By Robert Bruss, Tuesday, November 16, 2004.
For some unexplained reason "The ABC's of Real Estate Investing" by Ken McElroy has become a best seller on several national lists of business books. After reading the book, "publicity hype" seems to be the prime reason for the book's popularity. Content alone certainly is not the reason. If you want to become a tycoon real estate investor, acquiring large apartment complexes, this new book shows how a "big time" investor goes about investigating and buying large property acquisitions. more...
By Barry Stone, Tuesday, November 16, 2004.
Dear Barry, My home was built in 1978 and has "popcorn" ceiling texture in most rooms, some of which is peeling and cracking. I began to scrape off the material, but then became concerned about asbestos. Is there an inexpensive way to determine if this material contains asbestos? I've read that spraying with water makes it safe to remove it yourself. Do you know if this is true? Also, I am concerned about past and current asbestos exposure to my family. – Lauri Dear Lauri, more...
By Robert Bruss, Tuesday, November 16, 2004.
DEAR BOB: For the last three years we have owned our condo in what was once an upscale condominium complex. But mismanagement by the board of directors has allowed it to decline rapidly in maintenance quality and ambiance. Too many renters have been allowed to move in. They park their campers in the parking lot and the place looks like low-income housing. Fortunately, the market value has held up because of a very desirable location. My husband and I have decided to sell and move to a better condo complex. If we sell, our net profit will be about $145,000. more...
By Inman News, Tuesday, November 16, 2004. Birdview Technologies, a provider of Web-based software for real estate brokerages and agents, has released its newest brokerage enterprise platform, Branded Home Search. The platform enables real estate brokerages to brand the content of a brokerage Web site to a sales agent after a consumer has chosen an agent to work with. more...
By Inman News, Tuesday, November 16, 2004. A study of homeowners whose homes are valued at $1 million or more found that 35 percent plan to remodel or add on to their property, and 8 percent are planning to move to another luxury home. This study, the Coldwell Banker Luxury Index, is based on an August 2004 survey of 300 homeowners. more...
By Inman News, Tuesday, November 16, 2004. Mortgage giant Fannie Mae on Monday notified the Securities and Exchange Commission it would be unable to file its quarterly report on time for the third quarter of 2004. The troubled corporation also said that it would report a $9 billion loss if the SEC determined that certain accounting practices were improper. The quarterly report, known as Form 10Q, was due yesterday and Fannie Mae wrote in its notification that it could not file it by that due date or within the five-day extension permitted by the SEC's rules. more...
By Inman News, Tuesday, November 16, 2004. Canada's major-market home sales slipped 4.1 percent in October on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month, according to The Canadian Real Estate Association. Closed transactions via the Multiple Listing Service numbered 25,111 units in October, down from 26,190 sales the previous month. Activity remains strong, with seasonally adjusted sales reaching their second-highest level on record for the month of October – surpassed only by last year's record for the same month. more...
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