| In down economy, owning a vacation home may be more business than pleasure Sat, 28 Aug 2010 Tina Lambert and her husband wanted an investment that would help them pay for their kids' college tuition someday. When he insisted on paying $49,000 for a condominium in Ocean City in 1997, she worried. But by the middle of this decade, when housing markets were in full boom, the condo's value ... |
| Lenders won't have to run a second full credit check before closing on mortgage Sat, 28 Aug 2010 Despite earlier reports to the contrary, it turns out that your mortgage lender will not have to pull a second full credit report on you hours before closing on your home purchase or refinancing. |
| The living is easy in Northeast Washington's Brookland neighborhood Sat, 28 Aug 2010 Just a few miles northeast of the bustling center of downtown, the District has a neighborhood where the buzz of lawnmowers is more common than siren wails, Victorian homes perch on sprawling lawns, and children sell lemonade and oatmeal cookies. |
| Featured Advertiser Sat, 28 Aug 2010 |
| Mortgage rates again fall to record lows Sat, 21 Aug 2010 Mortgage rates fell this week to the latest in a series of record lows amid concerns about the state of the U.S. economy, according to a survey released Thursday by Freddie Mac. |
| Where We Live: Savage, in Maryland's Howard County Sat, 21 Aug 2010 Shoppers browse in Savage's antique shops. Neighbors gather by the community hall for summer-evening concerts. Children play in local recreation leagues. It all seems so peaceful. |
| Frank Lloyd Wright house in Bethesda now belongs to architect's grandson Sat, 21 Aug 2010 It was just the kind of building site that Frank Lloyd Wright loved to tackle: The steep piece of land in a heavily treed corner of Bethesda was generally thought to be unbuildable. The driveway, a nearly straight drop from the wooded road above, was daunting. In addition, the only flat area was ... |
| Parents gifted them a house. Can they save on taxes by giving it back? Sat, 28 Aug 2010 Q: My parents "gifted" their house to us more than five years ago to avoid having the home sold to pay for Medicaid expenses. Now they are 87 and need to move. They may buy a smaller house. My four siblings and I own the home, but the home is occupied and used by my parents. Since we inherited th... |
| Organize association owners to hold board accountable Sat, 28 Aug 2010 Q: Is there a time by which a condominium board of directors must reply and set a date for a special meeting? A number of us unit owners are concerned about the lack of disclosure of serious financial conditions and possible bylaw infractions by the board. Our bylaws require that the board call a... |
| Ask the Builder: Packing for a move is an art unto itself Sat, 28 Aug 2010 DEAR TIM: I'm moving from one house to another and am overwhelmed. There seems to be so much to pack and I'm not sure how to proceed. I've received several bids from moving companies, and the cost for them to pack my possessions took my breath away. I've studied the "u-pack" moving options, but I... |
| Facts on Brookland Sat, 28 Aug 2010 BOUNDARIES: Northeast's Brookland is bordered by Michigan Avenue to the north, Rhode Island Avenue to the south, Ninth Street to the west and South Dakota Avenue to the east. |
| Mortgage modifications offer a bit of good news in the dour foreclosure market Sat, 28 Aug 2010 Homeowners who had mortgages modified recently are faring better than those who did so earlier in the housing crisis, according to a report released Tuesday, possibly debunking predictions of a huge wave of defaults to come. |
| Family-size apartments in urban areas could help smart-growth communities Sat, 28 Aug 2010 If you are a middle-class family with school-age children interested in urban rather than suburban living, and if you prefer an apartment rather than a house, then your chances of finding a dwelling that meets your needs are practically zero. |
| How a homeownership fetish hurt the American dream Mon, 23 Aug 2010 The American dream has become a foolish fetish -- and yet to end it, we need to make haste slowly. |
| U.S. examines private sector's role in ensuring affordable housing Sat, 21 Aug 2010 The Obama administration is grappling over how much to force private lenders to pay for apartments and homes for the poor as it presses ahead with a major overhaul of the government's housing policy, officials said. |
| Homebuilder mergers loom as 'elephant in room' Sat, 21 Aug 2010 Homebuilder takeovers may increase as tumbling demand for new houses and a faltering U.S. economic recovery spur companies to consolidate to gain market share, according to Citigroup. |
| Details on Savage, in Maryland's Howard County Sat, 21 Aug 2010 BOUNDARIES: To the north, Madison Street (and a small jag of Woodward Street). To the east, Route 32. To the south, the Little Patuxent River. To the west, Savage Park. |
| The House Lawyer: Consider buying a home rather than paying dorm rent Sat, 21 Aug 2010 With the cost of an undergraduate education at some private institutions exceeding $200,000, parents should be looking for any way possible to take the sting out of sending a child to college. In addition to tuition, one significant component of total college cost is the room portion of room and ... |
| FHFA's proposed ban on private transfer fees could cost homeowners Sat, 21 Aug 2010 A federal agency is moving to prohibit controversial "private transfer fees" on all mortgages funded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But its proposed ban might extend to transfer fees routinely collected by community associations across the country -- potentially forcing some of them to raise asse... |
| Washington real estate digest Sat, 21 Aug 2010 Issues concerning transportation, education, the environment and land development affect decisions about where we live. Here's how some of these topics were reported this week in the Metro section or at PostLocal.com. |
