Best Old House Neighborhoods 2009
Unique, tight-knit neighborhoods are precisely what we looked for in selecting the winners of our second annual Best Old House Neighborhoods contest—places that might not be on your radar but deserve to be. Like last year, we relied on our good friends at PreservationDirectory.com to help us contact thousands of neighborhood groups, real estate agents, and preservation societies to get their takes on the best places to track down, fix up, and fall head of heels for older homes.
Trump Park Avenue Penthouse Duplex Falls from $51M to $31M
This week's Observer checked in on last year's most lush listings: Of the 10 New York properties that were asking over $45 million in late 2008, only one has sold, and half have fallen off the market without a sale. "The timing was not good, so I didn't get any offers," said Victoria Shtainer, who listed the $51 million duplex penthouse atTrump Park Avenue until it was taken off the market late last month.
The 15 most sustainable U.S. cities
Seattle is the most sustainable big city in the nation, according to a list compiled by Smarter Cities, an NRDC project that looks at the progress American cities are making toward going green. Not surprisingly, San Francisco and Portland are the runners-up.
Prepay mortgage principal, not interest
Dear Dr. Don,
I have a 15-year mortgage which I pay every two weeks. I want to make a lump-sum payment of $10,000 on my loan. Should I apply it to interest or principal?
Efficient showerheads and toilets can save you water
The average U.S. home sees peek water consumption during the summer, as Americans turn on the taps and spigots more frequently to do things like water their lawns and flower beds and fill their swimming pools.
Home Prices and Behavioral Psychology
In economic text books, assets are always priced perfectly by the cool, rational work of markets. In the real world, human behavior has a huge influence on what things sell for, particularly homes.
Who Cares About Future House Prices?
James Kwak wonders about the housing market, and price-to-rent ratios:
The fact is that most people buying houses aren’t going to be renting them out, and what they care about is the price at which they will be able to sell that house in 10 years.
Does jump-in housing starts signal a turnaround?
This week's news of a jump in housing starts prompted some to wonder if the housing market has turned a corner. The Commerce Department reported on Friday that new construction of homes and apartments in June picked up to the fastest pace in seven months, led by starts of single-family homes.
Home Ownership Was Never a Road to Riches
My wife and I have sold all of our four previous homes for more than we paid for them—sometimes a lot more. We’ve been pretty lucky. We’ve never overpaid much for a house, we’ve always bought in good school districts and decent neighborhoods, we’ve lived in neighborhoods where prices soared during the real-estate bubble, and we’ve been hurt but not decimated by the bursting of that bubble.
.. links from around DC region: