Your Guide to Cocktails.

Every New Year’s Eve people make promises to change something about their lives and by the middle of the month many of these resolutions are forgotten. Maybe the willpower isn’t there or it could be that our goals are too lofty or too numerous. Whatever the reason, it’s not likely that this tradition will be lost anytime soon and it’s worth it if there is even one resolution, no matter how small, that goes unbroken and is beneficial. Here are a few resolutions that may pertain to your drinking lifestyle. Some are fun, a few are serious, but all are easy to keep and will make for happy drinking in the New Year.

1. Resolution #1- Quality

I resolve that I will not submit myself to purchasing or consuming spirits that are on the bottom two shelves of the liquor store.

2. Resolution #2- Freshness

I resolve to mix only with freshly squeezed juices and I will also make my own grenadine, simple syrup and sour mix.

3. Resolution #3- Variety

I resolve that every fifth drink I order or mix myself will deviate from the usual.

4. Resolution #4- New Experiences

I resolve that once a month I will either mix up or order a cocktail that I have never had before.

5. Resolution #5- Martinis

I resolve that I will refrain from referring to every drink served in a cocktail glass as a Martini.

6. Resolution #6- Over-sized Drinks

I resolve to never again order a drink that is served in a bowl or other vessel that is larger than my fist because I understand that I will not be able to enjoy the drink in it’s entirety as it was meant to be.

7. Resolution #7- Be Polite

I resolve to be polite to all bartenders and cocktail waitresses I come in contact with and be especially understanding when they are obviously overwhelmed. I also resolve to tip appropriately, generously and every time I order a drink.

8. Resolution #8- Be a Courteous Host

I resolve to offer my non-drinking guests an elegant mocktail that makes them feel like adults.

9. Resolution #9- Hangovers

I resolve to limit myself to one hangover-inducing drinking session per month. If this is too lofty a goal for me, I will at least reduce the occurrence of hangovers I suffer from.

10. Resolution #10- Be Responsible

I resolve to drink responsibly and when I do overindulge I will make alternative plans for returning home safely.

From Colleen Graham

http://cocktails.about.com/od/partiesholidays/tp/newyear_rsltns.htm?nl=1

New Year’s Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It’s a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. Did your New Year resolutions make our top ten list?

1. Spend More Time with Family & Friends

Recent polls conducted by General Nutrition Centers, Quicken, and others shows that more than 50% of Americans vow to appreciate loved ones and spend more time with family and friends this year.

2. Fit in Fitness

The evidence is in for fitness. Regular exercise has been associated with more health benefits than anything else known to man. Studies show that it reduces the risk of some cancers, increases longevity, helps achieve and maintain weight loss, enhances mood, lowers blood pressure, and even improves arthritis. In short, exercise keeps you healthy and makes you look and feel better.

3. Tame the Bulge

Over 66 percent of adult Americans are considered overweight or obese by recent studies, so it is not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. Setting reasonable goals and staying focused are the two most important factors in sticking with a weight loss program, and the key to success for those millions of Americans who made a New Year’s commitment to shed extra pounds.

4. Quit Smoking

If you have resolved to make this the year that you stamp out your smoking habit, over-the-counter availability of nicotine replacement therapy now provides easier access to proven quit-smoking aids. Even if you’ve tried to quit before and failed, don’t let it get you down. On average, smokers try about four times before they quit for good. Start enjoying the rest of your smoke-free life! Even Allegheny County is trying to go smoke-free, and it’s taken them a few tries as well. Locally, there are a variety of free support services, hotlines and smoking cessation classes to help you kick the smoking habit.

5. Enjoy Life More

Given the hectic, stressful lifestyles of millions of Americans, it is no wonder that “enjoying life more” has become a popular resolution in recent years. It’s an important step to a happier and healthier you! Consider one of Pittsburgh’s holistic healing centers for products designed to bring balance to your body, mind and soul. Or just get out and try something new! Take up a new hobby or try your hand at skiing. Go to a theater performance, or head to the local spa.

6. Quit Drinking

While many people use the New Year as an incentive to finally stop drinking, most are not equipped to make such a drastic lifestyle change all at once. Many heavy drinkers fail to quit cold turkey but do much better when they taper gradually, or even learn to moderate their drinking. If you have decided that you want to stop drinking, there is a world of help and support available.

7. Get Out of Debt

Was money a big source of stress in your life last year? Join the millions of Americans who have resolved to spend this year getting a handle on their finances. It’s a promise that will repay itself many times over in the year ahead.

8. Learn Something New

Have you vowed to make this year the year to learn something new? Perhaps you are considering a career change, want to learn a new language, or just how to fix your computer? Whether you take a course or read a book, you’ll find education to be one of the easiest, most motivating New Year’s resolutions to keep

9. Help Others

A popular, non-selfish New Year’s resolution, volunteerism can take many forms. Whether you choose to spend time helping out at your local library, mentoring a child, or building a house, there are many nonprofit volunteer organizations that could really use your help. The Pittsburgh Cares organization makes it easy by connecting volunteers with projects to fit practically any schedule. Or if your time is really in short supply, maybe you can at least find it in you to donate the furniture, clothing and other household items that you no longer need, rather than leaving them out by the curb to fill up our landfills.

10. Get Organized

On just about every New Year resolution top ten list, organization can be a very reasonable goal. Whether you want your home organized enough that you can invite someone over on a whim, or your office organized enough that you can find the stapler when you need it, these tips and resources should get you started on the way to a more organized life.

From Kimberly & Albrecht Powell

http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/holidays/tp/resolutions.htm

The Federal Reserve endorsed new rules Tuesday that would give people taking out home mortgages new protections against shady lending practices.

The proposed rules, approved in a 5-0 vote by the board, are geared to providing safeguards to the riskiest “subprime” borrowers, already painfully stung by the housing and credit debacles. The proposal is expected to apply to new loans made by all types of lenders, including banks and brokers. The plan could be finalized next year.

The Fed, which has regulatory powers over the nation’s banking system, is proposing:

• Restricting lenders from penalizing certain subprime borrowers–those with tarnished credit or low incomes _ who pay off their loans early. The restriction would apply to loans that meet certain conditions, including that the penalty expire at least 60 days before any possible payment increase.
• Forcing lenders to make sure that subprime borrowers set aside money to pay for taxes and insurance.
• Barring lenders from making loans when they don’t have proof, or verification, of a borrower’s income.
• Prohibiting lenders from engaging in a pattern or practice of lending without considering a borrower’s ability to repay a home loan from sources other than the home’s value.

“Unfair and deceptive acts and practices hurt not just borrowers and their families, but entire communities, and indeed, the economy as a whole,” said Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in prepared remarks. “They have no place in our mortgage system,” he added.

Other Rules Considered

Fed policymakers also are considering requiring financial disclosures to borrowers early enough to use while shopping for a mortgage. Lenders could not charge fees–except for a fee to obtain a credit report–until after the consumer receives the disclosures.

The Fed also will consider prohibiting certain types of misleading or deceptive advertising for certain loans; It also would require that all applicable rates or payments be disclosed in ads with equal prominence as advertised introductory, or “teaser” rates.

In addition, the Fed is expected to propose barring lenders from paying mortgage brokers a fee that exceeds the amount the would-be borrower had agreed to in advance that the broker would receive.

And, the Fed would ban certain practices, such as failing to credit a mortgage payment to a borrower’s account when the company servicing the mortgage receives it. The Fed also would prohibit a broker or other company from coercing or encouraging an appraiser to misrepresent the value of a home.

Before taking effect, the rules must be voted again following a period of public comment and possible revisions.

Record Home Foreclosures

The Fed’s response has taken on heightened importance given the meltdown in the housing and credit markets that has led to record numbers of home foreclosures. The crisis has raised the odds that the economy might fall into a recession, roiled Wall Street and given Democrats and Republicans much fodder to blame each other.

The plan, if ultimately adopted, offers Bernanke, who took over the helm in February 2006, an important opportunity to put his imprint on the Fed’s regulatory powers. Some critics have complained that Bernanke’s predecessor–Alan Greenspan, who ran the Fed for 18 1/2 years– failed to act as a forceful regulator especially during the 2001-2005 housing boom, where easy credit spurred lots of subprime home loans and many exotic types of mortgages.

When the housing market went bust, the carnage was the worst in subprime loans.

Of the nearly 3 million subprime adjustable-rate loans surveyed by the Mortgage Bankers Association from July through September, a record 4.72 percent entered the foreclosure process during those months. At the same time, a record 18.81 percent of the subprime adjustable-rate loans were past due.

When home values weakened, borrowers were left with loans balances that eclipsed the value of their homes. They also were clobbered when their loans reset with much higher interest rates.

Article found at http://www.cnbc.com/id/22307841

From Peru to Malaysia, there are still fascinating places a couple can travel in style — even lavishly — on $100 or less a day.

The weak dollar has made travel abroad increasingly painful for most U.S. travelers, who tend to herd to a small number of European destinations: typically the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany.

Budget-minded tourists can cope by scouring the Internet for bargain flights, squeezing into no-star hotels and subsisting on cheese and crackers eaten on a park bench. Or they could consider getting a little more adventurous and traveling to where their dollars still go a long, long way.

How does a beachfront bungalow for $10 to $20 sound? Or a seafood dinner for $2? Or admission for two to a museum for less than a buck? Or (if you like luxury) one of the finest hotel rooms in the world, for less than $300 a night? All of this is possible if you break out of the Grand Tour circuit and consider some of the many great travel bargains in other parts of the world.

I asked Tim Leffel, author of “The World’s Cheapest Travel Destinations,” to pick out eight dollar-stretching countries, including some that would be good for school-age kids. (We agreed that traveling to developing nations with infants and preschoolers is a bit dicey, both for the kids’ health and the parents’ sanity, although people certainly do it.)

Airfares to these countries from U.S. cities range from a few hundred bucks to $1,000 or more. (You can get an idea of current fares at MSN Travel.) Once you’re there, though, you’ll spend far less than you would in more developed nations, and often less than you’d spend feeding, entertaining and sheltering yourself at home.

The possibilities are endless

Argentina: Imagine a country with stunning scenery, exciting nightlife, world-class food and wine — and now imagine it on sale for two-thirds off. Once the most-expensive country in South America, Argentina’s economic collapse and subsequent currency devaluation in 2001 created bargains whose effects continue to linger. The economy is now on a robust rebound, but the dollar still goes a long way. Leffel said budget travelers can get by on $25 to $35 a day, but those willing to spend a bit more — say, $75 to $150 for a couple — can feast on gourmet meals and stay in great hotels. Dinner, by the way, is typically served at 10 p.m. and signals the start of partying into the wee hours, which is why Leffel sees Argentina, and especially Buenos Aires, as a better bet for singles and couples than families.

Honduras‘ Roatan Island: This coastal island has “postcard perfect” beaches and plenty of expatriates (American and otherwise), which means it’s more expensive than the mainland, Leffel said. Still, it’s a good value by Caribbean standards, and it isn’t plagued by the street crime and violence that characterize much of the rest of the country.

“The mainland of Honduras has a reputation of being unsafe,” Leffel said, “but the island of Roatan is much calmer and is one of the most reasonable places on the planet to get certified as a scuba diver.”

Rooms run anywhere from $10 to $200, and a gourmet meal might set you back $15. In the off-season, you may be able to find a dive package that includes steeply discounted or even free hotel rooms. As seats are cut back, many award travelers are forced to book vacations almost a year in advance.

Malaysia: Malaysia is more westernized than other bargain Asian countries and is, in Leffel’s view, “one of the best choices in Asia” for traveling with children. “It’s easy to get around, there are plenty of cuisines to pick from, and you can usually drink the water,” he says. “A lot of people speak English, and there are also a lot of attractions in a relatively small area.”

Malaysia offers beautiful beaches, exotic jungles, colorful temples and some lovely train rides (although “comfortable and efficient buses go almost everywhere,” Leffel said). The daily price tag for a bamboo bungalow, meals and snorkeling equipment might be as little as $30 for a couple, with daily costs for food and lodging about twice that in the cities.

Mexico: If you stay away from the overpriced resort towns — Acapulco, Cancun, Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta — Mexico can still offer great value for your money. A budget-minded couple can travel comfortably on $50 to $75 a day, while midrange travelers might spend $80 to $150. “There are plenty of beach options for kids and, alternatively, most will enjoy the Copper Canyon train trip (in north central Mexico),” Leffel said. “For couples or adult groups, I would advise people to spend some time in the pretty colonial cities: Guanajuato, Guadalajara, Oaxaca, Merida or San Miguel de Allende. The latter gets a lot of tourists, and prices are higher because of all the expats, but the others are more mellow, and hotel rates are excellent. All are in the middle interior except for Merida, which is in the Yucatan, four hours west of Cancun.”

Morocco: This northern African nation “is practically rowing distance from Europe,” in Leffel’s words, yet a world away: exotic marketplaces, ancient fortresses and the wail of the muezzin calling faithful Muslims to prayer five times a day. Get out of the big, chaotic cities of Tangier and Marrakech as quickly as possible, Leffel advises, and head for the uncrowded beaches, beautiful mountains, cedar forests with their Barbary apes and old towns on the Sahara’s edge. “The cities can be maddening after a while, but older kids will love the camel rides, desert walks and mountain hikes,” Leffel said. A budget-minded couple can get by on about $50 a day, while those looking for more creature comforts might spend twice that.

Peru: The Incan ruins of Machu Picchu are the country’s biggest tourist attraction, but there are plenty of others, including Amazon rain forests, colonial cities, whitewater rafting and mountain trekking. “Adults enjoy the low prices and wealth of sightseeing opportunities,” Leffel said, “while kids will enjoy all the animals and colorful Andean costumes.”

With the exception of a few gustatory oddities, like roasted guinea pig, “most of the food will be recognizable to children, including plenty of pizza,” he said. Meals tend to cost $1 to $3 in local restaurants, or $2 to $5 in places catering to tourists. Midrange travelers might pay $50 to $80 a night for lodging in the Lima or Cuzco, but elsewhere the rates are typically lower.

Thailand: Here’s where even the most frugal traveler might want to cut loose for a night or two, since even the most amazingly luxurious, five-star hotel rooms routinely go for $300 a night or less (a couple of examples include the Oriental, routinely named as one of the best hotels in the world, and the Four Seasons). Otherwise, budget travelers can live on $30 to $40 a day, and beachfront bungalows can be had for $20 or less. Thailand, mostly recovered now from the 2004 tsunami, “truly has something for everyone, from backpackers to jet-setters, honeymooners to families with kids,” Leffel said. “Stunning beaches and snorkeling/diving, sailing, hiking, elephant rides, floating fruit markets, historic sites and glowing golden temples.” And don’t forget the shopping; custom, handmade suits with tailored shirts run $80 to $200.

Turkey: People who visit tend to rave about this nation that straddles Europe and Asia, and Leffel is no exception. He calls it “one of the greatest countries in the world for sightseeing” and “one of the best values on the planet,” despite prices that have crept higher as tourism expands and businesses switch to the euro. Roman ruins, Ottoman palaces, Byzantine art, ancient churches and eye-dazzling mosques will keep your days busy in the cities, while the coast includes plenty of resorts that cater to families. Kids will go nuts over the weird, alien landscape of Cappadoccia with its strange rock formations and underground cities (you can even spend the night in a cave room for about $10). Turkey’s a good country to visit with a midrange budget, and $70 to $150 a day will buy two people nice hotel rooms and three good restaurant meals a day. Turkey’s also a good bet for women traveling alone, as females are rarely hassled on the street.

By Liz Pulliam Weston

www.msnmoney.com

These condo hybrids allow professionals, entrepreneurs, artists and others to own a space that’s well-suited to serve both home and work needs. Developers are catching on.

With more and more people working at home at least part of the week, it’s perhaps not surprising that condo developers around the country are beginning to promote live-work units as part of their mix of offerings. Though the concept harks back to days when the corner grocer lived in rooms above the store, the design usually owes more to the artist’s loft that has proliferated over the past few decades in renovated commercial buildings found in resurrected downtowns.In addition to sculptors and painters, these modern, at-home work spaces target professionals and entrepreneurs. While they may appear to be a good solution to such urban problems as sprawl, traffic congestion, rising fuel costs, parking and the mounting price of leased office space, the newness of the concept can present a number of challenges to consumers and developers.

Some developers could find their projects delayed because building codes in most municipalities don’t yet have provisions for these residential-commercial hybrids. The type of work the unit owner can engage in will likely come under municipal examination, community scrutiny or both. And some critics question whether the cost of the average live-work unit puts it beyond the economic reach of most young professionals.

Demand for live-work space grows

“Live-work condos are a niche market, but they are, in certain circumstances, attractive to some people,” says John McIlwain, senior resident fellow for housing at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. “Sometimes people use them for an office or a store, sometimes just as extra space they can use or rent out for income.”

There’s no doubt that working at home is a growing trend. In 2000, U.S. census found nearly 4.2 million people age 16 or older worked at home most days during the week, up from 3.4 million in 1990. That 23.5% increase over 10 years almost doubled the growth rate of the overall work force. The Census Bureau’s most recent estimate, made from community surveys conducted in 2003, raised the number of home-based workers to 4.5 million — an increase of slightly more than 7% in only three years.

Multiple design features

There’s no single definition of what constitutes a live-work unit.

“In some cases, they simply have an extra room that can be used as an office or a bedroom,” says McIlwain. “In some cases, there’s real showroom space with an apartment upstairs. Sometimes it’s more of a loft-style apartment. So they vary.”

The Metropolitan, a condo project under construction by Hoyt Street Properties in downtown Portland, Ore., offers prospective buyers a range of possible floor plans to help them visualize possible uses, says Marilyn Andersen, Hoyt Realty Group’s principal broker. Those uses range from a contemporary office with several workstations to a small office within a home. 

Kubik, a two-tower condo project under construction in Miami, will include adaptable-spaced, bi-level units called LOTS, or living over the studio, units.

“To access your studio or office, you have to go out on the terrace, then down a spiral staircase to the work space,” says Camilo Alvarado Boshell, Kubik’s architect and developer.

In addition, Boshell says, Kubik’s townhomes offer professionals, such as attorneys or writers, the opportunity to have offices with separate entrances on the street and their living quarters above.

These designs are Boshell’s solutions to city of Miami zoning codes, which, to date, make no provision for apartments with both commercial and residential uses.

The interior space is adaptable, Boshell says, because “it adapts to your needs. We have movable wall panels that allow people to create their own space configurations, so that each unit is unique.”

Kolter City Plaza in West Palm Beach, Fla., an area where zoning is more amenable to live-work buildings, offers upstairs living and downstairs work units connected by an internal staircase, says real-estate attorney Cynthia Spall of Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, which represents the developer.

A similar layout will be used for live-work units at The Lofts at Hollywood Station in Hollywood, Fla. Developer Richard Lamondin says the project’s five floor plans all feature separate work areas and private quarters.

“They are accessible from the street level and the garage, making it easy for both residents and guests to come and go,” Lamondin says. “Artists and photographers requiring studio space, salespeople and home-business owners who need a combination of work and living space, are prime candidates for this kind of residence.”

Zoning, building code challenges

Code problems arise because the live-work concept usually falls between the cracks, says H. William Freeman, a principal with Freeman, Cotton & Norris in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. As a real-estate attorney, Freeman says he has handled a half-dozen live-work condos in the metropolitan Detroit area.

“Communities don’t know whether to treat them as commercial or residential,” Freeman says. “And that presents problems because of the stricter commercial codes for things such as fire protection and sewer capacity, the need for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and so on.”

Boshell’s solution of having work and living space under one roof, but not interconnected, gets around zoning and code issues, says David Dabby, a real-estate consultant in Coral Gables, Fla., because “people are more accustomed to that idea. The zoning and building codes can embrace it as long as the area is zoned for both commercial and residential use. It’s when you get into a single live-work condo unit that you’re going to run into problems — not because the municipality doesn’t like the idea, but simply because there’s no precedent for it in the codes.”

A related problem that comes up often, Freeman says, is that “people don’t always live in the living space and work in the work space, so things can get kind of mixed up. Condo communities don’t like that. They want working going on only in the work space.”

Because of these difficulties, live-work units are most frequently found in master-planned, New Urbanist-style developments, McIlwain says, “where the idea is to try to combine uses, harking back to the old days — or at least what we imagine the old days were like.”

Restrictions on work space uses

For the unit owner, attorney Spall says, “The threshold zoning issue is that clearly only certain uses are going to be allowed in an area that also allows residential use. Buyers need to understand what uses they can and can’t have.”

These uses are generally spelled out in condo association documents — or sometimes by the municipality. Portland’s Andersen envisions the range in occupations by residents at the Metropolitan as “attorneys to artists, counselors to massage therapists.”

At Kolter City Plaza, says Spall, “some uses are preapproved, a second set has yet to be approved by the condo association and a third set is for uses barred under any circumstances — medical, for example, or an adult bookstore.”

Another caveat for buyers of dual-use condominiums, Spall says, is to make sure the condo documents protect the rights of the unit owner.

“Generally there are fewer of these units than there are strictly residential units within the project,” she says. “You need to look very carefully at the governing documents to make sure that any amendments to them that would affect your rights would have to be approved by the majority of the live-work unit owners, so your rights don’t get trampled on by the majority. For example, make sure that you have the right for perpetuity to do the kind of work you thought you could do when you bought the unit.”

Price-prohibitive properties

Can the young professionals, often cited as the likely target market for live-work condos, afford to purchase them? A study of affordability prepared by The Live/Work Institute, a nonprofit organization in Oakland, Calif., founded by architect Thomas Dolan, says the idea is that the owner of such a unit saves money by not paying separate rents for living space and work space, as well as reducing transportation costs.

For instance, the report estimates that couples who can get by with one car instead of two are saving approximately $500 a month in costs related to maintenance, gas, insurance, etc.

That formula may hold true for units in converted properties, but the institute’s researchers found that the math doesn’t always work with new construction.

“As live-work has moved into the mainstream and becomes an accepted real estate product, prices for such units have gone up, often astronomically, and the likelihood of finding an affordable live-work space has decreased,” the report says.

Live-work lofts at Hollywood Station begin in the $400,000s. The units in Portland’s Metropolitan are being marketed from the low $500,000s to the low $600,000s. At Miami’s Kubik, they run from the $400,000s to $2.5 million.

For the developer, Freeman points out, price is not a problem. If units within a project are marketed as live-work but don’t sell, they can eventually be converted to conventional units.

“There is nothing about the type of unit itself that is more costly,” he says, adding that location, as always in real estate, is important.

“It has to be in a walking district,” Freeman says, “because if part of the savings comes from not having a car, people need to be able to walk to whatever retail needs they have.”

But if they’re affordable and well-situated, condo units custom-designed for at-home workers should thrive, say most experts.

“In a way, it’s a bit of a hype,” says the Urban Land Institute’s McIlwain, “because a lot of people work at home at least part of the time. So you could say most Americans reside in live-work units. The difference is that some are designed specifically for different kinds of activity.”

By Marilyn Bowden, Bankrate.com

A new type of housing is emerging: houses that look like your average single-family home but are sold as condos, sometimes with owners owning no more than the air between the walls.

 For a long time, the housing choice for the urban middle class has been clear: a condo in the city or a home in the ‘burbs.Now comes Option No. 3, a melding of the two if you will: single-family homes sold as condominiums. Typically packed in tight clusters close to a city, these hybrids offer an affordable alternative for those seeking both easy access to urban life and the feel of their own home.

“It looks like a house, it talks like a house, but legally it’s a condo,” says Mike Pattison, an industry lobbyist who bought a unit for himself outside Seattle. “When you invite people over you don’t say, ‘Come over to my condo.’ You say, ‘Come over to my house.’ “

Nationally, the arrangement is rare. Trade organizations have yet to track the numbers, and their own experts claim to know little about the phenomenon. No one can even seem to agree on a name. Listings can be found under “single-family-detached condos,” “free-standing condos,” “detached condos,” “ground condos,” “land condos” and “air condos.”

Own the building, not the lot

The basic format — you own the building but not the lot — has been around long enough. It’s a sensible way to sell people a house on land they either can’t own — that golf course in Connecticut or ski resort in Colorado — or would prefer not to maintain, like the sprawling grounds of that desirable Virginia retirement community.

What’s catching on now is different: the detached condo as a legal avenue for building cluster housing in cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles and Seattle that are choked by sprawl. There, where growth-management plans promote high-density housing developments, experts say that the homes are in demand and that they are sure to become popular elsewhere.

“It just fits in,” says Chris Morrow, senior vice president of Project Design Consultants in San Diego, citing the rising popularity of transit development, new urbanism and smart growth, which promote tighter suburbs in an effort to preserve open land and reduce driving. “It’s a no-brainer for the developer, and for the consumer. The cities just have to catch up.

“We will definitely see more in the future. I don’t even have to rub a crystal ball to say that.”

Ownership arrangements vary

The specific legal arrangements vary by place and by state, so prospective buyers should read their documents closely. Ownership arrangements can look like one of the following:

• A homeowner might own just the interior of the house, literally, through the carpet and first layer of paint only, with the wallboard, floorboards and exterior paint to be repaired — and governed — by the condominium association.

• The homeowner might or might not own the land the structure sits on, and could be responsible for mowing his lawn either way. Monthly dues might exceed $300 and include use of a swimming pool or trails, or sit at $100 for private street-maintenance costs only.

“The actual form of ownership has very little to do with what the association is going to do in terms of services,” says Steve Brumfield, assistant director of community associations for Toll Brothers, a nationwide luxury home builder.

Cost savings passed to consumers

A detached condo might be a small, two-bedroom cottage or row house, or a 2,400-square-foot luxury home, such as these Tuscan detached condos near the beach in Orange County, Calif.

What these high-density homes typically have in common is a lower price, passed along from the developer’s reduced processing and land costs. Those Tuscans might sell for upward of $700,000, but the nearby subdivision equivalents could top $1 million.

In 2004, Pattison bought a  two-bedroom detached condo in a cluster outside Seattle for $170,000 as the only affordable way to get out of an apartment. A similar home in a subdivision would have cost him about $350,000 in Seattle or $280,000 where he is now, in Lake Stevens, 35 minutes north.

“It was the only entry-level housing I could qualify for,” Pattison says. “And I couldn’t be more thrilled with it.”

Three years later, the condo was valued at $260,000. “For me, it was the best financial move I could have made in my life,” he says.  

That 15% annual rate of return is in line with that for other housing types in the region, says Cheryl Lotz, a senior appraiser with PGP Valuation in Seattle. In many low-end markets, condominiums have appreciated more in the past few years than traditional homes.

Whether detached condos behave more like single-family homes or traditional condominiums in the resale market remains to be seen. But their appreciation is based on the same vacillating supply-and-demand functions that affect the rest of the housing market.

“They can do much better; they can do much worse. It’s very difficult to make a blanket statement about it,” says Jim Gaines, a research economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

The pros and cons of detached condos

So what are the potential advantages?

• Low maintenance: No need to paint, shovel, rake or haul trash.

• Gated entrance or other group security measures.

• Shared amenities: A pool, large tract of open land, playground, fitness center.

• Neighbor control: Set rules enforced by the association offer some assurance the person next door won’t let weeds or rusting car parts let the neighborhood go.

• Nuisance control: Limits on noise, pets or other possible nuisances are defined and enforceable by the association. “The nice thing about the condo association is that it gives you a legal vehicle that encourages cooperation,” says David DiCicco, a developer in Taos, N.M. “You don’t have the situation where if someone refuses to pay the maintenance on their lot, the only other option the other owners have is to sue them.”

• Location: The tight clusters might get you closer to the city.

And the disadvantages?

• See above: If you don’t want to live under group rules or share property, don’t go condo. This is more serious than just not wanting to keep your house painted the specified color. In some communities, homeowners groups have forced people into foreclosure over late payment of association dues. 
• Crowding: Homes might be only 10 feet apart and have small driveways and narrow streets. Outside Seattle, firefighters expressed concern about viable emergency access 

• The looming questions about their long-term resale value: In addition to market forces, the appreciation of detached condos is exposed to how well — or poorly — the association is managed; poorly maintained properties can make for depressed home values.

• Fees: Remember to factor these into your annual costs when the lower list price catches your eye.

Housing for the squeezed-out middle class

When DiCicco moved to Taos 12 years ago, he had a good job as county planning director but couldn’t afford a single-family home. He bought a fixer-upper for $150,000 and had the skills for it; he is a licensed architect and builder.

He’s also a licensed contractor, and after a few years of “building for rich people,” he now works to fill a gaping housing need for the other half. The median income in Taos is $40,000, but the median home price is an unreachable $337,000.

“There are a lot of people in that income bracket and no one was building houses for them in this market,” DiCicco says. “The only option for them was to get a trailer.”

To help build quality affordable homes, DiCicco turned to the legal structure of the condominium. It allowed him to bypass lengthy permitting that would have added $50,000 to the cost of each home. As a community association, he could install two community wells instead of permitting and buying a water system, a process that can take years.

“We just took advantage of the opportunities that the state gives to homeowners willing to share the responsibility of taking care of the property,” he says.

He also could get creative. The 12 houses in Taos Cottages are arranged in one portion of the eight-acre property to allow each good solar access and views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. They are 50 to 100 feet apart, with the front doors facing each other, to foster community, leaving three and a half acres as dedicated communal open space.

“You have your own house with land around it; you just happen to own the land in common with the people around you,” DiCicco says.

The two-bedroom, two-bath homes are just under 1,100 square feet and start at $213,000. A $100 monthly association fee covers the private road, phone, electric and sewage maintenance costs.

“I think this type of housing has a really good future, because of the cost of land development and the cost of subdividing,” DiCicco says.

10 questions to ask questions before signing

A reminder: Financial and legal arrangements vary, so request and read the master deed and bylaws carefully. Questions to ask include:

• What, exactly, do you own?

• What, exactly, are your responsibilities? Remember, just because you don’t own the land doesn’t mean you might not have to maintain it.

• What services, exactly, will the association provide?

• What amenities will you, your children and your guests have access to?

• What authority does the association have to enforce the rules and to foreclose? Check the laws in your state, which can protect homeowners.

• Do the documents spell these things out? “If the documents are not clear, those are not good documents,” says Robert Diamond, a homeowners association lawyer.

• What is the association’s financial structure? Is it liable for additional costs that you will have to help pay later? Does it have a reserve structure?

• Were the houses made by a reputable, experienced builder? Is it a quality product?

• Who are the other owners? What do they think about how the condo association is run? How are disputes with the association handled? (For tips on handling disputes, click here.)

• Most important: Do you want this kind of living? Monthly dues can add up. If you don’t want to help pay for a pool, then don’t.

By Karen Aho, MSN Real Estate 

http://realestate.msn.com/buying/Article2.aspx?cp-documentid=5849427http://realestate.msn.com/buying/Article2.aspx?cp-documentid=5849427

In a buyer’s market, curb appeal — yours and the neighborhood’s — becomes even more important.

Fresh paint, a new front door and colorful landscaping often are sure-fire ways to tease potential buyers over the threshold of a home for sale. But in some cases, no matter how perfect your pansies, nothing can draw their gaze past the tired-looking two-story buried in weeds next door.

More than 60% of 900 people surveyed by contractor-referral site ServiceMagic.com said they have or have had neighbors who make the street look bad by not taking care of the outside of their homes (21% admitted they were the culprit). Common problems: tall weeds and grass, imposing trees or a dying lawn; piled-up junk, particularly old cars; and peeling paint or a visible exterior defect, such as a broken window.

Sloppy properties aren’t exclusive to older dwellings in established or up-and-coming neighborhoods. Bad habits are on display in new developments too, say real-estate experts.

Neighborhood eyesores aren’t a new or uncommon problem. But curb appeal, yours and the neighborhood’s, takes on greater significance in a nationwide buyer’s market. For buyers, eyesores may present yet one more negotiating advantage. Remember, appraisals factor in the condition of nearby properties.

Michael Lee, a realty broker for 30 years in the San Francisco Bay Area and author of “Black Belt Negotiating,” said sellers near eyesores “don’t have to have a fire sale, but do need to put their listing at a price that attracts plenty of traffic . . . or risk having a home that just sits on the market.”

“That is death,” he said. “It becomes the tainted house.”

The National Association of Realtors says an eyesore can shave about 10% off the value of a nearby listing. Market-by-market differences affect that percentage, real-estate experts say, as does the situation — an overgrown lawn across the street is better than a boarded-up property right next door.

“If there are or were other similar eyesores in the area but the market is heading up, it’s likely that the home will get fixed up or torn down sooner than later,” said Bob Golden, a 20-year Atlanta agent with Re/Max. “If it’s the only house in the area that looks bad, it can have a greater impact on the resale of neighboring homes.”

Size up the situation

Approaching a neighbor can be uncomfortable to say the least. In the ServiceMagic survey, 75% of respondents said they’d made no direct contact with their neighbors about the issue; 18% said they confronted their neighbor, it created tension and the house still looked bad; 4% said their talk produced a satisfactory outcome all the way around and another 4% said the problem was fixed but it created lingering tension.

Neglected properties likely belong to one of two types of people: those physically or financially unable to keep up with the work and those who purposely buck social norms, said Tara-Nicholle Nelson, an Oakland, Calif., broker, author and creator of female-focused resource site Rethinkrealestate.com.

Knowing what you’re dealing with is the key.

“In ‘Black Belt’ we talk about ‘spying’ on your opponent, true in martial arts and in any negotiation situation,” said Lee. In some cases, the homeowner may have just fallen behind after taking on new responsibilities — for example, a new job — or facing unexpected health issues. Bringing your concern to their attention may do the trick. Stress that keeping up the condition of the neighborhood helps the value of all properties. Think: What’s in it for us, not what’s in it for me.

A group effort may pay off. Some local branches of the National Association of Realtors have created funds to help older or incapacitated homeowners keep up their exteriors. Getting other neighbors to collectively rally behind your cause may bear more fruit and may come across as neighborhood improvement projects, not the ranting of a picky neighbor.

Absentee owners — say, if the property is rented out — may require plenty of correspondence, so don’t wait until right before you put your home on the market. If the out-of-town party is agreeable to changes, it may make sense for you to offer to secure contractors or other necessary laborers.

Ask for more than you think you’re going to get, said Lee. Your fallback position, then, is that you will take care of making the fixes, either paying for them or doing the work yourself.

Unexpected sweat equity to resolve someone else’s problem may seem more hassle than help, but that first impression is everything these days. Consider this: Lee admitted he once took a pass on a $750,000 listing just because the sellers refused to repaint their dog-scratched front door.

Call in the authorities

If personal negotiation stalls, or if hostile neighbors become threatening, residents sometimes can lean on municipal laws, administered through the building department, health department or similar entity, to get neighbors to clean up their act, said Neil Garfinkel, a Manhattan real-estate attorney with Abrams Garfinkel Margolis Bergson.

Some areas levy fines for keeping around piles of wood that attract animals, as one example. Municipal codes can make for interesting, if dense, reading. Nelson said that her home city of Oakland includes an anti-rooster ordinance on its books.

Asked about bringing in the authorities, some 20% in the ServiceMagic survey said they “snitched” on their neighbors, another 20% said they intended to bring in the authorities but hadn’t yet, and 14% said someone else in the neighborhood beat them to it. The remainder said they just put up with the nearby eyesore.

Getting results can be frustrating. The government is most likely to act only when a property’s condition risks public health. The process of resolving a complaint can be long and time-consuming, real-estate experts say.

Eye of the beholder

Kina Lane, principal in Sunshine Development Partners, which buys and sells property in Chicago, Wilmington, Del., and her own neighborhood of New York’s Harlem, stressed that eyesores are subjective. Real estate, like any investment, carries risk and reward. Proximity to eyesores may present a buying opportunity to some and keep others from even getting out of the car.

Some buyers, like Lane, see a mix of fixer-uppers and ongoing projects as a fruitful challenge; others don’t want daily construction noise over several months or years. Urban house-hunters might be more tolerant of a mix of building styles and conditions than suburban or rural buyers, she said.

Eyesores aren’t restricted to homes, Lane said. The mix of nearby commercial properties may not fit everyone’s sensibilities — a liquor store at the end of the block, for instance. Other buyers may enjoy the proximity of retail stores.

Empty industrial or retail buildings can have a negative impact as well. A potential buyer is left wondering if an area is on the rise or on the decline. A seller setting a listing price must keep the entire feel of the neighborhood in mind, Lane said.

Sometimes the house down the street is in good condition but its purple facade and lawn sculptures don’t speak to everyone’s taste. Whether homes need to conform by city ordinance to a general architectural feel varies by area, so check the rules.

In this case, Lee said, expand beyond conventional marketing venues to go after potential buyers who would welcome living in an eclectic neighborhood. Post your listing in galleries and restaurants, in independent newspapers and on ad Web sites such as Craigslist.

Develop a buyer profile, Lee said, and then go after that buyer.

By Rachel Koning Beals, MarketWatch

http://realestate.msn.com/Selling/Article_mw.aspx?cp-documentid=5249535