Is this the big moment? Is this the big moment?

Is this the big moment?

Earthquake insurance rates just dropped 22% statewide. For those who don’t have coverage — most of us — it might be time to consider it.

Earthquake insurance: Most California homeowners don’t have it, but Bill Saake wouldn’t think of going without it.

After the 1994 Northridge quake damaged his Chatsworth house beyond repair, his Allstate policy paid to rebuild. But Allstate, like many other insurers, no longer offers earthquake insurance in California, so Saake pays around $1,700 a year for coverage on his four-bedroom, three-bathroom home from the California Earthquake Authority, a privately funded, state-run insurance pool.

Speculators Cash in on Rebuilding Boom

Speculators Cash in on Rebuilding Boom

Before Hurricane Katrina, Kyle Curry edited film in a New Orleans production studio. Now, he lugs a toolbox as a hands-on real estate speculator, capitalizing on one of the hottest housing markets in the nation.

“This is my new career,” says Curry, 45, standing in the muddy front yard of a 1920s bungalow-style house he’s rebuilding — and plans to resell at a profit — near Loyola University in the city’s Uptown district.

Curry is one of an army of small-time house “flippers” reaping big returns for themselves even as they help spur the New Orleans real estate market’s recovery. Some 100,000 single-family homes in the city were damaged by flooding that accompanied Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year. The cost of repairs may climb to $8 billion, says Jay Brinkmann, an economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington.

No refuge in Windward fallout [South Florida]

No refuge in Windward fallout [South Florida]

There are a few things missing at The Preserve at Windward, a gated community with 126 poolside condominiums overlooking Coral Creek near Placida.

Namely: A pool, a gate and 90 condominiums.

Nevertheless, for about $7 million, the unfinished project can be yours.

The 13.15-acre property will be sold to the highest bidder during an Aug. 9 Chapter 11 Bankruptcy auction in U.S. District Court in Ft. Myers.

Real-estate briefs of the rich and famous

Real-estate briefs of the rich and famous

The Tennessee house where Johnny Cash lived for 35 years has sold to singer-songwriter Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees.

Mr. Gibb and his wife, Linda, paid $2.3 million for the property, according to Robert Sullivan, an attorney who sold the site on behalf of the estate. The 4.6-acre property — in the town of Hendersonville, about 15 miles north of Nashville — includes a pool as well as the seven-bedroom, lakefront home with five full bathrooms. The property first went on the market in June 2005 with an asking price of $2.9 million, later cut to $2.5 million. Tommy Cash, the singer’s surviving brother and a real-estate agent with Crye-Leike Realtors in Hendersonville, had the listing and says the sale included several antique furnishings, such as the couple’s bed.

Ultimate Homes selects top local luxury properties [South Florida]

Ultimate Homes selects top local luxury properties [South Florida]

Beautiful homes are a common sight in Southwest Florida. But according to a recent national publication, Collier County is home to more than a dozen of the most luxurious homes available in the United States.

Ultimate Homes, a publication of magazine Unique Homes, placed 13 of the nation’s 1,000 most expensive residential properties within the greater Naples area.

“There are very good reasons why Marco Island and Naples rank among the most desirable places for the wealthy to live,” said estate agent Linda Sandlin of Re/Max Results Realty. “The luxury real estate market is being driven by dramatic increases in the numbers of very wealthy Americans as well as technologies that allow them to manage businesses and portfolios from virtually anywhere. Naples and Marco Island are among the premier sought-after luxury locations.”

Capital Partners bids for REIT [Central Florida]

Capital Partners bids for REIT [Central Florida]

Orlando-based Capital Partners Inc., a fast-growing real estate investment company, has made a $4.4 billion cash offer for Highwoods Properties Co., a North Carolina company with extensive property holdings locally and throughout the Southeastern U.S.

Capital Partners confirmed Wednesday it is offering $36 a share for Highwoods, a publicly traded real estate investment trust whose stock has been trading between $31 and $33 a share in recent weeks. The $4.4 billion purchase price includes the assumption of a bit more than $2 billion in debt.