I don't know whether to be amazed or disgusted, so I'll try to be objective and just give you the facts. India's richest man, and the fifth richest man in the world, is building the first billion-dollar home in Mumbai. Mukesh Ambani; head of the India-based petrochemical giant, Reliance Industries; is constructing a 27-story skyscraper costing nearly $2 billion. To view it in all its "glory," check out the photos or the video. You can read the full article for more specifics.
The current housing market has lowered home prices, making homeownership more available to first-time buyers. But smart buying doesn't always mean getting the best price for a piece of property. There are many factors to consider. Bankaholic®, a financial web site, recommends taking these 5 steps to be better informed.
1. Accounting for Extraneous Expenses 2. Acknowledging Special Assessments 3. Finding a Manageable Mortgage 4. Determining How Much Home to Buy 5. Welcoming Your New Home into Your Basic Budget
If you're like me, you love to see how people live—particularly around the world. On the site Normal Room, you can satisfy your curiosity. Anyone can register and upload photos of any room. It's a small and simple site but certainly worth a look.
...of discussion these days. The bust gets more discussion than the boom. Everyone was talking about the rising housing values two years ago. Housewives were talking about getting together to buy some property on speculation and sell before the project was even complete, making 100 percent profit on the down payment. Now, we are just getting back to reality, and the pundits think that because we have overhang from the boom the markets will crash. Well, I hate to say it, but they are right in some areas of the country. Rising housing markets cannot be maintained where there is a declining population. So, how do you hedge against a declining market? You move to where populations are growing. Places where populations are growing create more need for services, which is the lifeblood of our economy. So, if you are lost now, the place to turn is the federal government–not for food stamps but for information. It maintains some of the biggest databases on the planet. And when it's not spying on your neighbor for spending too much time on the Internet, it's compiling facts and figures. One of the easiest places to find this information is on the U.S. Census Bureau’s web site, both for last year and the time since the last census was conducted.
You may ask, “How does this help me?” and “Why is this on Bob Vila’s web site?” Well, it's because we are a source for trends as well as information for the homeowner. And this helps you by pointing out areas where there is less likely to be a large housing price decline because there are people still moving into a metro area that will need some place to live and that will support a demand for housing. When demand exceeds supply, generally prices rise. That is not to say builders have not flooded some markets with too many homes exceeding the demand causing prices to fall. However, if demand is high this supply will decrease as builders would rather make more profit on fewer homes than less profit on a greater number as it is harder to manage and control.
So, where should you move? According to the charts, here are the places: Austin, Texas; Charlotte, N.C., Gainesville, Ga., Myrtle Beach, S.C., New Orleans, La., Palm Coast, Fla., St. George, Utah and Raleigh, N.C. To make it easier, I have only included the largest 350 metro areas in the U.S. and, while this is an over-simplification of the market, it does point to a trend in the population: It's moving to the South.
I've heard stories of how unscrupulous mortgage brokers may have pushed their customers into bad loans, but now OregonLive.com has uncovered a JPMorgan Chase memo titled "Zippy Cheats and Tricks." Wow, the audacity is amazing. The memo tells agents how to get mortgages approved by Zippy, Chase's automated loan underwriting system. Basically it's a primer on how to inflate the borrower's income and falsify their loan application. It's not clear how widely the memo circulated but one employee has already been fired for sending it. The take-away for potential home buyers is to triple-check your loan application and make sure you understand the terms.
A new line of work may be available for contractors: fixing damage left by former owners in foreclosure cases. With the foreclosure rate climbing in much of the country, real estate agents estimate about half of foreclosed properties have "substantial" damage, so there's plenty of work out there. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about noteworthy damage cases (including a case involving motor oil, paint on the carpet, stripped out appliances and some handy use of a crowbar by the former homeowner) and how those who buy foreclosed properties are handling the problem.
Welcome to the 21st century where thieves don't bother breaking into homes but rather steal the house itself. The FBI is seeing cases of criminals combining identity theft and mortgage fraud to steal a homeowner's biggest asset. Here's how it works. Thieves identify a home (vacant or occupied) and the owner. Then, they steal the owner's identity and secure the deed to the home, sell the home to an unsuspecting buyer, pocket the profits and disappear. The homeowner continues paying the mortgage the entire time.
The scariest thing about this scam is it's hard to detect and prevent. Homeowners are encouraged to be suspicious if they receive information from a mortgage company that is not their own. Instead of throwing this information away, open it up and figure out why they are contacting you. Homeowners should also check in their county deeds office from time to time for any paperwork or signatures they do not recognize. Contact your local FBI office if you suspect you are being victimized. These scams are rare, but the FBI is watching to make sure they stay that way.
