place he did not run out.
Treehouse Djuren
Location: Germany

The Djuren is one of many extraordinary treepods designed by the German modern architecture firm Baumraum, many of which are trapezoidal, orb-shaped, or resemble vintage camp trailers. This treehouse serves as a retreat for adults or a playhouse for the family’s young children, and there’s room on the terrace for a table and some chairs.
Robert Louis Stevenson Legacy House
Location: Northern California

This getaway cabin perched among redwoods, another creation from Treehouse Workshop, has a wraparound deck to take in the grove of surrounding trees. It’s located on property that once belonged to Robert Louis Stevenson, and the reclaimed materials for this home include doors and windows that came from the celebrated Scottish writer’s house.
do you think squierrls built these?

5 Green Homes That Won Gold

The gulf between “green” and “gorgeous” seems to be narrowing. EcoHome magazine’s second annual design awards singled out an array of houses that are not only environmentally exceptional, but look good at the same time.
It hasn’t always been so.
“I don’t want to say that good design and green haven’t met in the past, but I think that they haven’t been considered together as much as they are now,” said Rick Schwolsky, editor in chief of the magazine, which recently bestowed its Grand Award designation on five homes from around the country.
Award winning green homes included:
• a subdivision of affordable homes in Hawaii;
• a passive-solar home in Carmel, Calif., that’s so energy efficient that it has no air conditioning; and
• a major remodel of a 260-year-old home on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts that also had to meet architectural-preservation standards.
The magazine, which specializes in green products and practices for the residential construction industry, chose a panel of five judges that included architects, builders who specialize in sustainable building, and experts on green technology.
Schwolsky, editor of the 4-year-old publication, said that although various organizations offer design awards for “greenness,” EcoHome ups the competition by requiring that the environmental considerations of each home in the contest be certified by an independent third party.
Those third parties can include the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green-building certification program, or the National Green Building Program administered by the National Association of Home Builders, among others.
What does “green” mean these days? For some time, he said, the ability to cut the heating and cooling bills has dominated consumer thinking, and that’s probably still true. Use of recycled content, the end-of-life disposability of products, and site sustainability are all green criteria, he suggested.
Here are the five award-winning Eco-friendly homes:

Project: Caterpillar House
Location: Carmel, Calif.
Architect: Feldman Architecture
Builder: Groza Construction

The Caterpillar House sits on a bluff in the Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel, Calif. Its east-west, slightly curved layout maximizes passive solar gain, and additional energy savings come from concrete floors and rammed-earth walls that act as a thermal mass to protect against temperature fluctuations. Overhangs shade the south- and west-facing low-e windows. Ceiling fans and cross-ventilation also work to eliminate the need for air conditioning. A 27,300-gallon rainwater harvesting system supports all site irrigation, and all the plantings are native and drought-tolerant. The house has sustainability-certified cabinetry and reclaimed cork flooring. It has received LEED-Platinum certification.

Project: Kumuhau Subdivision
Location: Waimanalo, Oahu, Hawaii
Cost: Homes range in price from $225,000 to $325,000; average $121 per square foot
Architect: Armstrong Development
Builder: Armstrong Builders

Kumuhau subdivision in Waimanalo on the island of Oahu got praise not only for its green attributes, but also its price tag — the five floor plans in the 45-home subsidized project cost from $225,000 to $325,000. Contest judges applauded the developers for taking a risk by forgoing air conditioning — the homes use whole-house fans to exhaust hot air into the vented attics. Each house uses solar panels to supply about two-thirds of their electricity, and the homes are wired to accommodate more solar panels and to charge up an electric car. Rainwater is collected in 51-gallon storage for drip irrigation.

Project: Nantucket Island home remodel
Location: Nantucket Island, Mass.
Cost: $273 per square foot
Architect: Rosenberg Kolb Architects
Builder: Knapp Construction

It wasn’t enough that the owner of a 264-year-old home on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts wanted an addition that was conservation-minded; the house also had to pass muster according to local historic-preservation guidelines. The extensively insulated and sealed 260-square-foot addition included a kitchen, bathroom and entry, and new mechanical and ventilation systems; the project restored the original single-pane window sashes to conserve energy while meeting historical architectural standards.

Project: GO Home
Location: Belfast, Maine
Cost: $150 per square foot
Architect: GO Logic Homes
Builder: GO Logic Homes

The GO Home in Belfast, Maine, is 1,300 square feet of near-zero energy use. It’s the 12th house in the country to earn the rigorous Passive House designation from the Passive House Institute. Its LEED-Platinum certification is pending. Built with structural insulated panels and passive-solar features, it’s expected to save up to $170,000 in energy costs over 30 years — almost what it cost to build, according to EcoHome.

Project: Celo Residence
Location: Celo, N.C.
Architect: Samsel Architects, Asheville, N.C.
Builder: Sunspace Homes, Burnsville, N.C.

The contest judges especially liked the pairing of energy technology with the use of natural materials inside and outside a 1,538-square-foot home in Celo, N.C. The house won praise for tree preservation; rainwater storage for irrigation; pervious walkways, patio and driveway to control water runoff; and the use of drought-resistant plants. The home also features sustainability-certified wood shingles and locally harvested stone. The home’s walls are filled with spray-foam insulation and the windows and doors use low-e (low thermal emissivity) argon-filled glass.

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. ~Epictetus~

10 Things That Make Your Home a Target for Thieves

A home is robbed every 14.6 seconds and the average dollar loss per burglary is $2,119, according to statistics just released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. And that’s the good news because burglaries were down slightly in 2010 compared to 2009. Sure you lock your doors and windows when you’re not home (you’d be surprised how many people don’t). But here are ten things that you’re probably doing that make your home a target, and what you should do instead:

1. Leaving your garage door open or unlocked. Once inside the garage, a burglar can use any tools you haven’t locked away to break into your home, out of sight of the neighbors. Interior doors between the garage and your home often aren’t as strong as exterior doors and may not have deadbolt locks.
Instead: Always close and lock the garage door. Consider getting a garage-door opener with random codes that automatically reset.
2. Hiding spare keys. Burglars know about fake rocks and leprechaun statues and will check under doormats, in mailboxes, and over doorways.
Instead: Give a spare set to a neighbor or family member.
3. Storing ladders outdoors or in unlocked sheds. Burglars can use them to reach the roof and unprotected upper floor windows.
Instead: Keep ladders under lock and key.
4. Relying on silent alarm systems. Everyone hates noisy alarms, especially burglars. Smart thieves know that it can take as long as 10 to 20 minutes for the alarm company or cops to show up after an alarm has been tripped.
Instead: Have both silent and audible alarms.
5. Letting landscaping get overgrown. Tall hedges and shrubs near the house create hiding spots for burglars who may even use overhanging branches to climb onto your roof.
Instead: Trim any bushes and trees around your home.
6. Keeping your house in the dark. Like overgrown landscaping, poor exterior lighting creates shadows in which burglars can work unobserved.
Instead: Replace burned out bulbs promptly, add lighting where needed, and consider putting fixtures on motion sensors or light sensors so that they go on automatically.
7. Not securing sliding doors. These often make tempting targets.
Instead: When you’re out, put a dowel down in the channel, so that the door can’t be opened wide enough for a person to get through.
8. Relying on your dog to scare away burglars. While barking my deter amateurs, serious burglars know that dogs may back away from someone wielding a weapon, or get chummy if offered a treat laced with a tranquilizer.
Instead: Make your home look occupied by using timers to turn lights, radios, and TVs on and off in random patterns.
9. Leaving “goody” boxes by the curb. Nothing screams “I just got a brand new flat-screen, stereo, or other big-ticket item” better than boxes by the curb with your garbage cans.
Instead: Break down big boxes into small pieces and bundle them together so that you can’t tell what was inside.
10. Posting vacation photos on Facebook. Burglars troll social media sites looking for targets.
Instead: Wait until you get back before sharing vacation details or make sure your security settings only allow trusted “friends” to see what you’re up to.
Use these tips to Keep your home and family safe.

5 Cities With Hot Housing Values

Living in a hot real estate market offers both home owners and home buyers some consolation amid this sustained economic downturn. But strong sales alone don’t constitute a hot market – it takes rising prices, too.
Online real estate valuation and search company Zillow has calculated the U.S. metro areas that have experienced the largest gains in home values over the past five years, based on the company’s home-value estimates and its Zillow Home Value Index, which is generated from those value estimates.
The five-year gains in estimated value range from 0.6 percent to 16.9 percent, while the estimated gains in dollar value range from $667 to $21,444.
Methodology: Zillow’s Zestimate home valuations are the basis for the Zillow Home Value Index. A Zestimate is Zillow’s estimate of the current market value for a home. The Zillow Home Value Index is the median Zestimate valuation for a given geographic area on a given day. Zillow generates valuations several times a week on more than 70 million homes, or roughly three out of four homes in the U.S., and calculates historical values dating back to 1997.
The statistical models underlying the Zestimates control for the mix of housing for sale by finding patterns in the types of homes that are selling and then applying these patterns to all homes. If only a few homes of a certain type sell in a given period, the models can extract the information from those sales and apply that information to all homes of that type.
Here are the top five hottest markets:
5. Yakima, WA

July 2011 Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI): $132,263
ZHVI 5 years ago: $127,746
Value difference (by percent): 3.5%
Value difference (in dollars): $4,517
4. Tulsa, OK

July 2011 Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI): $111,398
ZHVI 5 years ago: $101,802
Value difference (by percent): 9.4%
Value difference (in dollars): $9,596
3. Oklahoma City, OK

July 2011 Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI): $111,737
ZHVI 5 years ago: $101,532
Value difference (by percent): 10.1%
Value difference (in dollars): $10,205
2. Fayetteville, NC

July 2011 Zillow Home Value Index: $113,978
ZHVI 5 years earlier: $102,373
Value difference (by percent): 11.3%
Value difference (in dollars): $11,605
1. Jacksonville, NC

July 2011 Zillow Home Value Index: $148,099
ZHVI 5 years ago: $126,655
Value difference (by percent): 16.9%
Value difference (in dollars): $21,444
It surprise me none of these towns are in California.

Success

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of  strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” – Vincent T. Lombardi

5 Refinance Tips for Borrowers

As homeowners rush to take advantage of the lowest mortgage rates in history, it’s easy for them to get lost in the refinance stampede. That’s why it has never been so crucial for borrowers to stay on top of their game after they submit loan refinance applications.
Banks, brokers and underwriters are overwhelmed with the significantly higher volume of refinance applications they have received since mortgage rates recently tumbled. Lenders that used to ask for 30 days or less to close on a refinance loan now say they need at least 45 days and in some cases 60 days. That is — if all goes as planned.
One missing document or delay by the borrower responding to a lender’s request could easily jeopardize or stall a refinance in the midst of a refi boom, says Mathew Carson, a mortgage broker at First Capital Group Inc. in San Francisco.
“As a borrower, you need to make sure when you lock your rate you have all your documentation ready to go,” Carson says. “Once you lock, the clock starts ticking.”
Prepare in Advance
To speed up the process, borrowers should begin to assemble their paperwork as soon as they decide to apply for a loan, says Rob Nunziata, president of FBC Mortgage in Orlando, Fla. They’ll need the last two copies for each of the following: paystubs, W2s, bank statements (including all pages) and tax returns.
Act Quickly
Once you lock a rate, get the documents to the lender within a day, says Dan Green, loan officer at Waterstone Mortgage in Cincinnati.
“Mortgage underwriting is first-in, first-out, and you want to be at the top of the pile,” Green says. “Therefore, sign your paperwork within a day and schedule that appraisal for as soon as humanly possible. Underwriting can’t begin until these two events have finished.”
Communicate With Your Lender
Underwriters may ask for additional documentation once they get to your file, so it’s important to stay in touch with your loan officer and be diligent.
“Borrowers need to be involved in the process, making sure things are moving as expected,” Carson says.
There will be a waiting period when there’s not much the loan officer and the borrower can do. Even during that time, borrowers should not be afraid to check on the progress of their refinance.
“Checking in once or twice a week is pretty reasonable,” Carson says.
Know What to Expect
Borrowers should also ask their lenders upfront for a time frame on when they should expect to close on the refinance loan and lock their rate accordingly, says Nunziata.
Normally, a borrower locks a mortgage rate for 30 days. If the loan doesn’t close before the lock expires, the borrower often has to pay a fee to extend the rate, or go with the new current rate. Because lenders are taking longer to close, it’s wise to lock for at least 45 days, Carson says.
“It’s nearly impossible to close (on a refinance) in 30 days right now,” says Carson, who works with about 40 lenders, including some of the largest banks. “Most of our refis are taking 45 days.”
Some banks actually are requiring borrowers to lock for at least 45 days and sometimes 60 days, Green says. The longer lock periods may translate into higher closing costs or slightly higher interest rates. But that’s the only way to ensure you won’t get stuck with a higher rate if they rise when you’re about to close.
Shop Around
Some lenders, mostly regional and smaller local lenders, are still offering 30-day closing refinances. Borrowers should look beyond the large banks and consider quotes from these lenders before deciding.
“Shop around and always check the pricing,” says Michael Becker, mortgage banker at WCS Funding in Lutherville, Md. “When big lenders get overwhelmed they may raise their rates to slow down applications.  Local companies can sometimes offer you services that the big guys can’t.”

Mortgage default warnings surged in August

Alex Veiga, AP Real Estate Writer, On Thursday September 15, 2011, 12:29 am EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) —
Banks have stepped up their actions against homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments, setting the stage for a fresh wave of foreclosures.

The number of U.S. homes that received an initial default notice — the first step in the foreclosure process — jumped 33 percent in August from July, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
The increase represents a nine-month high and the biggest monthly gain in four years. The spike signals banks are starting to take swifter action against homeowners, nearly a year after processing issues led to a sharp slowdown in foreclosures.

“This is really the first time we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of new foreclosure actions,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. “It’s still possible this is a blip, but I think it’s much more likely we’re seeing the beginning of a trend here.”

Foreclosure activity began to slow last fall after problems surfaced with the way many lenders were handling foreclosure paperwork, namely shoddy mortgage paperwork comprising several shortcuts known collectively as robo-signing.

Many of the nation’s largest banks reacted by temporarily ceasing all foreclosures, re-filing previously filed foreclosure cases and revisiting pending cases to prevent errors.

Other factors have also worked to stall the pace of new foreclosures this year. The process has been held up by court delays in states where judges play a role in the foreclosure process, a possible settlement of government probes into the industry’s mortgage-lending practices, and lenders’ reluctance to take back properties amid slowing home sales.

A pickup in foreclosure activity also means a potentially faster turnaround for the U.S. housing market. Experts say a revival isn’t likely to occur as long as there remains a glut of potential foreclosures hovering over the market.

Foreclosures weigh down home values and create uncertainty among would-be homebuyers who fret over prospects that prices may further decline as more foreclosures hit the market. There are about 3.7 million more homes in some stage of foreclosure now than there would be in a normal housing market, according to Citi analyst Josh Levin.

“This bloated foreclosure pipeline now presents the greatest obstacle to a housing market recovery,” Levin said in a client note this week.

Banks have been working through a backlog of properties that first entered the foreclosure process months, if not years ago. But the August increase in homes entering that process sets the stage for a host of new properties being targeted for foreclosure.

That’s bad news for homeowners who may have grown accustomed to missing payments for several months without the threat of foreclosure bearing down on them. In states such as New York and Florida, for instance, processing delays have helped some homeowners stay in their homes for more than two years before banks got around to taking back their properties.

In all, 78,880 properties received a default notice in August. Despite the sharp increase from July, last month’s total was still down 18 percent versus August last year and 44 percent below the peak set in April 2009, RealtyTrac said.

Some states, however, saw a much larger increase.
California saw a 55 percent increase in homes receiving a default notice last month, while in Indiana they climbed 46 percent. In New Jersey, where last month a judged ruled that four major banks could resume uncontested foreclosure actions in the state under court monitoring, homes receiving a default notice increased 42 percent.

Despite the increase in new defaults, the number of homes scheduled for auction and those repossessed by banks slowed in August.
Scheduled foreclosure auctions declined 1 percent from July and fell 43 percent from a year earlier, RealtyTrac said.

Auctions increased from July levels in several states, including Colorado, where they rose 51 percent, and Arizona, where they grew 20 percent.
Lenders repossessed 64,813 properties last month, a drop of 4 percent from July and down 32 percent from a year earlier. Home repossessions peaked September last year at 102,134.
Banks are now on track to repossess some 800,000 homes this year, down from more than 1 million last year, Sharga said.
The firm had originally anticipated some 1.2 million homes would be repossessed by lenders this year.
In all, 228,098 U.S. homes received a foreclosure-related notice last month, a 7 percent increase from July, but a nearly 33 percent decline from August last year. That translates to one in every 570 U.S. households, said RealtyTrac.
Nevada still leads the nation, with one in every 118 households receiving a foreclosure-related notice last month.

Rounding out the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rate in August are California, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Colorado and Utah.

The Beginning of the End for Suburban America

In the years following World War II, the United States experienced an unprecedented consumption boom. Anything you could measure was growing. A Rhode Island-sized chunk of land was bulldozed to make new suburbs every single year for decades. America rounded into its present-day shape.

Along the way, there were three inexorable trends at the base of the societal pyramid. First, we plowed more energy into our homes each and every year. We cooled and heated our houses more (sometimes wastefully, sometimes not), brought in more and more appliances, added televisions and computers and phones. Per capita electricity shot up from about 4,000 kilowatt-hours per US resident to over 13,000 kilowatt-hours by the 2000s. Second, we needed more electricity because our houses got huge. The median home size shot up from about 1,500 square feet in the early 1970s to more than 2,200 square feet in the mid-200s. Third, we drove more and more miles every year to get around and between our sprawled-out cities. Back in 1960, Americans drove 0.72 trillion miles. By 2000, that number had reached 2.75 trillion miles. In 2007, vehicle miles traveled hit 3.02 trillion.

Now, though, the relentless growth in those figures is coming to an end. The AP’s Jonathan Fahey reported last week that the utility company research consortium, the Electric Power Research Institute, projected that residential electricity demand would drop over the next ten years. “From 1980 to 2000, residential power demand grew by about 2.5 percent a year. From 2000 to 2010, the growth rate slowed to 2 percent,” Fahey wrote. “Over the next 10 years, demand is expected to decline by about 0.5 percent a year, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit group funded by the utility industry.” That’s due, in part, to the decrease in the median size of new homes in recent years. The average size of a new home in 2010 is nearly 130 square feet smaller than in 2007.

Meanwhile, the number of miles that Americans drive fell in 2008 and 2009 — even as gas prices fell off their highs. In 2010, Americans drove a little more, but so far in 2011, we’re driving less. In other words, the growth in total vehicle miles traveled has stalled. And if you look at vehicle miles traveled per person, the picture is even more clear. On a per capita basis, people have been driving less for almost a decade. Now, with gas prices creeping back toward record high territory, we can expect the new downward trends to continue.

Taken together, the end of growth in residential electricity consumption and vehicle miles traveled form a momentous signal. The United States we all grew up with is changing, or rather, it’s changed and the numbers are beginning to reflect that. The growth in housing size, electricity demand and miles traveled were the hallmarks of the suburban/exurban era. They were the statistics of sprawl — but also of economic growth. Now that their relentless upward march has stopped, what happens? We need a new model for American prosperity that doesn’t require ever greater injections of fossil energy. That’s a generational challenge that hasn’t been captured by the pro- or anti-green jobs rhetoric here in Washington.

Quote for the day

“If you raise your children to feel that they can accopmlish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.”- Brian Tracy

The First Family Vacation Home Goes on Sale

The first family’s elegant vacation spot in Martha’s Vineyard is up for sale.
Blue Heron Farm, which has served as the Obama family vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard, has just been put on the market with a price tag of $23.7 million.
Because President Barack Obama and family have rented the compound for one week for the past three years, bringing with them staffers and Secret Service, many call it the “Summer White House.” (Bill and Hillary Clinton were also guests back in 1998.)

The porch in the main house promises relaxing family time.
Blue Heron Farm is situated in Chilmark, which is known to show up on lists of the country’s most expensive towns. That’s believable—considering this property rents for as much as $50,000 per week. (The Obamas pay their own way, taxpayers cover the staff and aides.)

The living room seems appropriate for a head of state.
One of just a few “compounds” on the Vineyard, Blue Heron Farm features 13,327 square feet of living space. That’s 13 bedrooms, 12 full baths, and 2 partial baths spread out over two full houses and one bunkhouse. The main home is an elegant farmhouse, and the Fisher House is a New England Shingle-style guesthouse overlooking farmland as well as Town Cove on Tisbury Great Pond.

The main house overlooks a par 3 golf hole and a boathouse.
The property, listed by Sotheby’s International Realty, includes extensive frontage on Tisbury pond and boat access to a private beach on the Atlantic. Other recreational options include bocce, golf, a tennis court, half basketball court, a gym, and equestrian facilities.
What kind of market do you think it is when the President wants to sell his home?

A Medieval-Style Castle in Oklahoma

This enormous $3.5 million castle-syle home in Oklahoma City, Okla. originally sold for $4 million.

This extravagant castle-like home was built on spec in 2008 and purchased during construction by a local neurosurgeon and his hairdresser wife for around $4M. The owner told The Oklahoman she and her husband were “planning a trip to Europe, in part to tour castles, when they spotted the…house.”

But now they’ve put their Oklahoma City travel alternative up for sale at a loss, despite having filled the place with glamorous European light fixtures and furnishings. The castle was first listed for $4M in early 2011 and took a quick $500K price cut in May.

At 9,600 square foot, “[i]t’s a big home and everything suits it,” the owner says. “The chandeliers and the big door handles. Everything is more perfect than I could pick out in a million years.” Yet the six-bedroom manse, a hodge-podge of faux finishes and architectural styles, might be one of the most muddled designs we’ve come across.

This backyard pool is one of the homes’ more modern amenities.

So what makes this place so fascinating? Contained within the estate are details designed by builder Dave Goodman, of Oklahoma-based Dave Goodman Homes, to feel old school and distinctly European: hand-painted finishes throughout, wood floors, and beamed ceilings, some of them 22 feet high. “A lot of my inspiration comes from old historic homes, inside as well as outside,” Goodman has said about the house, which, in 2009, was used as a showhouse to raise money for the YMCA Oklahoma City.

This master bedroom looks fit for a King.
The theme continues outside, where a Spanish slate-gray roof, two turrets, and Gothic windows, not to mention 2,000 additional square feet of covered patios and balconies contribute to the property’s castle-like feel. “It was breathtaking and we fell in love,” the seller says. “We looked at it on Sunday and bought it on Wednesday. It will be a bright, cheery, happy home.”


An ideal room for watching classic movies about medieval kings and queens

 

Despite its reasonable-sounding $365 per square foot—not to mention its massive 800-bottle wine cellar—one thing’s for sure: finding a buyer who wouldn’t rather spend their millions on regular trips to the real thing in Europe might be a challenge

Everyone lies something different!

Inspiring

“I am only one, but still i am one. I cannot do everything, but still i can do something; and because i cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something tht I can do.”- Edmund Everett Hale

Penthouse with a View

Perched 20 stories above the ground on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the 13,800-square-foot penthouse at 535 West End Ave. is a lavish palace in the sky. Its three-floor layout boasts nine bedrooms, 11 full baths, two half baths and separate staff quarters. A 2,000-square-foot outdoor space equipped with grill, wet bar and fireplace is accessible by a private elevator. Building amenities include a fitness center, an indoor swimming pool and a recreation room, all attended to by white-gloved staff.
This opulent “mansion in the sky” totes a hefty price tag of $37.5 million. It’s up for grabs alongside other posh New York penthouses like a $37.5 million condo unit at The Plaza, a $51 million duplex on the Upper East Side, and a $44.95 million, 76th floor apartment in the Time Warner Center.
With the help of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Sotheby’s International Realty, Coldwell Banker Previews International, Realtor.com and Trulia.com (among others), we’ve pulled together a list of available sky-high spreads scattered across America. Priced between $2 million and $45 million, most offer multilevel layouts, soaring views (in many cases via floor-to-ceiling windows), high ceilings, private rooftop terraces and additional over-the-top features such as private pools.
Listing, buying and selling of luxury residential real estate, which includes these units, has picked up in nearly every major metropolitan market across the U.S. “Relative to everybody else, the higher-end market is where we’re seeing record purchases and where we’re seeing traction,” says Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a New York-based real estate appraisal firm. Miller says that because of the weaker dollar, foreign buyers have flocked to the luxe condo market, particularly on the East and West coasts.
Cold, hard cash has a lot to do with that pickup as well. While sales of less expensive homes struggle to manifest under ever-tightening mortgage lending practices, the luxury end is comprised of home buyers with money to throw down. All-cash deals on single-family homes in general have constituted roughly 30% of completed sales this summer, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Those with more money to burn might consider the $12 million Wilshire Corridor penthouse, a 6,480-square-foot glass-walled marvel featuring a separate maid’s quarters and a fiber optic chandelier. “Good times, bad times there are penthouse buyers out there, looking for the right opportunity,” says Ron Barnes, director of sales and marketing for the Residences at W Hollywood, noting these sales can take anywhere from three months to three years to manifest no matter what the larger market conditions are.
Despite increased market activity, penthouses speak to a tiny, niche pool of buyers. As with other luxury properties (like single-family estates, townhouses and even vineyards), penthouse units can take months, sometimes years, to market and sell. In some cases, pricey penthouses have failed to find buyers willing to pay their lofty asking prices. Take the 20,000-square-foot home on top of San Francisco’s St. Regis hotel, for example, which at one time was listed for $70 million before the property’s developer sold the deed to Second Step Asset Management, a subsidiary of Bank of America, in lieu of a foreclosure. The apartment touts a two-story indoor waterfall, home theater and master suite with gym, sauna and steam room. The bank re-listed the unit in July, at $35 million price tag, half the original price.
Are these five palatial penthouses for sale worthy of elevated prices?
10800 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA List Price: $12 million
Brightly-hued hallways, two-story walls of glass gazing out on Los Angeles and the ocean, and spiral staircase adorned with a fiber optic chandelier add pizazz to the Wilshire Corridor condo.

The Setai Condos, Miami Beach, FL List Price: $27 million
A “traditional Thai home in the sky,” this unit comes with interiors adorned in custom wood paneling, a garden terrace with pool, and resort amenities like 24-hour room service.
2900 McKinnon Street, Dallas, TX List Price: $7.5 million
The Azure duplex condo includes three en suite bedrooms with balconies and a roof-top entertainment terrace with pool, spa, theater screen, enclosed bar and private elevator to the inside living area.
The Plaza, New York, NY List Price: $37.5 million
This triplex penthouse boasts four bedrooms gazing out on Central Park, a library with wood-burning fireplace, a cantilevered spiral staircase, a private elevator and access to the Plaza’s hotel services.

The Residences at the W Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA List Price: $2.16 million
Concierge service, including room service, is available to residents of this upscale Hollywood residence. If you need to travel, the building will whisk you to a nearby airport to board a private jet. Alas, your Starwood points may not be sufficient to buy a penthouse.
Not to shabby!

A House Built by Chipmunks

Ross Bagdasarian Jr. didn’t plan to build his career on furry cartoon creatures with high-pitched singing voices. But when his father died unexpectedly in 1972, the law-school graduate said he felt compelled to revive “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” the franchise that had been his dad’s life’s work.
The decision was amply rewarded. After a hit television show, records and two commercially successful movies featuring Alvin, Simon and Theodore belting out squeaky covers of contemporary pop hits, the chipmunks are now a billion-dollar empire. Mr. Bagdasarian, 62, lives with his wife and collaborator, Janice Karman, in a 10,000-square-foot peachy pink stucco Mediterranean style house on a terraced green hill overlooking the ocean in Montecito, CA. “For us, building this house gave us the opportunity to do something really the way we wanted to see it,” he said.
Brightly colored and carefully manicured, the home’s exterior almost looks like a house in a Disney movie: painted orange stone corbels surrounding turquoise doors and windows and clay-red roof tiles. The swimming pool is surrounded by huge boulders with a waterfall flowing into it; the property is loaded with pink bougainvillea, purple jacarandas and lots of lemon, lime and orange trees.

Inside, the five-bedroom home is decorated with whitewashed and bleached barnyard floors, sisal rugs, antique English furniture and crystal chandeliers. A common theme is flowers: They’re carved on the limestone fireplace mantles, sculpted in the wrought iron frame of the glass-topped coffee table and stitched on the fabric of the sofas, chairs and curtains. Ms. Karman said she started loving flowers when she discovered a sole morning glory outside the Culver City housing project where she grew up.
The other theme, naturally, is the Chipmunks, who are the stars of the property’s two-story office and pool house. In one room, Mr. Bagdasarian has recreated his father’s office, with his father’s desk, chair and clock. The shelves are filled with Alvin and the Chipmunks paraphernalia, from lunch boxes to marionettes, inflatable swimming rings, Halloween masks and boots, spanning from the 1950s to the present.

He said the room is a tribute to his father’s work; he himself works downstairs, in a room kept purposely dark behind closed blinds. He calls it “my zone.” “I like to work in this atmosphere. I can concentrate better.”
In 1958, Mr. Bagdasarian’s father wrote his hit “The Chipmunk Song,” speeding up his own voice to create the three characters. He won three Grammy awards, and the Chipmunks briefly starred in a television show in the early 1960s. But by the time Mr. Bagdasarian Sr. passed away, in 1972, he had retired the franchise.
The younger Mr. Bagdasarian, who met Ms. Karman in 1975 in a health-food restaurant, convinced her to help him revive the Chipmunks. In 1981, the couple produced a television show with the characters, which led to a weekly television show in 1983.
Working long hours, they decided they wanted a weekend place away from Los Angeles. In 1984 they bought eight acres in Montecito for about $1.4 million and Ms. Karman set to work sketching her ideas, modeling it loosely on the homes they’d seen in Provence. The house ultimately took five years and about $10 million to build. (A nine-bedroom home on four acres nearby is currently for sale for $29.5 million.)

The couple enjoyed their Montecito house so much they decided to live there full-time; they stay in hotel rooms in Los Angeles, 92 miles away, a couple of days a week. Their film “Alvin and the Chipmunks” was released in 2007; it grossed more than $360 million world-wide. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” grossed more than $450 million. The couple is currently working on the third film, “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked,” due out in December.
Now that their two real children have left home, Mr. Bagdasarian and Ms. Karman they say they may remodel the interior. But the eternal children of the house, the Chipmunks, aren’t going anywhere. “We think of them as kids, not as cartoon characters,” said Ms. Karman. Vanessa Bagdasarian, 25, their daughter, confirms this. “They were always the more successful siblings,” she said.

Quote

” The market is not an invention of capitalism. It has existed for centuries. It is an invention of civilizations.”- Mikhail Gorbachew

Julie Salinas: America’s 5 Perfect Suburbs

Julie Salinas: America’s 5 Perfect Suburbs: What makes a perfect suburb? We’re not talking about suspicious “Stepford Wives” perfect. No, for this list, we consulted Location, Inc., th...

America’s 5 Perfect Suburbs

What makes a perfect suburb? We’re not talking about suspicious “Stepford Wives” perfect. No, for this list, we consulted Location, Inc., the data and analysis company and creator of the consumer reference site NeighborhoodScout. The analysts used their bank of databases to find the suburbs with the best mix of affordable housing, good schools, educated neighbors, low crime, employment, and reasonable commutes.
Andrew Schiller of NeighborhoodScout explains why these good suburbs are hard to find: “Americans have been leaving the central cities for the suburbs for years in search of more elbow room, better schools, less crime, more affordable home prices, and other amenities. But as many suburbs matured, crime followed, schools declined, and housing prices crept up. So people moved further out. The result was … that to find those good schools and family-friendly environments, a family would have to trade off with a very long commute that itself can be costly in both real dollars and time lost. And those close-in suburbs that maintained low crime and great schools with nice homes? They became so expensive that most Americans were priced out. Hardly a perfect suburb if one cannot afford to buy a home there.”

The analysts identified the 10 metropolitan areas with over 1 million people that have the lowest unemployment rates based on recent figures. They then used NeighborhoodScout’s database and search engine to uncover the perfect suburb in each area, using the most recent data available.
The winning communities range in size from under 5,000 population to over 100,000, in locales that include lakes, mountains, and coastlines. They’re situated near government, universities, and industries less affected by economic troubles. But they all share these outstanding attributes that bring together top amenities at enviable prices and close proximity to the most robust job markets in America.
Here are five perfect suburbs, counting down in order to the suburb with the lowest unemployment rate.

5. Poquoson, VASuburb of:Virginia Beach – Norfolk – Newport News
Metro area unemployment rate: 6.8%
Median house value: $343,923
Safer from crime than this percent of all U.S. communities: 40%

Poquoson is a coastal city where more than 98% of the working population drives to work, mostly to out-of-town jobs. It has better public schools than 81% of all U.S. communities, and its public schools are better than 100% of schools in the rest of the state. A minority of Poquoson’s populace holds a four-year degree (31.6%), and a majority are homeowners (81.4%).

4. Reading, MASuburb of: Boston
Metro area unemployment rate: 6.7%
Median house value: $469,548
Safer from crime than this percent of all U.S. communities: 52%

Reading is a family-friendly white-collar town. It has better public schools than 98% of all U.S. communities, and its public schools are better than 87% of schools in the rest of the state. Just under half of Reading’s populace holds a four-year degree (47.8%), and a majority of residents are homeowners (81.2%).

3. Circle Pines, MNSuburb of: Minneapolis – St. Paul
Metro area unemployment rate: 6.5%
Median house value: $203,954
Safer from crime than this percent of all U.S. communities: 55%

Circle Pines is a small city with a population of 5,407 — and more people working in computers and math than 95% of the U.S. It has better public schools than 90% of all U.S. communities, and its public schools are better than 95% of schools in the rest of the state. A minority of Circle Pines’ populace holds a four-year degree (31.5%), but the vast majority are homeowners (92.6%).

2. Kensington, MDSuburb of: Washington, D.C. – Maryland – Virginia
Metro area unemployment rate: 5.8%
Median house value: $458,821
Safer from crime than this percent of all U.S. communities: 48%

The artsy, white-collar town of Kensington (pop. 1,924) has some of the highest housing costs in Maryland and the United States. It has better public schools than 79% of all U.S. communities, and its public schools are better than 82% of schools in the rest of the state. The majority of Kensington’s populace holds a four-year degree (58.8%), and a majority are homeowners (63.5%).

1. Edmond, OKSuburb of: Oklahoma City
Metro area unemployment rate: 4.9%
Median house value: $201,770
Safer from crime than this percent of all U.S. communities: 71%

Edmond is the sixth-largest community in Oklahoma. It has better public schools than 59% of all U.S. communities, and its public schools are better than 96% of schools in the rest of the state. Just under half of Edmond’s populace holds a four-year degree (47.8%), and a majority are homeowners (69.7%).
I could live in a place like these.
Which town is your favorite?

quote of the day

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its woth watching.”

Where’s My Super-Cheap Mortgage?

With mortgage rates at a 50-year low and banks near his Brookline, NH, home touting offers of 4% or less, Tom Rogers thought it would be a perfect time to refinance. But in spite of a solid credit score, after an exhaustive survey of lenders in the area and online, Mr. Rogers couldn’t find a single one willing to give him such a rock-bottom rate. He eventually settled for a mortgage almost a full percentage point higher than what he had hoped for.

“I was annoyed,” he says. “We’re someone they should want to do business with.”
It is an increasingly common frustration. The gap between the lowest advertised mortgage rate and the average rate that borrowers actually get is as high as it has been in two years, save a single week last September. As of last week, the lowest available rate — according to a survey of more than 200 lenders by LendingTree.com — was 3.75% for a 30-year fixed mortgage, but the average rate was 4.39%. At the current 0.64 percentage-point spread, the difference in rates could mean an extra $53,000 in interest payments over the life of a 30-year, $400,000 mortgage.

While there is always a spread — not all borrowers qualify for the lowest rate, after all — it is usually much smaller: An average spread is usually around 0.40 percentage point.

The bigger discrepancy of late has little to do with borrowers’ credit scores, which historically have largely decided what rates lenders choose to offer. Instead, it is more reflective of changes in the way lenders approach their business. Lenders have raised their profit margins by 1.5 to 2 percentage points in the past month, according to Informa Research Services, by offering borrowers slightly higher rates.

Lenders say they haven’t lowered rates further because, simply, they don’t have to. The mortgage market is not the cut-throat business of years past. Most lenders are happy to make mortgages but not at any cost. And there is still plenty of demand given that rates are still historically very low. As it is, lenders are able to make loans that, while still cheap, are more profitable, says Michael Fratantoni, vice president of research and economics at the Mortgage Bankers Association, a trade organization that represents mortgage lenders.
The lowest advertised rates are available for only those borrowers with pristine credit. Anyone else could consider waiting, as the rates they get may be lower as soon as the current surge in demand ebbs, possibly as soon as the end of September. For those looking to refinance or buy a home now, mortgage analysts suggest taking the lowest rate offered and shopping it around to other lenders. In particular, regional, rather than national, outfits, may be more willing to negotiate.

10 Tips for Getting a Fair Price on a Home

Whether it’s a buyer’s market or a seller’s market, all homebuyers have one thing in common: they don’t want to get ripped off. But how do you know if you’re getting a fair deal on the home you’re prepared to place an offer on? Read on to find out how to evaluate the price of any home so you can make a sound investment decision.
Research Recently Sold, Comparable Properties
A comparable property is one that is similar in size, condition, neighborhood and amenities. One 1,200-square-foot, recently remodeled, one-story home with an attached garage should be listed at roughly the same price as a similar 1,200-square-foot home in the same neighborhood. That said, you can also gain valuable information by looking at how the property you’re interested in compares in price to different properties. Is it considerably less expensive than larger or nicer properties? Is it more expensive than smaller or less attractive properties? Your real estate agent is the best source of accurate, up-to-date information on comparable properties (also known as “comps”). You can also look at comps that are currently in escrow, meaning that the property has a buyer but the sale is not yet complete.
In this case, you can actually visit other homes and get a true sense of how their size, condition and amenities compare to the property you’re considering buying. Then you can compare prices and see what seems fair. Reasonable sellers know that they must price their properties similarly to market comparables if they want to be competitive.
Look at Comparables That Were on the Market Recently but Didn’t Sell
If the house you’re considering buying is priced similarly to homes that were taken off the market because they didn’t sell, the property you’re considering may be overpriced. Also, if there are a lot of similar properties on the market, prices should be lower, especially if those properties are vacant. Check out the unsold inventory index for information about current supply and demand in the housing market. This index attempts to measure how long it will take for all the homes currently on the market to be sold given the rate at which homes are currently selling.
Consider Market Conditions and Appreciation Rates in the Area
Have prices been going up recently or going down? In a seller’s market, properties will probably be somewhat overpriced, and in a buyer’s market, properties are apt to be underpriced. It all depends on where the market currently sits on the real estate boom-and-bust curve. Even in a seller’s market, properties may not be overpriced if the market is on the upswing and not near its peak. Conversely, properties can be overpriced even in a buyer’s market if prices have only recently begun to decline. Of course, it can be difficult to see the peaks and valleys until they’re history. Also consider the impact of mortgage interest rates and the job market on the economy.
Are You Buying a For-Sale-by-Owner Property?
A for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) property should be discounted to reflect the fact that there is no 6% (on average) seller’s agent commission, something that many sellers don’t take into consideration when setting their prices. Another potential problem with FSBOs is that the seller may not have had an agent’s guidance in setting a reasonable price in the first place, or may have been so unhappy with an agent’s suggestion as to decide to go it alone. In any of these situations, the property may be overpriced.
What Is the Expected Appreciation for the Area?
The future prospects for your chosen neighborhood can have an impact on price. If positive development is planned, such as a major mall being built, the extension of light rail to the neighborhood, or a large new company moving to the area, the prospects of future home appreciation look good. Even small developments like plans to add more roads or build a new school can be a good sign. On the other hand, if grocery stores and gas stations are closing down, the home price should be lower to reflect that, and you should probably reconsider moving to the area. The development of new housing can go either way – it can mean that the area is hot and is likely to be in high demand in the future, increasing your home’s value, or it can result in a surplus of housing, which will lower the value of all the homes in the area.
What Is Your Real Estate Agent’s Opinion?
Without even analyzing the data, your real estate agent is likely to have a good gut sense (thanks to experience) of whether the property is priced appropriately or not and what a fair offering price might be.
Does the Price Feel Fair to You?
If you’re not happy with the property, the price will never seem fair, even if you get a bargain. Even if you pay a little over market value for a home you love, in the end, you won’t really care.
Test the Waters
Even in a seller’s market, you can always offer below list price just to see how the seller reacts. Some sellers list properties for the lowest price they’re willing to take because they don’t want to negotiate, while others list their homes for higher than they expect to earn because they expect to negotiate downward or they want to see if someone will make an offer at the higher price. If the seller accepts your price or counteroffer, you’ll get an indication that the property probably wasn’t worth what it was listed for and you have a good chance at getting a fair deal. On the other hand, some sellers may underprice their properties in the hope of generating lots of interest and sparking a bidding war. Unlike on eBay, however, the seller doesn’t have to simply sell to the highest bidder: sellers can reject any and all offers that don’t meet their expectations. If you have your heart set on the property, be warned that some sellers may be offended by lowball offers and refuse to work with you if you chose to employ such a tactic. Also, when you offer less than the list price, you may increase your risk of being outbid by another buyer.
Get an Appraised Value and a Home Inspection
Once you’re under contract, the lender will have an appraisal of the property done (usually at your expense) to protect its financial interests. The lender wants to make sure that if you stop making your mortgage payments, it’ll be able to get a reasonable amount of its money back when it forecloses on your home. If the appraisal comes in at considerably less than your offering price, you may not be getting a fair deal. In fact, the lender may not even let you purchase the home unless the seller is willing to bring the price down. A home inspection, which is completed after you’re under contract, will also give you a way to gauge your offering price. If the home needs many expensive repairs, you’ll want to ask the seller to make the repairs for you or discount the purchase price so you can make them yourself.
Conclusion
When you’re shopping for a home, it’s important to understand how homes are priced so you can make a sound investment and reach a fair agreement with the seller. Using these tips, you’ll be able to make a confident and well-informed offer on any home in any market.

“Perhaps the greatest social service that can
be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family.”George Bernard Shaw

B Of A Sued?

NEW YORK (AP) — In a sweeping move, the government on Friday sued 17 financial firms, including the largest U.S. banks, for selling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac billions of dollars worth of mortgage-backed securities that turned toxic when the housing market collapsed.

Among the 17 targeted by the lawsuits were Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs.
The lawsuits were filed Friday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency which oversees Fannie and Freddie, the two agencies that buy mortgages loans and mortgage securities issued by the lenders.
The total price tag for the securities bought by Fannie and Freddie affected by the lawsuits: $196 billion.
The government didn’t provide a dollar amount of how much it seeks in damages. It said that it wants to have the purchases of the securities canceled, be compensated for lost principal and interest payments as well as attorney fees and costs. The lawsuits allege the financial firms broke federal and state laws with the sales.
Home mortgage-backed securities were risky investments that collapsed after the real-estate bust and helped fuel the financial crisis in late 2008.
In the lawsuits that were filed in federal or state court in New York and the federal court in Connecticut, the government said the securities were sold with registration statements and prospectuses that “contained materially false or misleading statements and omissions.”
The Federal agency said the banks and mortgage lenders also falsely represented that the mortgage loans in the securities complied with underwriting guidelines and standards. They also included representations “that significantly overstated the ability of the borrower to repay their mortgage loans.





The 17 institutions are Ally Financial Inc., formerly known GMAC LLC, Bank of America Corp., Barclays Bank PLC, Citigroup Inc., Countrywide Financial Corp., Credit Suisse Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, First Horizon National Corp., General Electric Co., Goldman Sachs & Co., HSBC North America Holdings Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Merrill Lynch & Co. and its unit First Franklin Financial Corp., Morgan Stanley, Nomura Holding America Inc., The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, and Societe Generale.
Is this news shocking to you???