Real EState

Warren Sapp, formerly an unstoppable defensive tackle with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders, is in Chapter 7, has been hit hard by a bad real estate deal that sapped his NFL fortune.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now own some 200,000 foreclosed-upon homes, and they're spending $500 million a year on upkeep. That's a lot of lawn mowing. If only there were a cheaper way to get it done -- a way that benefited Americans. Here's an idea ...

Most homebuilders saw their shares pop higher Tuesday after heavyweight Lennar released better-than-expected quarterly numbers -- but not KB Home. In fact, its shares actually fell. Here's why KB isn't invited to the housing recovery party.

Home prices fell in January for a fifth straight month in most major U.S. cities, as modest sales increases have yet to boost prices. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday showed that prices dropped in January from December in 16 of 19 cities tracked.

You%u2019ve heard it so often you can probably repeat it in your sleep: Equities are the best protection against inflation. But academic research establishes clearly that it just isn't so: Stocks aren't a good hedge against inflation at all, particularly high inflation.

Becoming a homeowner is a rite of passage in America, while renting gets no respect. But when you look at how we really live, it turns out that, even ignoring the recent crash, home ownership isn't the great deal for our finances that we've been led to believe.

Just when it looked like housing prices were bottoming out and now was the time to snap up the best bargains comes news that may make you want to wait. The latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices show that real estate prices are continuing to descend.

The National Association of Realtors reported this week that sales of existing homes rose 4.3% in January, their third rise in four months. But there are other housing trends to consider that are much more telling than a modest uptick in sales.

A few weeks ago, we asked DailyFinance readers for their best tips for putting your financial house in order. We've covered saving and spending wisely. Now, we move on to another key to long-term financial security: making your money work for you.

With 2012's first earnings season well under way, let's go over some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead: Here's why you should be watching one major mall owner, two tech giants, three homebuilders and a couple of old media behemoths.