Green Building and Real Estate Blog

Despite the downturn, some people are still managing to make money off real estate. Here's how they're doing it.

By Judi Hasson, MSN Real Estate

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Sliding prices and desperate sellers may seem to make this the perfect time for young renters to buy their first home. But in many housing markets, the credit crunch and the risk of owing more than the home is worth mean they should wait awhile longer.

By Claes Bell, Bankrate.com

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After causing major losses for Countrywide, its former execs back in business. Countrywide was very aggressive in promoting sub-prime mortgages. Now its former execs want to buy those troubled mortgages at fire prices.

The top guys are making money. We pay taxes and help big banks to stay in business. These are just some legal schemes of transferring money from one set of hands to substantially smaller set of hands.

If we are to pay taxes and help bail out large private companies, maybe they should pay some special tax to ensure the future safety net. I understand the necessity to protect critical industries. However, those companies should pay more in taxes and hold an insurance policy with the federal government. Businesses take risks - otherwise there is no growth. However, when mistakes are made and unfounded risks taken, people who made those decisions should carry the responsibility. I do not want to pay for mistakes of Countrywide exec, who probably made millions in compensation.

As far as Countrywide, maybe what they do is fully legal. However, it is somewhere beyond the edge of ethical. You charge a person when you sell him a broken car, claiming that it works. Then, you "help" that person by buying off that car at a fraction of a cost.

There is a lot of blame to go around. We can see within this crisis the role and responsibility of federal and state governments in regulating some of the business activities.

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To offset commuting costs, Americans are cutting back elsewhere.

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Here's a smart investment every homeowner should make. These 15 tools are the absolute basics for a kit to last a lifetime. And you can buy them all for under $200.

By Jay MacDonald, Bankrate.com

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Research points to years of warming even with ambitious emission cuts

Traffic clogged roads and thick smog fill the streets of Beijing. While natural cycles remove roughly half of human-emitted carbon dioxide from the atmosphere within a hundred years, a significant portion persists for thousands of years.  

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