housing

Holiday Retirement Inn: Here We Come!

As the economy declines and seniors’ homes aren’t worth what they once were, and retirement nest eggs are lost just when they are needed most, seniors are trying to figure out creative ways to pay for their retirement years. Before giving up and moving in with your kids, here is an idea that has been circulating in various forms on the Internet for years, but now it is actually quite worthy of consideration! More…

Let’s not Blame the People Who Wanted to Buy Homes

If this was 24 years ago, I would have been blamed for causing the meltdown on Wall Street. I was about to turn 29, and couldn’t walk in our tiny two-bedroom condo. Every inch was covered with stuff devoted to the care, feeding and entertaining of our hyper-active two-year-old. My wife and I decided to go house hunting and found the perfect place: A three-bedroom, two and half bath home on a third of acre of land in a terrific school district. That was the good news. The bad news was it cost $138,340, and I was making all of $40,000 a year (my wife didn’t work) and we didn’t qualify for the traditional $110,000 mortgage (at 13%) we needed. More…