General
Not necessarily related to a particular state or location, but valuable information nevertheless.
A way to buy yourself a giant COLA*
*cost of living adjustment Most everyone moving from the north to Knoxville, TN, will see their cost of living drop dramatically. Homes at Tennessee National, about 20 minutes outside the city, are at...
The south comes north for a weekend
The sweet spot for home prices in Aiken's Cedar Creek Plantation is under $400,000. The Arthur Hills golf course gets a lot of play but is a bargain for members. You wouldn't know a housing crisis...
Boomers or bust: Will largest generation save the housing market?
Home prices in communities like Falconhead near Austin, TX, have held up because of job growth at companies in the area and Austin's popularity with retirees. I reconnected yesterday with an insurance...
The romance of golf communities
After a pleasantly exhausting day of golf on Daufuskie Island, kick back at one of the few restaurants outside the communities. Marshside Mamas seafood, music and funky atmosphere is legendary on the...
Foreclosures offer food for thought
I was in my favorite breakfast place this morning. After reading in the morning papers about the astounding numbers of foreclosures in the nation, I needed the solace of a good meal. I asked the...
Golf or Taxes: What drives U.S. migration?
Sometimes the Wall Street Journal cannot get out of the way of its own orthodoxy. Customarily scrupulous with the facts in its stories, the esteemed Journal sometimes plays a little fast and loose in...
The man who made the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
There was a nice profile piece on David Bronner on the CNBC television network during its Power Lunch program yesterday. Dr. Bronner is the man whose vision resulted in the Robert Trent Jones Golf...
On golf vacations, it has ever been thus
This year, many visitors to this space will take a golf vacation with their families. Some may even use the time to look for a second or retirement home. The golf vacation is something of an oxymoron...
Fees and dues: Distinctions without difference
At Fox Den Country Club in Farragut, TN, golfers pay an activity fee for such things as computer use to update their handicaps and for unlimited practice range balls. But locker room and cart fees...
Real incentives: Discount prices, reasonable loan rates
Neighborhoods near the Tournament Players Club of Myrtle Beach are included in the Centex promotion. As you can tell from the article below, I am not a fan of complicated offers that potentially set...
Let's make a bad deal: Builder "incentives" seem anything but
KB Home, the Ryland Group and other residential home construction companies think they may have found the hook to start selling homes again. They are using a twist on a marketing ploy long favored by...
Paradise Lost: Avoid mistaken assumptions that could derail your happiness
...And don't go mistaking Paradise For that home across the road. -- Bob Dylan, "The Ballad of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest" Who among us would not want to live in Paradise? For me, it would be a...