The potential pitfalls of home buying don’t disappear when the purchase offer has been accepted and the loan has been lined up.As you may have guessed, most of them have to do with managing money. A few pointers:

Don’t buy any high-priced items on credit before closing the home purchase, or you might not qualify for your mortgage anymore. Lenders will look at that new debt - a car loan, for example, or lots of furniture charged to a credit card - and judge that you are less able to take on mortgage debt. And don’t spend a large chunk of cash, either, if you might need it for closing costs.

Condominiums remain a popular housing option in the Bay Area - especially because many condos and townhouses cost less than detached houses.But buying a condo - or buying a house in some master-planned communities - comes with issues that many home buyers don’t face.

Condo buyers don’t simply become homeowners once all the papers are signed. They also become part of a homeowners association. Because a homeowners association is essentially a corporation, it’s important to check out its rules and financial health before becoming one of its owners, experts say.

When automobile entrepreneur Paul Rusnak bought a 100-foot yacht, he made the difficult decision to part with Chateau des Quatres Saisons, his vacation home on the Gold Coast of Point Hamiltair on the shores of Lake Arrowhead.

To accomplish this, he listed the estate with Realtor and Broker Jim Price of Coldwell Banker Sky Ridge Realty in Blue Jay.

The home, Price explained, was built by John Bueler in 1982. The French country estate features five bedrooms, 6-1/2 baths, a media room, family room, game room, greenhouse, sandy beach and double dock.

Chief recommends working with landlords of problem houses

It’s no big secret that many of Peachtree City’s older neighborhoods have homes that are converting into rental properties.

Some are owned by residents who bought homes elsewhere in the city but wanted the rental income. Others are owned by former residents who have moved away, and still others are owned by real estate agents or management companies.

As the market in shaky mortgages collapsed, some hedge funds raked in profits by betting on a decline in the ABX subprime index

There has been a lot of pain in the market for mortgages to people with shaky credit histories. Small, so-called subprime lenders are filing for bankruptcy. Shares of big lenders New Century Financial (NEW), NovaStar Financial (NFI), and Fremont General (FMT) are getting crushed, as concerns about rising customer defaults mount. But through all the misery, some savvy hedge funds are posting big gains.