As Detroit tries to stay afloat amidst its $18 billion bankruptcy, its real estate market is offering up some affordable deals that cost less than a new big screen TV. Curbed Detroit has a list of these astonishing low priced listings while Yahoo Homes proves that Detroit isn’t the only US city to house such deals. Tour the four-figure listings sitting pretty in Georgia, New York and Ohio! Yes, some sport colors and décor ideas that should have been left in the 70s, but these cozy homes have a lot to offer the right buyer.

If this house looks familiar there’s a good reason. This Cheviot Hills home was made famous by ABC’s Modern Family. The house is listed at $2.35 million, but every time ABC needs to shoot a scene in the front yard you’ll be well compensated.

And what about a house with a room just for your armor? Take a look at the video to see what we’re talking about!

Ever wonder if it would be cheaper to buy rather than rent? Deciding on one or the other has a lot to do with the living situation that is best for you. Factors that are added into your decision can include job security and local market conditions. With each local market condition varying, in some cities it can be as little as 5% cheaper to buy rather than rent, while in other cities buyers can cut more than 50% of their costs by making a purchase. Let’s take a look at the top 10 cities where buying is considerably less expensive than renting.

1. Detroit, MI – 66% Less Expensive
2. Gary, IN – 61% Less Expensive
3. Birmingham, AL – 58% Less Expensive
4. Toledo, OH – 58% Less Expensive
5. Kansas City, MO – 58% Less Expensive
6. Cleveland, OH – 56% Less Expensive
7. Dayton, OH – 56% Less Expensive
8. Memphis, TN – 56% Less Expensive
9. Grand Rapids, MI – 55% Less Expensive
10. St. Louis, MO – 54% Less Expensive

What to play around with the numbers and find out what is a cheaper option for you? Visit our “Home Search” page where you can calculate loans and mortgages as well as search homes in your area.

Note: These calculations are according to a 4.5% 30 year fixed-rate mortgage with 20% down, for an owner at the 25% tax bracket.

Silicon Valley accounts for one third of all venture capital investments United States. The real estate in Silicon Valley is out of this world which is just what billionaires like Larry Ellison (CEO of Oracle) need for enjoying their downtime. The area is also home to Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, and a few others who have landed a spot on the top 100 of Forbes’ list.

Living Jennifer Aniston’s luxurious life comes with a big price-tag. She rented this gorgeous Beverly Hills home that is now on the market for $9.9 million. How much is rent you ask? An insane $40,000 a month. What do you get for such a big chunk of change? Have a look at the property here.

CODI Income Tax Exemptions
Mortgage debt is normally forgiven in the event of a foreclosure or short sale and charged to the taxpayer as income. This default mortgage debt forgiveness is called a Cancellation of Debt Income aka CODI. The IRS has temporarily exempt CODI (for as many as 100,000 a year) from incurring income tax liability. This was done to avoid penalizing home owners for such settlements on upside-down mortgages. Although the exemption expired at the end of 2013 there have been talks about extending it into the current year.

Mortgage Interest Tax Break
There are great benefits to itemizing deductions. Itemizing is a pre-requisite to taking a mortgage interest rate deduction yet so many people don’t take the time to do it. For those who have a high mortgage or property tax bill, you should be itemizing your property related deductions. Even if you feel that you don’t have enough non-mortgage related deductions, you owe it to yourself to take a closer look. Work with a tax preparer to make sure you don’t miss any possible deductions. You never know until you take the time to look into it. You could be missing out on a thousand dollars or more in tax savings.

Green Home Improvement Tax Breaks
It’s time to focus on the green; green home improvements that is. Many home owners have already started to make energy efficient improvements to their homes. These improvements not only help the environment, they also help save home owners money on their utility bills. Another bonus to green home improvements is state, county and/ city tax breaks or tax credits. If you’ve made any environmentally friendly improvements this year be sure to list them. You don’t want to miss out on any advantages you are eligible for.

Are you an app user? Then you need to be using Trulia’s real estate app! Trulia’s app not only finds you current listings and open houses, it also gives you important information including school zones and crime rates.

Search your favorite neighborhoods and compare listings on your iPhone or Andriod. Learn more about their time saving app here.

Ever wonder what kind of real estate Simon Cowell likes? Well, here’s $18 million worth of it… http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/buy_simon_cowells_ugly_bev_hills_bachelor_pad_for_18_million.php

We are continuing to see positive changes in the real estate market. Builders are confident in the current work load and in what is coming in the near future. Over the last few months builders have been able to hold onto their confidence as they see a light at the end of the tunnel. In September there was a 5.2 percent increase in permits and in October there was an increase of 6.2 percent. These increases will soon result in an improvement to the housing market.

Back in October the real estate market saw a 1.8 percent drop in homes available for sale, leaving us with 2.13 million available properties. This current inventory gives the market about a five month supply of homes according to the current rate of sales per month. These numbers -compared to last year’s- show that there are fewer homes on the market and they are going for higher prices. The increase in prices brings the median home price to $199,500; an increase of 12.8 from the following October (2013). The real estate market has seen this steady growth for 11 consecutive months.

Even with a sales drop of 3.2 percent (along with the 1.8 percent drop in inventory) overall sales are still better than they were at the end of 2012. In fact, they are 6 percent higher and we are coming up on 30 months of growing sales numbers. There are always fluctuations in the market, but what is promising about our current market is that even with drops in sales, we are on a road to positive change. There will be a major factor that helps even out the supply and demand, and that major factor is new home construction. As more and more permits come in and construction begins, the new housing will meet the buyer demand and the market will continue to improve.

Are you ready to make a new real estate purchase? Do you want to knock out your credit card debt before you make your next investment? Here are some tips to help you pay off your credit card debt for good.

Not long ago we talked about what is considered good credit. Good credit is weighed down by credit card debt. If you have your sights set on qualifying for a great loan rate, chances are you have some work to do to boost your credit score. The good news is, by paying off your debt you can boost yourself into the next credit score category.

Start off taking small steps towards paying off your credit cards by making payments on your smallest balance first. Focus on paying off as much as you can on that card each month while also making your minimum payment on your other cards. Before you know it your balance will be zero and you can move on to the next card with the lowest balance. Continue tackling one card at a time, from lowest to highest, until you have paid off all of your balances.

An alternative strategy to paying down credit card debt is paying down the card with the highest interest rate. The same plan of attack should be taken except that you focus on the highest interest card and pay off one card at a time going from highest interest rate to lowest. Remember to continue making your minimum payments on your other cards.

Choose one of these payment strategies and stay on track. Take it one card at a time. Make double or triple the minimum payment. Start your plan of attack now and when it comes time to go real estate shopping you’ll be free of your credit card debt.