http://www.realityonrealty.com Where you give and get the real story on real estate. Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:39:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en When you live in New York, you're bound to get screwed over at some point. I've gotten screwed over by locksmiths, dry cleaners, bike repair shops and mango ladies -- and I've only lived here for 8 months. The last thing I want to find is a real estate lawyer. This ... http://www.realityonrealty.com/?p=1637 If only New York didn't have to be so special. If only the rent-versus-buy calculator gave me a more concrete answer -- I wouldn't have jumped off the Renter ship so quickly. And so, I mourn a little. Okay, a lot. When the sponsor of my future potential condo accepted my ... http://www.realityonrealty.com/?p=1633 I gave them a lowball offer they could refuse. I got an acceptance two hours later. And that’s the story of a first-time homebuyer in 2009. As I’ve been a militant renter for my adult life so far, I didn’t exactly plan on buying a home, even with Obama’s $8,000 late Christmas ... http://www.realityonrealty.com/?p=1629 In spite of efforts to buy up securities to keep mortgage rates low, those rates are a-climbin' up to 5.59 percent this week. Is this promising? Not very much. http://www.realityonrealty.com/?p=1627 A friend of mine over at Blommit.com (a hilarious blog, by the way) made a, ahem, modest proposal to get ahead in real estate. Check out their blog this week for a humorous take on our very subject at hand: Real Estate. http://www.realityonrealty.com/?p=1618 We all make mistakes. I simply forgot the three things that could turn my die-hard renting self into a motivated buyer: 1) No closing costs. 2) Local 25 year tax abatements. 3) Defeated developers making fire-sales. 4) $8k tax credit for first-time buyers this year. When you put these three things together, my hypothetical mortgage and ... http://www.realityonrealty.com/?p=1608  In many parts of the country, there's a palpable sense of relief these days. In places like Los Angeles and San Diego, home sales activity is on the rise, and prices, while maybe not on the increase, are not dropping like a stone . So have we hit bottom yet? The answer ... http://www.realityonrealty.com/?p=1560 It's spring. Don't do this. http://www.realityonrealty.com/?p=1604 At least that's what one real estate couple, Melinda and Scott Tamkins believe. A Las Vegas real estate agent named Melinda mysteriously dies. Mortgage broker husband,  Scott, is the key suspect in the case. Oh, and did I forget to mention that shady husband Scott is also a heavy drinker and an aficionado of porn ... http://www.realityonrealty.com/?p=1590 A recent poll of economists concludes that the recession will end by the end of the year, according to NPR. Since there is no trigger of growth, however, the economy will remain sluggish well into 2010. What do you think is going to be the leading industry that will take us ... http://www.realityonrealty.com/?p=1584