The Most Expensive Home Sales of 2006

The most-expensive home sales of 2006

A 64-acre estate near Manhattan went for a mere $58 million; Kevin Costner paid $28.5 for his oceanfront place.By Forbes.com

A former cab driver, the son of an African president and an actor famous for plowing a cornfield to build a baseball diamond are among the list of buyers of the most-expensive homes of 2006.
For the fourth consecutive year, Forbes.com has compiled a list of the year's most-expensive residential real estate deals. Despite a general housing market slowdown, 2006 was a banner year for those that deal in high-end homes. The average price of a home on our top 10 list was $40 million, up more than 10% from 2005's $36 million average, and more than 55% from the 2003 average.

It should come as no surprise that the priciest properties were clustered in California, Florida and New York, but after a year's absence, Colorado returned to our list.

In July, former Sony Records chief Tommy Mottola bought a sprawling Carbondale, Colo., ranch for $47 million. Situated at the base of Mount Sopris, the 12,000-square-foot main house has four bedrooms and four baths. The 900-acre property, which includes an 18-acre lake, was sold by broker Joshua Saslove, of Joshua & Co., who, with Gregory Antonsen of Christie's Great Estates, also holds this year's most expensive listing: Saudi prince Bandar's $135 million Hala Ranch in nearby Aspen, Colo.

Miami Beach is sizzling

Always good for a couple of $30 million-plus yearly sales, the Florida market maintained its presence on our list, and, according to local brokers, things in Miami Beach are just heating up. "For the people who can afford to buy these properties, there's so much money on the sidelines right now it's not even funny," says Nelson Gonzalez, who brokered developer Ugo Columbo's purchase -- at between $31 million and $35 million -- of Carl Fisher's Miami Beach villa. "I've been in high-end luxury real estate in Miami Beach the last 20 years and this was by far the best year ever."

We compiled our list by tracking media reports, talking to real estate brokers and consultants around the country and examining public property records. Our reported prices come from published reports and brokers who are in the know. No doubt there were deals that would have made our list but were kept under wraps. For example, the New York Post reported Schlumberger heiress Adelaide de Menil Carpenter sold her East Hampton mansion for $90 million, but based on property records it is not clear such a sale ever took place. Our list did not include land sales or sales of an undisclosed price.

The New York City metro area snagged three of our five top spots. In Alpine, N.J., about five miles from Manhattan, real-estate investor Richard Kurtz paid $58 million to Henry Clay Frick II for his 10,000-square-foot English-style mansion. The 63-acre property includes two guest cottages, a swimming pool and tennis courts, as well as greenhouses and more open space than imaginable so close to New York.

Other Gotham buyers included cab driver-turned-oil and real estate billionaire Tamir Sapir, who paid $40 million for the Duke-Semans mansion, owned by relatives of the late tobacco heiress Doris Duke. The seven-story Beaux Arts property, built in 1901, faces the Metropolitan Museum of Art and has an elegant mansard roof. Over on 75th Street, investment banker J. Christopher Flowers dropped $53 million on the 50-foot-wide Harkness mansion, located between Fifth and Madison avenues. The 1896 neo-French renaissance property is the most expensive townhouse ever sold in New York. The mansion is designed around a central, skylight-lit atrium that the previous owner, Woody Allen producer Jacqui Safra, used as a Ping-Pong room.

Both Manhattan homes are expected to receive millions in renovation.

In California, the movie stars, directors, financiers and attorneys who live in Malibu have a new neighbor with a different sort of clout. Teodoro Nguema Obiang, the son of Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang, dropped $35 million on an eight-bedroom oceanfront mansion despite a job in his father's government with an on-the-books salary of $5,000 a month. The 15,000-square-foot estate, just off the Pacific Coast Highway, has a four-hole golf course, tennis court and pools. Obiang has views of the ocean and, when the smog isn't too bad, of downtown Los Angeles.

Farther up the coast, the Hollywood crowd made their presence felt in Kevin Costner's acquisition of a $28.5 million beach house in Carpinteria, just south of Santa Barbara. The five-bedroom mansion is perched on a bluff with nearly 1,000 feet of ocean frontage. Built on 17 acres, the five-bedroom, three-bath property also boasts equestrian facilities and a polo field.

Price is not a factor

What's driving the market's top tier? High-end luxury sales can remain out of synch with market trends because the sector of the market is volume volatile and not price volatile. This means that sales are less affected by general market forces -- because potential buyers always have enough money -- but more affected by whether rare properties are available.
"I have multiple clients who want to buy $50 (million) or $60 million properties, but we can't find them one right now," says Mauricio Umansky, a broker at Hilton & Hyland. "When you're going to spend that much money, you have to find the perfect property."

Expect 2007 to be another blowout year, especially in New York where Wall Street bonuses came in above last year's record levels. "With all the money that's been building up, expect an active market next year," says Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel, a residential real estate appraisal firm. "Money like that has residual benefits, and momentum has been growing for a while."

And then there's the ghost of the $100 million sale. Besides the Hala Ranch in Aspen, there are two other listed properties -- one in Florida and one in Lake Tahoe -- vying to join the company of Lakshmi Mittal's $125 million London home, purchased by the Indian-born steel magnate in 2004.

Realtors say it's just a matter of time. "Someone is going to get $100 million for a property in the next couple years, and I hope it's me," says Umansky. The commission on that? "A lot."

This article was reported and written by Matt Woolsey for Forbes.com.

For info on other high-end Colorado homes, go to www.ColoradoDreamHomes.net

Ground Floor Opportunity!

Great townhome in a great location...steps to the pool. No stairs to climb ever! Central Parker location...complex backs to Cherry Creek. More pix at www.ColoradoDreamHomes.net

Horse Lovers Hideaway!

This is s special property. Your own 40 acre playground, and no covenants, and no water restrictions. Seasonal creek. More pix at www.ColoradoDreamHomes.net

Mortgage Insurance Now Tax Deductible!

Mortgage Insurance now tax deductible!

As you probably know, Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is required anytime a loan is taken out with a higher "loan to value" ratio of 80%, as the loan is riskier to the lender. Mortgage Insurance allows a consumer to purchase a home with little or no down payment, or refinance at higher loan to values than 80%...but the beneficiary of the Mortgage Insurance is the lender, as it only provides coverage to the lender to protect against financial loss should the homeowner default on the loan.

And historically, these Mortgage Insurance premiums have never been tax deductible, so many consumers turned to the "piggyback" loan strategy. A "piggyback" means the first mortgage is placed at 80% of the value of the home - therefore not requiring mortgage insurance - and the additional funds needed to finance the home were placed on a second home loan, "piggybacked" behind the first mortgage...and providing more tax-deductible interest.

But these second home loan rates have risen dramatically higher in recent years, since most are tied to the Fed Funds Rate...and the Fed has made seventeen .25% rate hikes since June 2004 - a total increase of 4.25%! And although the Fed is currently in a "paused" mode...there is debate as to whether or not the Fed is done hiking rates just yet.

But in their final session hours - Congress just passed a law with a change to the tax code which will allow Mortgage Insurance Premiums to be claimed as tax deductions for households earning less than 100k annually.

What does this mean?

Primarily, it means that mortgage options that include standard Private Mortgage Insurance will now become much more competitive and attractive, especially as the Mortgage Insurance premium payment can often be later removed with sufficient property appreciation or declining loan balance, assuming timely payments. In fact, hundreds of thousands of 2007 homebuyers or home refinancers will save an estimated total of $91,000,000 when they file their tax returns in 2008.

A few important notes:

This piece of legislation still requires President Bush's signature, but at this time there is no indication that he will not sign it. Also, the current legislation applies to new loans closed in 2007 only, and as such, will require another act of Congress to be extended to 2008 and beyond.
The full deduction can only be taken if your Adjusted Gross Income is $100,000 or less. There is a rapidly declining proration table for incomes up to $110,000, with no deductibility if your Adjusted Gross Income exceeds that level.

The deduction is only available if you itemize your deductions on your tax return, rather than taking the standard deduction. For most homeowners, itemizing generally makes more financial sense anyways, due to the large amount of home loan interest and real estate taxes paid, but a small mortgage may not generate enough interest charges to itemize. As a rule of thumb, the mortgage normally needs to be around $130,000 to make itemizing make good financial sense.
And of course, whenever the IRS is concerned...it always makes sense to review specifics with a tax professional. We'd be happy to make a recommendation to you or your clients if you like.
Although the initial payment with a Mortgage Insurance premium might be slightly higher when compared to a "piggyback" option - remember that Mortgage Insurance can often be removed in time, with property appreciation or a declining loan balance, assuming payments are being made in a timely manner.

For more mortgage info go to http://www.ColoradoDreamHomes.net

Why the Heck Didn't They Have a Realtor????????

The following story below is very sad. Some people never consider having a Realtor represent them when buying a new home. What a waste. Builders gladly pay a Realtors' commission, and they just consider it a marketing expense. It costs the buyer nothing, and they get all the benefits of having someone on their side representing them exclusively.


Builders often key players in high-risk game
By David Olinger, Jeffrey A. Roberts and Greg Griffin Denver Post Staff Writers
Article Last Updated: 12/23/2006 07:01:30 PM MST

Carmen Pedrego said the builder assured her she could own a brand-new home for no more than her monthly rent.

But when she came to the loan closing, a surprise awaited her. No one was in the room except a stranger from the title company. And after Pedrego signed a first mortgage loan, the agent produced a second mortgage. They totaled 64 percent of the single mother's take-home pay.
Because she had already signed one contract, "I felt trapped, like I couldn't get out of it any more," Pedrego said. She signed the second and made two mortgage payments, she said, then filed for bankruptcy. This year, she became one of 11 homeowners in a small Greeley neighborhood who have lost new houses in foreclosure sales.


Mortgage Problems?

Foreclosure Hotline: There are more than 25 government-approved, non-profit housing counseling agencies across Colorado that help homeowners in foreclosure or at risk of going into foreclosure. Counselors at these agencies help homeowners assess their options, contact and negotiate with lenders and get their finances back in order. To reach the counseling agency in your area, call Colorado's foreclosure hotline at 877-601-HOPE.
Hardship Loans: The Colorado Rural Housing Development Corp. issues loans to qualified lenders. For details, contact René Holland at 303-428-1448, ext. 206 or rholland@crhdc.org.
In August, Weld County had the worst foreclosure rate in the United States. Many foreclosures came on new homes sold by aggressive builders to people who had no money for a down payment and no real estate agent representing them.
On one Greeley street, seven adjacent new homes have been foreclosed. In Pedrego's former neighborhood across town, dozens of families paid $40,000 to $50,000 too much for a new home, according to an analysis by David Kiekhaefer, a Greeley broker and builder.
That neighborhood "is primed for foreclosure," he said.
A computer-assisted geographic analysis of Weld and metro-area foreclosures by The Denver Post found many concentrated in new neighborhoods developed by local builders. Others clustered in new neighborhoods where national builders doubled as lenders. In one, more than 90 percent of foreclosures on the original buyers involved loans from the builder.


Too many new homes

A complex set of causes pushed Colorado's home foreclosure rate to the highest in the nation this year and Weld County to the highest in Colorado, real estate experts say: stagnant prices, too many houses for sale, 100 percent loans with rising interest rates. They also say the building industry has contributed to Colorado's foreclosure epidemic.
Builders have been permitted to flood Weld County with a "terminal oversupply" of new houses that devalued existing homes, said Lou Barnes, a Colorado mortgage bank owner.
"Weld County has no functional zoning," he said. "It's simply open season."
He and others say some builder incentive programs, particularly those that require buyers to use an affiliated lender, also can raise the risk of loan defaults.
When builders "have a preferred mortgage company, you may not get the best interest rate," said David Berenbaum, executive vice president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a consumer watchdog group. "Over the life of the mortgage, you pay substantially more for a home.
"People are being oversold today on homes," he said. "It's not uncommon to see more than 50 percent of their income go to their mortgage payment. The debt-to-income ratios are very troublesome."
On the street where Pedrego bought her house, a show-home sign advertises easy terms. "Good credit, bad credit, no Social Security approved," it promises in Spanish. "Zero percent down payment."
In this neighborhood, called Gateway Lakes, new homes purchased in 2005 are being foreclosed in 2006. That caught the attention of Kiekhaefer, who is renting homes in the neighborhood that he and a partner built and were unable to sell in the $180,000 range.
He found that two other builders in the same neighborhood, Mark Strodtman and Duane Zeller, were selling homes to Spanish-speaking families who were not represented by a real estate agent for as much as $245,000.
He gave The Post a list of 23 houses sold at prices he considered suspiciously high, all without a Realtor representing the buyer, and 31 other sales in the neighborhood listed by licensed real estate agents. The median price difference: $44,000.
Residents who bought houses from Strodtman said they were lured by offers of low payments, then learned at loan closings that their monthly costs would be hundreds of dollars higher than they expected.
"They tell me in one year you can refinance," said Librado Herrera, who does not read English and depended on Strodtman's sales assistant to explain the contract.
When he called a lender eight months later, he said he was told his loan had a prepayment penalty and his house wasn't worth $245,000.
Herrera is unemployed. His wife sews bags for a living. They have fallen behind on their $1,500-a-month mortgage payments and fear they must abandon their new home.
In one year, "I waste all my savings, and I have no more ways to save," he said. "I'm paying too much. I don't understand why the bank loaned the money. The value is not real."
Strodtman said his houses sold for higher prices because they are larger and more luxurious, with features such as cherry wood floors, granite countertops and finished basements. "If you figure by the square foot, they're pretty reasonable," he said.
He said he did not mislead customers about their potential mortgage payments, but some opted for bigger houses and others had marginal credit ratings.
"When people come in to buy a house, it depends on your credit," he said. "Your interest rate goes up or down by your credit."
Some buyers were attracted because "I take trade-ins for people," he said. Now, "I own a bunch of houses I can't get rid of."
Plunging prices
Foreclosure and real estate records show the prices of his Gateway Lakes houses plunged $50,000 or more after the original buyer lost them.
Pedrego's house, for one, sold for $63,000 less than the $239,000 she paid for it last year.
Strodtman said that happened because "the banks are dumping them" and some foreclosed houses "are trashed."
Zeller, the builder advertising homes in Spanish to buyers with poor credit and no Social Security numbers, said he does not speak Spanish and did not understand what the sign said.
Lenders can approve applicants without a Social Security number, but "that sign will come down," he said.
Zeller said his homes are not overpriced and he is not enticing buyers with false promises.
"I've got six homes for sale in there" that aren't moving, he said. "I'll sell them below cost just to get out of them."
Laura Mendoza, a real estate agent who listed some of Strodtman's homes in Gateway Lakes, said she withdrew because she could not find buyers at the builder's price.
"Could I get them sold? Huh-uh," she said. "I didn't want to stay out there. I didn't think the prices were right. Somehow they sold them. I don't know how."
Pedrego, an interpreter at the Greeley courthouse, said a Spanish-speaking sales assistant to Strodtman who now works for Zeller "was getting a lot of the Spanish people into this."
Pedrego doubted she could get a home loan. She was divorced, her credit rating was poor, and she had been turned down before.
"Somehow they qualified me. I have no idea how they did it," she said.
A year later, she has a foreclosure record and lives in a mobile home in Kersey.
Despite her divorce, "I was doing really good until I got into this," she said. "I wish I wouldn't have listened to them."
Too good to be true?
Pay off your credit card bills. A 1.875 percent interest rate with a free washer, dryer and refrigerator. Win a 2007 Ford Escape!
These are some of the lures national builders dangled as the supply of unsold homes in metro Denver hit record levels this year.
Jon Goodman, a Boulder real estate lawyer, cautions that some of these freebies actually can increase the risk of a home loan default.
How? "It might better help people to understand what's going on if they call it a kickback. Some kinds of kickbacks cause more problems than others," he said.
The riskiest are those that don't help the value of the house. If a builder offers to pay off car or credit card debts or a down payment gift instead of lowering his price, the real value of the house may be less than the buyer's house debt - especially if the buyer opts for a 100 percent loan.
Buyers who use the kickback to keep their credit card debts lower may be financially stronger and "better able to make the mortgage payments," Goodman said. But "if the debtor uses the kickback to go on a trip or buy a car, then they've overpaid for a property and have typically larded it up with too much debt."
Goodman also cautions that builder incentives dependent on using an affiliated lender may not benefit the borrower.
"Anytime a builder purchase is financed by an in-house lender, it enhances opportunities for mischief," he said.
At the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, homebuyers are taught to distinguish between builder incentives that increase the property value and those that do not. Incentives such as furniture and electronics are personal property.
"We exclude those," said Karen Harkin, an agency program director. "If you're paying off your car, you're essentially paying that debt back over 30 years."
The Post analysis found high foreclosure rates in several communities of one national builder, KB Home. In most cases, the loans for those homes came from KB's mortgage branch.
In a Northglenn neighborhood built by KB Home, 56 of the original buyers have been foreclosed. Fifty-one, or 91 percent, got their loans from KB's mortgage company.
In Kentfield, a Thornton neighborhood, 80 of the original buyers have been foreclosed. Seventy, or 87 percent, borrowed from KB's mortgage company. About half were foreclosed on their original loans, which KB sold to other lenders, and half refinanced before their foreclosures.
Nearly all the original loans were insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which collects fees from borrowers to cover losses.
Marguerite and Tony Moreno Jr. were among the foreclosed homeowners. They had planted shrubs and flowers in their front yard and were erecting a fence around their new house when the communications company that employed Tony went out of business.
For a year, he took whatever work he could find, then settled for a new job at half his previous salary. Marguerite managed to negotiate deferred payments on her vehicle, but they had no luck with the company that bought their home loan from KB's mortgage branch.
Tony said the KB salesman had told them "the financing has to go through us" and resisted his request for a Veterans Affairs loan.
"We wouldn't get in in the time frame we wanted. I would have to pay for all my own (loan) points," he said he was told.
Now they live in another KB home in Northglenn, paying a monthly rent that equals their previous mortgage payment. The owner wants to sell it to them, but the Morenos say they were told they would have to pay a 21 percent interest rate because of their foreclosure.
"It was hard for me to leave that home," Marguerite said tearfully. "The biggest thing is, it was our home. Our home. Our kids' home. Our grandkids' home."
Along the streets of Kentfield, some yards are festively decorated this month with blown-up Santas, electric reindeer and North Pole signs. Others display signs of distress: Exit One and Best Offer Realty, HUD home, Price Reduced, For Rent.
Four years after the houses were built, "there's only three or four original homeowners left," said Kyle Van Briesen, gazing down a block where half of 22 new homes were foreclosed.
Some KB homeowners say they borrowed from the builder's lender for closing costs or other incentives. Others felt they had no choice. In Kentfield, those who remain worry about declining neighborhood house prices.
"Our original plan was to be here for two years. We've been here for five, and there's no way we could get out now," said Caryn Theisen, who drives her children to an Arvada school 25 minutes away.
KB declined numerous requests for comment.
Last year, a Denver-based investigation of KB Home Mortgage Co. ended with a $3.2 million settlement that the Department of Housing and Urban Development called the largest administrative action ever by a review board against an FHA- approved lender.
KB Home was targeted because its FHA-insured loan default rates were "significantly higher than average," HUD spokesman Lemar Wooley said.
The settlement followed an investigation of alleged violations such as approving ineligible borrowers, approving loans based on overstated or incorrect income and failing to include all of borrowers' debts.
KB did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
A neighborhood at risk
"Five or six years ago, this was cornfields." Matthew Revitte, a Greeley broker specializing in foreclosure sales, is driving through East Meadows, a neighborhood at the city's edge. Now, he said, "it looks like Chernobyl."
An eerie quietness pervades the neighborhood. Up and down the street, snow-covered sidewalks lead to vacant houses. Signs in windows warn the water is off and the property winterized. Before one, an unclaimed pile of belongings decays in the driveway.
On one long block, Revitte counts 14 of 40 houses with defaulted loans. A block over, foreclosure notices came to seven adjacent new houses, and only one of those homeowners managed to stay.
These were built by a local company, Lifestyle Homes, and sold at a time when it was easier to buy a house than rent one, Revitte said.
"The overwhelming number got in with no money down. Very few had reserves. Could they survive two months without a paycheck? No."
Maria and Saul Saldivar, who live next to the row of seven foreclosed houses, considered putting their house up for sale last summer. Their real estate agent told them not to bother.
They're unsure they could recover the $140,000 they paid nearly four years ago and the roughly $10,000 they spent finishing the basement.
"The houses haven't gone up in value," Maria Saldivar said. "When we bought it, they said, 'Finish the basement and the yard and you can sell it for $30,000 to $40,000 more in three or four years."'
Across the street, real estate agent Mark Llamas listed a house that went for $140,707 three years ago. After a foreclosure, it recently sold for $102,580.
When the houses were new, "I didn't do a lot in East Meadows," Llamas said. "I thought the prices were a little high."
Lifestyle Homes president Brad Clarkson said he feels sorry for all the families who bought homes and lost them in East Meadows. But "it's absolutely due to factors beyond our control," he said.
He attributed the foreclosures in Greeley to predatory lending, a mass layoff at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant two years ago and an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty among immigrant families who bought many of the new houses.
"We had to stop building homes in East Meadows," he said. "We couldn't compete with the foreclosures."

If you're buying
Advice from real estate experts to new-homebuyers:

If you're buying a new house and have questions about the asking price, bring a licensed real estate agent to represent you.

Get a written good-faith estimate of your anticipated mortgage payments. If the terms don't match at the loan closing, don't close.

Be wary of incentives that don't increase the value of your new home. If you get $30,000 to pay off credit card debts and your car, you're probably paying $30,000 too much for the house. That will make it hard to refinance or sell.

For more info on buying a new home, go to http://www.ColoradoDreamHomes.net

Got a Luxury Home on Your Holiday Wish List?

Ultimate Homes Magazine Releases Special State-By-State Edition, Ranks Top 20 Properties for Sale in Every StateTuesday December 12, 8:39 am ET

All Properties Listed Total Nearly $11 Billion

Top Three Listings Hit the $100 Million+ Mark: a Royal Aspen Estate, an Oceanfront Mansion on Billionaire's Row, a Tranquil, Lake Tahoe Inspiration



NEW YORK, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for the holidays, the premiere issue of Ultimate Homes, State by State Edition arrives on newsstands today as the first magazine to rank the most expensive homes for sale in each state. The top 20 residential real estate listings in every state -- plus Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico -- total more than $10 billion.

"We've had such a positive response to our special editions of ULTIMATE HOMES -- where we annually rank the most expensive homes for sale in the U.S., that we have followed that success up with the first-ever ranking of most expensive homes for sale by state," says publisher Rick Goodwin. "This issue really represents the most comprehensive snapshot of the current luxury home market. We've been covering this market for over 35 years, and it continues to evolve all across the U.S., as does the behavior of affluent home buyers. It's very exciting to capture that in the magazine, which has become a very valuable tool in the marketplace for luxury home buyers and sellers, as well as for the elite real estate professionals who market these exquisite properties."

The top three states with the most value in real estate are New York, California and Florida with a total 22.7 percent of the nearly $11 billion of properties for sale.
Three featured properties have shattered the ceiling on luxury home prices by listing at $100 million and over. Highlights on what these ultra-luxe properties have to offer include:
Hala Ranch - Aspen, CO - $135 million: Formerly owned by Saudi Arabia's Prince Bandar bin Sultan, this self-sufficient estate boasts nearly every amenity imaginable. With wraparound views of the Rocky Mountains, the 56,000- square-foot mansion is accompanied by four other buildings (including a heated stable), a wastewater treatment plant and gasoline pumps.
Trump's Palm Beach Estate - Palm Beach, FL - $125 million: Donald Trump's Billionaire's Row estate spreads over nearly 8 acres with Atlantic Ocean beachfront. No expense was spared in the extensive renovation of the four buildings (a 54,000 sq. ft. mansion, pool house, guest house and carriage house) which display 24-karat-gold fixtures, a ballroom, observatory and atrium.
Tranquility - Lake Tahoe, NV - $100 million: 210 acres of pine and aspen forest, a private lake, and two over-the-water par-three golf holes complement the largest private landholding at Lake Tahoe. The residence's eight buildings -- the main residence, guest house, gymnasium, stable, theater, art studio, conservatory and boathouse -- total 38,000 square feet of living space with designs inspired by the St. Regis Hotel, the S.S. Titanic and the New York City Public Library.

In addition to the list of the top 20 most expensive properties for sale in each state, Ultimate Homes, State by State Edition, identifies the country's top luxury agents and give readers unparalleled insight into news, trends and hot spots in the luxury real estate market.
Where does your state rank?


Here are the Top 10:

TOP TEN STATES RANKED BY MOST EXPENSIVE PROPERTY FOR SALE
No. 1 - Colorado - (Aspen) Hala Ranch - $135 million
No. 2 - Florida - (Palm Beach) Trump's Palm Beach Estate- $125 million
No. 3 - Nevada - (Lake Tahoe) Tranquility - $100 million
No. 4 - New York - (Bridgehampton) Three Ponds Farm - $75 million
No. 5 - California - (Corona del Mar) - $75 million
No. 6 - Texas - (Corinth) Champ d'Or - $59.55 million
No. 7 - Washington - (Medina) - $53 million
No. 8 - Hawaii - (Kauai) - $46.5 million
No. 9 - Wyoming - (Jackson) Jenkins Ranch - $39 million
No. 10 - Connecticut - (Greenwich) - $38 million

For more info on Luxury Homes go to http://www.ColoradoDreamHomes.net

Mortgagegrader.com

On-line site helps find lowest-cost mortgageLew Sichelman, United Feature SyndicatePublished December 10, 2006
Reed Hauge was more than a little shocked when the hard costs on the quoted loan were $5,200 less than those his mortgage-broker buddy had offered. He was rather peeved, too."I was a little disappointed my broker friend wasn't giving me that good a deal after all," says the Irvine, Calif., businessman.

Hauge is the first borrower to use Mortgage Grader, a new Web-based platform (www.mortgagegrader.com) that allows consumers to shop the market for the best rate and terms with complete anonymity, without ever giving away who you are or where you are, and without telling lenders whether you are black or white.And he's more than satisfied."It's fantastic," he says. "I told my cousin he has to go through this. I told my real estate agent about it, too."Five years in the making, Mortgage Grader permits wannabe borrowers to make side-by-side comparisons of various loan products in a manner that's similar to going online to search for the lowest airfares. And the founder of the patented technology is betting it will shake the very foundation of the mortgage market."Mortgage Grader is going to turn the entire industry on its side and empower every mortgage shopper by illuminating what really matters--a true comparison of the loan features, total costs and interest rates of several lenders," says Jeff Lazerson, a mortgage broker who runs Portfolio Mortgage Corp. in Laguna Niguel, Calif."It's all done with one application and one credit-report inquiry," he says. "And the best part is, nobody knows who you are. Your loan-application information is turned into a PIN number, so it's impossible for the lender to identify you."That kind of hunting is all but impossible now. These days, the rate you initially see or hear is very often not the one you end up with. Yes, there is a certain amount of bait-and-switch going on to get unsuspecting borrowers in the door so unethical brokers can see what they can really charge. But for the most part, lenders are like every other business that advertises its lowest cost.In the lending game, though, the rate you end up with is based on your particular income, credit history, work record and other risk factors, and it's not always the lowest rate available in the marketplace. Moreover, your costs are likely to change every time you consider a loan product or possibly a more or less expensive house.Even late in the game, sometimes even after you've been approved, the rate and terms can change if your cash-on-hand savings has fallen below a level the lender requires or you make a big-ticket purchase that impacts your credit score. And sometimes, it's an unexpected, last-second switch for which there is no decent explanation.In short, it's a system that makes comparative shopping all but impossible. Which led Lazerson to build a better mousetrap.Mortgage Grader, a neutral, third-party software program, enables shoppers for a home loan to make apples-to-apples comparisons of the various offerings thrown their way. Because it underwrites and prices applicants generically, it ensures the same pricing to anyone who qualifies, avoiding even unintentional discrimination."It's all anonymous," Lazerson says. "The results are the results; there's no hanky-panky. Mortgage Grader is systematically fair and equal."Better yet, it's impossible for the lender to negotiate with any borrower. "If the borrower fits what the lender wants, there's no reason to bargain with anybody," says the loan broker. "The logic of the software drives prime loans first, then Alt-A and then subprime. That's the way it should be."That's the feature that borrower Hauge liked best. Sure, he was glad to save five grand. But he really liked the fact that the program is aligned to his interests, not the mortgage broker's."I discovered that what's good for the borrower isn't necessarily good for the broker," he says. "There is a certain conflict of interest in that the broker tries to find a good loan but also make as much money as he can. So there's something wonderful about having something that's on your side, without any hidden agenda."Mortgages have moving parts: the rate and loan features such as prepayment penalties and fees. The higher the rate, the less consumer-friendly the features; and the larger the fees, the higher the loan broker's commission.According to Lazerson, the mortgage business is loaded with fat."Loan-officer incentives are geared to hit the commission jackpot by charging extra points and fees, up-selling the interest rate and sticking ugly and unnecessary land mines in the loan," he says. "It's a sin how much profit is built into these deals."For a flat fee, Mortgage Grader eliminates the fat. In Hauge's case, the software was able to find him the exact loan his pal found him--with $5,200 less in fees."I saw the shock on his face when he saw what he'd save," says Lazerson. "His eyes were popping out of his head. And before he could get up from his chair, I handed him a loan approval, rate-lock letter and good-faith estimate. Just a few weeks later, the loan closed exactly as promised."Borrowers are sure to love that, and Lazerson thinks lenders will like it, too. For one thing, it promises to reduce lenders' overhead because there will be less need for expensive "brick and mortar" offices. For another, it will defend them against accusations of discrimination because the system is color-blind.Currently, Mortgage Grader has the ability to scan the products offered by about two-dozen lenders, including several of the nation's largest. The list of loans "covers everything from soup to nuts," says Lazerson. "Everything borrowers are asking for these days is there."Nevertheless, Mortgage Grader is still in its infancy. Currently, the system is licensed in California and Colorado. But Lazerson plans to be approved in Florida and New York shortly, and then take the exams in Arizona, Idaho, Minnesota and Massachusetts."Within a year or so," he promises, "we will be nationwide."

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