© Tony the Misfit


If I were looking for a summer of exploring America's historic cities, it would be tempting to start by looking at Philly apartments and finding myself a place to stay there. Colonial America's history was shaped in Philadelphia more than in any other place. It's a starting spot. It's a central location.

Pennsylvania's Amish Country is not too far from Philadelphia. It's a fascinating area where horse and buggy drivers still rule the road.

From Philadelphia you can also visit the historic Civil War battlefields of Maryland and Northern Virginia - places like Antietan, Bull Run, and Manassas. Or you can make a trip to New York see places like Ellis Island and the US Military Academy at West Point.

Of course, this is barely a partial list. The historic attractions within a few hours of Philadelphia would take several pages to list.

© DeusXFlorida


What are the best historical American cities to visit? That's not an easy question to answer. I think the oldest city in the US is St. Augustine, Florida. Lots of vacation deals are available if you want to tour the city (or spend some time on the beach down there).

St. Augustine is the kind of historic that mostly means "old." The residents look at you and say "We've been here a long time, and that makes us historic." They're right. And St. Augustine is a nice place. But if history is the path of great events through time, well then not much of great consequence has ever happened in St. Augustine (apart from the fact that it was build there in the first place). For that sort of history you have to go to the major cities of the America's eastern seaboard - places like Charleston, SC, Chesapeake, VA, Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Those are the places that shaped commerce and politics in the early days of Americna history (and for generations to come).

Of course, I'm not arguing that cities further west aren't historic. The path of great events moved West - through places like Memphis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Houston, and Chicago.

Like I said, it's not an easy question to answer.

© PhillipC


Property rental in London is becoming a hot industry - for just about everyone.

Renting a house in London is becoming a more common choice because it provides some financial flexibility in the current economic setting (the UK is one of the few countries where the Recession still has a grip). The cost of buying a house together with the tight credit market means that first time home buyers face some serious barriers to purchasing a home. Many see renting as their only choice.

The difficulties faced by would-be first-time home buyers is only part of the picture. Many investors in the UK are fed up with the stock market and see real estate as a safe alternative. There's been about a 40% increase in demand for investment property in the half million pound price range in the second half of the year. Buying-to-rent is a new investment trend. Existing property firms want to increase the size of their portfolios. At the same time, new investor-landlords are entering the field.

Add to this the fact that managing a property portfolio has become simpler in the last decade. The insurance picture has improved for landlords. The Internet had made advertising easy. And demand has grown.

That demand is going to continue to grow. And the Recession may mean that renting becomes a more palatable option - even once Recovery takes hold.

Note: Because Visastreet is a well known company, we felt no reservations about writing this post.

The news on housing foreclosures isn't getting any better. In fact, it's getting worse.

According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, one in every eight U.S. households with mortgages was either in foreclosure or behind on its mortgage payments in the second quarter of this year.

The most frightening thing about these new numbers is that many of these foreclosures on on households with good credit that took out safe, conservative mortgage loans.

The national economy, of course, is the culprit here. Too many people have lost their jobs during this economic slump. And they're not able to find new ones. Suddenly, a mortgage payment that was doable during good times is an impossibility.

The bottom line, unfortunately, is that the foreclosure crisis won't ease until the nation's unemployment rate starts seriously dropping. Homes became far too expensive during the recent housing boom. This means that mortgage loans, and the monthly payments that come with them, took up a greater percentage of homeowners' monthly income.

We are now seeing the results: When the economy is sailing along, and jobs are plentiful, homeowners can make their mortgage payments. When a bump occurs, though, and jobs start disappearing? Those mortgage payments are far out of reach for too many homeowners.

Did you see the housing crash coming? There were certainly enough warning signs. Maybe the better question is this: Did you see the housing crash coming and did you do something about it?

In other words, in early 2006 when housing prices were reaching their peak, did you sell your home for a big profit and then rent an apartment, where you could wait out the housing crash?

Not a lot of people did this. It's not easy to sell a house, even if you are looking at big profits. And for many homeowners — those who planned on living in their homes for a long time — there was no reason to sell to avoid the housing crash.

Bu the Los Angeles Times ran a good story recently on people who timed the housing crash perfectly and did sell their homes right before they would have started losing their value. The Times story highlights the case of homeowners who sold their residence in Newport Beach, Calif., in 2006 for 20 percent more than what they paid for it. They then rented an apartment that is one-fifth the size of their home.

The story doesn't end there, though. This same couple is now trying to decide when the best time will be to purchase another home. In other words, they're wondering if residential real estate has already hit bottom. Will housing prices get even cheaper, or is now the time to buy?

Doing this, of course, can make you crazy. It's tough to time the residential real estate market perfectly. No one knows for sure if the modest housing price gains we've seen recently across the country will hold. After all, we've just gone through the spring and most of the summer. Housing sales activity is usually stronger in these warmer months. As the temperatures cool, we may see both housing sales and prices drop again.

If you're hanging on the sidelines trying to determine the best time to buy a home, spare yourself some agony: The best, safest way to make money by buying a home is to commit to purchasing a residence in which you'll be comfortable spending at least seven years. That way, when it's time to sell, the odds are terrific that your home will have appreciated in value enough for you to make a nice profit.

Don't try to buy a home in the hopes of selling it in just two or three years for big money. That kind of housing market, it seems, is long gone.