Spacious lofts, built-in bookshelves, faux fireplaces with walnut mantel, decorative wrought iron railings, crown molding, air conditioning, balconies, slate roofs, cupolas, front balustrades, Flemish Bond brick façades and a striking four-column front porch.

The descriptions read like something out of the real estate section of the Sunday newspaper. A quick glance at the online pictures of the palatial houses with their sprawling, manicured lawns gives the same impression – until you notice the name of the construction company: Lilliput Play Homes, “creators of distinctive play houses for children.”

For children of the rich and famous, gone are the days of the pillow fort. Crudely built tree houses are out and classical architecture and interior designers are in. These mini-homes, typically replicas of the houses the children actually live in, come complete with electrical systems and varnished hardwood floors.

Playhouse ‘Mansions’

Featured on the website of Lilliput Play Homes is a miniature mansion, a $50,000 playhouse measuring 24 feet long, 8 feet deep and 11 feet tall, dwarfing the little girl sitting on the front stoop.

Read more: Cribs for Kids: Would You Pay $50,000 for a Playhouse? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/feature_12004326_cribs-kids-would-pay-50000-playhouse.html#ixzz1dPtZmWUx

If someone can afford to spend money like this, why don’t they help people to stay in their homes with a loan? Or better yet, buy some of the homes that people are losing and then turn around and let them rent it!     

For the third quarter, there is a mixture of good news and bad news. The level of single family homeowners underwater in the third quarter is up to 28.6 percent from 26.8 percent in the past quarter while home values continue to “tread water” as real estate media company Zillow phrased it, dropping only 0.2 percent in the quarter.

Quarterly declines were reported in 67 percent of metro areas tracked by zillow, with 26 of 157 markets posting an increase in values.

Over the last year, housing values have dropped 4.4 percent with 86 percent of markets showing value drops and only 11 markets improving in value. Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries says home prices will hit the bottom in 2012, pointing to unemployment and negative equity as the main plagues to housing. http://agbeat.com/real-estate-news-events/zillow-chief-economist-says-home-prices-will-hit-the-bottom-in-2012/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AGNewsMag+%28Real+Estate+News+-+AGBeat%29

We understand the point that Dr. Humphries is making, but there is still too much shadow inventory that has not hit the market. Homes are still being foreclosed, people are still having to short sale their homes because they owe more on their homes than they are worth and again that shadow inventory or foreclosed properties that lenders are holding back, millions of homes have not hit the market. In an already hard hit economy, when these foreclosed homes are released into the housing market, the sales price of homes will not go up in many areas, because the influx will be too large. When folks no longer have to sell their homes as short sales, which is a big force in causing home prices to fall, then we may be able to say that falling home prices have hit rock bottom.UA-25898950-1

FOLKS, WE still have to be careful out there, when it comes to thoughts on the housing market ending soon.

Just as with your choice of attire, home furnishings offer an opportunity to display a personal sense of style. Also like the latest fashion in clothing, furniture trends are always changing — although often with more subtlety and not quite as frequently. The fall of 2011 leads those considering a change in their indoor scenery on a return to nature by a path through reclaimed woods, textured fabrics and an earthy palette.

Read more: Fall Furniture Trends from eHow.com

Have you thought about reclaimed furniture? This is new to us! Check out this Facebook Wall:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ReStore-Reclaimed-Furniture/160755827274775?sk=wall   

This piece is real unique! Nice Job!

We found some real nice reclaimed furniture designs on this website: http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/designer-turns-moving-day-discards-into-charming-furniture.html

I can see this piece in my bedroom,  what about you?

A Home of Your Own

Read more: Video: Factors to Consider When Shopping for a Home | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/video_12077963_factors-consider-shopping-home.html#ixzz1c20v34Kx

600,000 invasions every day

Recently, Facebook announced a variety of new features and launched a cheerily colored infographic outlining their security measures and what was immediately noticeable to researchers is their equally cheery claim that “only 0.6%” of Facebook’s one billion logins are compromised.

Under one percent of logins getting hacked doesn’t sound all that bad, in fact, that sounds relatively successful, but when broken down, that’s 600,000 logins every day that are compromised. That gave us pause. One researcher broke it down to one login compromised every 140 milliseconds.

Let’s do some more math on this. If there are roughly 312 million Americans, and the average household size (according to the Census Bureau) is 2.59 people. If you divide the population (~312 million) by the average household size (~2.6), you get 120 million American households. If 0.6 percent of all 120 million American households were broken into on a daily basis, that would be 72,000 homes per day invaded. Break that down further and you get 50 homes burglarized every minute. The FBI says there were roughly 2,199,125 burglaries at last count per year (2009) which equates to an average of only 4 home invasions per minute in America.

America would scream bloody murder

So if suddenly, the home invasion rate went up 12.5 percent, do you think that would be acceptable, or would Americans scream bloody murder that the world was ending, police were not doing their job, and that criminals were out of hand. Homeowners would form legitimate neighborhood watches and feel panicked at the rise in crime.

So why the lack of concern by most Facebook users? Is it apathy that we just live in a horrible neighborhood and have resigned that no bars (or security measures in the case of Facebook) will keep the home invaders (or hackers) out of our homes (or Facebook accounts)? Why is it that people understand home invasion but care not about Facebook accounts? Of course the two are different- one involves tangible property and alters lives and is much more dangerous, but the point is how disturbing “only 0.6%” really is.

Great place to find out what homes are selling for around the country and the homes are real nice!

The Weather People are forecasting snow turning to slush south and west of  Washington D.C. for tomorrow. Of course the best way to figure out the weather is just go outside and look up! If, it looks like snow, it feels like snow, even in your bones it feels like snow, then it’s time to check the old homestead for chill protection.

By Zillow

While September brings the first day of fall, October can be the harbinger of the winter and all of its frigid pitfalls. It’s best to be prepared for the frost and snow with a few simple tasks that will prevent drafts, frosty windows and every homeowner’s nightmare: Busted pipes.

A good place to start prior to tackling problem areas in your home is a home energy audit. This will pinpoint specific places in your house where heat escapes. The U.S. Department of Energy has a do-it-yourself energy assessment, or you can hire someone to do the audit for you.

Weatherstripping

Cold air can seep in through those little gaps between your door and the door frame, quickly reversing any effort you take to heat your home.Weatherstripping covers the sides and top of the door and a sweep fills the space between the threshold and door bottom. Hardware stores and home centers sell numerous products in metal, foam, rubber and plastic for this purpose and many can be installed in an afternoon.

Windows
This may be another area where additional weatherstripping or caulk is needed to fill any visible gaps, though that still might not be enough remediation to prevent drafts. While windows add much needed winter light, they can let out a lot of heat — up to 12 times more than a wall if they’re single pane. Blinds can keep a little heat in, but heavier shades or curtains will minimize heat loss.

Fireplace
Fantasizing about a cozy evening in front of the fire? Your romantic night might be cut short if your fireplace hasn’t been serviced. The National Fire Protection Association recommends that chimneys are swept at least once a year.

Furnace
It’s also recommended that furnaces be serviced once a year. A heating system can break down at the most inopportune time is it’s not serviced. Worse, it can pump carbon monoxide into a home or eventually stop working. While a furnace service can run up to $100, the cost benefits are undeniable, considering the cost of a major fix or replacement.

Ducts
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a home with central heating can lose between 10 and 30 percent of its heated air before that air reaches the vents if duct work is not well-connected and insulated, or if it must travel through unheated spaces.

Pipes
Frozen pipes are a royal nuisance, but with a little effort, many instances can be prevented. The best way to tackle these is to wrap pipes that run the exterior of the home with heating tape. Turn off the water and drain the remaining water at the inside valves. You can also purchase insulated covers for additional prevention.

http://www.zillow.com/blog/2011-10-19/the-big-chill-winterizing-checklist/

The information on the Dept. of Energy Website has more detailed information:

Robert Shiller, the co-founder of the index and a Yale economics professor, said in an interview on CNBC that overall home prices were “flat” and a recovery in the struggling housing market was not on the horizon.

Another person says:  “We certainly believe the bulk of the decline in housing is behind us and indeed, one might even say that ‘housing’ is more likely to improve from here,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist for BTIG. “But given the overwhelming level of inventory that remains on the market … further price declines seem almost assured to help clear the market.”

Our question to the above statement is how can we say that the bulk of the housing decline is behind us when: “Prices are certain to fall again once banks resume millions of foreclosures that have been delayed because of a yearlong government investigation into mortgage lending practices.”

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/25/8479021-home-prices-up-in-half-of-major-us-cities

WASHINGTON — U.S. homebuilders are less pessimistic about the struggling housing market, but not enough to signal a recovery any time soon.

The National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday that its index of builder sentiment this month rose from 14 to 18.

Any reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market. It hasn’t reached 50 since April 2006, the peak of the housing boom. The index has been below 20 for all but one month during the past two years.

Last year, the number of people who bought new homes fell to its lowest level dating back nearly a half-century. Sales this year haven’t fared much better.

Builders are struggling to compete with foreclosures, which have made the price of previously occupied homes more competitive. Many buyers are having difficulty obtaining loans or meeting higher down payment requirements. Low appraisals are scuttling some deals after contracts have been signed. Some buyers want to upgrade to a new house but are holding off because they can’t sell their home.

David Crowe, the builders group’s chief economist, said some builders are shifting their assessment from “poor” to “fair,” but few are changing their views from “fair” to “good.”

The trade group has identified several pockets of strength. Home construction, prices and employment have been improving in those areas.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44945070/ns/business/

We are sharing an app that we signed up for and we hope it will prove to be of benefit to our colleagues. An interesting fact, you would think that crimes against Realtors®, would mostly be women. But, Not SO, to our male colleagues you have to be very careful also because the percentage of crimes against men is a whopping 30%. 

An article on AGBeat discusses this important life-saving matter:

Realtor Safety Report 2011 – violence against Realtors on the rise

State of the industry

September marks the National Association of Realtors’ Realtor Safety month and the industry is currently introspective about the topic, sharing tips and tricks of the trade. While it is important to prevent crime against real estate professionals, preparation is the best way to fine tune the gift of instinct. For the first annual Realtor Safety Report, we have teamed up with Moby and S.A.F.E. to investigate the rise in violence against real estate professionals. The real estate industry has lost some amazing people this year, and countless others have been assaulted; in conversation with leadership at Moby, we all felt that the actual crimes are not being analyzed in depth, rather associations are limited to sharing tips on heightening Realtor awareness.

In an effort to learn more about crimes committed against real estate professionals in the past year, AGBeat teamed up with Realtor safety expert Andrew Wooten, President of S.A.F.E. who said, “The past 12 months have been the most violent I have seen in twenty-six years working in the real estate industry. We’ve seen an increase in attacks, murders and suicides.”

Given Wooten’s note that violence is on the rise, and our mutual feeling with Moby that the why is not being investigated, we dug deeper to learn whether or not the crimes against Realtors had a common theme in an effort to discover something to look out for, something for Realtors to be aware of, for hope of a safer industry.

Our research did discover these minor commonalities:

1. The majority of the attacks on Realtors in 2011 occurred in the afternoons on Thursday or Friday
2. Nearly 30% of attack victims are men
3. Most attacks did not occur inside major metro areas
4. Guns are used roughly 50% of the time in attacks
5. Robbery was the intention going into the attack but frequently resulted in murder

Share

Share your location instantly and easily with your family and friends and see their locations on a map if they choose to share with you. You can even share with friends who have Moby installed on their iPhone, as well as with friends who have not installed Moby yet via email or text message!

Invite

Sharing is better (and more fun!) when your family and friends share too. Invite friends and family to use Moby with our easy-to-use integration into the native Android “People” contacts application.

Check In and Request Check In

Worried about over-sharing your location? Concerned about privacy? Have family or friends who don’t want to share their location all of the time? Now you can Request a Check In from each other, or send your own Check In to one or more people, along with a quick message.

Share

Share your location instantly and easily with your family and friends and see their locations on a map if they choose to share with you. You can even share with friends who have Moby installed on their iPhone, as well as with friends who have not installed Moby yet via email or text message!

Invite

Sharing is better (and more fun!) when your family and friends share too. Invite friends and family to use Moby with our easy-to-use integration into the native Android “People” contacts application.

Check In and Request Check In

Worried about over-sharing your location? Concerned about privacy? Have family or friends who don’t want to share their location all of the time? Now you can Request a Check In from each other, or send your own Check In to one or more people, along with a quick message.

Please, folks, BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!