General
Not necessarily related to a particular state or location, but valuable information nevertheless.
Price gauging: With a little research, you can live with the Joneses, if not like them
The first decision any of us make when contemplating a move to a new home is how much we are prepared to pay for it. There is no sense looking at a community of $1 million homes if our budget is...
Tinkerer's dam: New home sales tumble, and Bernanke blocks consequences...for now
The U.S. Commerce Department reported this morning that new home sales fell another 2.8 percent in January to their lowest rate in 13 years. Not surprisingly, sales prices slipped also, although the...
Charlotte led in 2007 housing prices
Charlotte, NC, was one of only three major metro areas whose home prices increased in 2007, according to the popular S&P/Case-Shiller Index, which reported the latest figures earlier today. At just...
Home value appreciations to Dye for
Pete Dye's golf course designs have the most positive affect on house values in the immediate neighborhood. Residents of Ford Plantation near Savannah, GA, can congratulate themselves on their wise...
Membership committees key to clubs' future
Some clubs, like Glenmore, outside Charlottesville, VA, know that their future membership depends on a vigorous junior golf program, and that if they can get Junior interested, they have the best...
Green in the gills: Developers have to play catch up with environmentally conscious customers
Older homes at The Cliffs at Glassy in South Carolina may soon join newer ones in being environmentally up to date. Developers at the Cliffs Communities have joined a small but growing group that...
Bernanke on steroids: Tinkering with economy could have unnatural consequences
My brother Bob, a financial manager and strategist, has identified eerie similarities between the swirling steroids controversy and the state of the U.S. economy. After reading a note he sent me...
The home version of The Price is Right
Selling a home is not a lot of fun, but I intend to make a serious game of it when it comes time to list our primary home in Connecticut a few years from now. I have decided to play the real estate...
Ocean erodes homeowners' net worth
Since that first moment when man discovered he could gain sustenance from the sea, life at the shoreline has been a constant battle between cost and benefit. Fishing villages survived on the...
Simplified airfares to southern markets
Williamsburg, VA, is on Air Tran's list of destinations. You could be be playing the terrific 17th hole at the Kingsmill Resort in a few hours from many locations in the northeast and midwest, and...
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...