Investment Properties

Villa Esmerelda, Algarve, Portugal Situated on a hillside with views to the Atlantic Ocean, Villa Esmeralda offers a unique property ownership opportunity in the heart of Portugal’s Algarve region. Its central location is just a short drive to Vilamoura and its beautiful beaches, world-class golf courses, exclusive restaurants and nightclubs, luxury marina and high-end shopping [...]

A home advertised for sale at a foreclosure auction in Pasadena, California. Photograph: Reed Saxon/AP Big announcements of breakthrough legislative deals during election campaigns should be taken with huge grains of salt. Generally more rhetoric than reality, they sometimes contain real concessions made by politicians seeking votes. So it is with Thursday’s Washington announcement of [...]

Consumers in the U.S. continue to pay down credit card debt and make credit card payments on time, Equifax said in a recent report. According to Equifaxs latest National Credit Trends Report, U.S. credit card users have made steady improvement in the last 18 months. All told, 2011 say credit card write-offs by banks tumble [...]

Most general contractors, called GCs, don’t pound nails or wire outlets. Carpenters, electricians, plumbers and other subcontractors take care of that. The GC takes care of everything else and reaps a healthy share of the profits. That’s the part that tempts DIYers to manage remodeling jobs themselves. New construction might be challenging taking empty space [...]

Million dollar homes are considered luxury real estate in some communities, while in others the bar is much higher.  So how did high end housing in the Los Angeles Foothills fare last year?  Let’s start with the positive:.The number of $3,000,000+ homes sold in La Canada (2011) bumped up a notch, average price per square foot increased, as [...]

Why Winter Makes You Appreciate the Ultimate Luxury Lifestyle Winter in the northeast can mean bundling up and fighting bitter cold temperatures and the hazards of ice and snow whenever you set foot outside. For those who have chosen the ultimate luxury lifestyle though, your indoor home environment offers some remarkable and enjoyable options without [...]

The number of loans approved in October were down 8% overall – and 10% for first-time buyers. Photograph: Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images First-time buyers deserted the mortgage market in October 2011 amid further signs of a housing market slowdown – despite monthly mortgage payments becoming the most affordable in almost eight years. The total number of [...]