News about properties and real estate
Pat Neal is an oddity among Florida developers: He still builds and sells lots of new homes. The financial crisis that shattered many of his competitors only slowed Neal. His edge? He paid cash for land before the boom drove up prices. “I didn’t owe anybody any money,” said Neal, whose Neal Communities builds mostly …
Continue reading “Developer Pat Neal made the best of the real estate bust”
As if the love bugs weren’t enough. There’s something a lot more destructive than bugs splattering across car windshields: termites. The winged insects cause an estimated $5 billion damage each year in the United States, and Florida’s warm and humid weather makes the state a prime breeding ground. “The warmer and wetter the climate, the …
When he’s at his South Beach home, David Edelstein loves to lounge outdoors, under some trees in a garden decorated as if it were in Provence. But this sunny day he was hanging out by the 120-foot long swimming pool, fringed with white umbrellas and palm trees. “There’s Jamie now,” he said, as actor Jamie …
Continue reading “W South Beach’s David Edelstein’s Hangout”
Eleven years ago, Paul Becker and Eve Rogus got married, raising their blended family of five children in a large house in East Grand Rapids. But those children grew up and moved out. And the couple, both in their 50s, no longer needed the five-bedroom Cape Cod or the maintenance that came with it. Enter …
Continue reading “Falling condo prices in Grand Rapids draw wave of homeowners downtown”
How hard is it to get a mortgage? Hard enough that even millionaires are throwing up their hands in frustration and disgust. Patrick DiPinto, a Coldwell Banker agent on Longboat Key, says just two of his past 30 deals have involved buyers who sought mortgages to make the purchase. But one of those cases illustrates …
Continue reading “Letter from home column: lenders are tough even on the rich”
Ms. Wennerstrom owns seven properties in southeast Toronto, two of them with partners. She bought her first house at 24 and has been flipping them since. But Ms. Wennerstrom, who quit her job in sales and marketing at a frozen food company nine months ago, has perfected a more patient version of the flip. Like …