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With a cup of tea in hand and her pinky finger alert, Morticia Addams would doubtless approve of these Gothic and  Gothic Revival homes that — like her — are romantic, but with a spooky edge. Charleston, SC 13 Johnson Rd, Charleston, SC For Sale: $5.9 million It’s easy to picture Tish snipping roses on the grounds of this lakefront estate. Built in 2007, its Gothic features meld with modern luxuries such as an outdoor kitchen by the pool, an airy home gym and a spa-like master bath with heated floors and towel-warming drawers. Check out more listings in Charleston . Great Neck, NY Pond Rd, Great Neck, NY For Sale: $100 million What better place to knit like an Addams while contemplating all things creepy and crawly than a gated, eight-acre estate with views of Manhattan? The compound includes 60,000 square feet of Gothic Revival living space, including 35 bathrooms. See more homes for sale in Great Neck . New York, NY 45 Tudor City Pl APT 1818, ...

With 78 million baby boomers entering or on the verge of retirement, a concerted national effort is required to adapt homes and communities for the 73 percent of seniors who prefer to age in place, according to a new report released yesterday by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). The preference to grow older in one’s own home and community stems from a desire among many seniors to remain close to family and friends and maintain the social connections that have enriched their lives. They appreciate the familiarity of their own homes as well as that of the local shopping center, the community library, and their place of worship. They want to remain close to doctors, nurses, social workers, and the other professional service providers upon whom they have come to rely, according to research by AARP That’s bad news for the nation’s real estate and housing finance industries, who have been anticipating a flood of transactions from Boomers selling their long-time residences.  But it...

The total number of originated mortgages of all types and purposes declined by about 2.7 million, or 31 percent, but in 2014 but home purchase lending increased by about 4 percent. Refinance originations declined by 55 percent, according to the latest Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Data released by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. The 2014 data include information on 9.9 million home loan applications—of which, nearly 6.0 million resulted in loan originations—that’s an approval rate of 62.5 percent for both refinance and purchase originations.  Approval rates for conventional purchase applications as well as government backed loans –FHA, VA and Rural Housing Service— were about 69 percent. In a report on the HMDA data issued yesterday, the Center for Responsible Lending said that despite a number of industry predictions, new data from the HMDA report revealed that Dodd-Frank’s mortgage protections and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s relat...

Sold prices rose 28 percent in Detroit over the past year, topping the list of Pro Teck Valuation Services’ Home Value Forecast. Others included in the list were Palm Bay, FL; Port St. Lucie, FL; Merced, CA; and, San Francisco, CA. “While Detroit has seen healthy gains this year, the Home Value Forecast rating system shows that Detroit is still a soft market,” said Tom O’Grady, CEO of Pro Teck Valuation Services. “Although examining one indicator is helpful, it’s important to analyze several home price indicators to best understand the health of a real estate market.” This month’s HVF update also looked at the Collateral Analytics forecast for those top markets and found that San Francisco home prices are at an all-time high while Detroit is still trying to return to pre-crash levels. In Home Value Forecast’s rating system Detroit’s market is considered “soft” while San Francisco is “strong.” They also noted that that while recent gains have been encouraging in Port St. Lucie, h...

Sometimes you just have to go for it. About a year and a half ago, Dabney Tompkins and Alan Colley moved from a condo in Portland to 388 square feet in rural Oregon. Their house, a  40-foot-high fire lookout , doesn’t have a street address or a bathroom. And the nearest neighbor is three miles away. “We still have that sense of ‘are we really doing this?'” Colley admits. When the couple decided to go off grid, they didn’t know a thing about solar power. But through trial and error — and lots of Googling — they figured out how to pump running water into their kitchen, power LED lights and have Internet using only 80 watts of electricity.  As for the bathroom, they “visit the bear” (aka an outhouse in the woods) or use one of three  alternative options designed for emergencies — or a few laughs . Through it all, Tompkins and Colley have tried to keep things in perspective. “Every time I think could I really do that...

Changes in down payments have much greater impact on homebuyers’ willingness to buy for a home than changes in mortgage rates and lower down payment increase renters; willingness to buy six times more than existing owners, according to a new study published recently by economists at the New York Federal Reserve. The survey of buyers and renters found dramatic evidence that the impact of interest rates is highly overrated compared to the impact of even small changes in down payment requirements. The study found that decreasing the required down payment from 20% to 5% increases the willingness to purchase on the average about 15% among all buyers and 40% among renters.  Decreasing interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, though it would save the buyer much more than the lower down payment, raised the willingness to purchase a home by only 5% on average. The study also found that it is primarily the less wealthy respondents (particularly renters) that strongly increase the...