Affordable and fun? Who wouldn’t want to live in an area with those attributes? In a quest to determine the areas that had both reasonably-priced homes and a plethora of restaurants and bars, we compared 6,106 U.S. zip codes and, drum roll please… Ocean City, Md took the top prize. Congratulations!    

Speaking of fun… College towns offer promising investment opportunities: property prices are still low, rent rates are increasing, college enrollment is on the rise and there is an overall shortage of on-campus housing. Move Inc. outlined ten college towns where an investment could pay off, such as the Boston/Cambridge market, an area home to more than 50 colleges.

While we are on the topic of rental properties, the Obama administration confirmed that it is considering ideas for the thousands of foreclosed properties backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac waiting in the wings, including a plan to turn them into rental units.  The administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency are seeking innovative solutions to address the surplus of these properties. Do you have any suggestions?

On a separate note, Zillow announced this week that during the second quarter, home values had their smallest quarterly decline in over four years.

Oh, the power of the written word. In home listings, certain phrases and words can entice and excite potential buyers. Some expressions, though, can disinterest them enough to move onto the next listing. AOL’s Real Estate blog provides a list of terms that can kill a sale, including “cute and cozy” and “seller motivated.” What do you think of the list?

The Wall Street Journal published an article on the trend of urbanites seeking to live sustainably and the ultra-chic products that are helping them, including chicken coops for housing their own egg-laying hens to bee hives for producing honey at home. What an eggcelent trend!  

If you are a football fan who lives in the New England area, you may have a new houseguest! Chad Ochocinco says that while he explores the area and gets a place of his own, he will bunk up with a fan.  The only requirements: Internet-connection and an X-Box.

In closing, while 61-year-old swimmer Diana Nyad did not complete her journey to swim across the shark-infested waters between Cuba and the United States, I applaud her spirit and the 30 hours she was in the water.  Way to go!