The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

That's the title of Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon's first novel, a loving, semi-autobiographical ode written when he was still a student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. It's one of my favorite books, and in it, the main character walks...

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September 25, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (4)

Location, Location, Location

Fancy chatting over the backyard fence with a former president? Are you okay with going through a checkpoint to get home? If so, have I got a real estate opportunity for you. The stately residence next door to the Obama's...

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September 15, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (10)

Livin' Large

A couple of lighter stories to end the week. No advice, just "things that make you go, 'Hmmm.'" The first involves a Miami woman who found herself and her family evicted for a day, even though they had scraped up...

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August 21, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (5)

Awash in Foreclosures

If we were looking for the sea of foreclosures to start drying up, it's not happening yet. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports today that a record 1 in 7.6 homeowners with a mortgage were either late making a payment, or...

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August 20, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (11)

That New House Smell

Want a house built from scratch? Then here's good news for you: The U.S. Commerce Department reports housing starts for July, as well as permits for housing starts, are up. Again. That's the fifth straight month of improvement for single-family...

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August 18, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (11)

Just when we thought we saw the light

Just when it seemed there were far fewer foreclosed houses available in Detroit when I was there a couple of weeks ago... When home sales were up.... When the jobs report wasn't great, but at least wasnn't as bad as...

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August 13, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (7)

Good deal? Or steal?

Today it's Philadelpha, Saturday it was Boston, but yesterday it was New York. About 1000 people packed the ballroom of the Hyatt Hotel at Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan on Sunday, all trying to snap up a bargain on...

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June 8, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (10)

Leading By Example

Back to Detroit again... where the real estate news remains deplorable. This round is not only deplorable, but shameful as well. Turns out Detroit city councilman Kwame Kenyatta and his wife walked away from their beautiful home. I won't recount...

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April 23, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (8)

Getting Dirty at the White House

First Lady Michelle Obama is getting her hands dirty -- and I applaud her for it. In overseeing the planting of a vegetable garden at the White House today, the First Gardener is setting an example. Like many commenters posting...

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March 20, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (37)

How Greed Killed Suburban Federal

Last Friday I was in Fort Meyers, Fla., shooting a piece on the foreclosure court there. Watch the report, which we crashed for air Friday night: Toward the end, the real estate agent we interviewed started telling me how the...

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February 24, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (21)