General
Not necessarily related to a particular state or location, but valuable information nevertheless.
Strength in numbers: Crime data can help you choose a safe path if you use it wisely
The well established Surf Club is located in zip code 29582 in North Myrtle Beach. According to crime data, the zip code has ratings of 7 for violent crime and 7 for property crime on a scale of 1 to 10, a...
Odds and sods
Some items from newspapers, magazines and web sites that caught my eye recently: If you read the New York Times on Friday, you might have seen the front-page story in the Escapes section. The...
Gimmee shelter: House is a home, nothing else
The lot prices adjacent to the holes at the Avalon Golf Club outside Knoxville, TN, were so reasonably priced that temptation almost got the better of me. I have been oh so tempted to invest in...
Where are best bargains in houses? Try Cleveland
Home prices in the Austin, TX, area are expected to be fairly stable over the coming five years, good news for owners adjacent to the River Place Country Club. Economists who track the housing...
Stable Raleigh could be bellwether for what happens to southern real estate markets
Real estate voyeur that I am, I was excited to see lists of top selling agents and teams for 2006 in an advertising section of today's Wall Street Journal (along with half-page pats on the back from...
Never beg for a tee time again: Buy the course
Does the following report sound familiar? "Slower home sales have driven residential developers to sell the amenities they once counted on to hasten land sales and raise prices - their golf...
Going through phases: Buying a new golf course home is sometimes more dumb luck than good sense
I was asked the other day if it made more sense to be one of the first to buy in a new community or to wait for things to take hold. In my answer, I deferred to the buyer's personality: If you have...
Is membership at iconic U.S. golf clubs priceless?
In 1990, a time when the Japanese yen was quite strong compared with the U.S. dollar, Japanese businessmen began buying up iconic U.S. properties such as Rockefeller Center and, yikes, Pebble Beach...
Bless you Wall Street Journal
After I reported here a few days ago about some people's dopey proclivities to wring every last dollar out of their homes [see "Life Imitates Art..." ], the Wall Street Journal's helpful columnist...
Taking the full measure of your next home
A dust up between a builder and condo owner near our home in Greater Hartford, CT, reminds us that few things in real estate should be taken for granted. According to the Hartford Courant's...
Wrenching debate on Isle of Palms a cautionary tale for those who dream of living on the ocean
I have stopped being jealous of folks with beachfront property I can't afford. I am starting to feel sorry for them. We reported here that the 18th green at Wild Dunes' Ocean Course, which we played...
The nattering nabobs of positivism*
The National Association of Realtors predicts that, in 2008, existing-home prices will rise 1.3 percent and new home prices will rise 1.0 percent... -- from Choose the Right Place, a newsletter...