Thursday, September 23, 2010

Report: Right to Rent Legislation Would Slow Growing Rate of Foreclosure



HR 5028 is designed to allow the federal government to modify the foreclosure process to allow homeowners the right to stay in their homes.  But the question does exist if a homeowner is unable to satisifay the mortgage will they be able to make the rent payment.  The bill has the initial appearance of all the other bills out of Washington to help homeowners, they look great on paper but in reality they are ineffective ...

RISMEDIA, September 23, 2010--As the number of homes around the country entering the foreclosure process continues to steadily rise, a recent report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) suggests that giving homeowners the right to rent their house at a fair market price may be one of the best ways to address the nation’s foreclosure crisis.

“With roughly one-in four mortgages underwater, the loan modification plans put forth so far have done little to help homeowners facing foreclosure,” said Dean Baker, Co-Director of CEPR and an author of the report. “Right to Rent, on the other hand, would benefit millions, provide families with real housing security, and could go into effect immediately.”

The report, “The Gains from Right to Rent in 2010,” analyzes the costs of renting versus owning a house in several major cities and finds that the Fair Market Rents in these metropolitan areas is often much lower than the cost of ownership.

“Ordinarily, the gap between owning and renting is not that large.” continued Baker, “Due to the enormous run-up in house prices over the housing bubble years, however, ownership costs now vastly exceed rental costs in many of the bubble markets and homeowners in these markets have much to gain from having the opportunity to remain in a home as a renter following a foreclosure."

The report documents the costs of renting and owning before and after taxes in 16 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and details substantial savings gained from renting across all scenarios depicted. The various scenarios consider the costs of mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance and maintenance costs, and mortgage deductions. An appendix is included that compares ownership and rental costs across 100 MSAs as well.

Under Right to Rent legislation, such as HR 5028, sponsored by representatives Grijalva (NM) and Kaptur (OH), Congress would temporarily alter foreclosure laws to let foreclosed homeowners remain in their homes as renters for a substantial period of time. This would save families from being kicked out of their homes and would go far to stop the blight of foreclosures affecting many of our communities. This plan requires no taxpayer dollars and no new bureaucracy to implement.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET BEGINS TO SHOW SIGNS OF NORMAL ACTIVITY


RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET BEGINS TO SHOW SIGNS OF NORMAL ACTIVITY

CHARLESTON, SC—(September 10, 2010) According to preliminary data released by the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® (CTAR), 681 homes sold in the region at a median price of $199,055 in August. This reflects a 3% increase in sales and a 6% jump in prices when compared to August 2009, when 658 homes sold at a median price of $187,840.

Year to date, 5,624 homes have sold, compared to the 4,685 that were reported at this point in 2009. The year-to-date median sale price is a healthy 2% ahead of this point last year—$183,982 as of August 2009, and $188,207 thus far in 2010.

“Sales volume is up 20% year-to-date. While the gain is no doubt due in part to the recently expired Home Buyer Tax Credit, the August figures suggest that stability is returning to the market after the post Tax Credit drop-off. We’re slowly moving back toward more normalized market conditions, as consumer confidence is being restored” said Jeremy Willits, 2010 CTAR President.

As of August 31, 2010 there were 9,552 properties listed as actively for sale in the Charleston Trident Multiple Listing Service (MLS). At the end of last August, inventory was comparable, with 9,806 properties actively for sale.

BERKELEY COUNTY
149 sales in Berkeley County at a median price of $177,990 reflect a 19% increase in sales and a reasonable 3% increase in prices compared to August 2009.

CHARLESTON COUNTY
Sales in Charleston County increased 15% compared to the same month last year and prices increased 5%. There were 370 sales at a median price of $253,145.

DORCHESTER COUNTY
In August, 133 residential properties changed hands at a median price of $165,000—a 20% decrease in sales and a 3% decrease in price from August 2009.

JULY 2010 ADJUSTMENT
Preliminary numbers reported for July 2010 indicated 643 homes sold at a median price of $196,573. Adjusted numbers now show 671 sales at $196,540.

With nearly 4,000 members, CTAR’s mission is to promote the highest standards of professionalism, ethics, education and technology, and to ensure that its members are the primary source for real estate services in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Only those who are members of the Association of REALTORS® and its parent organizations are called REALTORS®. To learn more, visit www.CharlestonRealtors.com.

Friday, September 10, 2010

36 Hours in Charleston, S.C. - The New York Times

36 Hours in Charleston, S.C.

By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: September 9, 2010


CHARLESTON still has its cannons aimed at Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began, and has elected the same mayor, Joseph Riley, since 1975. It even has some of the country’s most aggressive historic preservation. But that doesn’t mean this charming Southern city has nothing new to offer. There are new galleries on Broad Street, and a festoonery of restaurants, bars and boutique bakeries have transformed the once-struggling design district on upper King Street. Charlestonians, governed by laws of hospitality as incontrovertible as those of gravity, cannot help themselves from sharing their new finds, even if you are “from off,” as those who grew up on this once swampy peninsula refer to outsiders.

Friday

4 p.m.
1) MEETING LUCINDA

In 1856, Charleston banned the buying and selling of slaves outdoors, a practice viewed as out of keeping with the city’s genteel image. Trade moved indoors to places like Ryan’s Mart, where the first slave sold was a 20-year-old woman named Lucinda. The former auction hall opened in 2007 as the Old Slave Mart Museum (6 Chalmers Street, 843-958-6467; nps.gov/history/nr/travel/charleston). Exhibitions bring slavery to horrifying life in a way few museums do, addressing such topics as the stigma attached to the slave-trading profession and how slaves were dressed, shaved, fed and otherwise prepared for market day.

7 p.m.
2) LOWCOUNTRY CUISINE


For three years running, a restaurant from Charleston has won the James Beard award for best southeastern chef (first Hominy Grill, then Fig, then McCrady’s), so guessing the next winner can be an amusing parlor game. Will it be Glass Onion, with its pickled vegetables and lunch-box aesthetic, or Wild Olive, which showcases local produce and Italian cooking out on Johns Island? A dark-horse contender is Cypress Lowcountry Grille (167 East Bay Street, 843-727-0111; magnolias-blossom-cypress.com), where the chef Craig Deihl makes his own charcuterie (served with lard biscuits, $12) and pork schnitzel ($28) while throwing a bone to value-seeking diners with a $39 prix fixe menu.

10 p.m.
3) JAZZ AGE REFUGE

Charleston is not particularly known for its night life — the options sometimes come down to one outlandishly named martini versus another (caramel macchiatotini? Charlestoniantini?). But locals with an evening to kill stop by the lounge of the Charleston Grill, a grand ballroom of a restaurant tucked away in a posh hotel, the Charleston Place (224 King Street, 843-577-4522; charlestongrill.com). From a glamorous white banquette, you can take in the sophisticated tunes of the Quentin Baxter Ensemble and the very polite antics of practically all of Charleston, from dads and debutantes to Gullah painters. Snack on the truffle Parmesan popcorn ($10) and a kiwi version of the Pimm’s cup ($12).

Saturday

9 a.m.
4) SWEETGRASS AND CREPES

The old South finds new takes at the Charleston Farmers Market in Marion Square (843-724-7305; charlestonarts.sc), a bustling downtown market where you can buy pickled watermelon rind, sweetgrass baskets and flower arrangements that make use of old windows. Be prepared to fight your way through the throngs buying their week’s supply of groceries or lining up for fresh crepes ($4.50 and up; charlestoncrepecompany.com).


10 a.m.
5) SHOPPING BELLES

King Street has long been the stylish epicenter of Charleston, but it’s been invaded by the major chain stores. Take refuge on and around upper King, north of Marion Square, where chic shops and high-concept restaurants coexist with fading emporiums. Pick up a handy one-page guide to parking and neighborhood restaurants at Blue Bicycle Books (420 King Street, 843-722-2666, bluebicyclebooks.com). Sample a pastry at the fashionably French Macaroon Boutique (45 John Street, 843-577-5441; macaroonboutique.com), then browse the baffling assortment of odds and ends at Read Brothers stereo and fabric store, established in 1912 (593 King Street, 843-723-7276; www.readbrothers.com). For a splurge, head to Magar Hatworks (57 Cannon Street, 843-345-4483; magarhatworks.com; call for appointment), a millinery where Leigh Magar makes recherché hats ($175 to $700) that sell at high-end stores like Barneys New York.

2 p.m.
6) NOT QUITE TEETOTALING

Many people spend a lifetime trying to replicate grandma’s recipes — not so at Irvin-House Vineyards (6775 Bears Bluff Road, 843-559-6867; charlestonwine.com), a scenic vineyard about a 30-minute drive from downtown on sleepy Wadmalaw Island. The owners have spent years trying to make muscadine wine without the syrupy, made-at-home sweetness those words bring to Southerners’ minds. Two years ago, the owners took on another iconic Southern taste, iced tea, blending it with vodka to make Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, whose authentic lazy-Sunday-afternoon flavor made it a runaway success. After the free Saturday vineyard tour at 2 p.m., you can taste both.

4 p.m.
7) OLD GROWTH


On the way back to town, take a short detour to the Angel Oak, a tree so large it could whomp 10 Hogwarts willows (3688 Angel Oak Road). The tree, which is thought to be at least 300 to 400 years old, is threatened by plans for a nearby shopping center. It is protected by a fence; the gate closes at 5 p.m.

6 p.m.
8) BIGGER FISH CAMP

Before the Bowens Island Restaurant burned down in 2006, the humble cinderblock fish camp was covered in decades’ worth of graffiti scrawled by loyal customers. In July, it reopened in a large, screened-in room on 18-foot stilts, with a nicer deck and a better view of the dolphins playing in Folly Creek (1870 Bowens Island Road, 843-795-2757; bowensislandrestaurant.com). Marker-wielding patrons have wasted no time in trying to cover the new lumber with fresh scrawls. You can try to decipher them as you wait for your roasted oysters (bottomless order is $21.50) and oversize hush puppies (a side is $4.25). Get here early to avoid the crush.

8 p.m.
9) GEORGIAN ENCORE


When the Dock Street Theater opened in 1736, the first production had a name only a pre-Revolutionary could love: “The Recruiting Officer.” Luckily, the producers chose a different work, “Flora,” an early English opera, when it reopened this year with all its Georgian splendor restored. Said to be the first theater in America built for that purpose, the Dock (135 Church Street) hosts the Spoleto Festival, the city’s artistic crown jewel, in May and June (14 George Street, 843-722-2764; spoletousa.org) and Charleston Stage (843-577-7183; charlestonstage.com), which presents musicals and popular fare the rest of the year (tickets $20 to $52).

Sunday

9 a.m.
10) STEAMY BUNS


When it opened last year, tiny WildFlour Pastry (73 Spring Street, 843-327-2621; wildflourpastrycharleston.com) created an instant tradition with “sticky bun Sundays.” A steady stream of cravers comes through the door in search of a warm, chewy, generously pecanned confection ($2.70). Those with less of a sweet tooth will be happy with crumbly fruity or savory scones ($2 and up) or a hardboiled Sea Island egg (60 cents).

11 a.m.
11) GARDENS AND GATORS

Ever since Pat Conroy’s novel “Prince of Tides,” Charleston has been known for its mossy, Lowcountry terrain as much as for its picturesque history. At Middleton Place plantation, a National Historic Landmark, one of several plantations within easy reach of downtown, you can get a close-up view of the marsh — or, in winter, of a primeval cypress swamp — on a guided kayak tour ($40). Alligators, bald eagles and river otter are among the possible sights, as is the architectural award-winning Inn at Middleton Place, where the tours meet (4290 Ashley River Road, 843-556-0500; charlestonkayakcompany.blogspot.com). After, you can take in domesticated nature on the plantation grounds, billed as the oldest landscaped garden in the country, with twin butterfly lakes, or visit the blacksmith and cooper workshops (4300 Ashley River Road, 800-782-3608; middletonplace.org). Some things in Charleston don’t change.

IF YOU GO

Multiple airlines, including Delta, U.S. Airways and Continental, fly nonstop to Charleston from New York. A recent Web search found round-trip fares starting at about $391.

Just off Marion Square, the Hampton Inn Charleston-Historic District (345 Meeting Street, 843-723-4000; hamptoninn.hilton.com) is in a restored warehouse just old enough to be billed as the area’s only antebellum hotel, with a fitness center, pool and 170 rooms, from $189.

The Battery Carriage House Inn (20 South Battery, 843-727-3100; batterycarriagehouse.com), has 11 rooms a stone’s throw from White Point Gardens at the Battery. Enjoy breakfast in a shady walled garden reputed to be haunted. Rooms from $150.


A version of this article appeared in print on September 12, 2010, The New York Times

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Boeing Co.’s 150-acre assembly line

These photographs were published in The Post & Courier on Sunday, September 5, 2010, and give a great view from above of the construction at Boeing.
November 2009


December 2009


April 2010


June 2010


August 2010

Photos by Aerial Photos Elite.

To see original post: http://www.postandcourier.com/photos/galleries/2010/sep/06/boeings-150-acre-assembly-line/12834/

Monday, September 6, 2010

Thursday, September 2, 2010