We all know that the housing market is a bit crippled right now, but for the right kind of people now is the best time to snap up incredible deals on a new home. Whether you’re looking for your first property or your 100 investment home, leveraging a professional realtor’s lifetime of skills is a very valuable asset.
In 2005, I briefly worked as a real estate agent in New York City, renting downtown luxury apartments to European pioneers, entitled college grads from Long Island, and investment bankers with trophy wives. The job, which I took merely as a means to support myself while pursuing more "noble" efforts as a rock musician, was truly f'ing miserable.
For four years, our one-bedroom condo felt tight. Now, with plans to start a family, we're finally planning that long-awaited upgrade. We've been dreaming about the perfect home for years but, with plans to procreate, it's not just about us anymore.
My wife is addicted to porn—real estate porn. See, we live in less than 500 square feet. With a toddler and a baby, both of whom are growing rapidly, alongside their also-growing piles of stuff. We have a north-facing balcony that gets no sun until late afternoon, if at all. Plus, we live on the first floor, and have to deal with crowds from the Swedish national soccer stadium down the street. So she dreams a bit. Fantasizes. And the big newspaper here in Sweden gives her all the real estate porn she needs.
Meezoog.com's Dating Diva, Samantha Karlin, discusses why buying real estate with your significant other could lead to problems.
High-roller Heather Mills may be longing for yesterday, after news of her arguably-excessive spending has come to fruition. Fametastic reports that Mills has spent £10 million from her seven months-old-divorce settlement with legendary musician Paul McCartney. A source says Heather has been moaning that her money isn't going as far as she'd thought. While £10 million is no chump change –its interest alone could feed a small army- Mills does seem to have more where that came from. Her sum settlement weighted in at about £24.3 million pounds: £7.8 million pounds of existing assets, £14 million straight up cash, and £2.5 set aside for a new London home.
David Hasselhoff may finally and officially be divorced from Pamela Bach. There was 1 last big issue about the value of their Encino, California home. She waaaay overrated it. Evidently, sentimental value doesn't move decimal points in a divorce settlement. The Hoff was more or less un-hasseled.
Hoo boy, things have been a little heavy around the old Ference-Smith house of late. See, I've come into some money. Which is awesome. But it has changed the conversation about buying an apartment from, "I'd really love to buy someday when we've saved enough for a down payment" to, "OK, now, what's this whole mortgage thing again?" Which is a little scary. I mean, I do want to buy an apartment. Like a lot. After this spring's getting kicked out of our place debacle, I look forward to living somewhere that I am in control of. And unlike many of my friends, the commitment of home buying doesn't seem scary to me.
The Star Tribune reported on a new web site that allows users to see just about everything they might want to know about a neighborhood’s inhabitants—including marital status. Cyberhomes.com lists the number of singles, marrieds, and divorced in any given Zip Code, so if you’re in the market for more than just a house (relationship, perhaps?), the site will clue you in on the areas packed with others looking for love.
It was the house where Emily and her husband Ryan would live happily ever after. And it needed a lot of work. Emily Bolls remembers the tears and fears of a renovation from hell that would tax any marriage!
