Located at the corner of Herrin Avenue and Spencer Street north of NoDa, the $48 million Steel Gardens is a neighborhood unto itself. It will feature about 240 condos, townhomes and single family homes, with condos starting in the $140,000s, townhomes from the $220,000s and single-family homes in the $380,000s.

The 11-acre former industrial site is a 10-minute walk from the future 36th Street light rail station. As part of the project, the original Herrin Oil building will be restored and turned into a small retail space such as a coffee shop or deli. Warehouse space will also be made for people who want to live and work in the same unit.

While workers built their condo, time renovated their lives. They got married. A year later, their son Carter was born. And then the condo was ready.

So the Wilfongs did what few with young kids would dare: They moved out of their house in the Elizabeth neighborhood and up to the 26th floor of TradeMark. They discovered that skyline views offer a breathtaking backdrop for a crib and toy trains. And when you're 1 1/2 years old, an elevator offers a sweet ride home.

In the agreement, approved Wednesday by the N.C. Real Estate Commission, the company said that from 2002 to 2004, Realty Place accepted "numerous" bonuses from homebuilders for representing buyers who purchased homes. The bonuses were paid outside closing and not declared on settlement statements.

The commission so far has uncovered 300 to 400 secret bonuses paid to Realty Place, said Janet Thoren, the commission's chief deputy legal counsel.

There were 282 new businesses or business expansions announced in the first quarter of 2008, the report said. Those firms will create 3,010 jobs. The figures are similar to numbers for the first quarter of 2007.

The businesses will add 6.1 million square feet of space and more than $1 billion in investments -- the highest number in a decade, chamber researchers found.

The Flip Scheme: A buyer purchases and sells a property in simultaneous closings, selling the property for a higher and sometimes artificial value set by an appraiser. Exaggerated appraisals can deceive lenders into giving loans for far more than a house is worth.

With simultaneous flipping, the proceeds in the second transaction can be used to illegally make the down payment on the other transaction. That way, the buyer uses little or none of his or her money, despite declaring a down payment on the initial HUD settlement statement.

The indictment, charging six people and listing others as unindicted "co-conspirators," alleges a web of players, from companies accused of lying about homebuyers' income to builders who allegedly paid kickbacks. A subsidiary of Atlanta builder Beazer Homes and a local builder are included as unindicted co-conspirators. The indictments refer to them only by code names; the Observer used public records to identify them.

The indictment, which details transactions from 2000 to 2004, elaborates on four alleged scams. The allegations, with names such as the "Flip Scheme" and the "Builder Kickback Scheme," are detailed through 19 home sales

The boarded-up homes are in Pine Valley, an area off South Boulevard near Interstate 485 that residents say has struggled with drugs and other crime for almost two decades.

The situation illustrates a particular irony: Some city officials want private businesses to help reduce neighborhood crime, but a city-funded agency has been slow to correct a blight marring this community.

Self-Help, a nationally recognized, Durham-based community development organization, hopes to use the neighborhood as a pilot program that, if successful, could be replicated in other states. The goal: to stabilize a community where foreclosures have left scores of homes empty -- either boarded-up, for sale or abandoned to vandals and thieves.

"Peachtree Hills is in desperate need of attention, no doubt about it," said Evan Covington Chavez, Self-Help's director of real estate development. But it also has a foundation to build on.

The request is a matter of housekeeping to bring land acquired over a number of years with various zonings, all under the same zoning, said aviation director Jerry Orr, who signed the rezoning application.

Orr says I-2 zoning is needed for the runway itself, but that the Airport Plan adopted a few years ago envisions the entire area to be zoned I-2

The Paideia philosophy of teaching is a hands-on approach that includes a weekly seminar where students discuss visual arts, literature and music.

According to the Magnet Schools of America Web site, being named a School of Excellence includes a commitment to high academic standards and successful desegregation and diversity efforts

Located at 1600 Fulton Ave. at Central Avenue, SteelHaus features industrial finishes in a modern setting. The development includes 12 lofts ranging from 780 square feet to 1,037 square feet. Prices range from the mid $170s to the $230s.

The building also has four ground-floor commercial units meant for artist studios/galleries, boutique retail and professional office space. Lofts feature a private terrace, hardwood flooring, 42-inch cabinets and stainless appliances

"These are mostly areas where there have been problems for years," said Capt. Andy Leonard, commander of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police's North Division.

But, say Leonard and other police officials, mapping the hot spots has helped police target their resources in specific areas.

No more zero-down deals. No more "piggyback" plans that combine 90 percent first loans with 10 percent seconds. No more "down payment assistance" schemes where sellers indirectly supply all or most of the cash needed for the buyer's down payment.

Even the 3 percent minimum required by the Federal Housing Administration would be raised under McCain's plan

The number of borrowers at least 90 days late on their home loans rose to 3.6 percent at the end of December, the highest in at least five years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington. That figure, for the first time, is almost double the 2 percent who have been foreclosed on.

Lenders who allow owners to stay in their homes are distorting the record foreclosure rate and delaying the worst of the housing decline, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, a unit of New York-based Moody's Corp. These borrowers will eventually push the number of delinquencies even higher and send more homes onto an already glutted market.