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Ohio bank settles real estate discrimination case

By Inman News, Monday, June 5, 2006.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank has settled a discrimination case with the U.S.  more...

Public housing to get $2.2 billion facelift

By Inman News, Monday, June 5, 2006.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday awarded more than 3,145 public housing agencies across the nation $2.2 billion in federal funding to make large-scale improvements to their public housing developments.

The funding comes from HUD's Capital Fund program, which is distributed annually to public housing agencies (PHAs) to help them develop, finance, and/or modernize the public housing in their communities. The funding can also be used to improve management operations within the agency.  more...

Real estate sales, price increases to fall in '06

By Inman News, Monday, June 5, 2006.

Existing-home sales are projected to drop 6.8 percent this year to 6.6 million, down from a record 7.08 million in 2005, according to the latest National Association of Realtors forecast.

That is down slightly from the group's previous forecast for the year, which called for a 6.4 percent drop in existing-home sales this year.

The association has also lowered its expectations for new-home sales, which are forecast to fall 13.4 percent this year to 1.11 million from a  more...

Blogs can create covert real estate marketing

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, June 5, 2006.

Blogs can be a great source of free advertising for real estate professionals, though the medium is most effective when it is used to educate and communicate rather than to sell, said blogging experts who participated in an Inman News audio conference Monday.

Effective blogs tend to be realistic, honest, opinionated, conversational and even blunt, panelists said – they effectively engage readers in a dialog and they do not shy away from controversy.

"The idea is to get some pertinent information out there.  more...

First American acquires real estate tech company

By Inman News, Monday, June 5, 2006.

First American Residential Group, a member of The First American Corp. family of companies, announced this week that it has acquired Sonic Eagle Inc., a California-based real estate technology company. Terms of the transaction, which closed May 23, were not disclosed.

Stephen C.  more...

Overnight real estate rates drop further

By Inman News, Monday, June 5, 2006.

Long-term mortgage interest rates continued lower Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield climbed to 5.02 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average dropped to 6.17 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate sank to 5.85 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 5.27 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased to 5.11 percent.

Rates are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states.  more...

Fragmented ad market opens new possibilities Premium Content

By Jessica Swesey, Monday, June 5, 2006.

Editor's note: This three-part series examines structural changes within the classifieds industry, obstacles newspapers have to overcome to stay in the game, and what some publications are doing to differentiate  themselves and to build a heavier online footprint with real estate. (See Part 1 and Part 3.)

Newspaper, car and local real estate agent armed with MLS property sheets.  more...

Home inspector downplays mold as 'no big deal'

By Barry Stone, Monday, June 5, 2006.

Dear Barry,

Our home is more than 50 years old and has major mold problems. When we bought it, our home inspector said we had surface mold only and that it was no big deal. Since then, we've had mold growing inside the wall cavities, and we have excessive condensation on all the windows and sometimes on the walls. The mold starts where the walls meet the slab floor and is visible about 3 feet up the walls. How can we find the cause and remedy of this awful problem?  more...

Mortgage secrets from a real estate insider

By Robert Bruss, Monday, June 5, 2006.

If you are a home buyer, homeowner or residential real estate sales agent, there should be a law requiring you to read David Reed's new mortgage insider secrets book, "Who Says You Can't Buy a Home?" Written by an experienced mortgage banker, this new book reveals facts most mortgage lenders don't want borrowers to know because such secrets harm lender profits.

Reed is on the side of home loan borrowers as he shares how mortgage lenders view home loan originations.  more...

Woman arrested in second real estate fraud sting

By Inman News, Monday, June 5, 2006.

An Atlanta woman who was previously arrested for allegedly using a stolen identity to obtain a refinance loan was arrested again last week in connection with an FBI sting involving a co-conspirator from her prior mortgage fraud case, officials said Monday.

Lanamasha Weslanda Mixon-Hampton, 30, was previously arrested at the closing table Feb.  more...

Real estate titleholding method makes transfer difficult

By Robert Bruss, Monday, June 5, 2006.

DEAR BOB: Love your weekly articles, as I have learned so much from them about real estate. But I have a title problem with my home. My wife died almost two years ago. Since then, I have been trying to clear the title to our home into my name alone. But the local recorder of deeds refuses to accept my evidence of her passing, including a certified copy of her death certificate and an affidavit of my survivorship. I am told only the Probate Court can clear my title. Is this true?  more...

Virginia, Tennessee pass real estate service laws Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, June 5, 2006.

Virginia and Tennessee have passed legislation establishing service requirements for full-service real estate licensees while allowing exemptions for licensees that offer fewer services in a real estate transaction.

A number of other states have already passed or are considering legislation relating to agent service requirements, though the restrictions and exemptions vary from state to state. In a handful of cases these laws -- sometimes referred to as minimum-service measures -- have drawn fire from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.  more...

HomesAndLoans.com for sale

By Jessica Swesey, Monday, June 5, 2006.

Iron Track Technology is selling the HomesAndLoans.com URL and other assets in a sealed-bid auction this month, Inman News has learned.

The minimum bid is $4 million, the company said, and the sale includes the Homes and Loans brand and logos and the copyrights and license to the "homes" SMS short code and the "loans" SMS short code.  more...

Seattle multifamily portfolio sold for $114 million

By Inman News, Monday, June 5, 2006.

Atherton-Newport Investments LLC, an Irvine, Calif.-based real estate investment firm, on Friday announced it had acquired a $114 million multifamily portfolio in the greater Seattle, Wash., region.

The portfolio consists of seven apartment communities – at a total of 1215 residential rental units – that are underperforming and will be rehabilitated and repositioned to deliver attractive investment returns to investors and to provide better rental options for Washington residents, according to a press statement.  more...

Copley Corporate Center sale completed

By Inman News, Monday, June 5, 2006.

Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial recently negotiated the sale of a 120,483-square-foot office building in San Diego, Calif.

The value of the transaction was $41.5 million.

The property, Copley Corporate Center, is located at 5855 Copley Drive and sits on 5.3 acres overlooking the interchange of State Route 52 and Interstate 805.

Pacifica Real Estate, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based asset and property management firm, sold the asset to Colony Realty Partners, a real estate investment and asset management firm based in Boston.  more...

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