The local newspaper recently published a list of delinquent tax properties for our county, which painted a telling portrait of the local economy. The list, which takes up two thirds of a page and includes over 600 properties, wasn't just made up of individuals threatened with losing their homes; but instead filled with banks and multiple property owners.

Normally, the listing takes up less than half a page and reads like a phone book, with no name appearing more than once. This time, the listing had large clumps of the same name, with close to 30 property owners owing back taxes for more than four properties, and one couple owing taxes on 24 properties! Additionally the list included many banks, business and development groups, illustrating the sad reality facing our local economy. Had the list also included the manufactured homes that are also delinquent, it would have easily spilled onto a second page!

While there's no way to know exactly why these individuals own all of these properties, assuming that they are rentals or properties to be flipped isn't out of the question. As the local credit opportunities dried up and businesses began closing up their doors, property owners found their buyers disappearing, and apparently stopped paying their taxes. Owners of these properties have 28 days to pay up before the county forecloses on them, dumping an additional 600 foreclosures onto our already crowded real estate market.

Despite my desire to purchase a local house for peanuts; the number of foreclosures due to delinquent real estate tax deeply concerns me. If only half of these properties enter foreclosure the loss of tax revenue and additional empty homes will be a further drain our city and county revenues as well as their already stretched resources. Unfortunately, there seems to be no easy solution to the problem nor an end in sight.

The Boston Globe recently reported that a lack of high speed Internet connections are keeping many rural homes from selling.

With more than 55% of the nation currently using broadband and many people, including myself, placing it up there with breathing on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it's no wonder broadband is a deal breaker. Even though close to 90% of the nation is wired up for broadband, many rural homes still lack a decent Internet connection. And apparently many home buyers aren't willing to settle for a slower connection.

While real estate brokers have seen deals called off after potential buyers learned that there was no high speed connection, I've taken a more proactive approach. If my wife and I see a rural house we like, I'll call up the local cable office or go online to a DSL provider to see if the address is able to get a high speed connection. Just last week I saw a nice looking house on the edge of town, but before I could even share it with my wife I found out it was incapable of getting broadband from any provider which made sharing it unnecessary.

While the real estate market goes soft in many areas and more and more Americans become two mortgage families it's no surprise that some sellers are looking for gimmicks to get their home off the market. The New York Times reports that some homeowners are shifting their attention from one buyer to thousands as they raffle off their homes. One couple who recently raffled off their home $100 at a time sold over 6,500 tickets and raised $200,000 more than their home was worth, which was donated to a local charity.

In case you're wondering what motivated the couple above to give away $200,000 after trying to sell their house for so long, a look at the restrictions on gambling in your state should clear this up. In most states you cannot raffle off real estate or land without a nonprofit partner and in New York you can't raffle a house at all so keep that in mind before you run out and stock up on raffle tickets.

As if the housing business wasn't already looking a little sketchy, homebuilders might have to deal with the mighty arm of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). Founded in the early 1990's, the ELF uses arson and sabotage, which it collectively calls "monkeywrenching," to strike out against people, companies, and groups that it feels are exploiting the Earth. In the past, their targets have included logging companies, fast food restaurants, car dealerships, and companies that deal in genetic engineering.

On March 3, ELF's monkeywrenching took the form of arson; they set fire to three luxury homes in Snohomish County, Washington. The houses, in the "Street of Dreams" development, were between 4,200 and 4,750 square feet in size, and were priced at roughly $2 million apiece. Overall, the arson was estimated to have caused over $7 million in damage.

"Street of Dreams'" builders have claimed that the houses were "green," citing the use of formaldehyde-free materials and energy-efficient appliances. However, local protesters had argued that the homes' septic systems were a danger to nearby wetlands. Furthermore, the considerable size of the houses, nearly double the average home size in the United States, makes the "green" claim questionable.

Between the sagging housing market, mortgage miseries, and the development of Suburban slums, the luxury housing business was already looking a little grim. Throw in the ELF, and it sounds like a bad time to be a home builder!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He grew up in a "McMansion" neighborhood and is happy to have escaped.