Currently in the News

• 24 September 2012: Beachfront in China's Hawaii – This contemporary home with views of the South China Sea is located on Hainan Island, which local residents call China's Hawaii.
• 24 September 2012: A Mansion Revived in Westchester – Built in the early 1900s, this 21,000-square-foot estate in Westchester County was painstakingly renovated to both restore and revive the original spirit of the home.
• 24 September 2012: Chelsea Townhouse – This four-bedroom, six-story house with elevator is one of three newly-built family-sized townhouses on a quiet residential street in London's Chelsea neighborhood.
• 25 September 2012: Sticking Out in St. Croix – This V-shaped, roughly 6,500-square-foot home in the U.S. Virgin Islands is just a stone's throw from the beach.
• 28 September 2012: Italian Villa-Style Home in Los Angeles Lists For $30 Million – An Italian villa-style home in Los Angeles lists for $30 million; a Nevada ranch goes on the market for $29.6 million; a Sydney waterfront estate asks $57.4 million.
• 28 September 2012: Silicon Valley Versailles – This French-château-style house, with a marble entrance, two greenhouses and a gold-leaf ceiling in the ballroom, sits in California's high-tech capital.
• 15 October 2012: Cape Cod Estate of Former Toy Executive Hits the Auction Block – A Cape Cod estate previously listed for $12.5 million hits the auction block; in Dallas, a Mount Vernon replica formerly owned by oil tycoon H.L. Hunt lists for $24.9 million; a large Texas ranch formerly asking $44 million goes up for auction.
• 18 October 2012: Remsen Street Townhouse Uses New Stoop to Conquer – For homeowners Stephen Olsen and Cristina Delgado, the history of 42 Remsen St. in Brooklyn Heights has been like a picture puzzle that they have tried to piece together over time.
• 3 November 2012: In Marine Park, Lending a Hand Is Routine – Marine Park, a solidly middle-class enclave of attached and detached single-family homes, is the kind of place where neighbors check in on neighbors, some of whom have known each other's families for generations.
• 14 November 2012: Park Slope Mansion: Never a House Divided – A Montessori school that made its home in a 50-foot-wide stone palace since 1970 has closed, making way for what could be the most expensive private mansion ever sold, not only in Park Slope but in all of Brooklyn.
• 14 May 2013: Historic Palladian Mansion in Virginia – The Brandon Plantation, a National Historic Landmark with a detailed history tied to the Civil War and Washington politics, is scheduled for auction in June.
• 17 May 2013: Home for Water Toys in Austin – A home on Lake Austin is surrounded by natural beauty, but it's also a short kayak ride to the local coffee shop.
• 17 May 2013: Buzz Aldrin on His Lunar Home – For 21½ hours in 1969, two astronauts lived aboard a cold, cramped lunar module with a balky circuit breaker. Buzz Aldrin talks about what this home aboard Apollo 11 was like.
• 17 May 2013: When Crisis Hits During a Move – Coping tips for handling the unexpected while selling a home
• 17 May 2013: Can This House Sell for $190 Million? – An eye-popping price tag in Greenwich, Conn., is a new test of the ultra-high-end property market.
• 18 May 2013: Pleasures and Pitfalls of Frank Lloyd Wright Homes – There are 20 Frank Lloyd Wright homes now on the market, and some are available at a markdown. But owning an architectural treasure can come with significant headaches.
• 20 May 2013: Green With Ivy in Chicago – A late-1800s home on Chicago's Gold Coast is wrapped in greenery and flanked by tour-worthy gardens.
• 22 May 2013: Starwood Capital Goes Shopping for Malls – Starwood Capital Group is in talks to buy seven U.S. shopping malls from Westfield Group for more than $1 billion, a deal that would mark the latest in a flurry of big-ticket acquisitions of retail property.
• 22 May 2013: Office Parks Get a Makeover – Once a symbol of suburban dominance, aging office parks from California to New Jersey are being reimagined as little cities.
• 22 May 2013: Trump-Branded Rio Project Faces Test – A developer is hoping to break ground soon in Rio de Janeiro on the first Donald Trump-branded project in Brazil, but with the country's growth engine low on steam, the office market may not cooperate.
• 23 May 2013: Lehman Selling Pieces of Stakes Acquired in Archstone Deal – The estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is looking to raise about $2 billion by selling about half of the stock it got when it sold apartment giant Archstone to two of its largest competitors.
• 23 May 2013: On Former Errol Flynn Estate, a House for $7.9 Million – Also in Private Properties: a 28,700-square-foot home in Vero Beach, Fla., goes back on the market for $19.9 million, down 11.5%, and more.
• 24 May 2013: Looking East in Bridgehampton – With the help of a Chinese artist, the owner of this seven-bedroom weekend home took his childhood dreams of Asia to Bridgehampton. Now the 4 ½-acre property is on the market for $28 million.
• 24 May 2013: Fixed-Rate Jumbo Mortgages Make a Comeback – Many lenders are offering fixed jumbo mortgages—with very competitive rates.
• 24 May 2013: New-Home Prices at High; Builders Cap Supply – Home buyers are paying more for newly built homes than they ever have, as U.S. home builders continue pushing up prices and limiting the number of properties hitting the market.
• 24 May 2013: Lily Pads and Bamboo Stalks, Made of Clay – From a Balinese village, an Italian couple creates handmade ceramics with natural themes for homeowners, designers and top-flight hotel chains around the world.
• 24 May 2013: A Bridge Spanning Boroughs and Time – For 130 years, the Brooklyn Bridge has connected the boroughs and served as a popular location for tourists, activists and commuters taking in the city skyline.
• 24 May 2013: A Soldier's Hideaway in Belgium – For three months, a U.S. bomber pilot shot down over Belgium during World War II found safety, kinship and a place to reflect in the home of a local industrialist and his wife.
• 24 May 2013: In Michigan, the House That Boats Built – A retired boat manufacturer brings his passion home—to a nearly 9,000-square-foot boat house attached to the main living space.
• 25 May 2013: This Season's New Plants – Weekend Gardener: Blue flowers, chartreuse evergreens, purple leaves: horticultural innovations that stand out.
• 12 September 2008: Tackle Credit Cards Now – People ages 25 to 34 hold an average of $4,358 in credit-card debt and not many of them complete a "get out of debt" plan in less than three years. But it is possible. Here are some tips on how to begin -- and stick with -- a debt diet.
• 15 September 2008: Kids Get Money-Wise at Camp – Financial education is expanding to an unlikely audience -- younger kids, even grade-school students. This summer, school-age children will attend finance camp, where they'll take trips to a bank or delve into investing simulations.
• 20 September 2008: Loan Delinquencies Reappear – Loan delinquencies jumped at the fastest pace since last year in August for many categories.
• 22 September 2008: Your Cash: How Safe Is Safe? – Strategies on how to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars safely stowed away under FDIC protection.
• 7 October 2008: Car Loan Delinquencies Rise – Auto-loan delinquencies are on the rise as cash-strapped Americans increasingly struggle to repay car and truck loans, according to a study.
• 14 October 2008: Debt-Relief Firms Attract Complaints – Regulators say many companies that promise to clear up unpaid bills don't deliver. The consequences are trashing customers' credit scores.
• 5 November 2008: 'Underwater' vs. Foreclosure – Why most people who owe more than a property's worth will still keep their homes.
• 24 August 2009: When Credit-Card Rules Take Effect – Starting Aug. 20, credit-card users will get new protections, the first of a series of federal actions that constrain card issuers from changing terms on customers. A look at some of the rules.
• 21 October 2009: Fixing Troubled Mortgages for Elderly – Option adjustable-rate mortgages are proving nearly as toxic as subprime mortgages. To help certain seniors, banks are using a novel strategy.
• 16 December 2009: How Much Is a College Degree Worth? – Families are evaluating the reasons to pursue higher education and how much tuition they want to pay.
• 17 December 2009: More Borrowers Drawn to 15-Year Mortgage – Lured by rock-bottom interest rates, a growing share of borrowers looking to refinance are opting for a 15-year mortgage instead of the traditional 30-year one.
• 23 December 2009: Tamer Cards for Tougher Times – When the economy was roaring, charge cards requiring users to pay balances in full took a back seat to revolving credit cards. Now charge cards are making a comeback.
• 29 December 2009: New BofA CEO Seeks Credit-Card Fix – When Bank of America Corp.'s new chief executive takes over next week, one of the first problems he will face is one he's already been grappling with—the bank's credit-card business.
• 8 March 2010: Defaulted Loans May Haunt Seniors – A little-noticed law could result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of seniors who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old.
• 8 March 2010: Home-Saving Moves Afoot – Pressure is growing on U.S. banks to ease terms for distressed homeowners on home-equity loans and other second-lien mortgages.
• 10 March 2010: BofA Ends Some Overdraft Fees – Bank of America plans to announce that it is eliminating $35 overdraft fees on debit-card purchases as the bank tries to stay ahead of a sweeping round of regulations.
• 29 March 2010: Data Theft Hits 3.3 Million Borrowers – Company and federal officials said they believed last week's theft of identity data from a student-loan guarantor was the largest-ever breach of such information and could affect up to 5% of all federal student-loan borrowers.
• 10 April 2010: Is It Time to Refinance Your Mortgage? – With interest rates on the rise, more homeowners are asking that question. The answer depends, in part, on how long they plan to live in their current home.
• 12 April 2010: New Help for College Borrowers – Buried in the health-care bill is some modest help for parents borrowing to pay college costs. But the legislation doesn't address current and former students who are wrestling with education debt.
• 19 April 2010: Reverse Mortgages Now Look Cheaper – Some of the country's biggest reverse-mortgage lenders are slicing costs—helping even some affluent homeowners who want to generate additional income.

Mark Eastburn NMLS# 128552 | Eastburn Group | Portland Oregon Home Loans | Portland Mortgage Banker | Portland Mortgage Broker | Portland Mortgage