DC CLOUT "DC Area Real Estate Buzz"

Top Ten Toys

Nintendo Wii Console - The console of choice for those on the more active end of the gamer spectrum. Comes bundled with straightforward yet challenging sports games.

Webkinz - The plush animal that comes complete with an online identity. Kids can visit the Web to enter a virtual world where they attend to their virtual pet.

TransformersBumblebee leads this re-imagined pack of action figures in popularity, with Optimus Prime following closely behind.

Bratz - Fabulously low-tech fashion dolls. Girls go nuts over their hot hair accessories and hip outfits. No batteries required.

Smart Cycle - An innovative "physical learning arcade system" that hooks up to a TV. Kids safely pedal their way through virtual adventures on this stationary bike, picking up some language and math basics on the way.

T.M.X. Toys - Ticklish, laughing Elmo is back, accompanied by his pals Ernie and Cookie Monster.

I-DOG - A robot puppy (complete with fashion accessories) that can groove to your tunes and is a lot cheaper than the highly publicized RoboPanda.

Eyeclops Bionic Eye - The ultimate science toy. Magnify objects and view the images on a TV.

Remote Control Toys - The airborne Havoc Helicopter tops this list, although an assortment of Earth-bound all-terrain vehicles and inventive robots are on it, too.

Leapster L-Max - The most popular educational toy. This portable video
game system offers fun learning games for kids from preschool to fourth grade.

source  shopping.yahoo.com

Home loans altered to avert foreclosures

Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender, said Monday that it's altering 35,000 home loans this year to avert foreclosures.

Changes include repayment plans, postponement of payments, refinancing and modifications that bring loans out of default, the company said. Countrywide handled billing and collections for almost 9 million loans at the end of August, the company said in a Sept. 13 report.

The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve have urged mortgage companies to stave off foreclosures by cutting or postponing payments for cash-strapped homeowners. Lenders have eased terms on about 1 percent of subprime mortgages nationally, Moody's Investors Service said Sept. 21.    chicagotribune.com

Fantasy Real Estate, Anyone

The mayor of Washington has put a For Sale sign on the nation's capital -- and he claims one of the 2008 presidential candidates is negotiating to buy the place for a fraction of what a Georgetown rowhouse might cost.

This isn't the real Washington, of course, but a virtual version of the city on Weblo, a new Internet site that is offering online versions of every piece of property on the planet and a real-money transaction system to go with them.

It all works like an online version of Monopoly....

read article   washingtonpost.com