HotPads Daily :: The Official Blog of HotPads.com

Jackson's Neverland Ranch Avoids Foreclosure

King of Pop Michael Jackson gets to keep his Neverland ranch after the failure to pay on his $24 million mortgage had the playland of llamas and orangutans facing the aution block.  The 11th-hour purchase of the loan by Colony Capital LLC kept Jackson from losing the 2500-acre ranch.

Jacko isn't alone in his plight, as million-dollar foreclosures abound in the current market.

Jackson no longer lives at the ranch, so he should check out the Hottest Pads on HotPads for a more modest mansion, where we have nice homes starting at just $6 million.

Foreclosures Bring Buzz & Bites

If you thought that the only bloodsuckers involved in the whole foreclosures mess were shady mortgage brokers, think again.  An apparently major problem with abandoned homes are the swarms of mosquitoes that breed in the stagnant swimming pools.

To combat the threats of West Nile and worse, ruined weekend barbecues, local authorities have used a variety of methods to combat the pests.  One innovative solution reported in the Wall Street Journal last week involves stocking pools with mosquito fish, which feed on the insect larvae.

I would think that an easier solution would be to just drain the pools.  Here at HotPads we like the fish on our plates, not in our foreclosures.

Fastest Growing Real Estate Markets on HotPads

Cnn.com recently published its list of the 10 fastest growing real estate markets where homes are expected to post price gains in the coming year.  Check out the following selections on HotPads.com and see if our foreclosure heat maps tell a more cautionary tale.

• McAllen, TX
• Rochester, NY
• Birmingham, AL
• Syracuse, NY
• Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY
• New Orleans, LA
• Scranton, PA
• Grand Rapids, MI
• Baton Rouge, LA
• El Paso, TX

If you're not convinced that these areas are great places to buy, you can still find great apartments to rent on HotPads.

Holdouts Hamper Plan to Raze 1,000 Homes

The government of Youngstown, OH is looking to bulldoze over 1,000 buildings in an attempt to save money by ceasing city services in parts of the declining town that are nearly vacant.  The few homeowners that remain are eligible for grants of up to $50,000 to relocate.

In past years, cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore have tried similar tactics to revitalize their housing markets by creating new tracts of open land for future development.  However in Youngstown, some residents of the last inhabited homes refuse to leave, even for fifty large.

Perhaps they haven't seen all the great homes for sale on HotPads.com.  Sadly, $50,000 won't even pay for lawn care at one of our Hottest Pads, which start at a cool six mill.

HotPads Partners in 2008 Fortune 1000

Fortune Magazine's annual list of America's largest corporations lists two companies near and dear to HotPads: Equity Residential and AIMCO.  Both of the real estate investment trusts showcase their portfolios of award-winning apartment communities and rental developments on HotPads.com.

For property managers looking to break into the Fortune ranks, HotPads is the place to market rentals, giving them access to one of the largest and fastest-growing housing search sites with no fees charged for listings, leads or leases.  And with those low-cost Featured Listings, no property should ever go vacant.

Check out the top ten real estate firms in the Fortune 1000 here.

Connect with HotPads on LinkedIn

The great business networking website LinkedIn.com has recently launched a new feature allowing users to see profiles for over 160,000 companies, including HotPads.com.  These company profiles have lots of interesting information like descriptions, employee rosters and locations.

The real estate community is a huge fan of LinkedIn (just search for people with the title "Realtor") as a way to keep in touch with old colleagues and as source for new business leads.  LinkedIn has none of the potentially embarrassing personal pictures and "friends" that can accompany a Facebook or MySpace account.

If you're a property manager, real estate agent or other professional in the industry, add or update your profile and link up with your favorite member of Team HotPads.

Even Uncle Sam is Unloading More Real Estate

A government report put out last year showed the federal agencies pay more than $130 million dollars a year to maintain over 20,000 real properties that they don't use.  Some of the properties are vacant.

So with a new project included in the 2009 budget, the feds will try to sell some of this property through the creation of a “real property disposal pilot.”   Agencies that own the property would get to keep 20% of the proceeds of any sale, with 80% going into the public coffers of the Treasury.

According to the acting controller for the Office of Management and Budget, the properties are worth more than $17 billion.

But don' look to buy government castoffs here.  We don't have a map icon for the "nondescript building with secret underground bunker" property type on HotPads.  The best we can do is apartments for rent in Washington, D.C.

Sellers Turn Green to Make Some

Still facing rising inventories of unsold homes and falling prices, sellers have been trying everything from juicy perks for buyers agents to unloading houses in a raffle to get out of unwanted properties.  Now in response to higher fuel costs and environmental awareness, many are marketing the new "green" qualities of homes for sale.

Some sellers tout the existing energy-efficient qualities of their real estate while others are making investments in new appliances, insulation and even solar panels.  One new home community was even giving away Prius hybrids as part of a green promotion.

Don't think that HotPads isn't ahead of this trend.  We are proud to say that we have supported green houses since we launched our site in 2005.  Just look at our logo.

Burnin' Down the House: Foreclosures Spark Arson Fears

This isn't what we meant by "HotPads" people...

To throw another log on the fire (pun intended) of bad news for the real estate world, the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud recently warned that with "untold thousands of homeowners struggling with ballooning subprime mortgage payments, fraud fighters are watching closely for a spike in arsons by desperate homeowners who can no longer afford their home payments."

News reports from Boston to Omaha tell the sad tales of strapped homeowners, who facing foreclosure, choose to light it up like Snoop Dogg in Amsterdam.

We only hope that those investigators don't turn their sights on us, because with hundreds of thousands of homes for sale added in just two months and so many apartments for rent nationwide, HotPads is blazing.

2008's Most Expensive Rental Markets

Sick of your sky-high Manhattan rent payment?  Don't wheel your roommate's dead body down a busy New York street and try to cash his Social Security check.  Move to Columbus, Ohio instead.  That Midwest jewel on the river just topped one company's list of the least expensive rental markets in America, in contrast to NYC's arm-and-a-leg prices.

The real estate investment firm Marcus & Millichap recently compiled its list of the most expensive places to rent, estimating 2008 prices based on vacancy rates, new-construction projects and job growth in the 40 largest cities.

The most expensive cities are easy to guess, with New York, San Fran and Boston taking the honors.  In economy class along with Columbus are other heartland cities like Indianapolis and Kansas City.

But if you're not willing to flee to coasts, you can still get a great deal when you search for a rental house or apartment on Hotpads.  With the largest inventory of rentals on a map-based search, you may be able to save the leg.  Even in New York.