'Birthday Houses' Celebrate Unwanted Anniversary" alt="'Birthday Houses' Celebrate Unwanted Anniversary" />

So many unwanted homes are sitting on the market for so many days that maudlin sellers have come up with a name for them: birthday houses. As in, this is the first, second, third or fifth year that my house has been in limbo: up for sale, but not selling. Gabrielle Rudin, a marketing executive in Manhattan, bought her ... Continue Reading »

Rental Market Still Belongs to Renters" alt="Rental Market Still Belongs to Renters" />

A headline-grabbing article last week suggests that after three years of flat growth, apartment rents are poised to spike and may jump 10 percent by 2012. The piece, from CNN Money, bases its prediction of double-digit rent increases on pent-up demand from twentysomethings who were forced to move in with their parents ... Continue Reading »

Is Your Home Earthquake Proof?" alt="Is Your Home Earthquake Proof?" />

In the wake of last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, prospective home buyers may be asking themselves what about a house makes it more able to weather a natural disaster. There isn't a huge difference in the way residential homes are built in Japan compared to in the U.S., although the Japanese are ... Continue Reading »

Vincent Gallo Selling L.A. Loft -- It's Gritty and Overpriced" alt="Vincent Gallo Selling L.A. Loft -- It's Gritty and Overpriced" />

Actor and director Vincent Gallo is just the type of Hollywood personality who would eschew Malibu for the industrial grit of downtown Los Angeles. Best known for directing Buffalo '66, Gallo has apparently had enough of the low life and has put his 1,650 square-foot live/work loft space in the Toy Factory building on ... Continue Reading »

Current Mortgage Rates: Fixed-Rate or ARM?" alt="Current Mortgage Rates: Fixed-Rate or ARM?" />

Until recently, the only dilemma for home loan seekers was what kind of mortgage to take on: a 30-year fixed rate mortgage or adjustable rate (ARM). A gentle upward climb of current mortgage rates -- as well as home prices -- was looking inevitable. The smart money was predicting that home prices had dropped as low as they ... Continue Reading »