Category Archives: national news stories affecting second homes

Maintaining a Vacation or Second Home: Why a Concierge Service Ought to Come With the Title

Written by Candy Evans on August 24, 2012

As my site’s tagline reads, “you can never have too many homes.” Apparently, many buyers and homeowners agree. The latest Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey from the National Association of Realtors reported that vacation-home sales rose 7 percent in 2011.

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Posted in Beach Homes, California, emerging real estate markets, national news stories affecting second homes, Real estate market news, Second Shelters, ski homes | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Guess Who’s Buying Up Vacation Homes Like There’s No Tomorrow? The Rich!

Written by Candy Evans on June 16, 2012

Those of us in real estate know that when the housing market plummets,  vacation places plummet the most. Second homes are most often discretionary purchases you wait on until you feel flush with cash.

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Posted in Beach Homes, Economy, emerging real estate markets, financing a second home, Florida homes, national news stories affecting second homes, neighborhoods, New York City, On the Market, Private Residence Club, Real estate market news, real estate taxes, Second home demographics, Second home trends, Second homes and taxes, Second Shelters, travel to second homes | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why Is TMZ Reporting that Terrell Owens Took a Bath on a 2600 Square Foot Condo? Let’s Get Our Dallas Real Estate News Straight, Please!

Written by Candy Evans on November 13, 2011

TMZ is reporting that Terrell Owens took a bath on his Azure condo:

According to public documents, Owens paid $340,000 for the 2,600 square foot place back in 2006, right after he signed a $25 million contract with the Cowboys.

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Posted in Celebrity Homes, national news stories affecting second homes, On the Market, Second Shelters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Former Texas Ranger Rafael Palmeiro Selling Second Home in Pebble Beach, CA to Cover Bankruptcy Debt

Written by Candy Evans on October 17, 2011

The Texas Rangers are going to be world champs for the second year in a row, I feel it in my bones! But Rafael Palmeiro, the Rangers former slugger turned real estate developer, might be wishing he could get back into the game and out of real estate. Palmeiro is now asking creditors in his bankruptcy case (says the Fort Worth Star Telegram) to give him five years to sell the 200 acres of undeveloped land near Grapevine Mills mall he had planned for a mixed-used development called Gardens of Grapevine.

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Posted in Beach Homes, Celebrity Homes, financing a second home, national news stories affecting second homes, Second Shelters | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

How To Finance a Second Home: Tricky, Little Complicated, But Not Imposible

Written by Candy Evans on October 3, 2011

Cinnamon Shore

This may be a great time to BUY a second home, but are banks, who make it hard enough to finance your primary residence, cooperating? The answer is yes, if you have good credit and a hefty down payment. But I have heard so many conflicting stories on the nuances of getting a second home loan, I decided to consult broker extraordinaire Marcus McCue of Guardian Mortgage. Is it true, for example,  that the home has to be a certain distance away, and that some banks would rather eat a Listeria-laced cantaloupe than make a second home loan. Raw land? Impossible,  Wells Fargo told me — too many underwater mortgages. So I needed to bring in the big gun, aka Marcus. He tells us the biggest challenge is defining just what a second home is. Here’s a secret: even Real Estate agents get confused:

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Guest Post: Austin Real Estate Is Kicking Major Butt: What Are They Doing Right? THEY’VE GOT JOBS!

Written by Candy Evans on October 3, 2011

Get this: Austin has an unemployment rate of only 6.7%. That could be why, except for South Padre Island, Austin now has the highest priced median homes in Texas: $194,600, according to the Real Estate center at Texas A&M University. Sales of existing single-family Texas homes in August were up 24 percent from a year ago, according to the most recent Multiple Listing Services (MLS) data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. More than 21,200 existing single-family homes were sold, data showed. The median home price was $153,200, about the same as a year ago, and the state’s overall inventory was at 7.4 months.

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Posted in Economy, emerging real estate markets, national news stories affecting second homes, neighborhoods, Second Shelters | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Second Home Shocker: Fabulous Phoenix Paradise Valley REO With D Box Movie Chairs, 21-Car Garage, and Owner Went to West Point

Written by Candy Evans on September 21, 2011

Paradise Valley is like the Highland Park — no wait, make that Vaquero — of Phoenix.  Paradise Valley is in Maricopa County, home to twelve resorts, and one of Arizona’s top tourist destinations. Very pricey dirt: the median home price is about $2.74,  many homes exceeding $10 million, some over $40 million. So when there is a foreclosure, people drop their fingernail files.

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Posted in Celebrity Homes, national news stories affecting second homes, Second Shelters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

76% of Vacation Home Owners Say Now is a Great Time To Buy, But Where? Second Home Hot Spots (Get Ready to be Shocked)

Written by Candy Evans on September 21, 2011

This is a good way to gauge where you should buy your second home if you plan on leasing it to supplement income. As you probably know, the sluggish, morose economy continues to drag down the travel industry: one publication I know ceased their entire travel section due to lack of ads. But there is one segment of the industry that is still showing a heartbeat:  vacation home rentals.

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Posted in Beach Homes, national news stories affecting second homes, Second Shelters | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Best Home Squatter Story Ever: The Man Who Paid $16 Bucks for a $330,000 Texas House

Written by Candy Evans on September 1, 2011

I’ve got this over on CandysDirt.com, but will serve it up for you right here, too. This is just too important a story for anyone who’s obsessed with real estate. The Flower Mound house is great, don’t get me wrong, but when I squat, it’s going to be Pebble Beach Continue reading →

Posted in Celebrity Homes, Dallas real estate news, national news stories affecting second homes, Second Shelters | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Time to Go Shopping For a Second Home In Chi-Town — King of Foreclosure City!

Written by Candy Evans on July 8, 2011
Boarded up brownstones in Cicero

I never thought I’d see the city of my birth blow out Miami and Phoenix when it comes to having the most foreclosures in the nation right now, but Chicago takes the cake. Almost 119,000 homes in foreclosure. The problem: those stubborn banks are not letting go. This, of course, in President Obama’s home town, too.

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Posted in emerging real estate markets, national news stories affecting second homes, Second home trends | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments