Howard Checking In

Howard had surgery on his ear. Read about his experience here.

Caceres

Cáceres is a nice luxury gated community of town homes in Houston, TX, right inside the loop. They have a very unique design and are a short 3-5 minute commute to downtown Houston. These Houston town homes are really nice with a ton of upgrades. I have been through Houston, and it looked like a pretty nice place to live. Be sure to check it out if you are in the market for a new town house in Houston.

This website has a lot of information www.caceresliving.com. Here are a few facts I got from the website, it has Green space living – almost every town home enjoys a view of one of the six parks within the Cáceres community. You won't be too crowded, because it has 19 custom homes, 34 villas, and 67 town homes. Seeing this place makes me want to move there.

The Best of NYC

Its time for some East Coast Real Estate talk. We will start with NYC real estate. I wonder if the housing market has held up since the Stock Market has not done so well? Other than real estate, the Stock Market is another hobby I have. Although I would not trade my simple life, it would be fascinating to be a stock broker on the NY Stock Exchange floor, and to see what it's like to live in the best of best places such as a 5th Avenue penthouse. Click here to see a very nice place.

Space is very limited in NYC, so when something is built they get top dollar, and of course they build nothing but the best and very luxurious. If you want to see a sample here is a good source.
These places have everything from a water garden to a white glove doorman, and the views are unbelievable. Feel free to check it out.

Here is a link to a blog that you may find interesting as well.

Retirement

A few years ago I knew a guy who was cashing out and moving to Mexico. In the back of my mind I was thinking hhhhmmm, why would he want to move to Mexico? Now I hear about more and more people leaving the USA and buying in areas like Puerto Vallarta.

My sister has been there several times, and loves it. She takes her vacations there year after year, and I think out of curiosity the next time she goes, which should be very soon knowing her, I will ask her to pick up some real estate magazines for me of "Puerto Vallarta Real Estate"
I am a real estate magazine junky, but if you would rather just see"Homes for Sale in Puerto Vallarta" through the internet you can click the links. Maybe you just want to browse the
"International Real Estate" market.

It can be confusing to buy real estate in this country, let alone thinking about investing out of the country in Puerto Vallarta. The links above should have some very helpful information for you. Maybe you are not in a position to buy now, but it is never to late to think about how you want to spend your retirement years.

If you are looking to retire soon, and have some extra cash laying around, check out some international spots. You never know what you'll find. If that does not interest you, perhaps you could leave me in your will. I would not be mad at you for that. Really. Then I'll be checking out the international market.

My First Home

My very first home on my own was a sailboat similar to this one (minus the seals). I loved the boat life. It was simple and cheap, but as you grow up you want better things in life, like a real home.

I was self-employed, so getting a loan was not easy. I didn't even have a rental history. I just paid slip rent to the City of Santa Barbara. I had to shop around for places like Advantage Home Rates. I was able to get a loan, and have owned three homes since the boat life. There are still a lot of people who are self employed, and if they want a loan they might want to look at places like this one.

There are also those who are buying the houses that have been trashed by the previous owners, which you can get pretty cheap right now. A good source for a loan for a place like that would be Advantage Home Rates. Then there are individuals who have bad credit, but still have a good job yet have had some bad luck along the way, but want to be a home owner. It is still possible to get loans. It may take some work, but it can be done.

Lights Off

It's that time of year again. Time to take down your Christmas lights and decorations. My brother-in-law took our lights down in approximately 5 seconds. Since I'm feeling extremely generous I'll give people until February to get their lights down before I start mocking them. Anything after that is just shameful.

Keep Christmas in your hearts...not on your house.

Where is the bottom?

Here is an interesting article from the Modesto Bee.

Stanislaus County housing prices stabilized a bit last month, slowing the brutal price plunge that began three years ago.

Median-priced homes sold for $160,000 during November, which was $1,500 less than October. That decline was far less than previous price drops. Between September and October, for instance, home prices fell $17,500.

Stanislaus home values have fallen nearly 60 percent since peaking three years ago, according to housing statistics provided by MDA DataQuick.

First-time home buyers and investors are taking advantage of the now-affordable pricing. Sales volume was strong during November, as more than twice as many homes sold compared with the same month last year.

The sales statistics aren't nearly as comforting for Merced and San Joaquin counties.

Merced prices continued plummeting in November, falling to a median of $124,500. That was $12,250 less than October, and nearly 66 percent below what houses were selling for three years ago.

San Joaquin prices dropped to $172,000 last month, a staggering $28,000 fall from October. Its home values have declined nearly 62 percent in three years.

The Northern San Joaquin Valley has been rocked by the foreclosure crisis, which experts agree is pushing down home prices. Those experts disagree, however, on whether the region is through the worst of the housing mess.

"It comes down to just the sheer volume of problem loans in your area," said Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac, which monitors foreclosures nationwide. Sharga predicted the region will continue to lead the country in foreclosures through 2009.

But since this region was first to enter the foreclosure mess, some think it may be among the first to rally.

"It is already recovering," said Sean O'Toole, founder of ForeclosureRadar, which tracks California real estate. He said it's a good sign that the valley's sales are up and prices are affordable. "Whereas the so-called strong areas in California, like San Mateo or San Francisco, are now only beginning to correct (by lowering prices). At current prices, I'd much rather own property in Modesto than Palo Alto at the moment."

Bargains to be had

Local realty firms also are seeing some positive signs.

"There's a tremendous amount of demand for housing at these prices, and there are good interest rates right now," said Mike Zagaris, president of Modesto-based PMZ Real Estate.

Whether home buyers will continue to be able to take advantage of low-cost housing opportunities depends on the economy, Zagaris said, "because we have a growing recession that's putting people out of work."

Zagaris also is concerned that many current owners are giving up their homes because they've lost so much equity.

"I'm being told by my people in the trenches that the vast majority of those facing foreclosures now have no interest in redoing their loans. They just want out," Zagaris said. "If that's true, there's no stopping these foreclosures."

Demand catching up

What has stopped is most new home construction.

That's good, according to Sharga, because the region needs to reduce its overall inventory of homes so demand can catch up with supply.

Most of the valley's new home builders have sold all their finished houses and they're only building new ones after they sign sales contracts, according to Kent Steinwert, chief executive officer for Farmers & Merchants Bank of Central California. He thinks that will stabilize new home prices.

Steinwert is bullish on the valley's housing future: "The fundamentals are there. We're growing in population ... and we can't build enough homes long term to meet demand."

Population estimates released this week show there's been a shift in who is living in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

More people are moving out of the region than are moving in. New population estimates from California's Department of Finance determined that about 6,824 more people moved to other parts of the United States from Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties this year than moved to the region.

But new immigrants from foreign countries and high birth rates among current residents more than made up for that loss, the figures showed, so the three counties still gained in population.