National News Stories Affecting Second Homes

Guest Post: Austin Real Estate Is Kicking Major Butt: What Are They Doing Right? THEY’VE GOT JOBS!

By Candy Evans | October 3, 2011 |

Get this: Austin has an unemployment rate of only 6.7%. That could be why, except for South Padre Island, Austin now has the highest priced median homes in Texas: $194,600, according to the Real Estate center at Texas A&M University. Sales of existing single-family Texas homes in August were up 24 percent from a year ago, according to the…

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Second Home Shocker: Fabulous Phoenix Paradise Valley REO With D Box Movie Chairs, 21-Car Garage, and Owner Went to West Point

By Candy Evans | September 21, 2011 |

Paradise Valley is like the Highland Park — no wait, make that Vaquero — of Phoenix.  Paradise Valley is in Maricopa County, home to twelve resorts, and one of Arizona’s top tourist destinations. Very pricey dirt: the median home price is about $2.74,  many homes exceeding $10 million, some over $40 million. So when there is a foreclosure, people drop…

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76% of Vacation Home Owners Say Now is a Great Time To Buy, But Where? Second Home Hot Spots (Get Ready to be Shocked)

By Candy Evans | September 21, 2011 |

This is a good way to gauge where you should buy your second home if you plan on leasing it to supplement income. As you probably know, the sluggish, morose economy continues to drag down the travel industry: one publication I know ceased their entire travel section due to lack of ads. But there is one segment…

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Best Home Squatter Story Ever: The Man Who Paid $16 Bucks for a $330,000 Texas House

By Candy Evans | September 1, 2011 | Comments Off on Best Home Squatter Story Ever: The Man Who Paid $16 Bucks for a $330,000 Texas House

I’ve got this over on CandysDirt.com, but will serve it up for you right here, too. This is just too important a story for anyone who’s obsessed with real estate. The Flower Mound house is great, don’t get me wrong, but when I squat, it’s going to be Pebble Beach

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Time to Go Shopping For a Second Home In Chi-Town — King of Foreclosure City!

By Candy Evans | July 8, 2011 |

Boarded up brownstones in Cicero I never thought I’d see the city of my birth blow out Miami and Phoenix when it comes to having the most foreclosures in the nation right now, but Chicago takes the cake. Almost 119,000 homes in foreclosure. The problem: those stubborn banks are not letting go. This, of course,…

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It’s the (Texas) Economy, Stupid: Why Rick Perry Is Mulling a White House Run

By Candy Evans | July 5, 2011 |

I found this piece in the LA Times over the holiday weekend — it takes a brutally honest look at the Texas economy. One of every four jobs in the U.S. has been created in Texas post-recession — something I know you’ve heard here before, but the sound is now resonating loud and clear across the…

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