One year later, many New Orleanians unable to find affordable insurance

One year later, many New Orleanians unable to find affordable insurance

Attorney Vallie Schwartz fell in love with the 130-year-old Victorian shotgun in the French Quarter, which like all grand houses in this former Spanish enclave has tall, cathedral ceilings and brightly painted cypress shutters.

A successful personal injury lawyer, she could comfortably afford the mortgage on the half-million-dollar house, so she made an offer — one that was soon accepted.

That was before she knew how much it would cost to insure the property: The best quote she got from a private insurer was nearly $10,000 per year, or over $800 a month on top of her monthly mortgage — far more than she had budgeted and enough to price her out of the house.

Four Corners Of Frustration [Central Florida]

Four Corners Of Frustration [Central Florida]

Welcome to Four Corners, one of the hottest growing communities in the shadow of Walt Disney World.

To some, however, it’s the Twilight Zone, a loosely defined area where four counties collide and residents have to cope with seven ZIP codes, three area codes and a trio of water management districts that until a few years ago divvied up one 388-home subdivision.

Homes that are comparatively cheaper than ones sold in Tampa and Orlando as well as a tolerable commute to those cities continue to add residents and further strain services.

Welcome to Gentrification City [Los Angeles]

Welcome to Gentrification City [Los Angeles]

Teardowns. Evictions. Investment. Rebirth. And the significance of that new gelato stand. The perils and pleasures of gentrification

Paul Giannotti couldn’t wait another day to embrace the big city. Bored in his placid corner of the San Fernando Valley, he had been searching for a shorter commute, an apartment with charm and a much larger selection of restaurants. So he and his girlfriend, Dianne Marti, uprooted themselves from their three-bedroom ranch house in Granada Hills and headed for Koreatown, where they found a three-story walkup with two bathrooms and a balcony.

Tech Booms, Real Estate Busts?

Tech Booms, Real Estate Busts?

Just as the Silicon Valley job market starts to heat back up, home buying hits the skids in the land of venture capitalists and tech startups.

The dot-com bubble is long over, but then there’s that other bubble—the one that folks in Silicon Valley often insist never happened here—real estate.

Yet, signs are pointing to the fact that it did occur and was doing a lot of heavy lifting during the post-bust years.

Landmark Resort to include 3-story waterfall [Central Florida]

Landmark Resort to include 3-story waterfall [Central Florida]

Nearly three years after the Hyatt Orlando closed its doors, consultants for the new owner vowed to turn the property into “a landmark in Central Florida.”

The Landmark Sun and Spa Resort, at the northeast corner of Interstate 4 and U.S. Highway 192, will feature a 378-room hotel with a 160,000-square-foot conference center and a three-story waterfall. It will also have five high-rise condominium-hotel buildings, with a lagoon running through the site. The buildings will feature glass and metal panels, materials not commonly used locally, Orlando architect Timothy Aebie said.

“There’s certainly nothing like this in Central Florida currently,” Aebie said Tuesday, sharing the latest designs with tourism officials at a lunch put on by the Kissimmee-Osceola County Chamber of Commerce. “We wanted to create something that has staying power.”