This 24-room Italian Mediterranean mansion was commissioned in 1929 by Harry Cohn, the cantankerous founder and president of Columbia Pictures.

Few of the swank palaces built by movie moguls during the Golden Age of Hollywood retain their original features like this Italian Mediterranean mansion in Beverly Hills. The stately 24-room home was commissioned in 1929 by Harry Cohn, the cantankerous founder and president of Columbia Pictures. Cohn sold the house in the 1940s to A-list Hollywood agent Johnny Hyde, whose marriage did not prove an impediment to entertaining Marilyn Monroe as an extended houseguest.

Changes taking effect June 1 are part of Fannie Mae's 'loan quality initiative' to cut down on slipshod underwriting and fraud by borrowers.

If you're thinking about applying for a home mortgage this year, here's some important news: Beginning June 1, your lender is likely to order a second full credit screening immediately before closing.

Haggling over other contract terms offers rewards for both sides.

Buyers and sellers who haggle over price alone could be leaving a lot on the table.

Checking in on previous Homes of the Week.

Revitalized historic home

Question: Up until this year, my father owned two homes. He lived in one of them and rented the other to me and my family. My father and I had a written two-year lease and I paid him a reasonable rent, with canceled checks to prove it. Unfortunately, my father lost both homes to foreclosure last fall. In December, a real estate agent came to my door to tell me I had to leave. When I told her I had a lease, she handed me a three-day notice to quit the premises. There was no way we could leave that quickly, and a friend told me the bank that took the house had to honor my lease. Now I have been served with a summons and complaint for unlawful detainer. I have filed an answer stating that I have a valid lease, but I am wondering whether I will win this case. What is your opinion?

Question: The home we're buying was built in 1947, and it still has the original septic tank. We've never had a home with a septic system. The seller promised to pay for an inspection and then backed out of his offer, so we'll be paying for it. Even if the inspection goes well, how difficult is it to live with a septic tank?

The Spanish-style estate features a wine room, swimming pool and an outdoor cooking center.

She may only play a doctor on television, but actress Kate Walsh apparently knows good bones when she sees them.

Interest rates hit their lowest level this year, mortgage company Freddie Mac says. The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan is 4.93%. The European debt crisis is helping to drive down rates.

Interest rates on mortgages have declined for a fifth straight week, with 30-year fixed-rate loans dropping below 5% to the lowest level of the year, Freddie Mac said in its weekly survey of lenders.

Sales have been helped by tax credits and by builders' offering simpler, cheaper housing. Location is also key — buyers don't want extremely long commutes, analysts say.

The modest house has yet to be shingled and a stack of drywall sits on the bare concrete floor, but Karame Adesko and her fiance, Pablo Garcia, can envision their future in this developing Corona cul-de-sac.

Real estate developer Mohamed Hadid’s newest home pays homage to Egypt’s past, with pyramids and extensive use of Jerusalem limestone.

Classic modern melds with a touch of the Middle East in designer Mohamed Hadid's newest home in Beverly Hills, a dramatic homage to Egypt's past, filled with fire and water features.

East meets West

Specifics of the matters addressed are confidential, but the issues themselves are not.

Are titleholders entitled to see and obtain copies of the minutes of our association board's executive meetings? Are titleholders entitled to know which units our association has placed liens on because of nonpayment of dues?

First-time buyers often fail to factor in upkeep and other expenses

Many first-time buyers are unprepared for the financial burdens of homeownership.

Question: We purchased our home about a year ago. The sellers and their real estate agent made a side agreement to repair some of the defects after the close of escrow. These included a new liner in the chimney, a new exhaust vent for the furnace and a vent for the clothes dryer. The repairs were supposed to be done within three months of closing, but the sellers still have not completed the work. The person they sent to do the work is unlicensed, has no insurance and won't give us his last name. He hasn't gotten a permit for the work that he has done, and what he has done does not look good. The new clothes dryer vent is a plastic flex pipe that blows into the attic. The seller now says that the chimney does not need a new liner and has declared that all of the work is done. To top things off, the agent won't return our calls. Instead, her attorney has called and warned us to stop calling the agent. What can we do?

Designated senior housing is exempt from fair-housing laws.

I read a newspaper ad for an apartment community that I thought might be a good living situation for me. But when I followed up to obtain a rental application, I was told that I was too young. I have never been told that before. Refusing to consider me seems like discrimination based on my age. Do I have a claim for discrimination?

The home-renovation queen spent more than two years renovating a Lloyd Wright-designed Midcentury house built for another Oscar winner, Alfred Newman.

Oscar-winning actress and avid historical home restorer Diane Keaton has put her latest project on the market in Pacific Palisades at $8.5 million.

The Italian-style home has an ocean view, fountains, six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms.

Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a Montecito-area property to their real estate holdings, reports the Montecito Journal.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 metropolitan areas falls 0.1% overall for February. But San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles post gains.

A trio of California cities bucked a nationwide home price decline in February while most of the other metro areas posted losses or flattened out, underscoring the resurgence of the Golden State's coastal markets, data released Tuesday showed.

Investors are snapping up foreclosed homes in hopes of making a quick killing.

The musty smell of neglect greeted the two investors as they stepped past the waist-high weeds and peeling paint to cross the threshold of the latest prize: a boarded-up two-story house in South Los Angeles.

The Bel-Air property that one agent calls 'fascinating and bizarre' gets no takers.

Nicolas Cage is leaving Bel-Air. And not by choice.