barbara corcoran is here to give us an idea of what you can get for $500,000 or less. in fact, in some cases, much less than that. >> that's a cute house. >> it is. new orleans, to the coast and the heartland of new york. >> also, we're talking to ken burns, an emmy award-winning filmmaker. he is trying to remind us of how beautiful this country is, with our national parks and how we should appreciate them. instead of going to a movie, get the family together and witness one of these beautiful natural landmarks in our country. i shouldn't compare it to movies, because that's a lame comparison, but my point is, with the family, you can do so much that's free. >> actually, it's a good comparison. there are a lot of free national parks in here. >> so ken burns is prolific at this and we'll look at his beautiful work. >> we will. >> if you've got a curious kid around the house, how about putting that natural enthusiasm for facts to good use? we're looking for "today's kid reporter," that's right, between the age of 8 and 12. we'd like them to report on any story they'd lik

now, this week on "price fix," our real estate guru barbara corcoran tells homeowner steven what his apartments will really sell for in today's market. >> today on "price fix," i'm standing here with steven in his two-bedroom, two-bath condo in the east 30s. so, tell me, when did you buy the place? >> february of 1999. we purchased the place for $345,000. >> $345,000, didn't you feel guilty paying so little? >> not at that time, because it was right before the jump. >> you were right in under the wire, frankly. >> yeah. we were really lucky. we have another child on the way in september. >> good for you. >> which is why we have to get something bigger. >> of course, you do. why don't you show me exactly what you've done with the apartment since you've bought it. >> let's take a look. >> okay. ♪ >> when we moved in, we wanted to change the floors right away, so we put down select oak floors. we also put socket boxes with lighting along the apartment with the crown molding. >> what's here? looks like a walk-in closet. >> we have a mini office here. >> and you built this here. >> we bro

our brick house barbara corcoran is today's real estate contributor.ood to see you again, barb. >> i think it's good to see you, al. >> thanks very much. let's get to it. we've got a lot of great houses. we're going to start middle of the country, tulsa, oklahoma, priced at $177,900. looks like this is a great home for a family on a budget. >> this is the best home for a family on a budget and not to put tulsa down, it's the number one place to raise a family, nominated three years in a row and it's won that category. this is $73 a square foot. >> whoa! >> think about that. $177,000 buys you four bedrooms, four baths, a home meticulous from top to bottom, perfect for the family on a budget as you mentioned. there's that beautiful dining room. every room is bright and cheery, an open layout, a totally revamped kitchen, double-height ceilings in most of the major rooms. a huge backyard. >> a great looking backyard. >> it's not just about the house. all your kids could have their whole neighborhood over in that backyard. so this is a house that's great va

"today's" real estate contributor barbara corcoran is here with the answer.ara, good morning to you. >> good morning, meredith. >> first, remind us what the federal tax credit is and who qualifies for it. >> it's a $8,000 tax credit intended for first-time home buyers. it really covers anyone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years, but it's an actual credit, money you get back at the year end when you file your taxes. >> and it was designed to boost the housing market to encourage first-time homeowners to buy their first home and those who already had a house to sell it and purchase something even more expensive. has it been successful and is the housing market coming back? >> well, there's a lot of questions rolled into one there. yes to the first part in that it has kick-started the housing market, because last month -- or i should say, the month of july, the latest numbers, one-third of all home buyers were first-time buyers. so, it's done its job there. where it's did nbeen disappoints people expected a domino effect on the housing market. it has

barbara corcoran, carmen ohlrich and melissa francis, thanks so much. >>> still to come, a fertility clinic mix-up brings emotional turmoil to two families. meet the volkswagen jetta. it gets an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon, and was named an iihs top safety pick. all for just $179 a month. and like all new volkswagens, it comes with 3 years or 36,000 miles of no-charge scheduled carefree maintenance. it's all part of why the jetta is the top-selling german engineered sedan in america. >>> still to come on "today," my trip back to junior high school and back in time. >> look at that hair. >>> and a mother and daughter crash their cars into the same sinkhole right on top of each other. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> good morning. it's 7:26 and here's a look at some of our top stories. maryland state police say four people have been found dead. troomt troopers found the bodies late friday evening. police believe if four are members of the same family. the circumstances are being investigated but troopers say it appears to be a murder scene. >> the issue

"today" real estate contributor barbara corcoran has important advice.ing, amy. >> let's talk about exactly what an exotic mortgage is. >> well, it's a made-up name that's become popular, but what it really includes is any kind of mortgage that's hard to understand, that has a long label on it, that has a lot of moving parts. but in essence, all these mortgages share one thing in common. they want to give you a very cheap introductory rate, and they want to raise that rate and make sure you don't pay off your mortgage ever. that's what's wrong with these mortgages. they're whacked out. >> there are specific areas geographically speaking that have some of the biggest problems with some of these exotic mortgages. which areas are we talking snabt. >> any area that had a high run-up in values more than any other state. the leader in the pack was california, where 60% of their product are very unusual mortgages. people signed up for these. the other states that are on the list are arizona, florida, nevada, and new jersey. >> and how often do these interest ra

barbara corcoran, carmen ohlrich and melissa francis, thanks so much. >>> still to come, a fertilityinic mix-up brings emotional turmoil to two families. >>> still to come on "today," my trip bk to junior high school and back in time. >> look at that hair. >>> and a mother and daughter crash their cars into the same sinkhole right on top of each other. >>> 7:26 is your time. live look at the nation's capitol. rain is guaranteed today. the forecast after the news. good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. saturday, september 26, 2009. here is a look at what's making news this morning. horrifying crime has shaken one quiet and close knit maryland community. police found the bodies of four family members in a mt. airy home last night. two of the dead are children. investigators aren't releasing their ages. officers are investigating the crime as a murder/suicide. police came to the house after aring from a concerned friend who 00 heard from the family in a few days. >>> two more arrests have been made in the murder of shahabuddin rana. he was killed last month inside his pizza mart store in

today's real estate agent, the brick house, one the only barbara corcoran. >> oh, here you go. >> has things as a seller you really should not be doing, and some of them really are common sense that we think we know, but it isn't. >> it's not common sense. a lot of people get involved in their own home. they don't look at the situation from the outside, and that's what you need to do to avoid these pitfalls. lots of people do them. >> when i was trying to buy a house, i remember this one, when i made an offer, the realtor told me the owner was insulted by my offer. should you be insulted by an offer? >> no, no. here's what happens. today, every buyer who's a half-wit out there feels obligated to put in a low offer. they feel that obligation. so, if the low offer comes in, you don't know if he's a wise guy that's never going to come up in price or if he's a normal kind of a person who's just going to move up in price. so the thing is, you want to test it by giving a good counter offer close to what you're willing to accept. four out of five people come up in price, but you don't know t

. >>> plus, from the big easy to the california coast, barbara corcoran shows us how far your housing> but first, let us get a >> we are dealing with a light shower activity, and we have the potential to see clearing skies this afternoon. this will be out of fear in the next hour. 74 is the forecast hide. >> that's your latest weather. and for weather any time of the day or night, go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. meredith? january thank you, al. look who has joined us, "the office's" john. now john is writing, directing and acting in his own film, brief interviews by a hideous man about a woman in search of a relationship after hers ends. good morning. >> good morning, guys. i love being at the news desk. turn around, be like, "good morning." >> you've got every job in this movie, directing, acting. >> that was a complete fluke. >> that's a lot to take on. >> it is a lot to take in. the best way to direct is out of ignorance. when you get to the end of the movie and you're like, that was great, everybody. then they point out all of the things that could have g

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