Archive for October, 2007

Realtor to the Stars,Linda Stein Murdered in New York City

Linda Stein, affectionately known as the Realtor to the Stars, was found dead in her 5th Avenue apartment in New York City this morning.

According to the AP, the medical examiner says an autopsy found that she died from fatal blows to the head and neck. Stein was the original “broker to the stars,” helping [...]

31Oct2007 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued

Blogging Will Be Light Today – Halloween Parades and Stuff

Hope you all have a fun Halloween. I just got back from the Halloween Parade at my youngest son’s elementary school. Things like this do add to the quality of life…

My guy is the Ninja to the far right in the hood…

31Oct2007 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Homeownership Down 1 Percent From It’s Peak In United States

Here is an interesting stat that came from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Homeownership rose from 64% in 1994 to 69% in 2004. Since 2004 the rate of homeownership has declined nearly a point to 68.2%.
The combination of upward mobility and easier credit opened many doors to owning ones own home. However, back in 2004 [...]

30Oct2007 | Tom Royce | 2 comments | Continued

Houston Man Commits Suicide Over Foreclosure? Not Really But It Plays Well In the Media

The Drudge Report, not a place where the headlines are tepid, has a link to a story Man Commits Suicide over Foreclosure… . Since foreclosures are on of the hot topic stories this would make sense, but reading the story you find out that the foreclosure was the tipping point, not the reason for the man’s [...]

29Oct2007 | Tom Royce | 9 comments | Continued

Raising Commission Paid To Buyers Agent May Sell Your Home

If I were to sell my home tomorrow I think I know how to do so. Instead of going on the cheap on the commission with a discount broker trying to save some of the difference in housing prices from the peak, I would go the other direction and prey on human nature. I would offer [...]

28Oct2007 | Tom Royce | 22 comments | Continued

Housing Cost Problems In New Jersey and Long Island Causing Youth To Flee

When housing prices were running up, present homeowners started counting their chickens and planning their retirement. But what is forgotten once the bloom is off the rose as it is now, that these high housing costs also have their costs.
When looking around Long Island as a young man in my early 20’s the though [...]

28Oct2007 | Tom Royce | 2 comments | Continued

Why Suffering the Pain In The Housing Market Now Is Important

One of my biggest fears is that politicians are going to try to soften the blows to the housing market over the next election year. I have preached about the law of unintended consequences and I truly believe that almost any action out of Washington will create more heartache rather than less.
Writer John Baden [...]

27Oct2007 | Tom Royce | 9 comments | Continued

Top 10 Most Expensive Cities To Heat Your Home – Winter 2007 – 2008

The cost of heating your home has a great deal of variables. Obviously heating ones home in Atlanta, Georgia is less expensive than in Buffalo, New York. But did you know the cost of heating your home varies greatly in the northern cities as well. Due to government taxes and distribution costs, natural gas can [...]

26Oct2007 | Tom Royce | 6 comments | Continued

Housing Slowdown Good For Wall Street? For Now Folks, For Now

The fortunes of the national housing market and Wall Street have had an inverse relationship over the past decade. When the tech boom was occurring at the end of the 1990’s, investment in housing was stagnant. Then the combination of 9/11, the ending of the internet boom and subsequent stock market created the recent surge [...]

25Oct2007 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

Neumann Homes Declares Chapter 11 Bankruptcy – Existing Homes Will Be Built

Nuemann Homes, one of the largest homebuilders in the Midwest and Denver has declared bankruptcy. The company has been building in some of the worst markets in the country including Detroit and Denver so this can not be big surprise to anyone.
In fact, Nuemann probably gets what it deserved. They acquired Tadian Homes in 2005 at [...]

25Oct2007 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued