We’re so proud of our new Android Tablet App that we think everyone should get the chance to try it out. That’s why we decided to give away a brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab to one lucky winner!Entering is super simple and takes less than a minute. All you have to do is go to our Facebook Page and fill out a short form on our Sweepstakes tab before midnight, October 8th. If you win, we’ll send you a brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab with our new app pre-installed so you can start your house hunt right away. And while you’re at it, check out our page, whether it’s for fun, real estate tips, and or get the latest news that’s relevant to you as either a home buyer, owner, or renter.So why are you still reading this? Enter to win right now! Trulia’s Android Tablet GiveawayPopularity: 1% [?]
Friday, September 30, 2011
Like us on Facebook and win a Android Tablet!
We’re so proud of our new Android Tablet App that we think everyone should get the chance to try it out. That’s why we decided to give away a brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab to one lucky winner!Entering is super simple and takes less than a minute. All you have to do is go to our Facebook Page and fill out a short form on our Sweepstakes tab before midnight, October 8th. If you win, we’ll send you a brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab with our new app pre-installed so you can start your house hunt right away. And while you’re at it, check out our page, whether it’s for fun, real estate tips, and or get the latest news that’s relevant to you as either a home buyer, owner, or renter.So why are you still reading this? Enter to win right now! Trulia’s Android Tablet GiveawayPopularity: 1% [?]
House of the Day: A Country Castle Gone Grotesque in an Arkansas Spa Town
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, September 21, 2011, by Rob Bear
Have a nomination for a jaw-dropping listing that would make a mighty fine House of the Day? Get thee to the tipline and send us your suggestions. We'd love to see what you've got.
Location: Hot Springs, Ark.
Price: $4,899,000
The Skinny: Neighbors probably needed the soothing baths of Hot Springs, Ark., more than ever after this less than winsome castle went up in their neighborhood in 2009. Built for a "Little Rock tycoon," the 7,900-square-foot architectural muddle fronts on Lake Hamilton, an artificial lake created by the 1932 damming of the Ouachita River. Thankfully, the lake is far less artificial than this Old World-inspired spread, which attempts to pack all the architectural characteristics of an actual European castle onto a small lot. That lake may, in fact, be the saving grace, as the best part of this $4.9M estate is the tiny lakefront dock.
· 101 Lakesouth Terrace [Trulia]
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Charts: Top-Producing Agent in the U.S. Sold 1,268 Homes Last Year
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Monday, September 19, 2011, by Sarah Firshein
Chart via Realtrends.com
Real Trends, in collaboration with The Wall Street Journal, has recently released 2010's The Thousand, a list of the top-producing real estate agents in the country broken down into four groups of 250 (sales professionals by transactions sides, sales professionals by sales volume, real estate teams by transaction sides, and real estate teams by sales volume). We're most interested in the first category, of course—in plain-speak, how many homes the top real estate agents sold, regardless of whether they represented the buyer or the seller. Hats off to Mike Phillips, of Century 21 All-Pro in Kansas City, Mo., for earning the top spot with 1,268 home sales. Time caught up with third runner-up Jared Jones, a 32-year-old Vegas-based agent who sold 931 homes last year. Distressed properties in the area accounted for most of his business, he explained. "There are a lot of sales of bank-owned properties. And there’s a large pre-foreclosure market—people who need to sell their homes to avoid foreclosure.”
· Top 250 Sales Professionals by Transaction Sides [Real Trends via Inman News]
· The Las Vegas Real Estate Agent Who Sold 931 Homes Last Year [Time]
· The Thousand [Real Trends]
Decorate Bedroom Around Found Antique Quilt? Good Questions
Q: We just moved into a new house this weekend, and in the process of cleaning out the unfinished basement we found a gorgeous hand-stitched antique quilt! We washed it and it is in great condition. Best of all, we found that it fits our king size bed, which was going to need new bedding anyway.
Talk about a great find - I am so excited to incorporate this gorgeous quilt into our house, but I'm at a loss on what to do with the rest of the bedding (pillows, shams, sheets, etc.). I'm afraid that leaving everything else white will look really plain and boring, but I'm also afraid of veering too far into matchy-matchy territory, either. Our design style is fairly traditional, and the rest of the house is done mostly in cool gray and white tones. The quilt is ivory, with navy blue, pale pink, hot pink, and pale gray. The walls are also pale gray. Please keep in mind that this is a shared room, so I don't want to go over the top with the pink - it needs to be fairly gender neutral - but some pink is fine.
Sent by Ali
Editor: Leave your suggestions for Ali in the comments - thanks!
• Got a question? Email yours with pic attachments here (those with pics get answered first)
B.O.G.O.: A double-for-your-money Detroit home is on...
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, September 21, 2011, by Sarah Firshein
A double-for-your-money Detroit home is on the market for a humble $99K. Built in 1909, the digs offer two adjacent units, each with two beds, a bathroom, and a back porch. "It could be super fun to combine them the way they were when the home was originally built or use the extra unit to start a speakeasy," muse our cousins over at Curbed Detroit. [Curbed Detroit]
? Previous: Man Hunts 100 Animals and Mounts All of Them in His House
? Next: A Country Castle Gone Grotesque in an Arkansas Spa Town
Apartment Therapy's Design Showcase 2011 Submissions Open Until September 21
Updated: Wednesday, 5:30pm, Sept. 21
Designs Posted: 18
Designs Received: 73
Pageviews: 135,785 pageviews
Though you are allowed to ask your friends and family to vote, only one vote is allowed per person. If we find that any voting has been hacked and that one person has voted numerous times, we reserve the right to either throw out the votes we can identify or discount the submission entirely.
Designs Posted: 18
Designs Received: 73
Pageviews: 135,785 pageviews
1. Belize/Chauras Duvet Cover Set (870)
2. Block Desk and Quartet Chair (809)
3. Nook Coffee Table (679 - open)
4. Native American Teepee (543)
5. Wineglass Rack (532 - open)
6. Collections Media Console (457)
------------------ Cut-off for Finals ------------------
7. Six-Pack Ring Pendant Lights (440)
8. Terrene (422)
9. Petite Concrete Lamp (415)
10. Abstract Neon (353 - open)
11. American Flags Map (323)
12. "Water" Noren (261)
13. LOU The Toilet Seat (244 - open)
14. Nimble (214 - open)
15. Container Ten-71 (196)
16. Seena Lamp (162 - open)
17. Merkled Cutoff Series (114)
18. Chaise Nina (just opened)
19.
20.
21.
Every entry has a 4 day voting window. The six finalists will be those with the most stars by September 30. Stars are cumulative and there are no negative votes (three stars = 3, etc) in our final tallies.
Got a great design? Let us help you make it big.
This time two years ago we launched our first ever Design Showcase, with the intention of giving a bunch of independent designers a really good soapbox from which to pitch their work. For the lucky finalists, we also wanted to give them even more exposure and see if we could help to boost their careers to a whole new level. Guess what? It worked. In the past 24 months, our winners have had tremendous runs, getting picked up by major newspapers and magazines and watching their businesses skyrocket.
It's time to do it again.
This month we're putting out the call for great, new designs by independent and student designers that promise to make our homes more beautiful and inspiring places to live.
We'll post the best submissions, allow the readers to vote and then give six finalists an unprecedented chance to feature their design and themselves by building their own original post on our site during prime time at the end of September.
Two winners will then be chosen (1 judge favorite and 1 crowd favorite) and each given $10k in advertising on our network and daily emails (if the same design is chosen by both sides, that person will win $20k). This is a golden opportunity to craft an even more personal message and get it in front of our audience of over 7 million monthly readers.
From Peter:
Hi Maxwell,
Going into this competition I was a complete unknown. Although I am a professional artist in Hollywood, I had never shown my furniture to anyone beyond friends and family. In the year since the Design Showcase, I have officially started my own design and furniture business, www.petersid.com. I have developed a really cool line of furniture which is currently in the final stages of design before manufacturing. I've been featured on blogs from around the world, and increased my visibility and credibility as a designer greatly.
I am most proud however of having "bottles of hope" shown in a museum alongside some of the hottest emerging designers today. I went so see Arik Levy's Chandeliers at the Santa Monica museum of art only a few months before entering the Design Showcase. I would have never thought my work would have been shown in a museum only a few months later. It even got me a little blurb on Elle Decor!
If I can pass on a word to anyone thinking of entering this year... DO IT... NOW! I came very close to not entering simply out of the fear of being judged. Looking back, I can't imagine if I hadn't. It was a truly great experience, and I am very proud to have been a part of it!
Thanks!
-Peter Sid
From Tamar:
Hi Maxwell,
The competition increased traffic to my website and resulted in additional orders. Even a year later, people sometimes find me through the apartment therapy website. I truly appreciate having had the opportunity to participate in the designer showcase competition.
Regards,
Tamar
This year we're going to run just like we did last year and open submissions today. So, if you've got a great design or a friend who does AND you want to get it out there, now's your chance.
Note: Voting for each submission is open for 4 days (96 hours) this year.
• 2010 Winners Post
• 2010 Contest All Entries Post
• 2010 Judges Post
• 2009 Winners Post
• 2009 Contest All Entries Post
• 2009 Judges Post
This year's judges have not yet been announced. Last year's judges were Amy Butler, David Netto and Aaron Lown & John Roscoe Swartz of BUILT.
• Independent & student designers from all over the world
• Design couples and teams are welcome
We're looking for folks who need exposure and a big push to get them to the next level. Already designing for a big company? That's okay, but send us stuff you're doing on the side. We want to help you, not the big company.
• One original design that has reached prototype stage or beyond.
• No designs are eligible that have been purchased by or licensed to another company.
• Designs can be for home furnishings, accessories, lighting, appliances or textiles.
• Only one design per designer, please, so choose your best design. If you submit more than one, we'll choose the one we think is best.
If it goes into the home, we're open to it. It can be decor, furnishing or materials related, just don't send us a car design.
• Your name and contact info
• Materials description
• Your pitch! (@ 200 words)
• A link to your site if you have one (hey, it's 2011, every designer should!)
• Image of design drawing
• Three photographs of prototype or finished product (This is important. You must have taken it at least to prototype stage.)
• One photograph of yourself (Feel free to dress up and look as important as you feel).
Give us your best pitch, and your clearest product shots. Remember that first impressions are the most important.
• Submissions accepted until September 21
• Submissions posted from September 6-26
• Finalists notified on September 30
• Finalists posted the week of October 3
The early birds will get the worm. We won't be able to post everyone, and are currently reserving 30 slots in September. We'll notify you if we post you or if we don't, and reserve the right to decide editorially whether or not a submission is strong enough to share with the crowd.
Though you are allowed to ask your friends and family to vote, only one vote is allowed per person. If we find that any voting has been hacked and that one person has voted numerous times, we reserve the right to either throw out the votes we can identify or discount the submission entirely.
Awards: Chicago Architect Jeanne Gang Wins MacArthur Genius Grant
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, September 20, 2011, by Sarah Firshein
Photo via Co.Design
A big congrats are due to Chicago architect Jeanne Gang: she is officially one of the world's 22 notable geniuses, according to the MacArthur Foundation, which just awarded her one of its $500K fellowship grants. Best known for designing the city's 82-story Aqua Tower (the tallest building in the world designed by a woman and one with "an unusual optical poetry"), Smarty McSmartypants Gang "is setting a new industry standard through her effective synthesis of conventional materials, striking composition, and ecologically sustainable technology," according to her MacArthur bio. Head over to Co.Design for a video interview.
· Architect Jeanne Gang gets vote of confidence from MacArthur Fellowship [Chicago Tribune via Curbed Chicago]
· A Purposely Simple Chart of Influential Architects and Designers [Curbed National]
· Jeanne Gang [MacArthur Foundation]
· Architect Jeanne Gang Wins $500 MacArthur Genius Grant [Co.Design]
China's Engine: July 2011
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Room Service!: About $3.6 million, courtesy of the...
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, September 14, 2011, by Philip Ferrato
About $3.6 million, courtesy of the feds, will go to temporarily house the residents. At the Ritz-Cartlton? Part of an $11.6M package from City Hall and the Federal Government to the Chinatown Community Development Corporation. Matier & Ross connect the political dots in what sounds like another deal made in the nano-seconds before Gavin Newsom left office. The displaced persons will be offered new digs in a long-planned, oft-delayed affordable housing project at Sansome and Broadway- which gets the remaining $8M. [Matier & Ross/SFGate, plus previously at Curbed SF]
? Previous: The Albion Castle Leaves the Millionaire's Club
? Next: Smartmeter Protest; Award Winners; Best Bar in SF? More!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Real Estate Empire
Have you got what it takes to rake in the cash?Product InformationHave you got what it takes to be a Real Estate Tycoon and build your own empire? Just investing is not enough. You will need all your fiscal powers to buy renovate and sell your portfolio for a profit as you fend off competition from four other computer controlled would be real estate tycoons.Real E$tate Empire is an entertaining introduction to the world of buying andselling real estate for fun and profit! Watch for hot bargains keep an eye onproperties that have been on the market and might be picked up on the cheapplay to your strengths take a fixer-upper and make it beautiful or grabsomething uptown and hang on as its value goes through the roof.Tryyour hand as a speculator and hope for a lucky break or earn your money the oldfashioned way with elbow grease and sweat equity; it's all there to be had inReal E$tate Empire the game that's part game part simulator all fun! Greattool to learn real world lessons in Real Estate investment.Product Features Econometer gives indications of market conditions. Peruse the listings of properties for sale to get the best value. Be savvy in determining a market price for your property. Build as many assets as possible. Houses in good shape have more value but compare the improvement costs to the value they will add to maximise your return. Review your assets periodically and the state of the economy to ensure you make smart decisions. The in-game tutorial helps you get started right away. Each month you’ll have variable income and expenses smart investors save to cover the unexpected. When an offer is made you always have the option to counter. Pay bills on time the better your credit rating the greater the opportunities. Windows Requirements Windows 98 Me 2000 XP Vista Pentium 3 or Athlon 733 MHz processor 128 MB of RAM 500 MB available Hard Drive space DirectX 8.1 compatiblePrice: $19.99
Bento 3
Meet Bento 3 for Mac, the breakthrough new version of the wildly popular personal database from FileMaker that's as easy to use as your Mac.
 Organize contacts, track projects, plan events and more--all in one place. |
Organize contacts, track projects, plan events and more--all in one place.
Bento 3 now includes iPhoto integration, security options, multi-user sharing, and much more!
Choose from 35 pre-designed templates included with Bento, download and import templates from others who share your passion, or design your own custom forms using beautiful themes designed by Mac artists.
Bento links directly to the Address Book and iCal information you already have on your Mac to display your contacts and calendars in new and exciting ways. Add places to store important details about each person, event, or task, including related files, photos, and emails. Plus, changes you make in Bento are reflected in Address Book and iCal so your MobileMe account, your iPhone, and your iPod touch will be in sync.
Now you can easily share your contact lists, project plans, event details, and other Bento libraries with up to 5 Bento users on your local area network. Choose which libraries you want to share, and if you want to allow adding, deleting, and updating of information, or limit access to viewing only. Even add a password if you like. Now your family and friends, classmates, and coworkers will always be informed and up to date.
Do all this and more with pre-designed, ready-to-use templates:
- Organize contacts, clubs and mailing lists
- Track projects, tasks, and deadlines
- Plan special events, parties and weddings
- Link photos to contacts, projects, and events
- Manage students, classes, and lecture notes
- Search wine and movie collections
- Catalog inventory, assets, and equipment
- Record billable hours and payments due
- Keep a daily log of diet and exercise
- Store recipes and shopping lists
- Secure encrypted passwords
- See details of products for sale and items sold
 View your iPhoto information inside Bento in the new Grid view, Table view, Form view or Split view. |
 Link photos to contacts, projects, events or other data stored in Bento. |
 View any library in the new Grid view to show a grid of pictures and forms for a more visual approach to your information. |
Here's what's new in Bento 3:
iPhoto integration
Store more info about photos and link them to contacts, projects, events, and other information stored in Bento.
Grid view
In addition to Table view, Form view, and Split view, you can now see your images and forms in Grid view for a more visual approach to your information.
Security options
Protect your sensitive data using encrypted fields and password protection. Great for web site logins and banking details.
Multi-user sharing
Share your Bento libraries with up to 5 other Bento users on your wired or wireless local area network. Ideal for sharing contact lists, project plans, and event details with family, friends, classmates and coworkers.
Related data field with thumbnails
Displays thumbnail images of related data instead of just text. For example, link a list of guests to an event--and see a picture of each person invited in the related data field.
File list with thumbnails
Displays thumbnail images of related file instead of just text. For example, link a list of files to any record and see the first page of PDF file or a mini version of jpg images in the File list.
Simple list field type
Add a freeform table to your forms. Great for creating a quick to do list or shopping list--and for tracking gifts received at parties and weddings.
Library folders
Save space in your Libraries pane by grouping like libraries in a single folder. Libraries contained in the folder can also be exported as a group.
Group emailing
Send one email to multiple recipients through Apple Mail with a few clicks.
Ten new templates
Thanks to the addition of ten ready-to-use templates, there are now a total of 35 templates to choose from.
See and interact with your information in stunning new ways
New--iPhoto integration
- See all your albums listed in the Bento Libraries pane automatically--no importing required.
- View your iPhoto information inside Bento in the new Grid view, Table view, Form view or Split view.
- Add additional fields and forms to store more information about your photos beyond what iPhoto stores.
- Link photos to contacts, projects, events or other data stored in Bento.
New--Grid view
- View any library in the new Grid view to show a grid of pictures and forms for a more visual approach to your information.
- Customize the Grid view to display additional information under each thumbnail that is most relevant to you, like phone numbers or email addresses for all your contacts.
- Create and view your own customized thumbnail forms. For example, say you have 40 products that you're selling. You could create a form where you have an image of the product next to the part number and price to see multiple product "cards" together on one screen.
Improved--Related data field--now with image thumbnails
- See thumbnail images of media in your Related data fields (formerly called the Related records lists).
- For example, you can link a list of guests to an event--and see a picture of each person invited on the event record.
Improved--File list--now with image thumbnails
- See a thumbnail image of each document in the File List instead of seeing a list of text containing names of files.
- For example, you can see the first page of PDF file or a mini version of jpg images.
Improved--Table view with media cell
- See mini versions of pictures, movies or PDFs stored in a media field when you're in Table view.
- Use Quick Look to view the media cell contents while in Table view.
 Bento links directly to the Address Book and iCal information you already have on your Mac to display your contacts and calendars in new and exciting ways. |
 There are now a total of 35 templates to choose from. |
New--Simple list field type
- Add a freeform table to your forms for quick list tracking.
- Create a quick to-do list, shopping list, or keep track of gifts received at birthdays and weddings.
New--Library folders
- Save space in your Libraries pane by grouping like libraries in a single folder.
- Export the entire folder as a group of templates for easy sharing and uploading to the Bento Template Exchange.
- Export data from all of the libraries at once into separate CSV, Tab delimited, Excel, or Numbers files.
Improved--Library icons
- Change the icon for any library, choosing from the list of available icons.
- Resize your library icons to display either large size or a more compact size to save space in your Libraries pane.
New--Image box
- Add a static image, such as a team logo, to any of your forms.
- The image appears on all records in the library automatically.
Protect your valuable data with new security options.
New--Security options
- Use the new field type called "Encrypted" to store sensitive data, like web site logins and banking details.
- Unlock encrypted fields to display contents by entering the database password.
- Assign a database password to your entire Bento database. You will be prompted for the password upon launching Bento. Once the correct password is entered, Bento will open your database giving you full access to all your libraries.
- Assign a sharing password to allow others access to your shared libraries. This password is different from the database password and only allows access to specific libraries that you have chosen to share over a local area network.
Keep your team informed and up-to-date.
New--Multi-user sharing
- Share your Bento libraries with up to 5 other Bento users on your wired or wireless local area network.
- Choose to share your entire Bento database or selected libraries.
- Add a sharing password that prevents access to shared libraries by unauthorized users.
- Allow adding, deleting, and updating information or choose to limit access to viewing only so no changes can be made.
- Uses Apple Bonjour to automatically find shared Bento libraries on the same network.
*Sharing requires each user to have their own copy of Bento, and a local area network using a wired or Wi-Fi wireless connection.
*iCal events cannot be edited by others when sharing libraries.
Get even more new features that you'll wonder how you ever did without.
New--Group emailing
- Send one email to multiple recipients through Apple Mail with a few clicks.
- Select the email addresses that you'd like to send to in Table view, then choose 'Email Selected Addresses' from the Edit menu. Apple Mail opens, creates a new message, puts the selected email addresses in the 'To:" field and leaves the cursor in the Subject field so you can complete the group email.
Improved--Theme Chooser
- Browse, try, and apply themes more easily than in previous versions.
New--Print blank form
- Print a blank version of any form, great for surveys and sign up lists.
New--Copy forms
- Now you can copy forms within a library and between collections--a huge time saver and great way to keep things consistent throughout your libraries.
New--10 additional templates
Thanks to ten new, pre-designed templates, there are now a total of 35 to choose from. New templates include:
- vacation planner
- health records
- job search
- house search
- wine collection
- home maintenance
- party planner
- TV & movie catalog
- user names and passwords
- meeting notes
Price: $49.00
Introducing the Ikea "Manland": An Ikea store in Sydney, Australia,...
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Thursday, September 15, 2011, by Sally Kuchar
? Previous: Montclair Mid-Century Modern Chopped $25K
? Next: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive to Move In Together
Depeche Mode Founder Buys: Blast from the '80s past Vince...
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, September 21, 2011, by Sarah Firshein
? Previous: Take a Video Tour of the 72,000-Square-Foot Concrete Chateau
? Next: Controversies
Too Good Gourmet Strawberry Jam Jar Cookies, 8-Ounce Red Boxes (Pack of 4)
Too Good Gourmet makes every cookie, biscuit, and snack in the USA from top quality ingredients in our state of the art bakery. We use the latest technology in baking, packing, and enrobing our cookies and other products. We meticulously assemble each box by hand. Much of our packaging is very labor intensive to create, but we think it is worth it! We have a team of experienced assemblers who make sure each box is perfect before it ships to you. Too Good Gourmet was started by a mother/daughter team with a passion for baking and a love of working together. The company's core values include growth, flexibility, community, quality, value, and respect. These values drive our behavior in all internal and external interactions. Hopefully, you'll taste our treats and be able to tell that.Price: $26.80
Directions: "We haven't had any accidents, but...
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Friday, September 16, 2011, by Sally Kuchar
"We haven't had any accidents, but our fear is that there is going to be an accident," said police Capt. Al Casciato. Last month, a new southbound lane opened on a previously one-way, block-long section of Seventh Street just north of Market Street. It's supposed to direct buses, taxis, commercial vehicles onto Market Street, but not private vehicles. "I actually screamed when I saw it," Casciato, who heads the traffic division, said. "To me, I view it as a hazard." SFMTA spokesman Paul Rose said further safety changes could be made. [SF Examiner/photo via Ariel Dovas]
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Image Interlude: Here's a Photo of Rapper Ice Cube With an Eames House Bird
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, September 20, 2011, by Sarah Firshein
As Southern California readies itself for Pacific Standard Time—"an unprecedented collaboration of cultural institutions [...] coming together to celebrate the birth of the L.A. art scene—pre-release posters for the exhibition have seeped into the crevices of the Internet, even though some of the copy hasn't been finalized yet. Above: a photo of rapper and Los Angeles native Ice Cube standing tall with an Eames House Bird (presumably the original) perched on his shoulder. (As ArtInfo points out, the House Bird was not one of Ray and Charles Eames' designs but rather something they found, incorporated into their living room, used as a prop in many of their photos, and eventually licensed to Vitra to reproduce.) As one of the many Pacific Standard Time discussions, Ice Cube will host a lecture in which he "celebrate[s] how [the Eameses'] architecture and design have been important inspiration throughout [his] prolific career." The official poster will be released within the next few weeks.
· Pacific Standard Time [official site]
· Eames House Bird Sighting [ArtInfo]
· "Ice Cube Celebrates Ray & Charles Eames" Really Happening [Curbed LA]
The New Way of Renting: A woman renting a $2.5M mansion...
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, September 20, 2011, by Sarah Firshein
? Previous: Alex Rodriguez Awaits Completion of "A-Rodiculous" Manse
? Next: Chicago Architect Jeanne Gang Wins MacArthur Genius Grant
Red-Tagged: "If it is right, that because...
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, September 20, 2011, by Sally Kuchar
Comment of the Day: "lots of cool european design icons,...
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, September 21, 2011, by Sally Kuchar
? Previous: Get Your Beaux Arts On in the Tendernob
Quotes: Dawn of the Shadow Inventory!
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, September 20, 2011, by Anna Marie
It’s not a B-reel Harry Potter movie, folks; it’s a phenomenon by which the number of Notices of Default filed in August in the U.S. has spiked dramatically-- an overall increase of 116% --to the highest level in a year. An August 2011 ForeclosureRadar report shows that the Notices of Default (NOD) or Notices of Trustee Sale(TS) rose in nearly every state, with California’s NODs jumping 69.5% and TSs jumping 6.06% over the previous month. Alameda County Realtor Pacita Dimacali localizes the issue: “In my neck of the woods, the jump is even more dramatic”: NODs in Alameda County climbed to 71.97% over the previous month, while TS numbers grew 7.78% .“Just as we were seeing a slowing down of NODs and TSs, we are now rudely awakened by the drastic upward spike. We can assume that many loans are re-setting, and the property owners are unable to meet the higher mortgage payments. But [so many] in one month?”
· Dawn of the shadow inventory: a significant upswing in Notices of Default filed in California [Active Rain]
· ForeclosureRadar [website]
Monday, September 26, 2011
Toys 'n' Games: Guy Builds World's First Lego Greenhouse Using 100K Pieces
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, September 21, 2011, by Sarah Firshein
Photo via Co.Design
Oh, Lego: wherever will you go from here? You've conquered classic American architecture and climbed the world's tallest building and now you're playing a part in global agriculture. The world's first-ever greenhouse made entirely of Legos has debuted at the London Design Festival, where industrial designer Sebastian Bergne has used 100,000 pieces—50,000 clear ones for the roof and walls and 50,000 brown ones for the "soil"—to form the translucent structure. Impressive, right? It gets even better: Bergne told Co.Design, which first covered the story, that he threw the project together "in just one night, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m." Jeez, now you're just making us feel bad. Over here for more mindblowing photos.
· Lego to Immortalized Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House [Curbed National]
· Lego Announces Newest in Architecture Series: Burj Khalifa [Curbed National]
· A Greenhouse Made of 100,000 Legos [Co.Design]
Video Interlude: See Dick and Jane's Spot, a Wonderland of Wacky Lawn Art
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Monday, September 19, 2011, by Sarah Firshein
Photos via Unusual Life
Nearly three decades ago, an artist couple now known, simply, as Dick and Jane, decided to turn their Ellensburg, Wash., house—located some 120 miles southeast of Seattle—into a temple of weird and wacky public art. Now, more than 40 artists have left their mark on Dick and Jane's Spot, a space with more than 10,000 bottle caps, countless found objects (and scraps of found objects), curios as far as the eye and see, and the requisite quotes about life, happiness, laughter, and so on. Recently Seattle-based real estate consultant Marlow Harris, who runs a blog called Unusual Life, visited Jane at home—Dick passed away a few years ago—and filmed a video tour of her little Americana folk-art garden. After the jump, watch.
The Video:
· Dick and Jane's Spot [Unusual Life via Ugly House Photos]
· Dick and Jane's Spot [YouTube]
· Dick and Jane's Spot [official site]
OECD Composite Leading Indicators: July 2011
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Craigslist Chorales: For Sale: Beautiful Dresser and Mirror, Possibly Swastika Flag
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, September 20, 2011, by Sarah Firshein
A good person in Albany, N.Y., has taken to Craigslist to seek $200 for his six-drawer dresser and attached mirror, with the possibility of negotiating in a matching night stand. Look closely, however, and certain other of this person's proclivities become clear. It appears that the posting has been removed since Reddit got ahold of it, but meanwhile another swastika-themed Craigslist Albany ad lives on. Writes a New Lebanon, N.Y., man whose neighbor whose garage bears "a Nazi flag with swastika and Maltese cross": "[...] we had a slight screaming encounter about the boudary [sic] dispute."
· Found a nice dresser on Craigslist...good thing I'm a Raiders fan [Reddit]
· Swastika legal to display? [Craigslist Albany]
Radar Watching: July 2011
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See Dick and Jane's Awesome Lawn Art: Nearly three decades ago, an artist...
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Monday, September 19, 2011, by Sally Kuchar
? Previous: Special Screening
? Next: Appreciating the Tenderloin's History
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Linkage: The Shoe Table; Property Taxes Made Understandable; More!
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Handheld Vacation Ownership and Timeshare Calculator
This is the timeshare industry's 1st ever handheld calculator!! This Calculator, The Vacation Ownership Calculator will perform all standard real estate functions, but will also determine your clients Future Vacation Costs, as well as determining the difference between renting or purchasing your timeshare product. Will compare a timeshare purchase, to renting!!! A must have sales Tool!!!!! Order NOW!!!Price:
Bits Bucket for September 20, 2011
TV Preview: Hank Stuever reviews WEtv’s reality show ‘Downsized’
By Hank Stuever
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 6, 2010
It’s taken some time, but the Great Recession has at last produced a commendable reality show about the tug of shame and recompense that accompanies foreclosure, bankruptcy, underemployment, and the half-truths we tell ourselves about the economy and our personal values.
The show is WEtv’s arresting “Downsized,” which premieres Saturday night. It follows one family through money woes but also, bit by bit, chronicles the depressing loss of their middle-classdom. By no means a pure documentary, “Downsized” often feels as if Dorothea Lange had turned her lens on a downtrodden Brady Bunch: There’s a tender and no-nonsense tenor to it, which is a welcome switch from most of reality TV’s junky tropes. And since Saturday night on cable has curiously become a time in which we can communally fret about finances (a la “The Suze Orman Show” and “Til Debt Do Us Part”) “Downsized” also offers the viewer a smidge of hard-knocks catharsis.
Here is the Bruce family of Anthem, Ariz. — a Phoenix exurb — already well-wedged between their stucco-covered rock and a hard place: The 40-year-old husband, Todd, is a prideful, barrel-chested housing contractor who went belly-up in the real-estate mess. His business fell from what he says was an annual revenue of $1.5 million to zero. Hoping for a turnaround, he went bankrupt using his credit cards to meet his employees’ payroll.
His wife of five years, Laura, also 40, teaches first grade in a public school, earning $39,300 a year. Between them, Todd and Laura have seven children from their previous marriages, all of whom are among the most expensive kind of people in the world: American tweens and teens. They live together under one Spanish-tile roof — a 2,800 square-foot rental house that costs $1,700 a month. (The Bruces lost their much larger house to foreclosure in 2009, as well as a condo Todd bought as an investment property at the height of the market. With those losses went a host of luxuries — golfing, vacations, mall binges and some, but not all, of the usual array of electronica.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/05/AR2010110503763.html -
Downsized’ Renewed For A Second Season By WE TV For Summer …
4 Jan 2011 … WE TV RENEWS ORIGINAL SERIES “DOWNSIZED” FOR A … show three stars and Rachel Ray called it, “The most real reality show out there. …
10 Financial Lessons for Parents from ‘Downsized’ - DailyFinance
16 Aug 2011 … Downsized Tuesday’s season premiere of the reality show “Downsized” (We TV, 9 p.m., 8 p.m. CDT) reintroduces the Bruce-Rumsey clan of …
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/08/16/10-financial-lessons-for-parents-from-downsized/ - 113k - Cached - Similar pages
Tuesday’s season premiere of the reality show “Downsized” (We TV, 9 p.m., 8 p.m. CDT) reintroduces the Bruce-Rumsey clan of suburbanites turned dumpster divers. After getting sucked down the recession’s spiral, they’re clawing back up to rejoin the middle class.
When we met the family members on the show last year, they had two homes in foreclosure and a construction business on life support. The second season begins with the blended family of nine having a total of $18,000 in the bank. Everybody has a job, too.
Turf Wars: Cow Hollow: Tough Love For Transitional Housing
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, September 21, 2011, by Philip Ferrato
The Edward II Inn, Lombard & Scott Streets [Photo Credit: SF Appeal]
Young people get out of jail. They get out of foster homes, and they get out of drug rehab. Since they often have no place to go except the environments that got them into trouble in the first place- just like Lindsay Lohan- the city's trying to provide supportive housing. Not surprisingly the neighborhoods where these well-intentioned projects are planned are not always cooperative and welcoming. It's happening in the Mission, and it's happening in Cow Hollow, where neighbors are fighting a Special Use District (aka "spot zoning") to renovate the former bed & breakfast known as the Edward II Inn on Lombard Street to house young adults.
The gist of their argument is that the planned facility is conceptually flawed, not unwelcomed, and they're looking for changes. Unlike the planned Albion Street facility where neighbors seem to feel their way of life is under siege. Another planned facility at 800 Presidio Avenue is in flux over density and height limits; the city hopes to have 500 units of supportive, affordable housing for transitioning young people by 2016.
· Edward II Conversion [Cow Hollow Association]
· Showdown Over Marina District Affordable Housing Brews [SF Appeal]
· Albion Neighbors Aren't Pleased With 15th Street Group Housing [Curbed SF]
Before & After: Connie's Ugly to Unbelievable Dresser Salvage Savvy
As Connie admits, this dresser put the UG in ugly in its original state. In fact, she was a little embarrassed to even admit she was buying it at a Goodwill store. After a hefty dose of elbow grease and sweat equity, Connie gave the dresser an unbelievable makeover…
As Connie says on her blog, Salvage Savvy, I promise that if you find a DIY project that excites you, [enough to actually do it] that piece of furniture, art, etc. will become one of your favorites. You'll never go back... when your friends tell you how adorable your accent table is, and you get to say that you found it for $10 and paid another $10 to fix up... those words become addictive. This dresser makeover is definitely one of those pieces that friends will rave about.
The new paint colors are very playful and lend a modern vibe to the vintage piece. That Connie was able to salvage the original hardware by repainting them with the same silver as the edges of the dresser is a wonderful touch. It would be a shame to lose such funky drawer pulls.
Check out the full details on Connie's blog — Salvage Savvy: How to Paint a Dresser.
Images: Style Savvy
Smartmeter Protest; Award Winners; Best Bar in SF? More!
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Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Architecture of Yore: What's now known pejoratively as the...
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, September 20, 2011, by Sally Kuchar
? Previous: Views Galore Sells For a Pinch Under Asking
? Next: Red-Tagged
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New Jersey's Real Estate has successfully captured the sound of a late Sunday afternoon, in the dreaded hours before work or school claims your life again. The band's sweet, loose pop ballads recall a modern-day Everly Brothers, drifting and dreamlike, as their tales of suburban indifference and insecurity mask your own fears. Six new songs, and not a moment too soon.Price: $15.99
Philadelphia Feeling: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Business Outlook Survey September 2011
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Home Sales Bounce: Catching up to Spring?
Sales of existing homes took an unexpected and rare jump in August, rising 7.7 percent from July. Realtors say it's the result of delayed sales from the spring market, which they previously characterized as disappointing. The results were unexpected because the usual indicators no longer apply. Mortgage applications have been falling steadily, down again over four percent this week, even though interest rates are hovering near record lows. But mortgage volume doesn't tell us much because fewer buyers are using mortgages. 29 percent of home sales in August were all-cash purchases, largely by investors who returned to the market after a brief respite. 22 percent of buyers were investors, up from 18 percent in July. "Today's data reflects contract signings that took place in May and June, well before much changed in the global economy in Aug, thus today's figure can be seen as old news," notes Peter Boockvar, an analyst at Miller Tabak. The bump from leftover Spring sales does not appear to have much mojo heading into the Fall, given the dip in consumer confidence and a change in the conforming loan limits that will push some housing markets into the jumbo range next month. Sales contract cancellations also jumped, with 18 percent of Realtors surveyed reporting at least one canceled sale. That's up from 16 percent in July and a norm of around 4 percent. With distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) still making up one third of this housing market and investors driving any sales gains, the outlook for price increases, or even price stabilization remains bleak. Prices are still down over 5 percent in August from a year ago and in the West, where sales spiked over 18 percent, prices dropped in line with that, down 13 percent. "Given the recent sharp falls in equity prices and consumer confidence, there is a real risk that the 7.7 percent m/m rise in existing home sales in August will not be sustained," says Paul Dales of Capital Economics. "Without a significant surge in sales, sustained price gains just aren't possible." Questions? Comments? document.write("");document.write("RealtyCheck"+"@"+"cnbc.com");document.write('');And follow me on Twitter @Diana_OlickTurf Wars: Uh Oh: Is Dolores Park a Historical Landmark?
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Monday, September 19, 2011, by Sally Kuchar
[Home of Peace Cemetery, looking east from Church Street, 1880 via FoundSF.org]
A draft of the Historic Resource Evaluation Report on the history of Dolores Park may spark the imagination and send San Franciscans back to years past, but could it extinguish the renovation plan that is already well underway?
The project plans have already been complicated by neighborhood resistance, questions about how wide the ADA actually requires access paths to be, and even the possibility of disturbing undiscovered graves that may not have been removed when the park was converted from a cemetery. But just because something is listed on the National Register doesn't mean changes have to be approved by anybody. It's an honorary list, and has no regulatory power. - Cole Armstrong
· Dolores Park: An Historical Landmark? [Mission Loc@l]
· Mission Dolores Park Historic Resource Evaluation [PDF]
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Friday, September 23, 2011
Reading Rates: MBA Application Survey – September 14 2011
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10 Worthwhile Reminders: Home is the Heart of Life
Last week, Sarah Rae Trover wrote a beautiful post entitled 5 Completely Free Ways Make your House a Home. It reminded me about a quote I read last year that really changed my perspective on my home, specifically on taking care of my home. Anyone who knows me well will tell you that cleaning is not something that I enjoy.
I used to procrastinate all household chores until the last possible second. (As in, ten minutes before someone came over.) Then I read this quote from a book called "Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy" that was given to me by my sister-in-law:
Time to dust again. Time to caress my house, to stroke all its surfaces. I want to think of it as a kind of lovemaking ...the chance to appreciate by touch what I live with and cherish.-Gunilla Norris
Reading that quote made me decide that I was going to stop dreading household work. Instead, I was going to try to see it as taking care of my home, taking time to cherish the things that I have, and taking time to be thankful for all of the experiences and memories that are expressed in my home. Lovemaking might be a bit of a stretch, but I began to see taking care of my home in a new light. Folding laundry, cleaning the kitchen counter, and unloading the dishwasher became just as important in caring for my family as tucking my kids in or giving them a much-needed hug.
The quote also reminded me that homes are like precious family members that need to be cared for, loved, and appreciated. It reminded me that homes are not bound by the walls that hold them together, and that they are filled with memories, love, and joy. It reminded me that homes are our sanctuaries, our places of refuge, of solace, and of peace. I took a look around to find some other quotes that evoke the same feelings of love and care for the home.
Here are 10 beautiful quotes to help remind us of the true value of the meaning of the word home.
1. "The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." - Maya Angelou
I love this definition of the word home..."the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." Our homes take us in at our best, at our worst, and everywhere in between. Even as an adult, I still feel that ache for home. There is nothing better than climbing into your own bed, in your own home when you are physically or mentally exhausted.
2. "Home is where one starts from." -T. S. Eliot
Home is our starting point. Most of our first experiences happen at home. First laugh. First steps. First words. In our homes we build relationships and skills that will deeply affect us for the rest of our lives. Home is the beginning; it is where we start (or re-start.)
3. "There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort." - Jane Austen
When you are tired, run-down, sad, lonely, sick, or just plain burnt out… is there anything better than staying at home? There is something about the walls of your own home; they seem to just reach down and give you a big hug, and tell you that everything is going to be all right.
4. "Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts." -Oliver Wendell Holmes
I love this quote because it reminds me of all of the homes (not just my own) where I have loved, been loved, and feel at home. My maternal grandparents' apartment. The house I grew up in. The house my grandmother lived in for 50 years but sold to move to Florida. The love in those places was significant and even an image or a brief thought about them makes me feel better.
5. "Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than any magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration." -Charles Dickens
There is, I think, something magical about home. Whether you are a kid finding the best places to hide your Star Wars collection, or an adult putting the key into the lock after a long day, there is something about coming home that is somewhat magical. You walk in the door and things feel a little bit lighter. You settle into your favorite chair for the night and your home embraces you; makes you feel supported, taken care of, and at peace.
6. "Home, the spot of earth supremely blest, A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest" - Robert Montgomery
"The spot of earth supremely blest". . .what a great description. By gathering with our friends or family, and building up a collection of cherished memories and experiences, we bless the space around our homes. We create a space that is powerful - one that can carry us through anything.
7. "Where is home? Home is where the heart can laugh without shyness. Home is where the heart's tears can dry at their own pace." - Vernon Baker
Home is where we can truly be ourselves. Where we don't have to hide anything about who we are, how we are feeling or what we are thinking. I love the expression of letting the "heart's tears...dry at their own pace." Home is where we can put down the roles that we sometimes play and just let everything go.
8. "We shape our dwellings, and afterwards, our dwellings shape us." - Winston Churchill
I think this quote really sums up the significance of building a home that is healthy and happy, in aesthetics but more importantly, in spirit. A home that is comfortable, beautiful and full of love. When you are surrounded by those things, positive feelings seem to manifest themselves.
9. "Home is the heart of life... Home is where we feel at ease, where we belong, where we can create surroundings that reflect our tastes and pleasures... Making a home is a form of creativity open to everyone." - Terence Conran
The art of making a home. No insignificant task. I love this idea of the art form of making a home. More than making a place that is pleasant to the eye, it is also about making a place that is a representation of who we are and what we love. An art that is open to everyone.
10. "There is room in the smallest cottage for a happy loving pair." - Johann Friedrich Von Schiller
Small in size, but vast in heart. I think we have seen many of these homes on Apartment Therapy over the years. Homes with character and love that emanate from their beautiful photos. Thank you, Apartment Therapy readers, for sharing your homes with us over the years. For by doing so, you have also been brave enough to share your heart.
Image: Juan Enriquez/Beatrice & Ramsey's Cultured Echo Park Casa
[RBI Pending Home Sales Index] Washington, D.C. Metro Area 8-2011 – Despite Natural Disasters, Seasonal Patterns
[click to open release]
Today we released the RBI Pending Home Sales Index for both Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metro area housing markets for RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI), the research, analytics arm of MRIS, the largest MLS in the country. It is released 10 days after the close of each period (the 12th this month because of the weekend), about 3 weeks before the NAR Pending Home Sale Index and 182 days before the Case Shiller Home Price Index covering the same period.
Here’s an excerpt from the just released August 2011 RBI Pending Home Sales Index [Washington, D.C. Metro Area] report:
…The last month of summer provided an unusual amount of economic uncertainty caused by the S&P downgrade of U.S. debt after July’s raucous political debates on the debt ceiling. There was a widely held expectation that consumers would delay their home purchases until they felt more comfortable with the impact to the economy. For the Washington, D.C. metro area, there was no apparent impact on the volume of new pending sales beyond seasonal patterns. There were 4,169 contracts signed in August 2011, 8.6% less than the 4,563 contracts signed in July, consistent with the 5-year 9% average month-over-month decline and the ten year 7.5% average month-over-month decline. The monthly total was the highest number of August signed contracts in 4 years. New pending sales were 19.9% above the August 2010 level but that increase is exaggerated due to the dearth of activity in the months following the expiration of the federal homebuyers tax credit in April 2010. The median sales price for August 2011 showed a similar seasonal pattern, declining 3.8% to $356,000 from $370,000 in July 2011 but was essentially unchanged from August 2011. Median sales price has averaged a 3.6% month-over-month decline over 5 years and a 2.2% month-over-month decline over ten years…
RBI Pending Home Sales Index™ [Washington, D.C. Metro Area]
Appraiser Street Gangs
This was sent to me by an appraiser colleague (obviously) and used without formal permission, but hey, I am plugging this strip – it has always been my favorite. Now I know why.
Fantastically Decorated Victorian Lands on the MLS
× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, September 20, 2011, by Sally Kuchar Sure, the decor might not be your cup of tea, but can we agree that it's very "classy Grandma"? And yes, we mean that as a compliment. $2,300,000 gets you three bedrooms, three and a half baths, and three levels that make up a little over 2,500 square feet. Property highlights include a "fantastic" garden with a hot tub and a fountain; bedrooms with private patios, and enough built-in bookcases to display all of your iPads and decorative boxes.
· 141 2nd Avenue [Redfin]
· 141 2nd Avenue [Redfin]
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Reading Rates: MBA Application Survey – September 21 2011
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Room Juice: Custom Online Interior Design Store Profile
Specialty: Affordable online interior design services Price Range: ($) Budget
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For more about Room Juice, visit their store page over at Marketplace.
Image via Room Juice
The Opportunity Evaluator by J Scott Scheel
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Existing Home Sales Report: August 2011
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A Price War And A Beauty Contest
A report from the Capital. “In the past several years, the luster has been lost on the concept that real estate is a great way to make money. Once thought to be invulnerable to declines in value, real estate has now been brought down to earth. Nevertheless, there are some examples out there that show how a piece of property has the potential to appreciate in ways that would make getting in on the ground floor of Google or Apple pale in comparison.”
“For example, on the outskirts of Annapolis, there’s a beautiful waterfront community called Fishing Creek Farm. Last week, a new listing popped up in Fishing Creek. With an asking price of $15 million, it’s the second most expensive property currently on the market in all of Maryland. Just off the South River, you get a cozy 12,000 square-foot house on over six acres of primo waterfront, an eight-car garage for your land toys and a 196-foot pier with two boat barns.”
“We came across the original contract of sale for the land that ultimately became this enclave of exclusive homes, dated Aug. 13, 1941. So, in a place where you can now pay $15 million for a 6 acre estate, what did the whole 250 acre shootin’ match cost back in 1941? The contract sales price was $30,000!”
“Even though the housing market has taken its lumps in the last several years, real estate will always be a good long-term investment. Like they say, God ain’t makin’ no more dirt, and a couple hundred years from now, people will be saying, ‘Can you imagine that house in Fishing Creek was selling for only $15 million back in 2011?’”
From Consumer Affairs. “What’s most needed to get the economy moving again is consumer confidence, according to Mortgage Bankers Association President David Stevens, who blames the media for a relentless drumbeat of negative headlines. ‘You don’t see stories about good buying opportunities out there. You only see stories about foreclosures,’ Stevens said at a recent economic conference sponsored by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors.”
“‘The Echo Boom, born from 1981 to 1991, is going to cause an extraordinary demand for homes. They will be more urban, more Latino and will marry later but it is a huge generation and its impact with be huge,’ Stevens predicted. Whether that generation winds up renting or buying will be a major factor in the nation’s future economic well-being, he said.”
“If government regulations or onerous lending standards result in homebuyers needing a 20% down payment, ‘That’s nothing more than saying you can buy a home if you’re rich. If you’re not, you’re going to (be) a renter for life,’ Stevens said.”
The Sun Gazette in Virginia. “Nearly one in four homes in Virginia with a mortgage attached to it is ‘under water.’ Virginia’s rate of 23.3 percent is nearly a full percentage point higher than the national average, according to new statistics released by CoreLogic. In addition to the homeowners in Virginia whose mortgages exceed the current value of their properties, an additional 6.1 percent are in the ‘near-negative’ category, where property values are within 5 percent of the amount owed on the mortgage. That rate, too, is higher than the national average.”
“The situation was worse in the Washington metropolitan area: Counting the District of Columbia and Maryland suburbs in addition to Northern Virginia, nearly 290,000 residential properties with a mortgage – 28.3 percent – were in a negative-equity condition in the second quarter, with an additional 5.5 percent approaching that situation.”
“In Virginia, homeowners with mortgages own a collective $426.8 billion in residential real estate, and owe just under $305 billion to lenders – a ratio of 71.7 percent. Nationally, the rate is 69.8 percent, representing $12.6 trillion in property value and $8.8 trillion in mortgage debt.”
The Virginian Pilot. “Alan Turissini of the Hampton Roads Real Estate Group of Keller Williams Elite Realtors has been listing bank-owned property for more than six years. Based on his research for broker price opinions, he said, the foreclosure rate in Hampton Roads ‘appears to have peaked, as there are less bank-owned listings in the last two months.’ Some areas, including downtown Newport News and Portsmouth, ‘were hit much harder by the foreclosure rate,’ Turissini said. Some local bank-owned houses have sold for less than $10,000.”
“Dirghayu Desai and his wife had searched for more than two years. He’d be hard-pressed to have found anything better than 6,300 square feet of brick-, mural- and granite-clad luxury within a budget that would have bought half the house only six years earlier. In fact, this home had been listed this year for $1.2 million - about $100,000 more than its 2004 purchase price. A bidding war ended at $625,000, a victory for the Desai family.”
“As a buyer, Desai recognizes his good fortune. As a seller, he realizes that his competition now includes banks. ‘So what I gain here I should be ready to lose’ on the other side, he noted.”
“Homes within the high-end market, priced at $800,000 and up, can take as long as 36 months to move, said Brenda Rawls, a Realtor with Rose & Womble Realty in Virginia Beach. She presents figures and facts, based on analysis of current absorption rates, and the seller must decide whether to price it to sell or to sit. ‘We are in a price war and a beauty contest,’ she opined.”
The Gazette in Maryland. “Existing-home sales rose last month by 4 percent in Maryland, as the median price declined by 6 percent to $241,564. Baltimore and Prince George’s counties saw the biggest jumps of 106 and 43 more sales, respectively. In Prince George’s, where sales rose by 6.4 percent over August 2010, the median sales price last month was $160,000, down 14 percent from a year ago. The median price in Baltimore County declined by 3 percent to $210,000, while sales jumped by 21.5 percent.”
“‘It’s a good time to buy with the low interest rates and prices,’ said Joanne Darling, president of the Prince George’s County Association of Realtors. ‘Many counties around us are seeing prices rise, while they continue to go down in Prince George’s. We are seeing a lot more buyers than a year ago, and ultimately that competition will drive prices higher.’”
From WBTV in North Carolina. “Tensions boiled over at homeowner’s association meeting in one east Charlotte neighborhood Tuesday night, prompting the president to quit mid-meeting. Neighbors gathered in the Boulder Creek community to angrily express their frustration over having to pay extra HOA fees to make up for a budget shortfall.”
“The board’s president came under fire repeatedly and at one point in the meeting he angrily said, ‘I’ve given up so much of my life to this HOA and all you people are looking at me like I’m the devil.’”
“After the outburst, he walked away fuming but eventually came back and continued the meeting. Boulder Creek’s board has been under fire for sending out a letter requiring homeowners to pay an extra $100 dollars in addition to the annual $230 annual HOA fee. The added assessment is to cover the thousands of dollars the budget is in the red over because dozens of homeowners are behind on their fees.”
“Several residents questioned why they had to pay extra. ‘I don’t have it,’ said one homeowner. ‘And that’s the bottom line.’ Wanda Hampton, another homeowner agreed and said, ‘I don’t owe y’all nothing and you will not get it.’”
“Fairness aside, the Boulder Creek HOA has the law on its side. North Carolina law gives HOA wide latitude allowing them to take the necessary steps to collect the fees — even threatening foreclosure. But Hampton said she isn’t backing down. ‘Like I told them, I’m not paying mine so they do whatever they have to do,’ she said. ‘Because I paid my $230 already and I refuse to pay another $100 for somebody else’s mistakes.’”
The Gaston Gazette in North Carolina. “Community One Bank foreclosed this month on every unsold home and piece of land in Gastonia’s Village at the Mountain subdivision. The neighborhood is home to upscale townhomes, which I understand developers wanted to call unpaired villas.”
“County records show homes in the area sold for as much as $285,000 in 2007. The most recent townhome – or villa – to sell went for $215,000 in August 2009. The last land to sell was a 0.09-acre parcel that went for $29,000 in December.”
The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. “A former loan officer at the troubled Beazer Homes USA Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to criminal fraud charges filed Monday in federal court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Authorities charged Janette Parker, who oversaw Beazer Mortgage Corp. branches in the Carolinas and Tennessee, with three counts of mortgage fraud.”
“Court documents say she inflated the price of Beazer homes to account for buyers’ down-payment assistance - justifying the increases through false ‘upgrades’ and revised sales contracts - causing the properties to be overvalued when submitted to the Federal Housing Administration for insurance.”
“She will appear in court to enter her guilty plea and faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison for each charge, plus a fine of up to $250,000. ‘The prosecution of Ms. Parker turns the page on another chapter in the Beazer investigation,’ said U.S. Attorney David Brown of the Western District of North Carolina. ‘Ms. Parker is taking responsibility for her part in the mortgage fraud scandal caused in this district by the illegal business practices of some former Beazer Mortgage employees.’”
“The charges are the latest in a string of civil and criminal actions against the Atlanta homebuilder and its employees. The investigations followed a 2007 Observer series that found that Beazer, then a major Charlotte-area homebuilder, arranged larger loans than some customers could afford and violated federal lending rules.”
“According to court filings, Parker - who served as branch manager in Charlotte and Columbia, S.C., and later oversaw mortgage offices in Raleigh and Nashville, Tenn. - communicated with appraisers to influence them to report increased values for some homes. Parker also had Beazer sales agents add false upgrades to justify price increases, and revised sales contracts to increase sales prices and loan amounts to account for down-payment assistance, the court filing said.”
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