Want to live in the most populated city in the United States?  You can join upwards of eight million other people who call the Big Apple home.

New York City was again named most populous, but not everyone agrees with the numbers produced by the U.S. Census Bureau,

The city that never sleeps now has 8,175,133 residents, a 2.1% increase over the year 2000, and more than twice runner-up Los Angeles’ 3.8 million headcount.  … “[T]he Census Bureau determined that the population of Queens increased by only 1,300 people. Think about that,” Bloomberg said in a speech at city hall on Thursday. “1,300 people over ten years … it doesn’t make any sense.”

Census numbers, of course, equate to more federal funding to states and municipalities.  Many towns conduct special censuses when they want to challenge official numbers – hoping for greater population figures.

Photo by Marie P. via flickr creative commons.

Photo by Malin Andreassen via flickr creative commons.

It is shocking to watch videos of the earthquake and subsequently the terrible tsunami that struck Japan.  Thousands of lives were lost.  Yet tens of thousands – perhaps hundreds of thousands – of lives were saved because of very strict building codes and top engineering.  From Kottke.org,

Over the years, Japan has spent billions of dollars developing the most advanced technology against earthquakes and tsunamis. The Japanese, who regularly experience smaller earthquakes and have lived through major ones, know how to react to quakes and tsunamis because of regular drills — unlike Southeast Asians, many of whom died in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami because they lingered near the coast despite clear warnings to flee.

Next time you want to give your local codes inspector grief or argue about the expense of a safety measure recommended by your architect or engineer, remember Japan.  We can definitely learn from them.

We are thankful that so many people were spared during this kind of horror.

That mortgage companies actively pursue foreclosures – even when a short-sale is imminent – is something profoundly wrong with the mortgage industry.  That they are hedging their bets is not surprising, but it is poor management when they move forward with a foreclosure even when a loan is approved but delayed because of their own paperwork error.

That’s the good fight won by Florida Real Estate Attorney Richard Zaretsky,

Next the lender wrote (yes, this is all in writing!) and said that they want to cancel the sale but cannot  because of an administrative court rule that makes you file your motion for cancellation at least 7 days prior to the sale.  Well that rule does in fact exist, but they failed to mention the other rule that a lender or borrower can come into court on 24 hours’ notice for an emergency hearing on a foreclosure sale cancellation.So on behalf of the borrower, we filed the day before the sale, a motion to cancel the sale and went to court and noticed the lender counsel.

The court sided with the buyer, thankfully.  There is some common sense in the madness that is the short sale v. foreclosure world.  Congratulations to Mr. Zaretsky for pulling it through.

My town grew from 18,000 to over 32,000 in 10 years – a 74 percent jump from 2000 to 2010.  Other towns had been U.S. super cities, but the last five years have been brutal to them, Las Vegas and Orlando particularly. Today they top the Forbes list of emptiest cities in the country,

Then the economy went into recession, vacationers stopped going to Disney World, and financing evaporated for developers and buyers alike. Result: More than one-fifth of Orlando’s rental units are vacant, landing it the top spot on Forbes’ list of America’s Emptiest Cities.

Making this dubious list is Dayton, Las Vegas, Memphis, and Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.  While we have some vacant houses in my local neighborhoods, we are fortunate that middle Tennessee has not suffered like other parts of the country.

Photo by Alix King via flickr creative commons.

The federal mortgage aid programs designed to help people modify their home loans rather than lose them to foreclosure have been only somewhat successful.  My blame is not on the federal managers, though.  The experiences people have shared with me are that the only time they get help from their lenders is if the Feds intervene.

Yet, success has been fleeting.  Therefore Congress is looking into ending them according to Smart on the Money,

Ending the ineffective programs would save the government a few billion dollars.  While that is a worthwhile reason to end the program in my opinion, others are saying that another reason to end it is that it just isn’t effective, and in the end what it mostly does is string people along and give them false hope. Too many homeowners have been strung along for months only to then be told they didn’t qualify, or that they didn’t send in the correct paperwork – even though they had.

Again, the blame does not lay with the federals, but with the lenders and their lack of organization – the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

As you consider a way to insulate your home to keep your heating and cooling bills low, perhaps a lesson can be learned from our neighbors in Norway,

Norwegians have been planting greenery atop their houses for hundreds of years. Some have flowers mixed in with grass, and a few even have small trees. The verdant roofs have many advantages like the fact that they help stabilize homes, provide good insulation and are long-lasting.

The tradition began when Norwegians used sod to build roofs. Though not as popular today, this green trend could be one post I could hitch my horse to!  It could be a great boost to improving our climate if we all did it. Hey… let’s build some fresh vegetable gardens up there as well.

Best actor ever … TOM HANKS.  He’s in an upcoming movie called Larry Crowne where his character loses his job, is underwater on his mortgage, so goes back to school.  Thought this sneak peek would be a fun way to kick off your weekend!

Housing prices are still exceedingly low and interest rates also remain low.  While there are some really good reasons to stay away from being an investor, there are more pros.  So you want to be an investor?  The Dream Home Superstore Blog offers five solid tips for would-be buyers, including:

Only invest in rental properties in areas that people want to live in. It may be true that you can buy property cheap in a few very run down sections of town but it is doubtful that you will turn those properties into profitable rental units. It is best to pay a little more for a more attractive address for renters. You will find that your properties are inhabited more often, which will make you more money in the long run.

One thing a first-time home investor should be aware of is that when you buy an investment property, the interest rate is a bit higher and the down payment may also be greater.  Plan to save at least 20 percent in advance.  Find a good mortgage lender who is willing to work with you to find suitable types of loans available.