Posts with tag housing

What do the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago housing market have in common? They'll both have to wait at least another year for redemption. But bad news for Chicago's housing market - it may have to wait even longer than the Super Bowl losers. According to John Burns Real Estate Consulting, an Irvine, Calif.-based... Continue Reading »

The movement dedicated to prefabricated contemporary houses didn't have a banner year in 2009, what with the May closure of mini-industry leader Michelle Kaufmann Designs. But the setbacks haven't kept architects from fantasizing about new solutions for prefab, and the remaining adventurous manufacturers from turning those... Continue Reading »

Super Bowl week is a boon for South Florida businesses, but a bust for its real estate market. But that's not necessarily a sign of bad times. "Other than weekly rentals, the Super Bowl is not big for us," said Miami Real Estate broker and blogger Riley Smith. "But it doesn't matter because this is our biggest time of... Continue Reading »

It's a shed. It's a work studio. It's a bedroom for your mother-in-law. Yes! We're talking about pre-fabricated home additions by the Seattle-based Modern Shed. These structures are unattached to the primary home and can range from uninsulated traditional storage sheds to the more finished 'modern shed' complete with... Continue Reading »

You won't have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to kick around anymore, at least if Rep. Barney Frank has anything to say about it. As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank is certainly in a position to influence the decision about what will happen to these two mortgage companies now under conservatorship... Continue Reading »

So you want to live in a home on a golf course? You may want think twice about that. The cachet that comes from that beautiful expanse of green outside your window and country club living, also comes with...golf balls. Hundreds and hundreds of golf balls. Ask Willam and Dorothy Abbott in North Naples, Fla. For more... Continue Reading »

The Great Recession continues to sap so much of what we Americans hold dear -- our jobs, homes, retirement savings, and optimism. Now comes another low blow: if you do manage to buy a home nowadays, it's likely to be smaller than your neighbor's. Homes being built now are actually shrinking in size, suggesting that the... Continue Reading »

If you're looking for a sunny outlook on the economy, skip the International Builders' Show in Las Vegas. The outlook for home builders is poor with only a slight chance of recovery in 2010. Ongoing joblessness and steady foreclosures are keeping U.S. builders from feeling confident about a quick recovery for the housing... Continue Reading »

In 1954, Buckminster Fuller received the U.S. patent for the geodesic dome, a hemi-spherical structure built on a frame of interlocking polygons. (Picture living inside of a giant soccer ball, and you're not far off.) Fuller hoped that geodesic dome structures would catch on big as a solution to the postwar housing crisis.... Continue Reading »

When you live above a construction site, the promise of waking up to birds, instead of bulldozers, and sunshine, instead of tarp-covered scaffolding, is what gets you through. 'One day,' you think to yourself. 'I'll walk down my block without worrying about being crushed by a 25-story crane.' Dream on. Construction has... Continue Reading »