Originally valued at $185,000, the land became a victim of bankruptcy.  My friend negotiated directly with the bankruptcy court and is closing tomorrow on 2.5 acres on top of a mountain … for significantly less.  Significantly.  $110,000 less.  That’s what I call negotiation skills!

He and his wife plan to build their retirement home overlooking this marvelous vista.  I am envious!

We are so close to Thanksgiving that I want to write about why I’m grateful… happy that my head is still above the water in today’s real estate market, grateful that my family will be together to share a wonderful meal, thankful that my friend just had her 8 pound, 5 ounce bouncing baby boy and that they’re both healthy.  Instead, I read in the paper about this poor 93-year old Long Island man with Alzheimer’s disease had his home stolen by a couple of swindlers.

From UPI.com,

Rebecca Tharpe posed as a legitimate buyer for the home of Artee McKoy, a retired barber with diminished mental capacity, and forged his signature on a sales contract. The contract was used to obtain a mortgage on the property. Tharpe then sold the house for $395,000 and pocketed $102,000. Tharpe’s accomplice, Alexandra Gilmore, received more than $200,000 in proceeds, including a $97,000 check that had been made payable to McKoy and an additional $130,000 which she secured by setting up a real estate company and falsely claiming to have been owed the money from a previous mortgage loan on the property.

The house is now in foreclosure because - obviously - the loan payoff wasn’t made and payments ceased.  What’s worse?  The crook is serving 30 days in jail and five years probation, with the added punishment of having to speak publicly about mortgage fraud.  To help other people avoid it.  I didn’t read anywhere that she has to repay the money stolen, but with a light sentence like that I hope she will.  Dang.

My favorite new architecture site is Inhabitat.com which features archictectural marvels from around the world.  This modern house is designed with wood pallets and other shipping containers.

... the modest home is composed of two 40′ shipping containers and two 20′ containers. The use of wooden pallets on the exterior of the home gives it fantastic texture, but also has purpose — they provide shade and allow the home to be naturally cooled, since air can move freely between the slats. The containers meanwhile, are completely weather tight and provide the necessary structural capacity for the home.

Go here to see more pictures of this modern wonder!

When someone writes about a city or town and it fills me with a sense of longing to live there, well … what do you think?

I love so many things about New York. I love the dichotomy of being anonymous among millions of people. I love the diversity. Different food, different people speaking different languages, different architecture, different neighborhoods. Different everything. I love the crazy mad pace and that I can escape to my room and sleep the sleep of someone who is perfectly content to be where she is while the city that never sleeps keeps on going outside my first floor windows.

There’s so much more to read if you go visit Finn - the jackhammers, the subway encounter, and her own desire to remain.  Maybe if Finn talks the Accountant into moving there, she’ll let me come visit!  New York at this time of year is nothing short of fabulous!

Remember how the guy from Nigeria was kicked out yet he has millions of dollars holed away and needs your help - and your money - to rescue the funds?  You’ll be cut in on a sweet percentage of the loot if you’ll just wire $10,000 to a bank account.

The same scammers are now taking advantage of Craigs List and renting homes that are already owned and occupied by someone else.  The FBI issued this Housing Scam Alert,

The criminals search websites that list homes for sale. They take the information in those ads—lock, stock, and barrel—and post it, with their own e-mail address, in an ad on Craigslist (without Craigslist’s consent or knowledge) under the housing rentals category. To sweeten the pot, the houses are almost always listed with below-market rental rates.

An interested party will contact the “homeowner” via e-mail, who usually explains that he or she had to leave the U.S. quickly because of some missionary or contract work in Africa. Victims are usually instructed to send money overseas—enough to cover the first and last month’s rent—via a wire transfer service (because the crooks know it can’t be traced once it gets picked up on the other end).

Be careful what you rent, be careful how you advertise a house for sale!

I am so ashamed.  The grout between my bathroom tiles is just disgusting.  So my goal before Thanksgiving is to get them sparkling clean!  I am not a cleaning diva, but I do give it the good ol’ college try when needed. I get most of my cleaning tips from either Home Ec 101 or watching Kim and Aggie on How Clean is Your House - a BBC America favorite of mine.

I’ve learned the best way to clean grout is first try using soapy water (but not bleach if you have colored grout).  If this isn’t enough, use vinegar (equal parts vinegar and water) or baking soda.  Get an old sturdy toothbrush for the detailed scrubbing - which you’ll do in small circular strokes.  You can try regular household cleaners, too but whatever your choice make sure you thoroughly rinse.

If none of this works, according to Do It Yourself dot Com,

For heavy duty stains, use even stronger products such as oxygen bleach powder, hydrogen peroxide, or chlorine bleach. These products should be well diluted before use. You can also find heavy duty cleaners at hardware stores or janitorial supply outlets. If you go this route, however, you will need to read labels carefully and follow directions to the letter.

Good luck!

VERY cute cottage in Portland.  Thanks to Apartment Therapy for the photo … click here to see more!

Loans are pretty affordable right now - if you qualify!  Here’s a quick snapshot of today’s 30 year rates with a 30-day lock:

FHA 4.75
VA 4.875
Conforming 4.75
USDA 5.00

Given these extraordinary rates, I think there are three things that prevent qualified buyers from jumping at this time: low consumer confidence, fear of job loss, and fear of paying too much for a house.  To me, the biggest fear of these is the fear of job loss.  The number of jobs being lost each month is slowing, but not so much where people aren’t nervous, according to MSNBC.com.

Over the past three months, the economy has shed a net 188,000 jobs a month, down from a pace of 700,000 monthly early this year. As jobs continued to disappear the unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent in October, up from 9.8 percent in September.

If you do feel secure in your job, but worry instead about paying too much for a house - you can overcome this.  There are at least two ways you won’t overpay:  1) make sure your agent runs a price comparison of other homes in the area, and 2) get it appraised.  Appraisers are being super careful now not to overvalue homes.

What do you say?  Have you been thinking about buying?

A friend of mine shared a link that answers some of the most common questions about the expanded homebuyer tax credit for people who already own.  Because - naturally - the fed bill is clear as mud, I’ll take any help I can get to keep it simple.

The biggest question I get is what if someone sold their house a year or two ago.  Would they still be eligible for the $6500 tax credit?  The answer is they COULD be eligible in certain situations.  They had to have owned a house for at least five consecutive years in the past eight years.  According to the National Association of Realtors,

The keyword here is “consecutive.”  As long as someone lives in a house for 5 years straight, what they do in the other three years does not impact eligibility.

I put that as a quote, but did misquote to make it “someone” rather than a specific person.  Still, you get the meaning.  Right now I’m crossing my fingers for my sister.  She’s a widow and had sold the home she and her husband lived in several years ago to buy a new one.  She just sold the second one in order to start a new life in a new city.  Now I’m trying to find out how long ago she bought the new house and am hoping she only lived in it for two or three years so her eligibility is intact should she buy a townhome.

Crossing fingers, crossing toes.

Photo by emdot via Flickr Creative Commons.

The words of Franklin Roosevelt, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” ring true even today.  Fear seems to be more rampant in modern times, though, because we are constantly fed conspiracy theories, fear-mongering, bad news through what seem like limitless media outlets.  Angry little men can sit in their remote cabins raging against the government.  Faceless commenters can spread the seeds of discontent in what should’ve been positive news stories.  Even television media have shifted to where they call “opinion” news.

The biggest surprise today is that houses are selling at all given job and economic fears that proliferate from everywhere. Yet homes are selling.  Yes, at lower prices in most areas.  Yes, with concessions made by the seller.

But I think we should take a moment and thank the buyers who are out there right now.  You’ve faced your fears and made that big financial commitment that will inevitably help our economy grow again.  You deserve our applause for overcoming the fears you might have had to buy.  Bravo!

If you want to read about someone else who has overcome fear - though they feel it every single day - read what Jonathan Washburn of Seattle did,

One thing led to another and now I find myself running a business that is blazing a trail of innovation and yet at the same time foraging for survival. Everyday I am charged to do at least one thing that is well beyond my knowledge level, skill level, talent level, or experience level; often times it is beyond my level on all four fronts. But I do that thing anyways. I put myself into the position that I have no choice but show up and do my best.

Rock on, Jonathan.

Photo from becoming what we already are.