Mehserle found guilty of involuntary manslaughter
Former BART police officer faces five to 14 years in prison in the shooting death of Oscar Grant on New Year's Day 2009.
Chronicle Breaking News 5:46 PM
Beach-onomics: Live By The WaterThursday, July 1, 2010 More Investopedia HeadlinesMore Business
Living at the beach is something that remains a dream for many and a reality for few. What keeps all of these dreamers from making the move to the waterfront? Usually, it's the money. Beach living is expensive, not just in terms of purchasing a home or land, but also for costs associated with insurance, maintenance and any homeowner's association (HOA) dues. Just like other markets, coastal prices experience fluctuations. And like the stock market, timing is everything. We'll take a look at some of the economics of buying by the water. IN PICTURES: 10 Insurance Tips For Homeowners Beauty at a Premium Beach-onomics 101 While there is oceanfront land that is currently undeveloped, in places like Cape Hatteras National Seashore for example, unless something changes dramatically, such land will never be available for development. There is a relatively minute area of beach-front land on which to live when compared to inland and landlocked areas. The United States, for example, has roughly 12,500 miles of coastline, in contrast to approximately 3.5 million square miles of land. As a result, most of the land that can be developed on the shore has already be exploited. Ebb and Flow Other areas hard-hit by natural disasters are finding their properties difficult, if not impossible, to insure. Insurance companies looking to reduce their catastrophic exposure have simply declined to renew existing policies in coastal areas, leaving property owners up a creek. And some of those who are insured are facing annual premiums that have quadrupled (or more) in addition to increased deductibles. Not able to afford both the mortgage and rising insurance payments, many property owners have been forced to sell their dream homes, often well below the price they would have expected for their little piece of paradise. (For more, see Retirement Jobs You Can Do From The Beach.) The Next Best Thing Drive 20 minutes inland and the median sales price drops to $190,000 (this figure is down only 6.3% year over year). Suddenly, beach living, or at least living close to the beach, becomes much more affordable if you are willing to make the commute. To Beach or Not to Beach
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Mehserle found guilty of involuntary manslaughterFormer BART police officer faces five to 14 years in prison in the shooting death of Oscar Grant on New Year's Day 2009. Chronicle Breaking News 5:46 PM Mortgage applications rise 7 pct. as rates fallApplications for home loans rose last week as consumers raced to refinance at the lowest rates in decades. The Mortgage Bankers Associations said Wednesday that overall applications... Toyota adding more time to new vehicle developmentToyota Motor Corp. is extending the time it takes to develop new vehicles by about four weeks for more quality checks... |
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