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How Many Homes Does John McCain Own?
Tweet Share on Facebook August 29, 2008 Comment (7)After John McCain struggled to recall how many homes he owns, the investigators over at Zillow Blog put together this breakdown of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's real estate empire.
From Zillow Blog:
Republican presidential nominee John McCain took a lot of ribbing a week ago when he botched the question, "How many houses do you and Mrs. McCain have?" His answer landed somewhere between "I don't know" and "I'll have my staff get that for you."
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Home Giveaway Essay Contest Goes Bust
Tweet Share on Facebook August 28, 2008 Comment (20)We've seen all kinds of gimmicks used to try to sell homes in the sluggish real estate market. Here's a new one: an essay contest.
But judging from the article below, sellers might want to take a pass on this approach.
From The Associated Press, via Boom2Bust:
The deadline has just passed for J. J. Rodgers and her husband Wes Ludlow to give away their second home in Red Feather Lakes, Colo. The couple started the contest in January after their two-story home sat on the block for three straight summers.From across the country, people mailed in essays and the $100 entry fee. Rodgers said she was "astounded and touched" by the stories strangers were willing to share.The couple extended the May 25 deadline, but still fell about 700 entries short of the 2,000 needed to make the contest work financially."We knew going in the possibility of it not being successful. That's historically true about essay contests," Rodgers said.
The couple plans to put the mountain home back on the market and return the entry fees. As for the essays, Rodgers isn't sure what she will do with them.
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Ed McMahon Will Sell Home, Trump Isn’t Buyer
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 Comment (2)The Ed McMahon housing crisis looks as if it's drawing to a close but without the ending that Donald Trump originally envisioned.
From the Associated Press:
McMahon has agreed to a deal with a private buyer for his hilltop home, said Howard Bragman, the former "Tonight" show sidekick's spokesman.
Bragman declined to name the buyer or the selling price. But he said it isn't real estate mogul Donald Trump, who recently offered to buy McMahon's home and act as a landlord.
"For Mr. Trump, this acquisition was not business-related, but, as he has stated, was meant to help out an American icon," said Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump. "If another buyer should emerge who will create the benefit Mr. Trump sought for Ed McMahon, then he is clearly pleased."
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Gunned-Down Broker Linked to Notorious Gang
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 CommentThe housing market in the United States is scary enough. But just look at this terrifying incident involving a real estate agent in Canada.
Last week, the Vancouver Sun reported the following:
A realtor living in Chilliwack has been identified as the victim of what police say was a targeted shooting Wednesday evening.
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Pace of Home Price Declines Could Be Slowing
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 CommentTwo key housing reports were issued today. Let's start with the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices:
The decline in the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index—which covers all nine U.S. census divisions—remained in double digits, recording a record 15.4% decline in the second quarter of 2008 versus the second quarter of 2007. This is larger than the decline of 14.2% reported in the first quarter of the year. The 10-City and 20-City Composites also set new records, with annual declines of 17.0% and 15.9%, respectively. However, it should be noted that the acceleration in decline was only moderate in June. The May numbers reported annual declines of 16.9% and 15.8%, respectively.
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Builder Puts $10,000 Bounty on Copper Thief
Tweet Share on Facebook August 25, 2008 Comment (1)Frustrated by the repeated thefts of copper from construction sites, one builder is taking the Wild West approach to justice and putting a $10,000 bounty on the head of the thief responsible.
From New York's Staten Island Advance:
The bounty for turning in whoever is copping copper from construction sites on the South Shore has been doubled to a whopping $10,000 after new thievery came to light yesterday.
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Michael Phelps Buys Waterfront Baltimore Condo
Tweet Share on Facebook August 25, 2008 Comment (9)How do you properly celebrate a never-before-seen, eight-gold-medal Olympic feat? Buy yourself a condo in Baltimore, apparently.
From TMZ, via The Real Estate Bloggers
Michael Phelps has plunked down $1.69 million for a condo on the waterfront in Baltimore, Md. Here's the headline—practicing in that pool ain't gonna win him any medals. [The websites have photos of a lovely but small swimming pool.]
His new pad is 4,080 sq. ft. (check out the model in the photos). The complex has a rooftop terrace, a private screening room, a state-of-the-art gym, [and] a clubhouse with pool tables.
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Home Sales Are Up, but So Are Inventories
Tweet Share on Facebook August 25, 2008 CommentWhile existing-home sales increased 3.1 percent in July from the previous month, the backlog of unsold properties increased to record levels, the National Association of Realtors said Monday in a report.
From NAR:
Existing-home sales—including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops—increased 3.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.00 million units in July from a downwardly revised level of 4.85 million in June, but are 13.2 percent lower than the 5.76 million-unit pace in July 200....
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Armando Falcon: How to Nationalize the GSEs
Tweet Share on Facebook August 22, 2008 Comment (8)I just had a real interesting chat with Armando Falcon, who was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's top regulator for six years. He now argues that the two mortgage finance giants should be nationalized. He walked me through how such a process might take place. Excerpts:
What are the chances that the government will take more serious steps to stabilize Fannie and Freddie?
"They will need additional capital. They will not be able to do that through raising funds from the capital markets—their share price reflects the unwillingness of the markets to give them any more capital. So it's just inevitable. It's a matter of time before they become undercapitalized, and then the combination of the Treasury and the new housing regulator will take some action to resolve the companies. -
Roc-A-Fella Cofounder Dash Faces Foreclosure
Tweet Share on Facebook August 22, 2008 Comment (1)Looks like another high-profile figure has fallen into foreclosure. This time it's Damon Dash, the cofounder of Roc-A-Fella Records and the former business partner of rap superstar Jay-Z.
From the Associated Press:
Roc-A-Fella Records company co-founder Damon Dash and his wife are in jeopardy of losing two of their Manhattan apartments after apparently failing to pay their hefty mortgages.
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