The Stats:
Address: 19-23 Ocean View Highway | Watch Hill | Westerly
List Price: $19,750,000.00
Living Area: 10,500 SF
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 5
Lot Size: 9 Acres
Fireplaces: 12
Grounds include an apple orchard, a pool, & 2 guest houses.
Listed by: Seaboard Properties ~ James Michalove ~ 860.535.8364
The Stats:
Location: New York City
Asking Price: $4.4 million
Square Feet: 3200
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 3 1/2
Miscellaneous Amenities:
~Private Gym
Mortgage rates moved down very slightly once again this week, making this now a four week trend. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.55 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. One year ago, the mortgage index was 6.77 percent; four weeks ago, it was 5.8 percent. The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.89 percent. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell to 4.93 percent.
Floyd Mayweather’s sweet new 22,000-square-foot house is, well, sweet. The master bedroom has a wet bar, a fireplace, an espresso machine and a balcony with a remote-control misting system.
Brokers estimate that the home is valued at about $9 million.
Mr. Mayweather’s custom-built home is on a golf course and has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The home has ceilings that are more than 24 feet high, and walls covered in materials such as red silk and textured glass. Touch-screen videogame consoles sit on the kitchen counters. The home’s movie theater is two-stories high, with two screens and additional seating on the second level.
The walk-in closet measures 600 square feet, roughly the size of my first apartment. The cabinet that contains Mr. Mayweather’s collection of fur coats is lined with cedar. I have the same type of cabinet in my house. There’s nothing more bothersome than reaching for one of my man-furs and feeling like it isn’t quite fresh.
Scituate and Glocester, Rhode Island have made Money magazine’s annual list of the 100 best places to live in the United States.
The magazine’s editors ranked Scituate at 69th and nearby Glocester at 73rd.
The two neighboring Rhode Island towns in the northwestern part of the state have about 10,000 residents each. Both won praise for their good schools, while the state’s above-average unemployment rate was a mark against them.
Of Scituate, the magazine said:
“This former farming community has many homes on large plots of land – perfect for privacy-loving Yankees. Scituate works to maintain its forests and lakes to preserve the rural tranquility. The downtown is quaint, with a small country-style main street.”
As for Glocester, the editors said:
“Many of the historical relics in this town 30 miles from Providence thrive with a modern-day twist. An old stagecoach station has been converted into a popular restaurant, and some rural areas have become gentleman farms.”
North Providence is in bad financial shape. To make up for deficits, they have approved a tax increase from $22.70 per 1000 to $25.60 per 1000. This equals a 12.7% increase! New tax bills are going out at the end of the month. There also may be another supplemental tax increase in January, which has not been approved yet, but more than likely will. Total tax increase is supposed to be 17%.
Surely you’ve seen the ads on TV and on the radio promising to “settle your debts for half the balance owed”. My favorite is “Debt free in one year on your current income.” I actually called on that one because I wanted to pay off my 30 year mortgage in five years like the guy on the radio did. But, there was a problem. Seems I didn’t make enough money to make that happen. You see, they pre-qualify you on the phone first, then try to get you to buy the DVD anyway. As it turns out I can pay my 30 year mortgage off in about 25 years. Yes, I’ve lived in the house for five years.
Missing from all of this is the logic that if I had that kind of money to be debt free in a year, I, well…wouldn’t have debt!! The old adage of if it sounds too good to be true… rings true. Unfortunately for those in serious financial straits, some will trust any snake oil salesman promising to help them. And in most cases in only adds more misery and debt to an already horrible situation.
New York attorney general, Mario Cuomo is investigating 14 debt-settlement companies, many with nationwide operations, saying they prey on consumers by charging steep up-front fees yet often fail to provide the promised debt relief. He said:
“Our mission is clear: to hold unscrupulous businesses accountable; to rein in a renegade industry; and to ensure that people are not victimized when faced with financial hardship,”
Debt-settlement companies generally tell clients to stop paying their bills on unsecured debt and start saving money for a negotiated settlement. As a result, consumers face the prospect of debt-collection phone calls and possibly even creditors’ lawsuits throughout the process, which may take years.
Meanwhile, the company negotiates with the creditors, the idea being that the lenders will be happy to get at least some portion of the delinquent debt paid. Some firms claim they can reduce consumers’ credit-card debt by as much as 75%.
Cuomo issued subpoenas to these 14 debt settlement companies and one law firm based on consumer complaints received.
Most debt-settlement firms charge the bulk of their fee up front, leaving them little incentive to work on their customers’ behalf; You pay whether you get results or not.
“Part of the problem with this industry is it’s based on advance payments,” said Gail Hillebrand, a senior attorney with Consumers Union, in San Francisco.
Her message to consumers: Read the contract. “Do you owe any money before your debt is settled? If so, stay away,” she said.
