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Street smarts: a lesson in social media Premium Content

By Marc Davison, Monday, September 24, 2007.

A porn star attends a Debutante's Ball dressed in her best AVN attire.

A traveler orders sushi at a truckstop.

A real estate vendor uses ActiveRain to spam members about a new application.

There are some things you just don't do.

Street Smarts

Gena Riede is a gentle, experienced Sacramento, Calif.-based Realtor.  more...

Sep

24
2007

Hood Estate: 'The Game is to be Sold, not Told'

By Glenn Roberts, Jr., Monday, September 24, 2007.
A real estate Web site, HoodEstate.com, claims to to offer "Truth for the Street" on topics ranging from credit repair and mortgages to flips and short sales. Of course, this wisdom doesn't come cheap. The site promotes a Hood Estate...  more...

Do Buyers and Sellers Really Want LESS Service?

By Real Estate Coach, Monday, September 24, 2007.
In today's Inman News there's an article about RealUmbrella.com. According to the article, Realtors "are being re-purposed for tomorrow. Stand by for the real estate market shakeup." Granted, a proportion of the market will always purchase based upon price/commission. Nevertheless,...  more...

Flip this, flop that

By Jessica Swesey, Monday, September 24, 2007.
Television helped build the dream and now it's flashing wake-up calls for those who may have had too much kool-aid to drink at the housing party. TV shows in the last few years have pulled out some of the worst...  more...

Realogy and the Jets

By Glenn Roberts, Jr., Monday, September 24, 2007.
Parsipanny, N.J.-based Real estate brokerage and franchise company Realogy Corp. is teaming up with the New York Jets pro football team. Realogy announced this month that the company and subsidiaries Burgdorff ERA and Cartus will serve as sponsors for Jets...  more...

As GM goes, so go the nation's housing markets?

By Matt Carter, Monday, September 24, 2007.
The United Auto Workers have walked off the job at GM -- the first national strike against a U.S. automaker since 1976, the AP reports. The Detroit Free Press says local strikes in Flint stopped GM's production for 53 days...  more...

Morgan Stanley accused of discriminatory lending policies

By Inman News, Monday, September 24, 2007.

Policies imposed by Morgan Stanley on its wholesale mortgage lending subsidiary discriminate against minorities, a complaint to federal regulators alleges -- the first time such charges have been leveled against a Wall Street investment firm over the securitization and sale of mortgage loans on the secondary market.  more...

Phillips Edison bags Alabama retail

By Inman News, Monday, September 24, 2007.

Real estate developer Phillips Edison & Co. added 209,124 square feet to its holdings with the recent purchase of a shopping center in Athens, Ala.

The property, Athens Town Center, was 89.5 percent occupied at the time of purchase by tenants that included Peebles, Goody's Family Clothing, Big Lots, Tractor Supply and Southern Family Market.

Phillips Edison paid an unidentified entity an undisclosed amount for the property. With this acquisition, the company owns 206 retail centers nationwide.

Realtor board official faces embezzlement charges

By Inman News, Monday, September 24, 2007.

An official for a small Realtor board in Vermont is facing embezzlement charges for allegedly ringing up about $30,000 worth of personal expenditures using a board credit and debit card, according to reports.

Piquette Scribner, 30, of Johnson, Vt., pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of embezzlement during an appearance last week in Lamoille District Court in Hyde Park, Vt., the Burlington Free Press newspaper reported.  more...

RealUmbrella seeks to shut agents out of transactions

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, September 24, 2007.

RealUmbrella, a new site for home buyers and sellers that launches today in California, will not make many friends in the real estate brokerage industry, but it's not supposed to.

At its Web site, the company states that brokers, Realtors and agents that exist today "are being re-purposed for tomorrow. Stand by for the real estate market shakeup."

The company seeks to link for-sale-by-owner buyers and sellers directly in an online platform that features digital documents and electronic signatures for a flat fee.

Flat-fee real estate business models are nothing new.  more...

Real estate rates higher overnight

By Inman News, Monday, September 24, 2007.

Long-term mortgage interest rates were up again Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 4.62 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average rose to 6.08 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate jumped to 5.73 percent. The 1-year adjustable, however, dipped to 5.68 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was down at 4.89 percent.

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

More lenders offering no-cost mortgages

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, September 24, 2007.

In a recent article, I examined Bank of America's new no-fee program for house purchasers, under which lender and third-party fees are absorbed by the bank. On a fixed-rate mortgage, the borrower pays the interest rate and points, and that's it. Price shopping would be so much easier, I mused, if all lenders did the same.  more...

Best way to buy home before current one sells

By Dian Hymer, Monday, September 24, 2007.

Most home buyers are resistant to selling their current home before they already have another one tied up. This means buying before selling, which carries an element of risk.

One way to approach such a move, if market conditions permit, is to make an offer on the new home that is contingent upon the sale of your current home. This way, you don't put cash down on the new place until you have your equity out of the home you're selling.  more...

Realtor says open houses don't work

By Robert Bruss, Monday, September 24, 2007.

DEAR BOB: As a Realtor for 19 years, I do not agree with your comment that a listing agent who refuses to hold open houses is lazy. A more appropriate response would have been for the home seller to ask that agent to prove by his success record he can sell property of that type without open houses. I have sold hundreds of condos and I never hold open houses. I feel they are an imposition on the neighbors, especially within gated communities. I work with clients who are often elderly widows, single women, and mothers with newborns.  more...