Just a few months back I wrote that Muhammad Ali had bought a new house and was planning his return to Louisville. Now it looks like that plan is on hold as he's having a tough time selling his $3.2 million estate near Detroit. Ah... the troubles of being immensely wealthy.

With Derby right around the corner, what could possibly be worth the risk to rent your Louisville home to total strangers? How does $20,000 sound? I assure you, that's the exception rather than the rule, but there appears to be a very strong market for short-term rentals here in Louisville during the Derby season. You have to hunt through the listings on craigslist.com to find possible rentals, but homeowners near Churchill Downs can expect to make well over $1000/week renting to tourists hitting Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. What if your home isn't close to the track? Never

Compared to the national housing market Louisville is in great shape. Louisville sales are up 2.3 percent for the first three months of the year. [link] This while the national market of existing home sales fell 11.3% from last year. Now, everything is not wine and roses because there's still close to 10 months of inventory. Prices will continue to be pushed downward as Sellers' need to sell increases. For buyers, however, it's still a very attractive market. There are some great deals out there and savvy buyers will be able to take advantage of them. The biggest lesson is to r

Now, here's something you don't see every day... or in this case, ever. Leave it to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates state known for wild architectural endeavors, to be the planned home for such a tower. The $350 million Dynamic Architecture building, a project of an eponymous Florence, Italy-based firm led by architect David Fisher, will literally spin--with each individual floor self-propelled, voice-controlled and even capable of generating environmentally friendly power. [link] It might be worth the trip to Dubai to see this dynamic architecture in motion.

Sure, we who live in Louisville know it's a great place to live. But what about people who might be considering a relocation to our fair city? No worries. Relocate America has got us covered. Today they declared that Louisville deserves to be in their Top 100. "We received nominations for thousands of great communities across the country, all vying to be part of the annual list." We didn't make Top 10, so how about I claim the 11th spot for us? All in favor? Aye!

This property is hardly your typical piece of residential real estate. What an amazing story! First, the idea that a medieval stone castle was being built off a rural Kentucky stretch of highway is literally unique. Rex Martin started building the castle in 1969 but after divorcing from his wife never completed the building. So it's been vacant ever since. We're talking 30+ years. Then the property suffered a fire in 2004. Authorities never learned if the fire was intentional or not. Now we learn that the castle is being rebuilt! One rumor is that upon completion, the property will

How often do people ask you, "What do you want first, the good news or the bad news?" Happens to me all the time. So now it's my turn to try it with you. Good news or bad? Bad? Really?!? Ok, here it is. A 2006 Harris poll shows Real Estate agents rank dead last in a survey on "prestige" among 23 occupations. That's bad. Real bad. I can hear you now, "What about the good news?" You got it. Not all agents are the same. Take, for instance, Steve Leung. He's a leading agent in the Silicon Valley area of California. And if you are lucky enough to have Steve as your agent, you probably a

Hot on the heels of my last post—Foreclosures Affect Us All—comes this piece from the Courier-Journal: Through March, Louisville has logged 915 foreclosures and could surpass 3,600 by the year's end. According to housing coalition data, there were 2,800 foreclosures in 2006. Again the moral of the story is to be conservative in estimating the amount one is able to borrow.

Generally speaking, I try to focus on the positive. But every once in a while a problem is so great that we can't help but pay attention and then, hopefully, learn from our mistakes. The biggest problem in real estate today is foreclosures. The numbers are high and continue to rise. Kentucky ranks as the 14th worst state in number of foreclosures as a percentage. This is not good news. I can hear some of you now. "How does this affect me? My income is steady and I'm paying down my mortgage." And if that's true for you, keep it up! You're doing great. But foreclosures do affect you.

The theme of Fair Housing ran through much of my 300+ hours of real estate training. Clearly stated, Fair Housing laws say: You can not discriminate in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap. There's a forum today at the Legal Aid Society to commemorate the 40th anniversary of this invaluable legislation. While not perfect, these laws are designed to give everyone an equal opportunity to pursue the American dream of owning their own home. For more information, click here.

Sellers, need some great ideas to help improve your showings? Today we've got 50 of them! Courtesy of the Unique Real Estate blog comes 50 Tips To Get You Started on Your Home Staging Journey. Here are a few of my favorites. #9 Buying or renting furniture is especially vital in an empty home. Empty homes do not show well and can sit on the market for months until a buyer with a good visual imagination comes along, or until the seller drops the price so low that the home is a steal. Generally speaking, most buyers don't have the ability to picture a home "finished" so consider using a

Let's have some fun! "U.S. home prices adjusted for inflation plotted as a roller coaster."

The Courier-Journal is reporting that a 7-home, elevated development is being planned for Highway 42. The primary obstacle is the severity of the land's grade. The 4.1-acre wooded site at 6411 U.S. 42 has slopes as steep as 60 percent. So to overcome this problem, and the portion of the land below the flood plain, Panacea Development is planning on building these $1 to $1.2 million homes on piers. And that's not the only part that will be innovative. Driveways and the road providing access to U.S. 42 will be constructed of pre-cast concrete slabs with heating tubes inside to melt snow

There are more homes on the market this year than last—36% more nationally and 34% more in Louisville, KY. This, my friends, is what's known as a buyer's market. "But what about the sellers?" you ask. Isn't it obvious? Sellers need to get aggressive when marketing their properties so that their listings will stand out from the crowd. Sometimes this means a price reduction. Sometimes it means increasing the buyer agent's commission. Sometimes it means "offering a two-year lease on a BMW X3 SUV to the agent who finds a buyer." Well, that's what Courtney Tursi is doing to attra