Market leaves housing flippers flopping At the peak of the real estate boom, they inspired TV shows, how-to Web sites and the envy of friends and neighbors. Then the tumbling economy snagged “house flippers” like Mark Lepzinski of Clearwater. After 36 whirlwind months buying and selling dozens of homes throughout the Tampa Bay area, Lepzinski, …
Monthly Archives: July 2008
Great payout wasn’t sale motive [South Florida]
Great payout wasn’t sale motive [South Florida] Looking back, it was a heck of a land deal. Seven investors, five of whom were Bradenton High School chums from the late 1940s, bought 60 acres along a scenic stretch of the Braden River in 1978 for $350,000, about $1.2 million in current dollars. There, in the …
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High and Low Finance – Trail of Bad Loans Leads to the Couple Next Door
High and Low Finance – Trail of Bad Loans Leads to the Couple Next Door In the spreading mortgage crisis, there are many homeowners who were tricked into taking out loans they could not afford, or who failed to understand the risks they were taking. This column is not about them. Instead it highlights a …
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Lead damages lawsuit settled
Lead damages lawsuit settled Paul W. Nochumowitz, who has been one of Baltimore’s biggest ground rent owners, has agreed to a $1.53 million settlement of a lawsuit that accused him of living lavishly from ground-rent income while claiming he was too poor to compensate former tenants harmed by exposure to lead paint. The settlement ends …
Real Estate Investors May Resort to Prayer
Real Estate Investors May Resort to Prayer As the president of Silverstein Properties, Larry Silverstein, recently remarked on my television show: “The capital markets’ dislocation in real estate is the worst I have seen in my 55 years in real estate.” The dislocation of those markets has had a critical effect on the sales of …
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Adjusting to a softer real estate market
Adjusting to a softer real estate market A big reason that Fiona Saulness has saved as much as she has for retirement is real estate. Not only has the 52-year-old made a good living as a realtor, her investments in her Arizona house (which she owns free and clear) and a Seattle condo (which she …