Billionare's Mansion Fetches $65 Million

What housing slump? This 12,000 square-foot mansion owned by the family of billionaire mining magnate Robert Friedland his in escrow...for it's full $65 million dollar asking price. This is a record for Northern California.

What's so special about this place? Well, the home sits on a hilltop on Belvedere Island, about 15 miles north of San Francisco, and has views from the Golden Gate Bridge to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Mortgage Default Notices Fall by 31%

SAN DIEGO – The pace of foreclosure activity in San Diego County slowed markedly in November, but analysts say it's too soon to predict an end to the surge in defaults that has characterized 2007.
The number of notices of default in the county for last month totaled 1,463, down 31 percent from the 2,119 in October, DataQuick Information Systems reported yesterday.
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30 year mortgages at 2-year low

Most mortgage rates fell this week, with those on 30-year mortgages dropping to their lowest level in more than two years, Freddie Mac reported. Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.10 percent from 6.20 percent last week. This week's rate was the lowest since the week of Oct. 13, 2005, when rates stood at 6.03 percent, according to the Union-Tribune.

Talks to Improve Baja Safety

After scary robberies, kidnapping and the like, Baja officials are finally getting together to see what they can do to make it safer for tourists. So far their have been six armed assaults on American travelers in the last few months.

Thank goodness they're working on things down there, because I want some lobster!

DISASTER

I am very sad to stay that the state supreme court has upheld a nasty ruling to chase the seals out of La Jolla. So sad that in this day in age, people can't appreciate wildlife and are so selfish they have to hog the ENTIRE COASTLINE for themselves. I'm embarassed for all of us!

Unbelievably Bad Real Estate Photos

Do you want your home to look like THIS when it appears in the MLS? Well, many homes do! Some real estate agents take truly HORRIBLE pictures of their listings and actually expect them to sell. A genius real estate agent named Norm Fisher from Canada made his own slide show of the truly grotesque photos that agents use to market your home. SCARY!!! And funny, too. Click here to check out the truly hilarious slide show.

California offers relief to homeowners facing default

Hooray! California has inked a deal with four major loan servicing companies that would aid homeowners on brink of default by extending low, introductory interest rates on mortgages.

The agreement with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger includes Countrywide Financial Corp., GMAC Financial Services, Litton Loan Serving and HomEq Servicing.

At least one of the companies, Countrywide, had previously announced it would reach out to borrowers in danger of defaulting on payments, including modifying the terms of their loans. Countrywide, the nation's largest mortgage lender, has struggled amid rising defaults, forcing it to set aside millions to cover bad loans.

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