Vacation Homes category archives

Many of us, specifically those on the west coast, live near fault lines and are at risk of being impacted by an earthquake in our lifetimes. With their homes being most people’s single largest investment, it’s realistic to ask yourself — would my house survive an earthquake? To get a better sense of [...]

Earlier this year, Martha Stewart garnered a ton of press with the rollout of her Martha Stewart-branded homes and communities with KB Homes in North Carolina and Georgia.
Now it seems many celebrities are hopping on the branded-residence bandwagon.  Inman News (subscription req.) and Forbes.com both have published stories in the past few weeks on the [...]

Ten thousand people converged on Vancouver this week for the World Urban Forum, which finished today.  The conference discussed the world’s rapidly growing urban populations, particularly in developing countries, and the potential social and economic effects of rapid growth such as urban poverty, sanitation and housing issues.  According to this BBC News article, the United [...]

I’ve never been to Elk Grove, California (Zindex $455,330) — let alone heard of it — so my curiosity was piqued to read it is the fastest-growing American city, growing 11.6 percent since last year.

If you read between the lines, a key reason it landed at the top of the list is because the city [...]

Every day I read about gas prices going up, beautiful farmlands that have given over to developers — or mega-stores — and the threat of global warming. Then, today, I read about a woman who died by the name Jane Jacobs. I had never heard of her, but she made it her mission to champion [...]

Interesting news item from the Orlando Sentinel this week, about the true meaning of “waterfront property.” It seems developers in this land-locked region of central Florida are developing manmade lakes as fast as homes, and charging “waterfront” prices. A quick Zillow scan around Orlando shows some neighborhoods with lakes on every street.

The interesting thing about the topic of home values is that it’s always a bit ubiquitous… even when we’re watching TV.  Who hasn’t watched an episode of Friends and declared there’s no way Rachel and Monica could afford that apartment in New York… or wondered how Mike the single plumber on Desperate Housewives lives in [...]