Real Estate Investing

Concept houses can be really interesting.   We have tiny houses, storage buildings converted to houses, cave houses, tree houses, and now…. now we may be getting airplane houses.  The idea was conceived by an entrepreneur right here in my own community - an airplane converted to a house.  But not just any airplane house, according to World Net Daily - one that can withstand hurricane force winds.

Simply put, Bennington is looking to plant a Boeing 727 on a fixed bearing 15 feet above the ground, allowing the plane to rotate 360-degrees into the direction of the wind. The 1,200-square feet of interior space would be decorated with any luxurious furnishings according to the taste of the owner. 

In addition to living quarters (once stripped of all the seats and overhead storage bins, there could be lots of room), the plane could serve as a radar station during questionable weather.  Tom Bennington, the inventor who has a patent on the design, said,

…the first aircraft/residence/weather vane would gain massive media attention, and news and weather crews could even broadcast from there during hurricane season.

I hope it does get massive media attention because I’d love to see the plan(e) in action.

Photo from World Net Daily.

There’s a new movie about to hit titled “2012.”  It’s about the doomsday of Earth on December 21, 2012 - as predicted by The Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar (according to Wikipedia):

The Long Count sets its “time zero” at a point in the past marking the end of the previous world and the beginning of the current one, which corresponds to either 11 or 13 August 3114 BC in the Gregorian calendar, depending on the formula used.

Others  believe that there will be a shift in our global consciousness.  What I’m hoping is for a shift from a shaky housing market to one that can stand on its own legs (NOT sealegs!).

Business Week just published an article called “What Will Your Home Be Worth in 2012?”

… we weighed historical data against current trends to get a bead on which way the markets might jump at one-year increments. By combining data, we were able to get a pretty good idea of what home prices would be in three years’ time. Across the board, real estate prices will continue to drop before rising slightly by the fourth quarter of 2011. Why is that important? Given the wretched state of the real estate market today, both homeowners and potential buyers might be better able to make an informed decision about when, and whether, they should move or stay put.

It looks like in my own area, the value will be 1.4 percent less than it is now, but nationwide the projected value increases by 1.7 percent.  I would suggest that it’s time to move, but clearly that wouldn’t be a good decision! O.o

Check out the data in your area here.

For a link to the upcoming movie titled 2012, go here (where I pulled the image for this post).

Out here in the streets, I’ve already talked about how people are facing major struggles to find mortgage relief from lenders even after the foreclosure rescue plan has been put into place by the administration of President Obama.  Apparently the problem is widespread as indicated in an article published by CNNMoney.com.  The news agency published the experiences that home owners have shared with them in seeking relief and in reading through them, it appear that most have been either told “No.” directly or are still waiting for an answer after being given the runaround.  For example Jose Rivera was seeking a lower interest rate,

Rivera hit roadblocks from the start. He never received a call back from the first customer service agent at Bank of America, which bought Countrywide, despite leaving three messages. In May, he requested a different agent and was told because he has private mortgage insurance, he couldn’t apply until the end of May. He called back in early June and was told to try again at the end of July. Now that interest rates are rising, he’s concerned it won’t be worth it to refinance.

According to the article, the plan allows people with little or no equity in their home to refinance so they can have lower mortgage interest rates. “The plan waives the requirement that homeowners have at least 20% equity in their home, allowing them to participate even if they have loans of up to 105% of the value of their property, as long as they meet other criteria. This aids those who are current in their payments but have seen their home values decline.”

However people making their payments - even though they struggle - are the low man on the totem pole so are not finding help.  This is why one of my friends skipped her December payment …. so she could move up on the priority list.  In January she was able to refinance at a much lower rate.

This is a sorry state of affairs when people do try to hold on, but get such negative responses such as those experienced by Jeffrey Huegel,

It’s been nothing but a runaround. They just don’t care. Rather than let me stay in my home at an affordable interest rate, the bank would rather foreclose and receive nothing. I guess it’s better just to let them foreclose because I am fighting a losing battle trying to stay.

Tsk tsk.  Read the full CNN article here.