That's really good pricing for a nearly new property, compared to comparable 10- to 15-year-old properties for sale in the area.

Toward the tail-end of last year, a lot of property owners saw pricing they may not see again for a long time, or have never seen before, and they viewed it as an opportunity to sell at what may be the peak in the market.

Watching how the property market was going and noticing the amount of properties available for rent and for sale, prompted us to look at other ways for owners to market their properties. This is how we came up with the principal of Cheaper Property.com. Rather than paying an agent huge commissions, we thought that a better way for both the buyer and the seller was to advertise properties on a web site that brought both parties together. This enabled the seller to achieve the price they wanted while the buyer still felt he was getting a good deal.

They hit a low on their pricing and discounting about three years ago. This was the first year they began to capitalize on that creativity.

It's a meager year for bond returns compared to what may be in the offing in other asset classes.

I'm surrounded by 100-year-old mansions that are landmark-stature compared to other states.