Word: townes
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
When Holly Schiller bought a town house in Fort Lauderdale in the fall of 2004, she figured she would pocket a profit before the place was even finished. Schiller, 51, and her husband had already flipped several properties in Florida's sizzling market, and this one sounded sweet: three bedrooms, private elevator, designer appliances. Villa Medici, promised the builder, would be modeled after a "true Italian Tuscan village," featuring Mediterranean façades and a resort-style pool. "As with any 'limited edition,'" the pitch stressed, "demand always exceeds the supply...
Well, maybe not always. The housing market in parts of South Florida is melting faster than a snow cone on Miami Beach. Schiller's town house has languished on the market for 18 months. She has slashed the price by $75,000, to $565,000, offered a $2,500 bonus to the selling agent and at one point threw in a $2,500 store credit for home furnishings--all to no avail. "Buyers are extremely hesitant," says her broker, Rob Rose, adding that hundreds of similar properties are for sale, with similar gimmicks--from free Caribbean cruises to gym memberships...
...place, knocked $58,000 off the price, to $739,000, and offered a week at their Hawaii time-share to an agent who delivers an offer. None of it has paid off, and two more houses in the neighborhood are for sale. "We're moving to a town home," says Deb, "and the only saving grace is that it's not finished...
...genesis of this week's stunning cover story is pretty simple. Aparisim Ghosh--known to everyone as Bobby--our senior correspondent who has covered Baghdad for the past three and a half years, was in town for a well-deserved vacation. Bobby not only is a wonderful writer and reporter, but he also has the enviable temperament of someone who is never rattled, even by car bombs. Bobby began working for the Asian edition of TIME almost a decade ago, has covered conflicts in Kashmir and the Palestinian territories, and his remarkable voice has been guiding readers through the complexities...
...Mphandula, the dusty, thatched-roof town where the orphan-care center is to be built, villagers look blank when shown a picture of one of the most famous women in the world. Since this is a place where people can afford to eat meat or wear shoes only on very special occasions, a place with no electricity or piped water, her anonymity is not surprising. But when the name Madonna is mentioned, they have heard of her: she's the woman who's building the center for their children. And they have no use for cynicism. "The orphanage project...