HotPads Daily :: The Official Blog of HotPads.com

Living in Washington, DC: The Cherry Blossom Festival

It's only natural: the longer you live somewhere, the more you take it for granted.  I must confess that I am guilty of that here in Washington, DC and often forget to take advantage of all the great things this city has to offer. Luckily for me, there are always a plethora of people who snap me out of it and remind me that I too should be exploring the city.  

Judging by the massive amounts of tourists and visitors, many of you already know that the Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off this past Saturday, March 28th.  With Peak Bloom predicted to be between April 1-4th, the Cherry Blossom Festival will continue through April 11th.  While a little early, the gorgeous weather on Sunday enticed me to make the trek and, I must say, the Cherry Blossoms were more beautiful this year than I ever remembered.  They are definitely worth checking out for all those living in Washington, DC!

And for everyone who hates battling the crowds and waiting in jam-packed Metro cars, Metro has enhanced their service during the next two weeks. However, they do warn commuters to allow for some extra time as there are bound to be delays despite the best efforts of WMATA.

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Vacation Rental Search Engine

HotPads has added another great search functionality: Vacation Rentals!

The Vacation Rental Search boasts the same great mapping and user-friendly features as our rental housing, for sale housing, and foreclosure search.

Users can still utilize the pricing tools, street view, sharing functionality, and all the other great features of HotPads while looking for their next vacation rental.

Finding a place is easier with HotPads Vacation Rental Search because users get to search by real estate's most important attribute: location.  

No longer will you have to guess where a vacation rental is: you can SEE it exactly where it is in relation to the beach, the ski slopes, wherever!

Check out some of these Hot Spots:

Hawaii Vacation Rentals

San Diego Vacation Rentals

Miami Beach Vacation Rentals

Or Some of these Cool Places:

Lake Tahoe Vacation Rentals

Breckenridge Vacation Rentals

Big Bear Lake Vacation Rentals

Or just search for vacation rentals nationwide!

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Hot Pads: Making Use of Your Beautiful Surroundings

I love coming across properties that take advantage of the natural beauty around them.  And, when you're lucky enough to have property with a view like this one in Laguna Beach, you have to make sure that you make full use of it.  

And this property does just that, making sure their view is visible throughout their whole house, not just from their deck and outside areas.  

(which are beautiful, by the way)

View from the living room

View from the dining room

View from the kitchen

View from the bedroom

See the rest of this spectacular home for sale here: 6 bedroom, 6500 sqft 

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Real Estate in Detroit, MI and the New American Dream?

It's no secret that there are a plethora of homes for sale in Detroit, MI for extremely low prices.  Just take a look at the number of homes for sale under $10,000 in Detroit!

A striking photographic series by French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre highlights what they termed "Detroit's Beautiful, Horrible Decline" and it is definitely something to see.

However, while many people have hesitated to take advantage of these prices, a small group of artists are begining to buy up some of these cheap properties and turn one neighborhood into a thriving colony.  

It all started with Mitch Cope and Gina Reichert who found a one-bedroom home in East Detroit selling for $1,900.  Undeterred by the lack of appliances or wiring, they took it as an opportunity to outfit their home with eco-friendly and low-cost appliances.  When the two lots around them came up for sale, they bought those too and made a little garden.  Then, a house down the street went up for $500, so they bought that and sold it to one of their artist friends for a $50 profit.

As Toby Barlow eloquently puts it,

In a way, a strange, new American dream can be found here, amid the crumbling, semi-majestic ruins of a half-century's industrial decline. The good news is that, almost magically, dreamers are already showing up.

Now, I know it's just a start, but it IS a start nonetheless. 

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Don't be fooled by the frown! St. Patrick's Day is one of Bozzley's favorite holidays... and mine too! From all of us here at HotPads:

 

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What IS that? Oh, just some guy laying in a hammock!

Everybody is different when it comes to their housing search, but almost everyone has a defined set up "must-haves" for their home.  For me, one of my deal breakers is outdoor space.  Unfortunately, as many of you know, having a patio, yard, or balcony often comes at a premium, especially in cities like Washington, DC.  And many of the best places I've seen were just about perfect in every way, but didn't offer any place where I could sit outside and read a book or work on the laptop.

Well, if the Hammokum from IN.DESIGN catches on in America, never again will I have to pass up a great place for lack of outdoor space!

The Hammokum was designed as a space-saving and air-giving relief for cramped residents of Amsterdam.  Basically, it works and functions exactly how a regular hammock does, only you are a little higher off the ground than traditionally.  

For those scared of plummeting to their deaths by falling out of a hammock suspended 4 stories off the ground heights, the creators say not to worry as they come with a safety harness that will catch you in the event of hammock failure.  Just make sure that you don't: 

(I don't know what half those things are... just be careful I guess)

It's a pretty cool concept, read more about it on their website!

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Hot Pads: The Lengthy Edition

A bartender was cleaning the glasses after a long night.  Just as he was about to walk around to flip off the neon sign, a horse walked in looking depressed and asked for a shot of whiskey.  Sympathetic, the bartender poured him a nice double shot.  Leaning in with a friendly ear, he asked, "So, tell me, why the long face?"  The horse shrugged and said, "I was born with it."

That was the first thing that popped into my head when I received a tell-a-friend of this home for sale:

"Why?" you might ask.  Check out the length of this main lobby/foyer room!  I don't think I've ever seen a room that long! 

(I know that doesn't adequately explain why I told that old joke)

As you can tell by the first photo, this house in Westerly, Rhode Island is absolutely spectacular.  Check it out!

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HotPads $1,000 Renter Bailout!

With discussions of the down economy permeating the news, we here at HotPads have decided to offer a bailout of our own in the form of a $1,000 Sweepstakes!

Whether your rent is $300 or $3,000, everyone could use an extra THOUSAND DOLLARS to put towards their monthly payments!

This $1,000 Renter Bailout begins RIGHT NOW and entries will continue until April 14th with a drawing to be held on April 15, 2009.  One lucky person will be the recipient of a nice, fat $1,000 check from HotPads.com to put towards their rent (or mortgage)!

For more information, read the official Rules and Regulations or go straight to the online entry form!

Hot Pads: That's the Pool House?!

Once again, I received a great tell-a-friend of a beatiful home for sale with an absolutely spectacular pool house that is grander than most people's regular houses!

To twist it up a little bit, let's play match the guest house with the main house.  Here is the pool house:

Is this the pool house of:

a) This light-filled 6 bedroom, $13.9 million home in Nissequogue, NY

b) This 7 bedroom, 11.5 bath 17,262 square foot masterpiece in Carmel, IN

or

c) This 5 bedroom, 5.5 bath home in Incline Valley, NV?

Here's one final hint:

There is also a 15,000 square foot sports building featuring a full-sized indoor basketball court in this home!

To reveal the answer, highlight between the parenthesis: (If you chose B, you are correct!) See the whole listing on HotPads!

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Hot Pads: Pool in the Sky

Even with this beautiful day in Washington, DC, it's hard not to be jealous of Miami, FL- especially if you were living in this building's  incredible penthouse!  

To borrow from their listing, "it's about style... luxurious, distinctive, breathtaking" -that about sums up this amazing Penthouse in Coconut Grove, Miami.  And to top it off (pun included) there is even a 2,500 square foot "zen like rooftop sanctuary" with a heated infinity edge pool."

Imagine yourself sitting here after a long day of work (with a nice Mojito, of course!)

See the rest of this amazing penthouse on HotPads!

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Metro Announces Extended Wireless Services

Good news for all those who live in the  Washington, DC metro-area: WMATA has announced that has approved a plan to extend internet access and cell phone services from just Verizon to include Sprint Nextel, AT&T, and T-Mobile as well. 

This is obviously a huge announcement for all Metro commuters, especially the ones who already spend most of their time underground.  While, previously, you could spot a Verizon customer from a mile away, this initiative puts all commuters on even ground.  

Each company will install, operate, and maintain their own wireless network and WMATA expects to generate almost $25 million in revenue during the first 15 years.  

While they say that it will take up to 4 years to completely install the wireless infrastructure in the Metro system, 20 of the most popular and busy underground stations should be connected by year's end.  

This will certainly make commuting  by Metro even more desirable, as commuters can use that time to check emails and work remotely, rather than staring blankly at the floor.  

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