• Fast Company nails down the top architecture firms.
• The top ten places to retire to, sadly none are in Minnesota. I choose my favorite city San Diego, you can never go wrong with 75 degrees year round.
• The sale will go on I think but CNNMoney says grab a deal while you still can.
• Yeah, I’d live in the Margarido house in Oakland.
• From Calculated Risk: Homeownership and the American Culture.
• The Woodbury Lakes upscale shopping center which is already REO (real estate owned) is scheduled to go back on the market shortly. Should be a good opportunity for investors to pick up on the cheap.
• Didn’t quite get the deal you wanted on a house? Might want to blame Facebook or Twitter. Why because MSNBC has an idea where potential buyers are updating and sharing with friends their dream houses losing out on negotiating power and sellers are seeing it.

• A recent article in Forbes tries to pin down the best housing market, these things change almost monthly but Minneapolis comes in at #4 on the list. Low foreclosures (compared to the rest of the country) rising prices in *some* areas and a good affordability index make it a good place to buy.
• Some good ideas when it comes to a buying or selling a home (NYT) when it is underwater on the mortgage. My simple advice: get the process rolling early, be prepared to wait and make sure all liens on the property are satisfied. This can all be fairly stress-less when using an agent that knows what they are doing.
• Maybe it’s better to wait for the home buyer tax credit to expire? Here is a good thread over on Zillow discussing. I get a kick out of all the stupid agents opining in the thread.
• Nice shout out to local iPhone developer Mobile Realty Apps which creates custom branded applications.
• Good find on Calculated Risk about home owners now becoming squatters in their own homes after they have gone through the foreclosure process and/or being delayed. Not paying a mortgage or not paying rent.
• Local shopping mall Brookdale Center sold at a recent auction for $12.5 million. Only one bidder on the property and a far cry from the original mortgage amount of $54.2 million.
• Fannie Mae reports in a press release a $15.2 billion loss in quarter 4 2009, but hey that’s better than the $18.9 billion loss in quarter three of 2009
• Yeah, I’d live in this house.

• If you’ve been following the construction of the world’s tallest building being built in Dubai, it finally opened this past week. The Burj Dhubi or now the new name change Burj Khalifi is up and here are some pics via CNN or CBS.
• This is from a few weeks back but has some valid points about buying a home if not married or engaged from the NYT. I took that route about 5 years ago, but have recently taken the next step.
• When searching for homes, walkability has been a factor for a lot of people. The
  Twin Cities real estate search that I have on this site includes an API by Walkscore how walkable a neighborhood is, they even have a iPhone app. Here’s an article from NYT factoring in walkability when it comes to home value.
• I haven’t thought this far out but some economists have in regards to 2020. Apparently they came up with a list of the richest cities in the world by that time. FYI Minneapolis comes in at 37, kind of surprising.
• Check out this mortgage payment that was missed – $16 million skipped on a New York City housing complex.
• I’d live in it

I would put Ladin Ventures in a class of it’s own when it comes to brokerages with big ideas  (in the commercial realm), a hybrid brokerage. Definitely moving along with demands and changing trends of the consumer.

Although the firms focus is on mainly on commercial real estate, buyer/tenant representation, apartments, investment property, I will still be doing a good amount of residential on the buy side only eliminating the threat of dual agency (a no-win situation for any consumer).

I’m excited for the tremendous opportunity and the chance to grow with a company on the ground level that just “gets it”. Steve has been doing this for awhile and is growing his company, a good sign in a so-called horrible real estate market.

Nothing will change on this blog except for added commercial real estate content.

More to come over the next few weeks, you can follow the adventures of Steve and I on Twitter.

• Here is some good insight on what might  happen to housing once government intervention takes a back seat in the upcoming months via DailyFinance. And here is another link from Calculated Risk on Government support housing.
• More on borrowers with modified mortgages falling behind once they receive a loan modification.
• This was from a few weeks ago, but found it interesting: Confessions from an underwater homeowner from the WSJ.
• An article from the NY Times about stripping houses. Consider yourself lucky if you buy a bank owned home and it has *some* appliances. I’ve wrote about house stripping here before.
• Check out this odd real estate deal in New York involving the former Times building. Per the article I highly advise about buying real estate sight unseen.
• Now this is a rockin house I’d live in.

• I found this interesting, buyers interested in foreclosures slips. Not seeing any of this around here as anything under ~$225k was/is moving. During the holidays it’s always a bit slower but I’m finding lots still interested.
• Why not check into Dubai? Maybe those islands are now affordable.
• I’ve recently had a few buyers opt for the 15 year mortgage. Although higher monthly payments, interest rates are still dirt cheap. Always a good thing to pay less to the bank over time.
• A funny find, it looks like this guy shouldn’t be receiving any husband of the year honors anytime soon. He wins the lottery then leaves his wife who then gets foreclosed on.
• Another trends report to look at for in 2010.

• THIS IS CRAZY! Take a look at this house in Britain that is 66 inches wide! And by the way it’s for sale.
• Don’t make any bad mistakes when it comes to buying real estate, here is a good article about things you might not think of when it comes to purchasing real estate.
• I love this one, billionaire’s (novice real estate developer’s) are being foreclosed on left and right with their ultra-luxury resorts or hotel properties. Which goes to show that just because you have the cash, not everything will work or produce more cash. Real estate is tough. Everyone wanted to get into the game, everyone.
• CNNMoney makes an attempt to hammer out a housing outlook for 2010. Would like to look back on this one. In case you wondering, Minneapolis housing market comes in 40 out of 100, with a projected decline in prices by 4.99% but 2011 looks good with a 2.31% increase.
• Hmm, not liking this one “if you don’t buy a house now, your either broke or stupid”. Sure interest rates are low and will rise shortly, but owning a house isn’t for everyone. It takes a lot more than what most are willing to do.
• If you’ve got some cash and a lot of it, it looks like Brookdale Center is heading to the sheriff’s auction. If you like shopping, why not just try and pick up a mall at a discount.
• The NY Times tries to a look at why short sales take so friggin long.
• and yes, I’d live in it.

• I’m not a fan of your basic cookie cutter homes, you see a lot around the Twin Cities. Big builders come in and it seems like they puke them out they put them up so fast. This New York Times article walks you though the steps to build a true custom home.
• What’s next in real estate? Moneywatch makes an attempt to lay it all out. Nothing special.
• Diving into the world of junk mortgages. It gets deep and gives insights on how mortgages where sliced and diced with rating agencies, many given the best ratings no matter how toxic the asset.
• Now this would be a rockin cabin to live in.
• It appears wealthy real estate investors are climbing back in to the game from WSJ Blog.

That’s all I got, I either wasn’t paying attention this past week or it was uber slow.