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Share | What lengths will a town go to fight for what they believe is right? While many communities are pretty complacent about new zoning laws or developments, the people of Saugatuck, Michigan have dug in their heels to fight a proposed resort, spearheaded by billionaire, Aubrey McClendon of Chesapeake Energy Corp. This small resort town of 3,000 people has spent about one third of their annual budget in legal bills and sit on the verge of bankruptcy for what they believe in. This battle ha... Read Full Post

Share | How many of us have thought, “If I only known that in advance, I would have done things differently”. Some of the most successful investors and developers have made their fortunes by anticipating public response and acting on it before it happens. ProSalesMagazine.com just ran a piece on some of the top trends predicted to change the face of housing in coming years - a savvy builder might consider incorporating this data into marketing strategies for new developments. Some of thes... Read Full Post

The next time you're debating if it's really worth your while to rejuvenate that slightly dated website, take the lead from these marketing moguls who have managed to remain at the top of their game in spite of tremendous competition. For decades, department stores the likes of Saks, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales and Macy's have spent millions of dollars each year decorating holiday windows to entice buyers and out-do their competition. In New York City, Christmas arrives not when Santa comes,... Read Full Post

A few weeks ago, I strolled into the local pizza joint for my regular Friday night out. Normally, the place doesn't start getting busy until after 6:00, but today this quiet little pizza parlor was a hub of activity. People were standing shoulder to shoulder, holding little plastic wine glasses in one hand, and juggling cell phones and chicken wings in the other. Everyone was chatting and passing business cards back and forth. When the hostess greeted us, my first inclination was to ask, "is ... Read Full Post

Foreclosures have come to a screaming halt in 50 states due to concerns raised over the proper handling of documents. Institutions such as Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Ally Financial are holding off on completing any foreclosure transactions while the legality of their processes are being reviewed. Some of the issues being investigated include: tens of thousands of foreclosures being approved without any employee personally reviewing the files, mortgage lenders evicting homeowners wit... Read Full Post

Share | I recently read an article on MSN about the 5 Golf Holes You Must Play in Your Lifetime. These included: 1. Hole #12 at the Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta Georgia 2. Hole #17 at the Road Hole at The Old Course, St. Andrews Golf Links, St. Andrews Scotland 3. Hole #17 at TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida This signature hole is basically shaped like a giant golf tee surrounded by water. The big challenge is keeping the ball on dry land. 4. Hole #18 at ... Read Full Post

The little town of Bell California had managed to fly under the radar until a recent L.A. Times article exposed the inflated salaries of its city employees. If any of you have been following this story, the corruption in this little town is mind boggling. Here are some of the salaries of its city workers: Robert Rizzo, City Manager - $784,637 (over twice the salary of President Obama). His pension will total somewhere between $650,000 and $880,000 per year. Angela Spaccia, Assistant City Mana... Read Full Post

In efforts to curb spending while the state budget was being worked out, Governor Schwarzenegger announced a number of unorthodox spending cuts. First, the salary for all state employees would be reduced to $7.25 (minimum wage) until the new budget was signed. Then, once again targeting the same group, required that these workers take off 3 days per month without pay. At first glance, it looks like once again, the little guy is being targeted , but upon closer look, maybe not. It appears that... Read Full Post

I knew they were going to develop stricter standards for mortgage brokers, but I had no idea to what extent - fingerprinting! Mortgage brokers have gotten a bad name since the entire housing market came crashing down. Just as in any profession, there were enough seedy brokers with sketchy underwriting standards that many consider may have contributed to the housing bubble. In 2008, the S.A.F.E. Act (Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing) was created as a watchdog tool for brokers... Read Full Post

Remember the famous Costner flick "Field of Dreams?" It wasn't filmed on a sound stage in LA, but on an actual Iowa farm. Now, for the mere price of $5.4 million, you could own this legendary piece of Hollywood history. The farm itself, had no baseball field - that was added by Universal Studios after paying, Don Lansing, owner of the farm, $50,000 for its use. Once filming was over Lansing intended on bulldozing the field, but thought he'd leave it up for awhile. That's when the magic began.... Read Full Post