AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog/media/feedlogo.gif AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Ricardo Cerezo, Facing Eviction, Finds $4.85 Million Lottery Tickethttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/ricardo-cerezo-finds-winning-lottery-ticket/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/ricardo-cerezo-finds-winning-lottery-ticket/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/ricardo-cerezo-finds-winning-lottery-ticket/#commentsFiled under: ,

Ricardo Cerezo of Geneva, Ill., with lottery ticket that saved him from foreclosure

Man about to lose his home, finds lottery ticket and wins millions of dollars: It's the stuff of dreams, right? Well for Ricardo Cerezo of Geneva, Ill., that scenario was a reality.

In February, Cerezo appeared at a foreclosure hearing where he was told he had mere months before his family was to be evicted from his home, the Chicago Tribune reported. Three months later, Cerezo's wife was cleaning out the kitchen and asked Cerezo to tend to the stash of old lottery tickets that had been piling up in a glass cookie jar over the past month -- an "old habit" he had, according to ABC News. "It was either take them, get them checked, or she was going to trash them that night," Cerezo told the Chicago Tribune.

So Cerezo took the tickets to a 7-Eleven nearby and had them scanned. The first eight or nine tickets didn't yield any results, one yielded $3. "The last ticket said, 'file a claim.' Not a congratulations, not an amount, just said 'file a claim," NBC Chicago reported Cerezo as saying.

He went home to check the numbers online and was shocked to discover that he might be a big winner. "So I called my son over, and I asked him to double check this," Cerezo told Chicago TV station WGN. "And he looked it through and said 'Yes, it looks like a winner.' " The Illinois Lottery confirmed that the piece of paper was worth a whopping $4.85 million. Needless to say, Cerezo's family is no longer facing foreclosure: They'll pay off their house in full, Cerezo said, and will even have some change left over.



See more on the foreclosure settlement:
Robo-Signing Scandal: Hundreds More Military Members Were Victims
Do Banks or Homeowners Win in Mortgage Settlement?
Foreclosure Settlement Money: Are States Using It the Right Way?

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]]>chicagoevictionforeclosuregeneva illinoisIllinois lotteryricardo cervezoricardo cervezo lottery ticketAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-17T17:00:00 00:00Tenants of Manhattan Complex Irate Over Mid-Lease Rent Hikeshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/tenants-manhattan-midlease-rent-hikes/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/tenants-manhattan-midlease-rent-hikes/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/tenants-manhattan-midlease-rent-hikes/#commentsFiled under: ,

Rent protest Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village

Tenants of a New York City apartment complex are fuming after its owner raised their rents -- some by more than $1,000 a month -- in the middle of their leases, WABC-TV in New York reported. Residents of the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village complex on the east side of Manhattan got the surprise rent hikes when notices were slipped under their doors. Four thousand units are being affected by the increases.

The rent hikes are part of a longstanding court battle between tenants and building management. In 2009, tenants won a fight against Tishman Speyer, then-owner of the complex, charging that many apartments were illegally deregulated under rent-stabilization laws. The tenants were given a temporary agreement to lower rents. But a permanent settlement was reached in November, allowing the current owner, CW Capital, to raise rents on 4,000 units, according to the Daily News. Now the notices give those residents two weeks' notice that there rents will be raised anywhere from hundreds of dollars to $1,100 a month starting June 1. (The complex has 11,200 units.)

"We signed a two-year lease, we've been here for one year and our rent just went up $700," tenant Heidi Fredrick told WABC-TV. Another tenant, Jennifer Lutz, had a $1,000 hike on her rent. "Oh, there's no way -- it's $1,000," Lutz told WABC-TV. "That's $12,000 a year."

Tenants are reportedly planning to protest the rent increases, and they are even considering a rent strike. "It is simply unfair and disrespectful, and we are tired of people treating this community like an ATM," New York City Councilman and Peter Cooper Village resident Daniel Garodnick told the Daily News. "Make no mistake about it. These increases are eviction notices."

CW Capital said in a statement that in recognition of the hardship the short-notice rent increases causes for some residents, the company is willing to give them a 30-day extension until July 1 to decide whether they will pay the rent hikes or move out.



See more on landlord disputes:
When You Can Force Your Landlord To Listen To You
Gun Owner Sean Blakley Says Landlord Is Evicting Him Over Firearms
Tenants' Rights in Eviction: When Do Landlords Go Too Far?

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]]>landlord disputesrent controlrenters+rulesrentingStuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Villagetenants rightsTishman SpeyerAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-17T15:00:00 00:00Pets in Listing Photos: Cute But Maybe Not Good for a Salehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/17/pets-listing-photos/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/17/pets-listing-photos/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/17/pets-listing-photos/#commentsFiled under: ,

Property Listing Tips: Should You Put Your Dog in the Listing Photograph?


Humans are known to discard all pretenses of rational thinking when it comes to pets, but could photos of playful pups in real estate listings really drive purchases?

New York realtor Phyllis Galloway thinks so, and in her 30 years at Sotheby's International Realty she's made a name for herself marketing homes to pet owners. "Pets warm up a listing and give a home character," she told The Wall Street Journal.

But Galloway also recognizes that people who don't like animals or have allergies may be turned off. And although pets draw eyeballs to a listing, it usually ends up becoming all about the sweet-faced quadruped rather than the property on sale.

"Eight out of 10 people -- if you show them a photo with a dog in it, they wouldn't remember the apartment, they would remember the dog," Nicole Oge, senior vice president of marketing at Town Residential, told the Journal.

See more on real estate listing practices:
Photoshopped Listings Sometimes Make for Not-So-Real Estate
Home Listings: 10 Terms That Can Kill a Sale
Real Estate Broker Warms Up Cold Listings With Hot Models

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]]>petspets in listing photosPhyllis GallowayReal Estate listingsAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-17T11:00:00 00:00Ariel Castro's Cleveland Home Becomes a 'Tourist Destination'http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/ariel-castro-cleveland-home-tourists/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/ariel-castro-cleveland-home-tourists/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/ariel-castro-cleveland-home-tourists/#commentsFiled under: ,

Visitor with camera at Ariel Castro home

The white-shingled, two-story home at 2207 Seymour Ave. in Cleveland might look like many American homes from the outside -- if it weren't for the tall chain-link fence now surrounding it and the crowds of visitors fighting to take pictures. The home, where Ariel Castro allegedly held Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight captive for more than a decade, has become the city's latest tourist attraction for all the wrong reasons.

Fencing, police tape surround Ariel Castro homeDespite the fence and a police officer guarding the home at all times, the curious continue to gather at the Castro home, Cleveland TV station WKYC reported. "It's like they got a movie or something over there. [This is] going to last all this week. Watch. A lot of people are going to come from other states to take a picture of the house," neighbor Arivar Santiago told the station.

Even area residents are keen to see Cleveland's "newest destination" in person. "I just came to see it with my own eyes. But next time I come, I'll probably bring my cellphone, take a picture," Stan Miller, who lives about 10 miles from the house, told WKYC.

The property already appears to have joined many other homes that have been stigmatized by notorious crimes -- the Akron, Ohio, childhood home of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, for example, or the Houston home where Andrea Yates drowned her five children. Homes such as these have been known to drop sharply in value because of their chilling associations.

According to MSNBC, neighbors already are hoping to see the home burned or knocked down, and are getting some support from City Hall. "It is too early to tell right now how long it will take before we are able to demolish it, but that is what our hope is," Cleveland City Councilman Brian Cummins told MSNBC. But it's more likely that the house will remain in limbo while Castro is on trial.



See more about crime scene real estate:
Bad Neighbors: Why the Brothel-Next-Door Goes Unnoticed
Black Dahlia' Murder Home?
Adam Lanza's Newtown Home Was 'Black Spot' in Neighborhood, Resident Says

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]]>amanda berryAriel Castroariel castro homeclevelandcleveland real estatecrime scene real estateGina DeJesusMichelle Knightseymour avenueAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-16T16:31:00 00:00Tenants: Stench of Death Makes St. Louis Complex 'Unlivable'http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/16/death-smell-st-louis-apartments/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/16/death-smell-st-louis-apartments/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/16/death-smell-st-louis-apartments/#commentsFiled under:

Canyon Creek Apartments in St. Louis, Mo.

We've seen some pretty bad things drive tenants out of their apartments and homes -- sewage leaks, mold, rodents and bedbugs -- but this case is easily one of the most morbid. Residents of a St. Louis, Mo., apartment complex are in an "unlivable" situation due to the strong, putrid smell of a decaying body permeating the property.

St. Louis TV station KMOV-4 reports that police found the source of the lingering stench: A man, found dead in one of the apartments, and that police confirm that he had been dead for at least three weeks.

Residents of Canyon Creek Apartments say that the stench remaining after the removal of the body has spread across the complex and has brought in flies. According to crime scene cleanup firm Bio Ops, the decaying body smell can seep into wood, brick and metal -- and if left untreated, can last indefinitely. "It's pretty bad, you got the odor in your clothes and hair. You're licking and smelling it," neighbor Tom Shaeffer told the TV station.

Though the owner of the apartment complex confirms that there have been cleanup efforts, with more to come, residents say that they can't take it much longer and want to move. Residents tell KMOV-4 that they are concerned that if they do move they will be charged a transfer fee and a fee for breaking the lease.




See more on landlord disputes:
When You Can Force Your Landlord To Listen To You
Gun Owner Sean Blakley Says Landlord Is Evicting Him Over Firearms
Tenants' Rights in Eviction: When Do Landlords Go Too Far?

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]]>apartment livingCanyon Creek Apartmentscanyon creek apartments dead bodycanyoncreekapartmentsdeadbodydecaying body smelllandlord disputesrenters+rulesst louisst louis real estateunlivable conditionsAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-16T13:34:00 00:00$1,600 Utility Bill for Home Leveled During Hurricane Sandyhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/kiernan-burke-utility-bill-hurricane-sandy/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/kiernan-burke-utility-bill-hurricane-sandy/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/kiernan-burke-utility-bill-hurricane-sandy/#commentsFiled under:



Kiernan Burke, a resident in the Queens borough of New York City, was charged $1,600 for electricity and gas usage over the past seven months, and he would dutifully pay his debt -- if his home had even existed in that time. The Burke family's home was destroyed in October 2012 by a fire that swallowed a swath of the Breezy Point neighborhood in Queens as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Their house -- which had been in the Burke family for four generations -- was one of 80 to 100 that burned to the ground and Sandy roared through.

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Still, the Long Island Power Authority continued to bill the Burkes, NBC New York has reported. And here's the rub: The Burkes said that they believe LIPA is responsible for the fire that ravaged the neighborhood because the utility company never cut off power to the area during Sandy. Several Breezy Point families who lost their homes are suing LIPA for that reason.

"How on earth could they, with a straight face, not even have the common courtesy and the dignity to understand that certain addresses were wiped off the map by their negligence?" Kiernan Burke told NBC New York. "It's just the highest level of ineptitude. It's crazy." LIPA, however, said that the bills were based on estimated meter readings -- although no meter survived at the Burke's former residence or at any of the homes in Breezy Point that were destroyed.

Burke told NBC New York that although LIPA recently informed him that he won't have to pay the electricity bills, he worries about his credit as he tries to rebuild his life.

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.



See more about the impact of Hurricane Sandy:
Old Map Keeps Breezy Point From Rebuilding After Sandy
Homebuyers Searching for Deals in Hurricane Sandy Wreckage
Hurricane Sandy and 2012's Other Natural Disasters Could Cost Homeowners for Years to Come

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]]>Breezy Pointelectricity billshome destroyed by hurricane sandyhurricane sandyhurricane sandy billskiernan burkeQueenssandy destructionAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-15T16:30:00 00:00A Dreamy $4.75 Million South Beach Condo (House of the Day)http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/a-dreamy-4-75-million-south-beach-condo-house-of-the-day/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/a-dreamy-4-75-million-south-beach-condo-house-of-the-day/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/a-dreamy-4-75-million-south-beach-condo-house-of-the-day/#commentsFiled under: ,

Condo in Miami's South Beach

Real estate is depressing in a number of ways. One, homes can be depressingly bad, ugly or cramped. (Please refer to our post on the worst listings in America). Two, they can be depressingly, heartbreakingly, unattainably, "I-could-never-afford-this-home" luxurious. And by that, we mean this home in particular.

Priced at $4.75 million, this gorgeous 3,000-square-foot condo in Miami's South Beach is the kind of home we have dreams about. It's decked out in white glass tiles, boasts recessed color-changing lights (this is South Beach, after all), minimalist Asian-inspired decor and views over Miami Beach and downtown Miami. Sure, it's not everyone's cup of tea -- it probably won't appeal to you if you're more inclined to the outdoorsy, ranch-style way of living (in that case, we like this home) -- but if you're all about that luxe life, then this is probably the home for you. (Or your dreams, anyway.) Check it out in the gallery below.

See more homes in the Miami area.

Mark Zilbert of Zilbert International Realty has the listing.

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See more Houses of the Day on AOL Real Estate.

Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email krisanne.alcantara@huffingtonpost.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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]]>floridaflorida real estateHouse of the DayMiami real estatesouth beachSouth Beach condossouth beach real estateAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-15T06:00:00 00:00New York's, Maybe America's, Most Depressing Rental Listingshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/new-york-depressing-apartment-rental-listings/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/new-york-depressing-apartment-rental-listings/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/new-york-depressing-apartment-rental-listings/#commentsFiled under:

This apartment in the Williamsburg section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn rents for $1,200.

We've shown you everything from teeny-tiny apartments to ugly home listings to creepy home listings, but these rental listings? They're just so bad that they deserve their own Tumblr page. From leasing out closets (at $1,000/month) to renting out bunk beds (the top bunk going for $600/month and the bottom bunk going for $500/month), these New York City rentals are easily some of the worst examples of real estate we've seen, maybe ever. See for yourself in the gallery below.

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More about rentals:
Who's Responsible for Mold in Your Apartment? (VIDEO)
Tenants' Rights in Eviction: When Do Landlords Go Too Far?
Urban Compass Wants to Steer the Rental Industry in New Direction

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]]>depressing rental listingslisting failnew york real estateNYC rentalsrental listingsrenters+rulesugly homesAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-14T16:50:00 00:00Mystery Water Source Sinks Homes in Lake County, Californiahttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/mystery-sinking-Lake-County-California-homes/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/mystery-sinking-Lake-County-California-homes/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/mystery-sinking-Lake-County-California-homes/#commentsFiled under:




A mystery water source in Northern California has completely saturated a hillside and caused some homes to sink and others to sustain damage. Eight homes in the Lakeside Heights subdivision in Lakeport already have been affected, while 10 others remain threatened by what state officials have called a "slow-moving landslide."

While landslides are hardly rare in California, they're usually the result of rainfall or seismic activity. Sacramento TV station KCRA reports that Lake County supervisors were holding an emergency meeting Tuesday to address this unknown water source that's oozing out of the ground and causing the homes to sink. Officials were quoted by the Lake County News as saying that an irrigation line owned by the Lakeside Heights Homeowner's Association or a natural spring might be at fault.

In late April, the county red-tagged three structures and began to conduct an investigation after a deep fissure in the earth opened up and a large section of ground sank.

"At this time, we don't have a good answer," Kevin Ingram, a Lake County spokesperson told KCRA. Though some suspect it could be linked to leaks in municipal water pipes leading to the subdivision, Ingram said that a leak detection test carried out in March showed no leaks within that system.

In the meantime, a request for emergency aid from Gov. Jerry Brown to deal with the still-unexplained cause of the damage is being assessed. "We're working as hard as we can," said Kelly Huston, assistant secretary of the California Emergency Management Agency.

Lake County, Calif., home damaged by mystery water souce

See more on landslides and other disasters:
5 Ways to Protect Your Home From Mudslides
Sinkhole Insurance: You Probably Don't Know You Need It
Natural Disasters and Terror Plots: What Home Insurance Covers

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]]>california landslidelake countylake county landslidelakeportlakeside heightssinking homesAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-14T12:55:00 00:00Woman, 62, Adopted by Man, 85, Fights Eviction From His Apartmenthttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/pamela-becker-rent-control-eviction/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/pamela-becker-rent-control-eviction/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/pamela-becker-rent-control-eviction/#commentsFiled under:


A woman meets an elderly man, moves in with him, and inherits his rent-controlled New York apartment -- except 62-year-old Pamela Becker was not 85-year-old Nicholas DeTommaso's wife or lover. Just weeks before DeTommaso died, he adopted Becker -- as his daughter.

Nicholas DeTommaso, Pamela BeckerAccording to the New York Post, DeTommaso (pictured with Becker, left) had lived at the two-bedroom, railroad-flat apartment on 47th Road in Queens his entire life, and paid only $100 a month to live there. One of his neighbors had hired Becker as a cat-sitter, and soon after, Becker befriended the old man.

Neighbors reported that the 62-year-old former yoga instructor would take the old man shopping, and was even gifted with a "series of cars" bought for her by DeTommaso. In 2002, she officially moved in with him (in the building pictured above).

In 2007, after DeTomasso was diagnosed with dementia, Becker received his power of attorney. But although she had the power to make all financial and legal decisions for DeTommaso -- and even was the beneficiary of his life insurance and pension -- Becker refused to marry him.

"Some people said I should marry him. I didn't want to marry him, that's gross. I don't do stuff like that," Becker told the Post. Instead, the 62-year-old was formally adopted by him as his daughter -- just weeks before his death in June 2009.

Since then, Becker has continued to live in the apartment despite various attempts from the building's owners, Sugrim and Kowsila Outar, to evict her. But her luck might soon run out: The state Division of Housing and Community Renewal recently ruled that Becker (who changed her name to Maria DeTommaso) was not entitled to the apartment because she lived there only 22 days before her adoptive father's death.

But Becker is adamant about staying put. "I'm legally adopted," Becker told the New York Post. "I'm going to win this battle."

While going through an adoption to secure a rent-controlled apartment, as Becker has been accused of doing, might seem extreme, compare that to reports out of China that say thousands of "happily married" couples have rushed to get divorced in order to dodge exorbitant taxes on the sale of their second homes.

See more on apartments:
10 Tips for Finding Your First Apartment
Do-It-Yourself Ideas for Small Apartments
Apartment Guru: Make the Apartment Search Less Painful

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]]>apartment adoptionlong islandLong Island Citymaria detommasonew york real estatenicholas detommasopamela beckerQueensrent controlrent controlled apartmentsAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-10T12:16:00 00:00Sex Offenders' Homes Get Warning Signs in Bradford County, Fla.http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/signs-sex-offender-homes-florida/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/signs-sex-offender-homes-florida/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/signs-sex-offender-homes-florida/#commentsFiled under:



You might not look twice at the house at 939 Oak St. in Starke, Fla., if it weren't for the large red sign in front of the home (pictured above) that declares: "John Goodman is a convicted Sexual Predator and lives at this location."

The sign is one of 18 that the Bradford County Sheriff's Office erected outside the residences of convicted sexual predators in the community last month, The Associated Press reports. (Neighboring Baker County started a similar program last year.) According to Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith, the purpose of the reflective red signs, pictured at left, is to ensure sex offenders are unable to hide and to keep citizens informed about sex offenders in their community.

"If it prevents one more victim in my community, I've done my job as sheriff," Smith told Jacksonville's First Coast News. "I have no sympathy for predators, my main goal is to protect children and senior adults."

And though this approach has been generally well-accepted by many residents, according to The Associated Press, there's debate over whether the signs can be considered "harassment" against people who had already served jail terms and submitted themselves to the public registry. Counties and towns have tried sign programs with mixed success, the AP reports: In 2009, a Kansas appeals court overturned a judge's order requiring a sex offender to post signs on both his home and vehicle.

"I've done learned my lesson," convicted sexual predator John Goodman (pictured at right) told First Coast News. "I don't do things like that anymore."

Similarly, sex offender Brian Speer, whose home also now bears that same reminder of his past, objects to the sign. "I think it's a lot of bull," Speer told the AP. "I believe that anybody that has any criminal background should have a sign in front of their house if we have one in front of ours."

Some sex offenders, however, accept and even embrace the naming and shaming: Jeffrey Mitchell of Miramar Beach, Fla., even went so far as to post his own warning sign in his front yard, reading: "Sex offender residence till the day I die." According to Mitchell, it's not that he wanted to be vilified or cast out of the community. "It's a dialogue that should be started," Mitchell told TV station WJHG.



See more about sex offender cases:
Landlord Dennis Alan Van Dusen's Smoke Detectors Hid Spy Cameras
Molester Should Buy Victim's House So She Can Move, Suit Says
Why the Brothel-Next-Door Goes Unnoticed

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]]>Bradford Countybrian speerflorida real estateflorida sex offendersJohn Goodmansex offender homessexual predatorsheriff gordon smithsigns on sex offender homesAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-08T17:52:00 00:00Former Meth Lab Home For Sale -- Just Don't Ask to Look Insidehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/meth-lab-home-for-sale-loudon/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/meth-lab-home-for-sale-loudon/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/meth-lab-home-for-sale-loudon/#commentsFiled under: ,

Former meth lab at 2380 Crock Road in Loudon, Tenn.

The newly listed home at 2380 Crock Road in Loudon, Tenn., seems like a steal: Four bedrooms, two bathrooms and selling for only $8,500. But maybe not, if you consider that the home is a former meth lab.

In 2010, three men were arrested and sent to prison for using the house to produce methamphetamine. The men left the home a "hazardous environment," authorities told Knoxville TV station WATE-Channel 6, and it was quarantined by the Loudon County narcotics team.

"We categorized this property as Level 3 of contamination. Level 3 out of 4," Lt. Paul Curtis, narcotics director at the Loudon County Sheriff's Office, told WATE.

Unfortunately the Crock Road home is hardly a unique case: In 2012, Jonathan and Beth Hankins purchased a $36,000 "fixer upper" in Klamath Falls, Ore. that also turned out to be a former meth lab. After the family had already moved in, a test kit showed that the home carried meth residue at about 80 times the state's legal limit for acceptable levels -- after it had been cleaned. In a similar case in Suquamish, Wash., John and Jessie Bates discovered that the home they'd bought was completely saturated with toxic chemicals used for making meth and was "not fit" to live in.

According to Scientific American, the chemicals used in meth production are so highly toxic that they permeate "every inch of the room where the meth was cooked and beyond." According to experts, a home's carpet, walls, furniture and even air become toxic, and ingesting some the chemicals might cause "immediate death." (Serious but non-fatal effects on the inhabitants of meth homes can also include migraines, nosebleeds, mouth sores and even cancer.)

It's no surprise then, that the Crock Road home is being sold "interior sight unseen" -- meaning that potential buyers are prohibited from going inside the home prior to its sale. But according to Lt. Curtis, this practice is unconventional, particularly as Tennessee state law prohibits the sale of any property to the public without a proper cleaning and inspection.

Despite that, WATE reports that the home might have been sold as early as yesterday. (The property is also currently showing as "sold" on Realtor.com). If indeed the home was sold, the new owners --if they move in -- would join the estimated "millions" of Americans living in properties that were former meth labs, according to CNN Money.




See more about hazards in for-sale homes:
Realtor Discovers Explosives Inside Nashville Home for Sale
Mansion or Meth House? 'Flip Men' Want to Know

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]]>2380 Crock Road Loudon Tenndrug busthomes for salemeth lab homesmeth labsmethamphetaminenarcoticstennessee homesAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-07T13:45:00 00:00Late, Great Homes With 'Gatsby' Tieshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/06/late-great-homes-with-gatsby-ties/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/06/late-great-homes-with-gatsby-ties/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/06/late-great-homes-with-gatsby-ties/#commentsFiled under: ,,

Land's End in Sands Point, N.Y., might have inspired Daisy Buchanan's house

With the new film version of "The Great Gatsby" due to open May 10, we're taking a look back at some remarkable American homes associated with the author of that classic novel -- F. Scott Fitzgerald -- including one that might have been a setting for the book. A famous Sands Point, N.Y., mansion (pictured above) is said to have been the inspiration for Daisy Buchanan's house in "The Great Gatsby." Built in 1902, the once-stunning Colonial revival has since been razed: But in the spirit of nostalgia we like to remember how it looked in its glory days. As you can see from the gallery below, the estate dubbed "Land's End" was the epitome of opulence and grandeur, filled with Baccarat crystal, and plush drapes and linens.

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Though Fitzgerald set many of his stories in the homes of the rich, the Baltimore townhouse in which he penned some of his later works was humble by comparison. It's still a beauty though: The four-bedroom, four-bath, 3,600-square foot townhouse boasts ornate fireplaces, tall windows, French doors and a back porch overlooking a quant private garden. Best of all, the home still contains many of the original details from over a century ago! See the home below, which was recently on the market at a modest $450,000 and which Zillow lists as having sold last month for $464,000.

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A recent article by Gabrielle Lipton in Slate about the homes that Gatsby's mansion might have been based on -- among them Oheka Castle and Beacon Towers -- concludes that no one may ever know that for sure, since Fitzgerald "drew from many sources." But Lipton adds: "Perhaps it's not so much which mansion was Gatsby's; it's which one is destined to be the next." Well, we have one or two in mind....

See more homes with literary associations:
Fifty Shades of Grey' Penthouse in Seattle Sells For $6.2 Million
J.K. Rowling Lists Scottish Farmhouse

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'The Great Gatsby' New Cover Under Fire

 

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]]>Daisy Buchanan homeF. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott Fitzgerald housejay gatsby homeLands Endthe great gatsbyAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-06T17:14:00 00:00Squatting in Foreclosed Homes on the Rise?http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/squatting-in-foreclosed-homes-on-the-rise/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/squatting-in-foreclosed-homes-on-the-rise/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/squatting-in-foreclosed-homes-on-the-rise/#commentsFiled under:


Thanks to existence of adverse possession laws in some states -- which in rare cases allows a person to claim title to an abandoned property after occupying it for an extended time -- Cherie Fields, 25, and her husband Owen Fields, 27, apparently thought they could live at a vacant home in Lakeland, Fla., for free. On March 27, the couple moved into a foreclosed home valued at $160,000 (pictured above), changed the home's locks, turned on the electricity and brought in furniture.

"Besides having the cable guy come out, and the meter guy come out, and the water guy come out to turn everything on, it looked like normal people moving in," Lakeland resident and neighbor Darin Pratt told ABC Action News in Tampa. Only the home on Echo Lane still belonged to a woman in California, who confirmed that it had been foreclosed on. Despite filing for "adverse possession," the squatters were soon kicked out, and charged with burglary of a residence, grand theft and scheming to defraud, according to WESH 2 News in Orlando.

"I knew a little bit about adverse possession just from doing some research," homeowners' association president Danny Rodriguez told the Tampa TV station. (Rodriguez had alerted the case to the authorities.) "You need to be in the home for seven years. I knew they weren't here for seven years."

Florida's law of adverse possession dates back over a century -- to allow someone who cared for an unclaimed or abandoned piece of farmland for seven years or more to own it, but lately it's been used as an excuse for squatting in foreclosed homes -- and according to Tampa's ABC station those incidents appears to be rising. In Boca Raton, 23-year-old Andre Barbosa claimed adverse possession in defending his seven-month "residency" in a $2.5 million luxury home in the millionaire's enclave. The foreclosed home (see below gallery) rightfully belonged to Bank of America -- but that didn't stop Barbosa from living in the home, which he dubbed "Templo de Kamisamar," for free and throwing parties there for his friends.

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Similarly in Texas, 51-year-old Kenneth Robinson cited that state's adverse possession law as allowing him to live in a $340,000 Dallas-area home. While residing there for eight months, Robinson claimed to have kept the two-story, 3,200-square-foot home "fully maintained," keeping the front lawn mowed and the house clean, and even claiming to have "bought rights" to the home at a Denton County courthouse for just $16. (In both Barbosa's and Robinson's case, neighbors alerted authorities and the men were eventually evicted.)

It doesn't end there, either: Entire communities have been taken over by squatters who claim they're acting under rights of adverse possession. In Tarrant County, Texas, squatters have been claiming and looting vacant homes in Fort Worth and nearby suburbs -- properties with a total value exceeding $8 million. The properties that have been left by owners who recently died, or by owners absent because of job duties or illness, appear to be most at risk of squatters, and some property owners have returned home to find their houses trashed or looted.

"It's not healthy for anybody -- for the neighborhood, for the county," Fort Worth resident Joe Bruner, who lived next door to a home that had been occupied by squatters, told The Associated Press. "You don't come in and steal somebody's home."

According to Miami-Dade Property appraiser Carlos Lopez-Cantera, the abuse of adverse possession is turning into a nightmare for homeowners and law enforcement. In Miami-Dade County alone, adverse-possession claims rose from 30 in 2011 to 70 in 2012, CBS Miami reported. Just in the first three months of 2013, a whopping 52 applications were filed. "[It's] a new frontier in fraudulent activity," Lopez-Cantera told CBS Miami.

See more on squatters:
Squatter Puts Faith-Based Claim on Lavish Mansion
Squatters Living Under the House?
Homeless Man Allegedly Rents Out Vacant Home to Tenants

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]]>adverse possessionAndre BarbosaCherie Fieldsforeclosed homesKenneth RobinsonlakelandOwen FieldssquattersAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-03T16:41:00 00:00Old NYC Map Keeps Breezy Point From Rebuilding After Sandyhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/breezy-point-map-sandy-rebuilding/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/breezy-point-map-sandy-rebuilding/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/breezy-point-map-sandy-rebuilding/#commentsFiled under:



Residents of one of the New York City communities most devastated by Hurricane Sandy can't get their rebuilding efforts off the ground, and the finger is being pointed at the city. The neighborhood of Breezy Point in the borough of Queens was leveled during Sandy, with a fire that broke out during the height of the storm's winds and flooding destroying 135 homes. Now residents are being denied building permits to rebuild their homes because officials are basing their requests on an old map of the city dating back to 1948, TV station WPIX-11 in New York reported.

Breezy Point hurricane damageSome streets in Breezy Point are not mapped on the outdated one that the city is using to determine who gets a building permit, Breezy Point General Manager Arthur Lighthall told WPIX. "We are standing here -- the homes that were in this whole section of this whole community were fronting a walkway, not a NYC mapped street," he said, pointing out one of the devastated areas on the old map.

The glitch is delaying rebuilding, and Breezy Point now has to get a waiver from the city's Board of Standards and Appeals to get residents' building permits granted. That could take an additional six months, according to WPIX. The NYC Department of Buildings told the station in a statement that it is working with Breezy Point residents to rebuild, "including seeking approvals from the Board of Standards and Appeals."

Read the full story at the WPIX-11 website.

The Daily News also found that six months after Sandy, much of Breezy Point remains a ghost town. According to the paper, 2,400 of the neighborhood's 2,800 homes remain unoccupied. "Seven homes on my block are either gone or red-tagged for demolition," resident Michael Sullivan told the newspaper. "I only moved my family back in full time two weekends ago. They were gonna shut off all power and water on my block for a week to take down the other homes. I had to stop them because this is such a ghost town now that nobody knew we were even back."

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See also:
Should You Buy a Standby Generator for Your Home?
How To Protect Your Home From Damage in a 'Perfect Storm'
Homeowners Insurance 101: What You Need to Know

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]]>Breezy PointHurricane Sandyold NYC mapSandy rebuildingSandy victims building permitsAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-03T14:44:00 00:00Pope Benedict XVI Returns to Live in Vatican Near Pope Francishttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/pope-benedict-returns-vatican-hoem/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/pope-benedict-returns-vatican-hoem/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/pope-benedict-returns-vatican-hoem/#commentsFiled under: ,


Not only did Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI return to the Vatican for the first time since he resigned in February -- the former pontiff also returned to his new home, the newly-renovated Mater Ecclesiae, a converted monastery on the edge of the Vatican gardens. (Pictured above).

The Mater Ecclesiae (Mother of the Church) features a substantial four-story modern home within it, complete with a chapel, garden and roof terrace. Fox News reports the home also has a small library and study, in addition to a guest room for when his brother Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, comes to visit.

"It is certainly small but well-equipped," Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi told The Associated Press. As NBC News reports, the moving of the Pope Emeritus to a residence so close to the current reigning pope, Pope Francis, is an "unprecedented arrangement." In a further twist, the Vatican also announced that the pope emeritus will live in the home with his secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein and the four consecrated women who look after him and will prepare his meals.

Currently, reigning Pope Francis continues to live in a simple hotel suite at the Casa Santa Marta hotel while his official home at Palazzo Apostolico is being renovated.



See more about the popes:
Pope Francis Chooses Hotel Suite Over Vatican's Papal Residence
Pope Benedict's New Home (VIDEO)
Inside Pope's Summer Home at Castel Gandolfo

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]]>Casa Santa MartaMater Ecclesiaepapal residencePope Benedict XVIPope Emeritus Benedict XVIPope FrancisPope homeAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-02T18:12:00 00:00Your Happy Place? Buildings That Look Glad, Sad or Mad (PHOTOS)http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/buildings-that-look-like-faces/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/buildings-that-look-like-faces/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/buildings-that-look-like-faces/#commentsFiled under:

happy looking home

Do you live in a happy home? Well, to answer that question, just look at it's expression. We've found a number of home and other buildings that appear to mimic "smiley" and "frowny" faces -- and some that are a little in-between. If you're lucky enough to have strategically placed windows and garage doors, you might see if you look hard enough that the facade of your home looks like a face. Maybe it looks like one of these faces below. Click through the gallery to see 30 places with faces, some that will make you laugh and others that will make you cry. :(

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See more about curb appeal:
5 Low-Cost Easy Landscaping Tips
Before and After Craftsman
The Seller's Edge in Today's Market

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]]>curb appealhappy looking homeshomes that look like facesAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-02T17:55:00 00:00Buenos Aires: Homes 10 Times Cheaper Than the U.S.http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/buenos-aires-real-estate/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/buenos-aires-real-estate/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/buenos-aires-real-estate/#commentsFiled under:




With all this talk of home prices rising, you might start to wonder: How much longer will buying be affordable? The luxury market is going a little crazy these days, what with $125 million penthouses and all. So where does one go for a good deal these days? Argentina -- Buenos Aires, to be more precise.

There, The Wall Street Journal reports, the economy is in a bit of turmoil. (Like there's a place where it's not?) Inflation in Buenos Aires is skyrocketing, and the U.S. dollar is in high demand because of the exchange rate. And for people who have U.S. dollars to spend, prime real estate can be yours for a song.

Take, for example, a 500-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment in trendy downtown Buenos Aires with a 100-square-foot terrace. It's in a building with a rooftop pool, gym, sauna and concierge. The going rate: $130,000. A place with all those amenities in the middle of NYC would likely cost 10 times as much. Oh, there's plenty more eye-popping deals to get a load of in the video above.

More on foreign real estate:
Smart Overseas Real Estate Investments
German Castles at Bargain Prices
Renting Abroad: Easier Than Here?

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]]>Buenos AiresBuenos Aires cheap homesBuenos Aires real estatehome pricesAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-02T11:30:00 00:00Here's What You Can Buy With Your Foreclosure Settlementhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/heres-what-you-can-buy-with-your-foreclosure-settlement/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/heres-what-you-can-buy-with-your-foreclosure-settlement/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/heres-what-you-can-buy-with-your-foreclosure-settlement/#commentsFiled under: ,

Despite a $3.6 billion foreclosure settlement that had banks sending checks (some of which bounced) to wronged homeowners, many saw the payouts as a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. According to Salon, 679 homeowners who faced foreclosure -- even though they were never once in default -- got checks for just $5,000, while individuals who had loan modifications approved -- but were still foreclosed upon --were offered a mere $300. More than 80 percent of those receiving checks, Marketplace.org reports, will get between $300 and $1,000.

Some were so shocked by the "laughable" settlement checks that they took the Internet to voice their anger. Alexis Goldstein, a former Wall Street vice president and current Occupy Wall Street activist, went so far as to create a self-explanatory Tumblr page titled: "What You Can Buy For Having Your House Stolen." On the site, she listed the various items that wrongly foreclosed-upon individuals could buy with their "egregiously low" settlement checks. We've compiled some of our favorites in the gallery below. (All text and images belong to "What You Can Buy For Having Your House Stolen" unless stated otherwise.)

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See more on the foreclosure settlement:
Robo-Signing Scandal: Hundreds More Military Members Were Victims
Do Banks or Homeowners Win in Mortgage Settlement?
Foreclosure Settlement Money: Are States Using It the Right Way?

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Foreclosure Settlement Checks Much Smaller Than Regulators Forecasted

 

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]]>alexis goldsteinbounced settlement checksforeclosure settlement checksforeclosuresOCCoccupy wall streetOffice of the Comptroller of the Currencywhat you can buy for having your house stolenAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-02T08:00:00 00:00An Earthy, Nature-Flanked Home in Sonoma County (House of the Day)http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/sonoma-county-home-for-sale/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/sonoma-county-home-for-sale/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/sonoma-county-home-for-sale/#commentsFiled under: ,

winning Sonoma County home

We thought this week's #housepornthurs competition was a no-brainer, but we were pleasantly surprised: The majority of you voted for an earthy, nature-flanked home in California's Sonoma County over a swanky $16.5 million New York City townhouse!

A handsome choice, we think. The gorgeously peaceful, earth-tone home is nestled among 1.6 sprawling acres of beautiful gardens and towering trees. The two-bedroom house (holding its own at $1.8 million) boasts a large gallery with nature views, a "warm and inviting" library, a large gourmet kitchen and a guest cottage. The home, though spacious at over 2,000 square feet, has a charmingly cozy feel about it. Nice choice, y'all.

See the listing for more details.

Find more homes for sale in Sonoma County, Calif., or search listings in your area.

The #housepornthurs contest is a weekly Twitter conversation hosted by @aolrealestate. Tweet listings every Thursday to AOL Real Estate with the hashtag #housepornthurs for a chance to have one of your submissions featured as a House of the Day the following week.

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See more Houses of the Day on AOL Real Estate.

Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email colin.croughan@teamaol.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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]]>House of the Dayhousepornthurssonoma countysonoma county homes for salesonoma county real estateAOL Real Estate Editors2013-05-02T06:00:00 00:00