Back in the days of the housing boom I knew a couple whose marriage went sour, but who continued to live together for years after their divorce went through. Turned out that the holy grail of stability wasn't their affection for one another, but a rent-...

Source: SFGate: Surreal Estate

Tags: real estate news mortgage news san francisco real estate

Last week I wrote about some homeowners filing suit against KB Homes and their affiliated lenders and appraisers. The plaintiffs claim that the companies used false appraisals to manipulate the price of their homes by $60,000 to $80,000. Like many new-home...

Source: SFGate: Surreal Estate

Tags: real estate news mortgage news san francisco real estate

In a time when tens of thousands of people are losing their homes to foreclosure, house prices are falling and the mortgage industry is being criticized for its part in the credit crisis, it's not surprising that some disputes end up in court. But until now,...

Source: SFGate: Surreal Estate

Tags: real estate news mortgage news san francisco real estate

Every coin has its flip side. Last week, I explored how San Francisco and other centers of innovation around the globe are resisting the downward vortex of the housing market. These fabled super cities, Richard Florida contends in his new book, "Who's Your...

Source: SFGate: Surreal Estate

Tags: real estate news mortgage news san francisco real estate

"Dogs are the new children," Djuna Woods says when I reach her in her Coldwell Banker office in Menlo Park. Although Woods' words have precious little to do with real estate, as an elevator pitch it's hard to do better than a single sentence which cleverly...

Source: SFGate: Surreal Estate

Tags: real estate news mortgage news san francisco real estate