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Nov

7
2007

Agents can exchange 'Mickey Mouse' leads

By Jessica Swesey, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.
POST UPDATED, Nov. 9 (See below) HouseValues, a real estate marketing and lead generation company based in Kirkland, Wash., has agreed to pay $51,000 in costs and attorney fees to settle a case alleging the company's real estate lead generation...  more...

Thou shalt covet thy neighbor's listings

By Jessica Swesey, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.
Internet companies have rolled out the red carpet for real estate listings and they're inviting brokers to the party for free. Free marketing exposure can be irresistible in today's suffering market conditions. (See "Brokers go all in with listings on...  more...

New York vs. Appraisal, Mortgage Fraud

By Glenn Roberts, Jr., Wednesday, November 7, 2007.
New York's attorney general engaged in some more name-dropping today, announcing that he has expanded a probe of appraisal and lending practices to government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Last week, the office announced a lawsuit charging that First...  more...

New York expands appraisal probe to Fannie, Freddie Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

New York's attorney general, who last week launched a lawsuit against First American Corp. and a subsidiary charging appraisal inflation, today announced an expanded investigation and subpoenas for mortgage entities Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae seeking details about loans they purchased from banks and information about appraisal practices.

The subpoenas announced by Attorney General Andrew M.  more...

Brokers going all in with listings on the Web

By Inman News, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

Homescape, the online real estate venture operated by a group of five newspaper publishers, has inked a new partnership with a real estate brokerage company to add more for-sale property listings to its online portal.

The company today announced an agreement with Real Living, which covers 20 states with nearly 4,000 sales associates, that will add an additional 13,000 listings to the Homescape Web site.  more...

Maryland industrial sells at $63 per square foot

By Inman News, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

A limited liability company has sold a fully leased, 100,000-square-foot industrial building in Jessup, Md., for a price of approximately $6.3 million.

The property, sold by 8210 Wellmoor Court LLC, is located at 8210 Wellmoor Court within the Baltimore Washington Industrial Park.

Boston-based TA Associates purchased the facility, which was constructed in 1971, and also owns other buildings in the industrial park.

Northern Va. office sale

By Inman News, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

An unidentified buyer has acquired a 52,626-square-foot office building in suburban Washington, D.C., for a price of $12.6 million.

Located at 803 West Broad St. in Falls Church, Va., the seven-story building's sales price represents a value of $252 per square foot.

The seller's identity was not disclosed.

At the time of sale, building tenants included the City of Falls Church, Maxim Healthcare and the National Massage Therapy Institute.

Wells REIT II buys Northpointe Corporate Campus

By Inman News, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II today announced its acquisition of Northpointe Corporate Campus, a new class A office development in suburban Seattle.

Opus Northwest LLC sold the two-building complex in Lynwood, Wash., for an undisclosed price.

At the time of sale, one building was fully leased to Comcast to 2017, and the other was ready for leasing.  more...

Survey reveals rising tide of tighter standards for prime loans Premium Content

By Inman News, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

About 41 percent of loan officers responding to a Federal Reserve Board survey in October reported they had tightened lending standards on prime residential mortgages during the previous three months, compared with 15 percent of respondents in a July survey.

About 36.7 percent of the 49 respondents stated that credit standards "tightened somewhat" for prime residential loans, while 4.1 percent stated that credit standards "tightened considerably" during that period.  more...

Zillow inks another listings deal

By Inman News, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

Home valuation and real estate marketing site Zillow.com announced another partnership with a real estate brokerage company to send bulk for-sale property listings feeds to be displayed at the Web site.

Zillow's latest partner is RE/MAX Allegiance, which has more than 40 offices and 1,200 sales associates in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. The deal shows brokers' growing appetite for exposure on Zillow and Zillow's appetite for information about which properties are for sale.  more...

Refis, home purchases slow in latest survey

By Inman News, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

Mortgage application volume dipped last week as interest rates moved within a narrow range, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The MBA's market composite index, a measure of total home loan application volume, lost 1.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, impacted by a 3.2 percent drop in the index that tracks refinancings.

MBA reported that the purchase-loan index dipped slightly last week.  more...

Overnight real estate rates rise again

By Inman News, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

Long-term mortgage interest rates continued higher Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.37 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average inched up to 5.96 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate gained to 5.57 percent. The 1-year adjustable, however, slipped to 5.63 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield gained to 4.67 percent.

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

Setting rent a major challenge in today's market Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

Editor's note: In part two of a three-part series on "accidental landlords," Inman News looks at the most challenging decision involved in marketing a rental -- establishing the asking rent. The "ghost market" for homes and condos complicates the process. Part 1 looked at the factors to consider before pulling a for sale property off the market to rent, and whether to hire a property management company to handle the details.  more...

Mortgage brokers fear 'extinction' if new bill passes

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is so concerned that recently proposed legislation would crush its revenue model that it scheduled national teleconferences and prepared sample letters for members to mail to their respective congressmen.

In an e-mail to all NAMB dated Nov. 1, Denise Leonard, the organization's government affairs chairperson, wrote:  more...

Best insulation for home's crawl space

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Wednesday, November 7, 2007.

Q: We live in a 50-year-old home that we purchased last year. Before moving in we removed the carpet and refinished the hardwood floors that had been covered for many years. We also put in fiberglass insulation wherever we had access to open walls and installed it in the attic when the roof was replaced.  more...