Home Trends 2010: ‘Don’t Call it a Basement’ First, some background: The big trends in housing at the moment are being driven by technology, demographics, and economics (primarily, the Recession, and secondarily, energy costs). Demographics: lots of upper bracket Baby Boomers — ages 50-65 and on the verge of becoming “empty nesters” — are suddenly...Read More
“Lumpy” Home Repairs How much should you earmark for annual home upkeep? According to one LA-based Realtor: Homeowners should have 1% of the purchase price of their home in savings for improvements and surprise expenses. That is the absolute minimum. It’s better to have 2% to 3% socked away somewhere. –“Home Costs Keep Going Up“;...Read More
The Search for New Currencies Although G.D.P. numbers still aren’t perfect ” they are subject to periodic revisions, for example ” the basic problem has been largely solved. –Robert Shiller, “A Way to Share in a Nation’s Growth“; The New York Times (12/26/2009) In a piece in today’s New York Times, Robert Shiller — that...Read More
Flashing, Blinking, Scrolling Images —Plus Ads! I’ve seen the future of online news . . . and it looks a lot like Times Square: one big, blinking, scrolling, flashing mass (mess?) of images and text. Unlike the newspaper, which is organized much more “vertically,” the newspaper-less can only present one, “horizontal” screen at a time....Read More
Needed: a ‘Third’ Separation of Power Tyranny is never finally extinguished, it just keeps coming back in other guises — more menacing and formidable each time. At least, that would seem to be the lesson of the last millennium or so. History Lesson Once upon a time — the Middle Ages, to be specific —...Read More
Home for Sale — Batteries (& Owner) Not IncludedProspective home Buyers seem to attach a lot of significance to Sellers’ motivation (financial distress? Job transfer? Divorce? etc.). Realtors, not so much. For one thing, the three pieces of information a good Realtor is never going to tell you — at least not without authorization —...Read More
