House Beautiful’s Kitchen of the Year by Jeff Lewis

Jeff Lewis from the Bravo TV series “Flipping Out” was chosen to design House Beautiful’s Kitchen of the Year 2010, and if you’ve been watching his show, then you followed along as he worked on it from start to finish.

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The kitchen has open shelving, a CaesarStone island, and a table made from wood that, Jeff says, was “salvaged from the old Vanderbilt polo barn.”

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[READ MORE HERE...]

5 Common First Time Home Buyer Mistakes

1. They don’t ask enough questions of their lender and end up missing out on the best deal.

2. They don’t act quickly enough to make a decision and someone else buys the house.

3. They don’t find the right agent who’s willing to help them through the homebuying process.

4. They don’t do enough to make their offer look appealing to a seller.

5. They don’t think about resale before they buy. The average first-time buyer only stays in a home for four years.

Source: Real Estate Checklists and Systems,

Haunted Historic Houses

maybe you can watch Poltergeist without flinching and you are able to read every book by Stephen King without a chill... [READ MORE HERE...]

REALTOR HOME BUYING BENEFITS

Throughout your home purchase process, your St. Louis REALTOR® can be of assistance in one of the largest transactions you will make in your lifetime... [READ MORE HERE...]

Gary Wasylenko works with buyers and sellers throughout the St. Louis Real Estate Market.

Homes for Sale in St. Louis, Clayton, University City, Town and Country, Huntleigh and Ladue. [READ MORE HERE...]

Home Selling - The Benefits of Using a REALTOR®

When you're thinking about selling a home you can be sure a Residential REALTOR® of the St. Louis Association of REALTORS® is there to guide you through the process... [READ MORE HERE...]

Foreclosure Moratorium Could Hurt

I know there is a lot being written and said about the ongoing review by 50 state attorney generals regarding the foreclosure procedures... [READ MORE HERE...]

Low Cost Ways to Spruce Up Your Home

Every year my wife and I pick a project that we can undertake to improve our home... [READ MORE HERE...]

It’s All About Trust

Written by Jim Gillespie -

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Trust is so important. It always is. But I would venture to say that today it means even more to all of us when it comes to major financial decisions like homeownership.
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[READ MORE HERE...]

How Stars Like Tom Hanks, Cameron Diaz Buy Unlisted, Multimillion-Dollar Properties

In real estate circles, "the list" is a record of top-end Los Angeles westside home sales, some of which were never made public. Coldwell Banker's Joyce Flaherty, who's been tracking the numbers for nine years...

[READ MORE HERE...]

Best Sports Cities in America

If the forces of nature allowed me to choose a town based on solely on its sports rankings...[READ MORE HERE...]

Coldwell Banker Real Estate Issues Home Listing Report of Most Expensive and Affordable U.S. Housing Markets

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (Sept. 22, 2010) – Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC today released its Home Listing Report, a snapshot survey of U.S. four-bedroom, two-bathroom home listings, which found a $1.7 million difference between America’s most expensive and most affordable housing markets....
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Most Expensive U.S. Housing Markets 2010: Coldwell Banker Report

Plans to relocate to California? The state dominates as the most expensive housing markets in America...

[READ MORE HERE...]

US housing starts at 5 month high

WASHINGTON - US HOUSING starts hit a five-month high in September, a tentative sign of healing in the housing market....

[READ MORE HERE]

Vote "yes" on Amendment 3, STOP DOUBLE TAXATION, PROTECT OUR HOMES!

Homeowners: Protect Your Property

We are mobilizing Missouri residents across the state to vote “Yes” on Amendment 3 to constitutionally protect real estate property from a real estate transfer tax...

[READ MORE HERE...]

Connected Devices: Does the iPad Change Everything?

The growing popularity of connected devices – especially Apple’s iconic tablet computer, the iPad – are starting to change the how people consume media. And with sales of these devices expected to be a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster holiday shopping season...

[READ MORE HERE...]

Home-Buyer Tax Credit Update: Senate Moves to Extend Closing Deadline

June 16, 2010

Update: On Friday, the Senate failed to get enough votes to end debate and pass the larger bill, called the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010. What does this mean for the prospect of the tax-credit deadline extension? The Senate will need to twist a few arms to pass the entire package and send it to the House. There’s no guarantee, of course, that the House will include the tax credit amendment.

[READ THE UPDATE...]

Previous Blog...
Senate OKs Tax Credit Extension for Homebuyers
The Senate Approved a Plan to Extend the Period when Homebuyers Can Qualify for Tax Incentives until Sept. 30th



(AP) The Senate on Wednesday approved a plan to give homebuyers an extra three months to finish qualifying for federal tax incentives that boosted home sales this spring.

The move by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would give buyers until Sept. 30 to complete their purchases and qualify for tax credits of up to $8,000. Under the current terms, buyers had until April 30 to get a signed sales contract and until June 30 to complete the sale.

[READ MORE...]

YES means NO to taxes.... [Real Estate Transfer Tax]

Stop DoubleTaxation.... Protect Our Homes

Join with thousands of other Missouri residents and sign our pledge today to help mobilize friends and colleagues in support of a ballot initiative in 2010 to protect your property from a real estate transfer tax.

These states have it: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Arkansas... Missouri is surrounded. Let's stop it from coming to Missouri.

A real estate transfer tax :
• is a form of double taxation;
• lowers homeowner equity;
• negatively impacts the process of buying and selling a home; and
• unfairly targets property owners and lower income residents alike.

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Coldwell Banker sees growing trend in multi-generational homes

According to a June 8 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC survey of its professionals across Canada and the U.S., realtors in both markets reported that in the past year more home buyers are looking for properties that can accommodate more than one generation.

“The main reason is financial,” said Coldwell Banker Canada president John Geha, who Business in Vancouver caught up with late June 8.

“The second reason would be that...

[READ MORE... click here...]

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America's Most Expensive Homes 2010

Amenity-laden properties at the top of the market continue to command just as lofty prices.

Candy Spelling, widow of television giant Aaron, has listed the Manor, Los Angeles' largest, and arguably most opulent, house up for sale at $150 million, out-pricing every other listed home in the country. Just down the street the owner of a sprawling classical style marble mansion is asking for $125 million, making it the second most-expensive home in America. Yet another home...

Click for the full article...

Why Pessimism Right Now Is Good for Profits (and the housing market)

Originally Published: Thursday, 13 May 2010
By: Tom Brennan

“You know we’re in trouble when people get too enthusiastic – that is the sign of a top, not a bottom,” Cramer said. “But when they’re pessimistic, when they’re skeptical, that’s how you know the market still has fuel to run.”

But what about this market right now? Cramer laid out six ways that pessimism and skepticism are helping out.

(click below for 1-5; here's #6)
6. Lastly, there’s housing. The bears are stressing this sector, but as USA Today reported, home foreclosures posted their first annual decline in five years. A peak in foreclosures puts banks in position to finally unload some of the reserves they’d set aside to protect against mortgage losses, which will translate into higher normalized earnings.

And once Washington’s done with its attempts at reform, Cramer said, the banks will be “ready for a monster move.”

See the whole story...

CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. talked with CNBC’s Power Lunch about the current housing market.

President and CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, Jim Gillespie, talked with CNBC’s Power Lunch about the current housing market.

Take a look at the video.

7 Things to Stop Doing Now on FaceBook

Are you on FaceBook? Do you children, nieces, nephews or friends children who are mentioned on FaceBook?

Take a look at this article from Consumer Reports Magazine for 7 things to STOP doing on FaceBook.

Click to read more...

Children's Liquid Cold, Allergy Medicine Recalled

WASHINGTON — More than 40 over-the-counter infant's and children's liquid medications are being recalled in the United States and 11 other countries because they don't meet quality standards.

Click for more details...

Bed is a bundle of paradoxes...

The bed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to it with reluctance, yet we quit it with regret; we make up our minds every night to leave it early, but we make up our bodies every morning to keep it late.

~Ogden Nash
(American Writer of humorous poetry who won a large following for his audacious verse. 1902-1971)

Courtesy of: ThinkExist.com (Click to visit the "quote site")