Home Sweet Tax Credit

By ELSA BRENNER, www.nytimes.com. July 10, 2009
ROBERT FRANCH and his fiancée, Amanda Miller, are in a hurry these days. Not necessarily to get married — that’s scheduled for next spring — but to find a house before an irresistible offer from the Internal Revenue Service for first-time home buyers runs out. READ MORE

F.H.A. Loans Help Sales

ELIZABETH A. HARRIS,www.nytimes.com,June 26, 2009
WhEN the credit markets snapped shut last year, getting a home mortgage became tricky business. The federal government stepped in to fill some of that void with loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The loans now make up nearly a quarter of the market, up from just 2 percent three years ago. READ MORE

How to Spot a Good Deal

ELIZABETH A. HARRIS, www.nytimes.com, June 19, 2009
In a market like this, it can be hard to look at a price tag and know if you’re getting a good deal. READ MORE

Smile When You Call Them McMansions

By AMY ROWLAND, www.nytimes.com, June 5, 2009
AFTER years of lawsuits and delayed development, two houses designed by Robert A. M. Stern, the first in a controversial Riverdale community called Villanova Heights, opened their baronial doors to prospective buyers last week. READ MORE

Honk if You Think It’s Over

By JOSH BARBANEL, www.nytimes.com, Published: June 5, 2009
THE panic in the Manhattan real estate market of the winter of 2009 lifted in the last few weeks, brokers say, as more and more buyers and sellers have found the courage and the comfort level to sign on the dotted line. A bidding war has even occasionally broken out, though at prices far below those of a year ago, and often considerably below asking price. READ MORE

The Price Range Strategy

By MARCELLE S. FISCHLER, www.nytimes.com, May 29, 2009
THREE years ago, when someone knocked on the door of Adriana Karekinian’s waterfront home here, and offered her $1.4 million for it, she turned the person down. She had just redone the stucco exterior, installed an in-ground pool and replaced the windows. The house wasn’t even on the market. READ MORE

Mint Condition, Low Miles

By TERI KARUSH ROGERS,www.nytimes.com, May 29, 2009
THESE days, anxious New York City developers are marketing as fast as they can, churning out flash-animated Web sites, glossy brochures, and smooth (if hollow-eyed) agents hawking sales incentives alongside Hansgrohe faucets. READ MORE

Amid Housing Bust, Phoenix Begins a New Frenzy

By DAVID STREITFELD, www.nytimes.com, May 23, 2009
PHOENIX — Every weekday morning, Lou Jarvis drives the sun-baked suburban streets looking for investment gold: a family that will lose its house in a foreclosure auction within a few hours. READ MORE

How Lehman Brothers Got Its Real Estate Fix

By DEVIN LEONARD, www.nytimes.com, Published: May 2, 2009

BACK when he was a major Wall Street deal maker, Mark A. Walsh, the former head of the global real estate group at Lehman Brothers, had a running joke with Carmine Visone, one of his managing directors. Mr. Visone, 10 years older than his boss, would lecture Mr. Walsh about the importance of fundamentals: land values, construction cost and rents. READ MORE