Housing Aid Bill Could Pass the Senate - 06/30/08 09:11 AM
With consumer confidence at its lowest levels in 16 years and new reports that the housing market is continuing its downward spiral, politicians in Washington have been eager to clip on their capes and rescue the floundering market. By a vote of 83 to 9, the Senate agreed to end debate … (6 comments)
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Countrywide Gets Smacked with Lawsuits - 06/27/08 10:52 AM
The attorneys general of Illinois and California both filed lawsuits on Wednesday against lending giant Countrywide. The lawsuits allege a wide range of suspect dealings with customers, which led to spiking foreclosures. The Illinois suit, filed in Cook County Court, names the company and CEO Angelo Mozilo; the California lawsuit, filed … (13 comments)
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Home Prices Plunge in April - 06/26/08 01:48 PM
The S&P/Case-Schiller index, the closely watched barometer of home prices, showed prices in 20 major cities declined a record 15.3 percent in April, compared with April 2007 - essentially rolling prices back to 2004 levels. In a separate report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which oversees Fannie … (0 comments)
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NFL Player Adam 'Pacman' Jones Files for Foreclosure - 06/25/08 09:43 AM
NFL bad boy Adam "Pacman" Jones ain't no Ed McMahon, but the two have a little more in common these days then they'd like to admit. The recently signed Dallas Cowboy cornerback joins the infamous list of celebs hit with foreclosure notices this year. I recently blogged about the housing woes … (8 comments)
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Pedestrian-Friendly Neighborhoods Cut Down Gas Cost - 06/24/08 09:15 AM
The housing market meltdown, along with the energy crisis, have many people rethinking where they're going to buy their next home. Recently a segment on ABC News "Good Morning America" reported that U.S. suburbs are slowly loosing residents due to high gas costs and home-value depreciations in certain neighborhoods.
As a … (7 comments)
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Eco-Friendly Bath Designs Get Recognition - 06/20/08 10:16 AM
Do you live in an eco-friendly designed home and want to give props to the designer behind your masterpiece? The National Kitchen & Bath Association will be recognizing innovative approaches to water and energy savings in the bath with a new Best Sustainable Bath Award category in the 2009 NKBA competition. … (1 comments)
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Home Builder's Giving Away Homes, Literally - 06/19/08 08:55 AM
When my best friend moved away to San Diego five years ago, I thought she was crazy. There's no subway system, the cost of living is ridiculous, and on top of that, she's deathly afraid of stepping into the ocean. When I finally went to visit her, I could understand why … (3 comments)
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Builder Confidence Continues to Slide - 06/18/08 09:50 AM
Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes edged down in June, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The index, which gauges home builders' assessment of the housing market, slipped to 18 this month, returning to the record low that it … (5 comments)
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FHA Waives 90-Day Flip Rate - 06/17/08 09:14 AM
In an effort to stabilize declining home values in certain neighborhoods and help mortgage lenders, the Bush administration announced on Friday a temporary policy that will extend government-backed mortgage insurance and allow for the immediate sale of vacant foreclosed properties.
For one year, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which insures mortgages … (4 comments)
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California and Florida Continue Lead in Foreclosures - 06/16/08 10:23 AM
For the second month in a row, California and Florida cities accounted for nine out of the top 10 metropolitan foreclosure rates among the 230 metropolitan areas tracked by RealtyTrac, which monitors a national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties. Nationally, the foreclosure rate increased 7 percent from April to … (2 comments)
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Sex and the City: Leading Homes for Leading Ladies - 06/13/08 09:54 AM
With their designer handbags, six-inch stilettos and martinis in tow, women across the country have been lining up at theaters to reunite with the beloved characters from "Sex and the City" (SATC).
Whether you could identify with the leading lady's sassy personalities or just wanted to be them, the hit HBO … (3 comments)
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NAR Reports Home Sales Up, But Prices Expected to Fall - 06/12/08 09:04 AM
After unprecedented home-price declines in the first half of the year, many markets can anticipate stabilizing price trends in the second half, according to report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Monday. The number of homes under contract to be sold rose unexpectedly in April, as buyers … (6 comments)
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Best Cities to Live, Work and Play - 06/11/08 09:51 AM
Are you looking to pack your bags and settle down somewhere else? To help your home search, check out Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine's 2008 rankings of best cities in the country to live, work and play.
The 2008 Best Cities report looked for areas that have strong economies, abundant jobs, a … (3 comments)
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The Housing Market's Double-Edge Sword - 06/10/08 09:52 AM
While the number of foreclosures doesn't appear to be leveling out anytime soon and home values continue to decrease, it may not be a bad time to buy - for some people at least. Nearly 1 percent, or roughly 447,723 loans, fell into foreclosure during the January-to-March period, according to the … (1 comments)
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Evander Holyfield vs. Bank Repo Man - 06/09/08 01:01 PM
Boxing champ Evander Holyfield's $10 million home has been foreclosured on. Photo courtesy of Allposters.com
Just when I thought I wrote my last post about a celebrity losing his home to foreclosure, the gossip blogs report of yet another knock-out punch. On Thursday, gossip news site TMZ reported former heavyweight boxer Evander … (6 comments)
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Smaller Homes for a Greater Value - 06/06/08 10:03 AM
I recently came across an article published in Fortune Magazine about KB Home, one the country's premier home builders, reporting the company's plans to go "back to the basics" when it comes to home designs.
This KB Home new construction model in Las Vegas is listed at $291,990.
Like many … (4 comments)
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Even Ed McMahon Falls Behind on House Payments - 06/05/08 01:08 PM
Here comes the repo man. While Ed McMahon is better known for his curtain call on "The Tonight Show," Johnny Carson's former late-night sidekick is among the latest celebs to get bit by the foreclosure bug. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that McMahon was $644,000 behind on a $4.8 … (2 comments)
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Metro Areas with the Smallest Carbon Footprint - 06/04/08 09:56 AM
Residents living in Boise, ID; Honolulu; Portland; New York and Los Angeles (and yes, even in Los Angeles) can breathe a little bit easier, according to a recent report from the Brookings Institution. People living in cities with dense development and rail transit systems generally put out lower amounts of … (3 comments)
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Home Schooled - 06/02/08 10:20 AM
In a recent article this month, Money Magazine listed five new rules for home buyers shopping in today's sagging housing market. Rule #4, "Don't buy cheap; buy good schools," has been a long standing convention that home buyers, regardless of a bright or dismal housing market ought to follow.
Grade … (3 comments)
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