One couple that had been collecting welfare while living in a luxurious waterfront home would appear to have just learned an important lesson: Don't mess with Uncle Sam. The two Seattle residents drew widespread media ... Read More »
The Hawaii Legislature and Massachusetts House of Representatives passed bills that put tougher restrictions on foreclosures. In Hawaii, the new bill updates the state's foreclosure law, which was called the strongest in the ... Read More »
A former police sergeant and a New York attorney are being charged with stealing $4.7 million from investors using an elaborate real estate scam. James Monahan, who worked for the New York Police Department from 1994 to 2005, ... Read More »
WASHINGTON -- Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to record lows for the third straight week. The steady decline has made homebuying and refinancing more affordable than ever for those who can ... Read More »
WASHINGTON -- Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to record lows for the third straight week. The steady decline has made homebuying and refinancing more affordable than ever for those who can qualify. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on the 30-year loan dipped to 3.79 percent. That's ... Continue Reading »
There's nothing quite like the lure of an open house sign. Granted, you might not be in the neighborhood (or tax bracket) for many of these outstanding properties, but there's still plenty to admire -- even from the comfort of your swivel chair. From coast to coast, and everything in-between, we lay down the welcome mat ... Continue Reading »
We've seen plenty of cases of homeowners displaying brazen disregard for their neighbors. There was a resident who tried to sabotage the sale of a home next door by trumpeting all the reasons why he'd be an awful neighbor, for example, as well as a man in Australia who erected an outdoor sculpture of a hand with an ... Continue Reading »
Ryan Seacrest, host of American Idol, has officially purchased talk show host Ellen DeGeneres's Beverly Hills estate for $37 million. DeGeneres originally asked $49 million for the 3-acre property, which has a 9,200-square-foot main house, three guest houses, an outdoor pool, covered lounging and dining areas, and ... Continue Reading »
Rick Judson, owner of Evergreen Development Group, recalls the bottom of the housing crisis when home construction had plunged by more than 80 percent in some states, and many builders had either lost their jobs or were barely hanging onto them. Well, good news, he says: For many builders, those days are over. "The ... Continue Reading »
Edwin Catmull, president of Walt Disney Animation Studios and of Pixar Animation Studios, is selling his Georgian Colonial estate near San Francisco. This "Incredible" 8,864-square-foot home in the community of Kentfield, Calif., sits on 2/3-acre, fully fenced lot and was completely rebuilt in 2000 by architect Steve ... Continue Reading »
It's bad enough to be spotted by the nextdoor neighbor when you're trying to break into a house. It's even worse when the next-door neighbor is a cop. That's what happened to a pair of purported contractors in Dacula, Ga. An off-duty police officer noticed the couple trying to jimmy open the front door of the vacant ... Continue Reading »
By Les Christie The film emperor may be striking back. For 25 years, filmmaker George Lucas tried to persuade his Marin County, Calif., neighbors to let him build a digital production studio on his ranch there, but the area's residents thwarted the plan. So Lucas has come up with an alternative for his Grady Ranch ... Continue Reading »
Pay more now for a chance to save much more later? That's the idea behind paying "points" on a mortgage loan. But it doesn't necessarily make sense for every homeowner. Mortgage points provide an opportunity for borrowers to lower their monthly mortgage payments by paying a lump sum at a loan's closing in exchange for ... Continue Reading »
Homeowners who welcomed the recent "robosigning" settlement while thinking that it might offer them some relief on their "underwater" mortgages may see those funds diverted for other purposes in nearly half of the states involved. The $25 billion settlement over illegal foreclosures that was reached between state ... Continue Reading »
When we say that this $4.995 million house has it all, we're hardly exaggerating. The six-bedroom colonial is located on a breathtaking 35-acre estate in River Hills, Wis. On those 35 acres, you'll find a pond with a beach and pier, a pool with a custom granite diving board, a tennis court, an orchard with apple, pear ... Continue Reading »
In what may go down as a banner day for the housing market, three pieces of good news out today point to the possibility of a recovery on multiple fronts. Homebuilder confidence hit a five-year high, while housing affordability -- an index based on the relationship between median home prices, median family incomes, and ... Continue Reading »
