You can’t really stop a foreclosure sale date, but can only postpone it. The outcome depends largely on each lender or servicer, but your sale date will definitely not be postponed without a viable and workable laon modification or short sale already in progress. Even then, postponement is never guaranteed. Preseverance and patience are needed in the postponement process.

While I have worked with a few servicers and lenders who will automatically postpone a pending sale date with a workable short sale or modification, that is rare. Most lenders/servicers require that a request be placed to postpone the sale date. Each lender/servicer has different criteria for these requests.

Bank of America, for example, requires a “request to postpone” be called in no more than five days before a sale date. Contact your specific lender/servicer as soon as you receive the forecosure notice on your door ...]]> Question:

How can I stop a foreclosure sale date?

Answer:

You can’t really stop a foreclosure sale date, but can only postpone it. The outcome depends largely on each lender or servicer, but your sale date will definitely not be postponed without a viable and workable laon modification or short sale already in progress. Even then, postponement is never guaranteed. Preseverance and patience are needed in the postponement process.

While I have worked with a few servicers and lenders who will automatically postpone a pending sale date with a workable short sale or modification, that is rare. Most lenders/servicers require that a request be placed to postpone the sale date. Each lender/servicer has different criteria for these requests.

Bank of America, for example, requires a “request to postpone” be called in no more than five days before a sale date. Contact your specific lender/servicer as soon as you receive the forecosure notice on your door (it will also be mailed with signature required) to get detailed information about the foreclosure process for your sale.

Once you have requested a postponement of the sale date, keep checking with the lender/servicer and the foreclosure company — a law office — every day, but don’t be annoying or angry.  Be particularly watchful about the process if you haven’t yet been assigned a closing negotiator, as the negotiator is the one who would request the postponement. The foreclosure company can’t act to legally postpone the sale date until the lender/servicer requests the postponement. Once requested, it takes minutes to postpone the sale date. Continually check with both parties to be sure they are each doing their jobs.

___________________________________________

Send a message to Beth Elstien in the comments section below and she will try and find an answer for you!

About the Author: Beth Elstien

Arizona real estate agent Elizabeth Elstien has experience in all facets of real estate from short sales to investments. Ms. Elstien has been writing about real estate and other topics for over 20 years.

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Headboards you buy at stores can cost as much as several thousand dollars, or more, but you can make them for a lot cheaper by hand. Now that I’m working on my second upholstered headboard, I’ve been doing some research on more current design trends that I plan to incorporate into my latest project. Here are some tips on what to consider as you plan your own upholstered headboard:

●      Sizing the fabric. The size will determine how much fabric you need and this is where most of the ...]]> An upholstered headboard can create a big impact in your bedroom space – but it doesn’t have to break the bank. In fact, making your own upholstered headboard on a small budget is an affordable way to anchor the room with unique colors, textures and patterns. Paired with other room décor touches, the headboard can be as much an accessory as a statement.

Headboards you buy at stores can cost as much as several thousand dollars, or more, but you can make them for a lot cheaper by hand. Now that I’m working on my second upholstered headboard, I’ve been doing some research on more current design trends that I plan to incorporate into my latest project. Here are some tips on what to consider as you plan your own upholstered headboard:

●      Sizing the fabric. The size will determine how much fabric you need and this is where most of the cost associated with this project is. You could probably find a decor fabric on clearance for at the least $5 a yard, on the other hand you also could spend as much as $100 a yard depending on the look you are trying to achieve and what your budget is.

●      Finding the right lumber. You will need basic lumber for this project – a large piece of plywood cut down to the size of your headboard and 2×4’s attached to the plywood to create a frame. The lumber should cost anywhere from $40-$150 depending on the size of headboard you are making. In my opinion, for a upholstered headboard the bigger the better. It’s a great piece to make a statement with as your focal point in the room and allows you to bring in color, texture and/or pattern to the space.

●      What kind of shape. Do you want something with clean straight lines or something with a nice curve detail to it? Generally speaking, the straighter the plan is the easier it will be to orchestrate when it comes to upholstery –  but it’s definitely doable to add some curvy details without a major headache. You might just need an extra hand.

●      Try some fun and funky details. One tidbit I learned in design school was that every idea is pretty much already taken, so it’s all about how you put your own spin on things that recreates the design all over again. There are all sorts of different details that you could add to your headboard – decorative nails, ribbon, buttons, or tufting (a technique where a cluster of threads are drawn tightly through upholstery to secure and strengthen the padding with a fabric covered button at the end).

For additional inspiration:

Design blogger Isabella & Max Rooms showcases a beautiful large, bold statement piece – in a Calico Corner ‘Bocce’ fabric –  that anchors the style for her bedroom. A headboard made out of small covered squares all hung together could be designed with solid color fabric – as done by designer Ann Wisniewski and featured on HGTV - or it could be created using multiple coordinating fabrics. And check out the possibilities with tufting (picture above) from the Addicted 2 Decorating blog.

Photo: reprinted with permission from TheParisApartment.com

About the Author: Stephanie Browne

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I encountered this when starting a short sale for a client in which I had to reach out to Ocwen Loan Servicing. Ocwen Loan Servicing, based out of Florida, services a huge number of loans in the U.S. Different than lenders, loan servicers don’t actually lend money for loans. In essence, servicers process the mortgage for a fee for the lender, making sure each loan is paid on time, assessing late fees and providing customer service, including processing loan modifications and short sales.

In starting a short sale for a client, I contacted Ocwen customer service to get general information on their document submittal process. To ...]]> Being on either side of a short sale is tough enough, but at least one company appears to be outsourcing their work to employees or contractors who are based outside of the United States – creating a whole new layer of complications to the short sale process.

I encountered this when starting a short sale for a client in which I had to reach out to Ocwen Loan Servicing. Ocwen Loan Servicing, based out of Florida, services a huge number of loans in the U.S. Different than lenders, loan servicers don’t actually lend money for loans. In essence, servicers process the mortgage for a fee for the lender, making sure each loan is paid on time, assessing late fees and providing customer service, including processing loan modifications and short sales.

In starting a short sale for a client, I contacted Ocwen customer service to get general information on their document submittal process. To their credit, their customer service representative was friendly and helpful. So, I prepared the short-sale package — approximately 100 pages — and faxed it in to the number given. Once the short-sale process was initiated (by the documents being received in Ocwen’s system), it all seemed to fall apart.

Where is Ocwen’s short-sale department?

With the short sale started with Ocwen, contact was now to be with their short-sale department. To my surprise, I found out on my first call that the Ocwen short-sale department is apparently located in India – that’s right, not Indiana. That deduction comes from my own interactions with the short-sale department, as well as allegations from others that Ocwen is outsourcing jobs to India.

The apparent outsourcing might not have been such a big deal in my case if the process had been efficient. But it wasn’t. While trying to get updates, the automated telephone system continually put me directly through to the negotiator, who never answered the phone. An option to speak to a short-sale general representative was not given, as with short sales with other lenders/servicers. Instead, a message stated to leave specific details and you would get a call back within 48 business hours. The hurdles meant that getting  return call could take more than a week.

Trying to reach Ocwen’s short-sale team

When the Ocwen negotiator did finally return my calls in person, it was always to request additional paperwork, such as a specific Ocwen form. There was no real update and a rough timeframe for short-sale completion was never given. Once, I tried to actually speak with someone at Ocwen when I did my scheduled update call rather than wait for a call back. Sounds reasonable, right? After being bounced around by the automatic system and finally reaching a short sale customer service representative, the rep said he would leave the negotiator a message,  and I should get a call back in a few hours. That call never came.

Eventually the negotiator left a voice mail message. I promptly returned her call and, again, was only allowed to leave a message. I then heard back from the surprised homeowner that he a got a call giving him options for him to move out of the home. I never did get a follow-up call from the negotiator to discuss the situation.

Ocwen expanding

Would these same problems have emerged if the short sale department I dealt with was undoubtedly operating in the United States? It may be hard to say, for sure. What is clear is that Ocwen is expanding. Earlier this year, Ocwen took over an unknown number of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker loans and Saxon mortgage loans. Substantially adding to their mortgage loan servicing portfolio, Ocwen is acquiring the U.S. portion of London’s Barclays Bank mortgage servicing portfolio, making them a major player in U.S. loan servicing and boosting their bottom line.

Outsourcing may be a part of this initiative, and perhaps it makes sense for their bottom line. However, anytime you add an extra layer of complexity to the short sale process this creates more problems. In my client’s case, I believe that Ocwen’s unwillingness to provide updates and a better communication caused a foreclosure that could have been avoided.

Photo: TheTruthAbout, CreativeCommons 2.0

Do you have a loan serviced by Ocwen? What do you think of their actions?

About the Author: Beth Elstien

Arizona real estate agent Elizabeth Elstien has experience in all facets of real estate from short sales to investments. Ms. Elstien has been writing about real estate and other topics for over 20 years.

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Here’s an example:  I was doing a loan modification for a client whose loan was with Taylor, Bean and Whitaker. Although off to a rough start in initially getting paperwork to them, things were going rather smoothly overall. A few months later, I was on the verge of getting a response for my client. That response never came. In fact, a Taylor, Bean and Whitaker representative informed me that the loan had been purchased by Bank of America and they no longer had information on the loan.

Weeks later, my client’s loan documents ...]]> As if there wasn’t enough on their plate, Bank of America and other large banks are extending their reach in the loan market by taking on the loans of other lenders. It troubles me that some of these bigger banks are taking on even more responsibilities since they are already under fire for a number of questionable foreclosure practices.

Here’s an example:  I was doing a loan modification for a client whose loan was with Taylor, Bean and Whitaker. Although off to a rough start in initially getting paperwork to them, things were going rather smoothly overall. A few months later, I was on the verge of getting a response for my client. That response never came. In fact, a Taylor, Bean and Whitaker representative informed me that the loan had been purchased by Bank of America and they no longer had information on the loan.

Weeks later, my client’s loan documents were transferred over to the Bank of America system with a new Bank of America loan number. With foreclosure postponed by Taylor, Bean and Whitaker because of its pending loan modification, I was eager to hear if Bank of America would approve a loan modification. I was dismayed to finally learn that Bank of America had no paperwork for the loan modification, even though a Taylor, Bean and Whitaker representative said loan modification documents would be transferred. After months of waiting, my client had to completely restart the modification process with Bank of America while again avoiding a sale date. Bank of America quickly declined the modification once they received documentation, a new foreclosure date was set and the homeowner was considering options, such as bankruptcy.

Less Lenders Service More Loans

The exact number of loans taken on by Bank of America from Taylor, Bean and Whitaker is uncertain. Bank of America took on Countrywide loans in late 2008 at the beginning of the banking downturn. Then, in fall 2009, Bank of America took on loans from Taylor, Bean and Whitaker, further clogging their already stressed system. Based out of Florida, Taylor, Bean and Whitaker was the largest non-bank-owned lender until it was forced to declare bankruptcy in light of federal allegations that its chairman, Lee Farkas, was involved with a massive fraud scheme; Farkas is currently awaiting trial on 16 counts of bank, wire and securities fraud.

MSNBC recently reported that the top three lenders — Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan — now make up more than half of all loans that have been prepared during the first part of 2010. This is due in part to the overall reduction of staffing in the mortgage banking industry, including brokers. At the same time, Bank of America is now under heavy legal scrutiny — along with other big-name lenders such as JP Morgan Chase and GMAC — for improperly foreclosing on untold numbers of homeowners due to what appears to be disorganization and/or misinformation.  Lenders say thay are seriously overloaded with loan modifications and short sales.

Will the nation’s largest mortgage holder continue to be allowed to acquire more mortgage loans at the expense of its current homeowners? Let’s hope not. Bank of America homeowners deserve accountability and fairness from their lender/servicer rather than corporate greed and fraud.

Photo: Taber Andrew Bain, via Creative Commons 2.0

About the Author: Beth Elstien

Arizona real estate agent Elizabeth Elstien has experience in all facets of real estate from short sales to investments. Ms. Elstien has been writing about real estate and other topics for over 20 years.

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After going through the home-buying process twice – and having bad dreams both times – I can only surmise that for some of us the process of buying a home is actually a little more worrisome than we would be lead to believe.  I wasn’t able to find a study on the stressfulness of buying a home in the United States, but a survey this year in the United Kingdom found that one in four homeowners said buying a house was “the most stressful experience of their lives.” It topped starting a new job, having a ...]]> Buying a home is supposed to be a dream come true, and a non-stressful process. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worried person on the mortgage posters at my local bank. Those happy, smiling people all look as if they came from a relaxing vacation at Club Med where no one has bad dreams.

After going through the home-buying process twice – and having bad dreams both times – I can only surmise that for some of us the process of buying a home is actually a little more worrisome than we would be lead to believe.  I wasn’t able to find a study on the stressfulness of buying a home in the United States, but a survey this year in the United Kingdom found that one in four homeowners said buying a house was “the most stressful experience of their lives.” It topped starting a new job, having a child and getting married.

Has home buying gotten more stressful?

This may be more true now than ever, especially since buying a “short sale” can be a process that drags on for months on end and tighter lender requirements are affecting even those with the most stellar credit. I can easily see those concerns converting into the kind of dreams that involve giant snails eating your house or an angry army of numbers storming the property.

I’m sure the real estate agents and lenders I worked with never intended for me to feel stressed.  But even under more normal circumstances the process of buying a home typically involves an enormous investment of our time and money. We drive around neighborhoods, visiting house after house to find “the right” or “almost right” home. Lump in the stress of competing with other buyer offers, negotiating with the sellers and poring over loan documents that seem to be written in a some  puzzling dialect – and that surely adds up to some stress that can bubble up into our subconscious states.

Bad home dreams may be way of coping with stress

And it apparently isn’t a one-time thing.  The first time I bought a property, I had a bad dream that the roof collapsed shortly after moving inside the condo. The UK study reported that 41 percent of respondents said that buying their second home was equal or more stressful than buying their first. It should have come as no surprise, put in that context, that the purchase of my second home would elicit another round of bad dreams of the fiery inferno type.

Of course, having a bad dream isn’t necessarily a bad thing, even if it involves your upcoming home purchase. Bad dreams can serve as a sort of pressure cooker valve, allowing us to vent worries when we aren’t dealing with them during the day, according to psychology researchers. The good thing is that I’m happy to report that the nightmares ended after I finished the process. But I’m still curious to know: What kind of dreams have you had about buying a house – good or bad?

Photo: D Sharon Pruitt, via Creative Commons, 2.0

About the Author: Anna Cearley

Anna Cearley is Social Media Director for Tree.com, which includes the HomeSpace blog.

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I don’t know who lives in this house, but I can tell you there are only two choices — the world’s happiest couple or the world’s loneliest man. That’s it. Those are the choices, because here’s how it went down:

“Oh, Emily! Emily, I love you so. I want us to be married. I want us to make beautiful music together. I want us to live in a giant house shaped like a piano.”

“Oh, Robert, yes! YES. I want to get married. I want to birth your children. I want … wait. What? What did you say about a house?”

And then Robert moves to a large cloth-covered display that Emily has somehow not noticed until this moment and whips the cover off a scale model of this ...]]> This profile of the Piano House is part of series of features on unusual and inspirational homes that raise the question: Would You Live Here?

I don’t know who lives in this house, but I can tell you there are only two choices — the world’s happiest couple or the world’s loneliest man. That’s it. Those are the choices, because here’s how it went down:

“Oh, Emily! Emily, I love you so. I want us to be married. I want us to make beautiful music together. I want us to live in a giant house shaped like a piano.”

“Oh, Robert, yes! YES. I want to get married. I want to birth your children. I want … wait. What? What did you say about a house?”

And then Robert moves to a large cloth-covered display that Emily has somehow not noticed until this moment and whips the cover off a scale model of this thing, complete with tiny hand-carved figurines of the two of them hand-in-hand ascending to the upper floor in the glass cello-vator, revealing his heart’s deepest desire to Emily. And so, you see, there are only two choices: Robert and Emily, happily ever after raising a brood of piano prodigies; or Robert, disillusioned and living a singular existence of despair in this monument to a broken heart. I’m going with the later, because look at this thing.

And if it looks like this on the outside, I don’t want to imagine the décor. I’m thinking there’s been a liberal use of whimsically placed items shaped like musical notes – bookends, vases, floor lamps. And what about resale value? There is none. I mean, really, who’s going to live here? Billy Joel? Harry Connick Jr.? Liberace’s ghost?  Because that’s your market. Truth be told, this house is reportedly a concept building (called The Piano House) in China. But let’s just keep imagining…Who knows, maybe Emily will come around. She loves to swim and I hear Robert’s planning to add an Olympic-size pool shaped like a saxophone, complete with bubbling tuba hot tub. And what gal wouldn’t like that?

Photo: weirdasianews.com

Would you live here?

About the Author: Christine Huard

Christine Huard is a San Diego-based writer and editor who works for a variety of print and online media, and is a calendar editor at Patch.com. She wishes her canine office assistant, Coconut, would help out more with paperwork.

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However, faith in homeownership has actually declined in recent years. The NAR report found that the number of people who believed that buying a home was a good financial decision this year was 68% (compared to 75% last year). And a survey released in April by Fannie Mae found that faith in homeownership as a safe investment has also decreased from 83% in 2003 to about 70%. The recent NAR survey does note that 8 in 10 Americans say that job layoffs and unemployment are barriers to homeownership.

In fact, under the current circumstances some people may find that renting – even for larger homes –  may be a better ...]]> Is homeownership still a good investment? A recent survey by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) indicates that almost 8 out of 10 Americans say buying a house is still a good financial decision despite high concerns about job security and home values.

However, faith in homeownership has actually declined in recent years. The NAR report found that the number of people who believed that buying a home was a good financial decision this year was 68% (compared to 75% last year). And a survey released in April by Fannie Mae found that faith in homeownership as a safe investment has also decreased from 83% in 2003 to about 70%. The recent NAR survey does note that 8 in 10 Americans say that job layoffs and unemployment are barriers to homeownership.

In fact, under the current circumstances some people may find that renting – even for larger homes –  may be a better option, although this trend may be short-lived as a result of today’s economic conditions. With no home maintenance or remodeling expenses (and cheaper monthly payments),  renting leaves more disposable income to be spent on dining out, leisure activities, and consumer goods. This type of spending could help boost the economy faster than home buying.

Eight out of 10 Americans may seem like a pretty large number of people who still see housing as a good financial decision. Skeptics will note that NAR wants people to buy homes. After all, it’s one of the largest lobbying groups in Washington and works to support Realtors® and promote homeownership. The NAR survey was taken using 1,209 adults in 25 urban and suburban areas. On average, less than 50 adults per area were surveyed. A larger survey, or questions worded in other ways, may have provided different results.

In light of these reported numbers, do you think homeownership is still a good investment?

About the Author: Beth Elstien

Arizona real estate agent Elizabeth Elstien has experience in all facets of real estate from short sales to investments. Ms. Elstien has been writing about real estate and other topics for over 20 years.

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This post on the Mint.com Android application is part of a series of reviews on money management and home-related mobile tools. Today’s post comes to us from Jesse Michelsen, the founder of PFFirewall.com.

The personal finance management platform Mint.com has moved into the mobile platform space with apps for both the iPhone and, more recently, Android. As an Android user, I was eager to see how it stacked up to the Mint.com full platform  - and I wasn’t disappointed. The Android app has bundled almost everything that its full platform can do. The ambitious app has a tendency to slow down under the weight of all that processed information. However, that’s a small price to pay for the options available to those of us who are passionate about keeping close tabs on our personal finances.

Aside from being able to do almost anything ...]]>

This post on the Mint.com Android application is part of a series of reviews on money management and home-related mobile tools. Today’s post comes to us from Jesse Michelsen, the founder of PFFirewall.com.

The personal finance management platform Mint.com has moved into the mobile platform space with apps for both the iPhone and, more recently, Android. As an Android user, I was eager to see how it stacked up to the Mint.com full platform  - and I wasn’t disappointed. The Android app has bundled almost everything that its full platform can do. The ambitious app has a tendency to slow down under the weight of all that processed information. However, that’s a small price to pay for the options available to those of us who are passionate about keeping close tabs on our personal finances.

Pros – Mint brings fully functional Personal Finance management to Android

Aside from being able to do almost anything you can do on Mint.com from Mint for Android – including managing transaction categories, inputting tags, notes, dates and descriptions for purchases – Mint for Android also has a useful widget. Widgets will set any app in the mobile market apart because having a widget gives you the ability to see and do things right from your phone’s home screen, without opening the full application. With Mint for Android’s widget, you are able to see your complete cash and debt amounts, when the Mint for Android database was last synced  - and refresh it if the data is stale.

The Dashboard

Inside Mint for Android, you are greeted with a simplified dashboard that displays your most essential financial information: account totals, budget standing, cash flow and alerts. Pressing “Accounts” presents an overview of your finances including your net worth, cash assets, debts, loans, property and special accounts. You can then inspect individual account history in more detail by pressing an account name.

Mint.com allows the creation of multiple category-centric budgets and the Mint for Android budget section simply shows where you stand in each of those budgets, indicating how much money you have gone over budget or how much of your budget is remaining. You can also discover every incoming and outgoing transaction, categorized by merchant or spending category, through the Cash Flow feature. While not a complete substitute for the Mint.com Trends function, this feature is a close second for the mobile user.

Throughout the Mint for Android application you have the ability to drill down to individual transaction, edit their descriptions and change their categories if they are out of place. Your cash flow and budgets will be updated to reflect these changes.

Bells and Whistles

Mint for Android has a couple of interesting options that you can configure from within the app. First, you can allow the data housed in the Mint for Android app to be searchable right from the Android search function, so if you are curious about a transaction and don’t want to go digging through all of your past transactions, just type part of the transaction description into the Android search field and it will return results from your Mint for Android data. For those with security on their minds, Mint for Android has the ability to password-protect access to the application. However, this will disable the Widget from displaying any data.

Cons – There is room for improvement

Overall, the application seems to be sluggish – even on the most powerful phone in the market. The amount of data being manipulated by this application is massive and some slowdown is understandable, but Mint needs to address this problem so that the app can continue to be useful, especially for those with slower phones. The app uses color-coded notifications to alert you when you exceed your budget (or when a check has cleared) but this can get a bit messy since the information isn’t sorted by date. Another quirk with Notifications is that the ability to dismiss alerts is hidden within a long-press menu. It really should be moved to correspond to the Menu button on Android phones since it’s not apparent that there is an option to dismiss notifications at first glance.

Is this app right for you?

Share below your own thoughts on the Mint.com Android app. How are you using it, and where do you see it hitting the mark or missing the mark:

Images: Provided by Jesse Michelsen.

About the Author: Jesse Michelsen

Jesse Michelsen, founder of the personal finance blog PFFirewall.com, works in the tech field when he isn’t blogging about budgeting and personal finance issues.

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Why would anybody dwell in a shell? Let me guess — You won the lottery and left behind your old neighborhood of rundown giant clamshells for the new gated community over here in Neptuneville. No? Well, OK then Capt. Nemo, you’ve got me stumped. And maybe that’s the point, because I’m not sure how to get inside this shell-ter. Is there a secret grotto entrance somewhere? I didn’t realize I’d be needing my diving apparatus when you invited me over for barbecue.

Call me shell-shocked, but this house has won plenty of kudos from design trend-spotters. Trendir calls it: “a wonderful, whimsical house design…bringing the life aquatic into architecture.” Over at inhabitat, the house is described as “a mind-bending union of artistic experimentation and simplified living.”  The home ...]]> This profile of the Nautilus House is part of series of features on unusual and inspirational homes that raise the question: Would You Live Here?

Why would anybody dwell in a shell? Let me guess — You won the lottery and left behind your old neighborhood of rundown giant clamshells for the new gated community over here in Neptuneville. No? Well, OK then Capt. Nemo, you’ve got me stumped. And maybe that’s the point, because I’m not sure how to get inside this shell-ter. Is there a secret grotto entrance somewhere? I didn’t realize I’d be needing my diving apparatus when you invited me over for barbecue.

Nautilus House lauded for its design

Call me shell-shocked, but this house has won plenty of kudos from design trend-spotters. Trendir calls it: “a wonderful, whimsical house design…bringing the life aquatic into architecture.” Over at inhabitat, the house is described as “a mind-bending union of artistic experimentation and simplified living.”  The home was designed several years ago by Senosiain Arquitectos — architects known for their wild, organic creations. It features an open-space concept that allows its inhabitants to move from chamber to chamber, natural plantings throughout and, of course, spiral stairs.

Would you live here?

The entrance makes more sense after watching the video above, but I’m still not so sure about this Jacques Cousteau meets Salvador Dali facade  …I’m getting a little seasick from the eye-popping vortex of color. Will it float? Not sure, but it’s probably a good refuge for a flood of biblical proportions. Also, this home is called the Nautilus House but it’s shaped like a snail, which is a completely different class of animal. Just like you, Mr. Shelly McShellington. Why, you’ve got more class than Poseidon can shake a trident at. So maybe curling up in a shell house isn’t my idea of cozy, but it is for the Mexico City family who lives here and wanted an imaginative space. What are your thoughts – would you live here?

Architecture and Photo by: Arquitectura Organica

About the Author: Christine Huard

Christine Huard is a San Diego-based writer and editor who works for a variety of print and online media, and is a calendar editor at Patch.com. She wishes her canine office assistant, Coconut, would help out more with paperwork.

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