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Realogy grows upstart franchise brand

By Inman News, Monday, October 20, 2008.

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate on Monday announced a franchise agreement with The Masiello Group, which has 30 offices and 600 sales associates in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts.  more...

Why did inspector dismiss peeling wallpaper?

By Barry Stone, Monday, October 20, 2008.

DEAR BARRY: We recently purchased a home and hired a home inspector to find all the defects. During the inspection, I noticed that the wallpaper in the master bedroom was discolored and peeling at the edges. When I asked the inspector about this, he dismissed it as insignificant, but I continued to feel uncomfortable about it. Last week, I peeked behind a peeled edge of the wallpaper and found green mold. If I'd known about this, I'd have asked the sellers to have it removed. Shouldn't this have been disclosed by our home inspector? --Jeri  more...

Brits get thumped like U.S.

By Bradley Inman, Monday, October 20, 2008.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/ru_boff/2126740570/">Dimitry B</a>.

LONDON -- The European housing markets are turning as bitter as vinegar on chips as property sales and prices come tumbling down.

Property values fell to their lowest level in 30 years in September, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. According to another report, home sales fell to 17,000 in June 2008 from 105,000 in June of 2007, and that was before the financial collapse of late summer and fall.  more...

Fannie, Freddie reevaluating fees Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Monday, October 20, 2008.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are shifting their emphasis from earning the maximum return for investors to pricing their loan guarantees to provide maximum liquidity to mortgage markets while still maintaining minimum safety and soundness standards.

That -- coupled with the government's backing of Fannie and Freddie's debt and mortgage-backed securities, could help drive down interest rates in coming months -- according to the newly appointed top executives at Fannie and Freddie and the head of the federal agency that oversees them.  more...

SoCal sales soar 65%; prices sink 33%

By Inman News, Monday, October 20, 2008.

Southern California home sales soared a record 65 percent in September from the record lows during the same month last year, according to real estate data company MDA DataQuick, with resales of foreclosure properties accounting for half of all transactions. The median home price, meanwhile, plunged 33.2 percent year-over-year in September.  more...

Globrix eyes U.S. market

By Joel Burslem, Monday, October 20, 2008.

Globrix, the UK based, News International backed real estate search site announced this week it will be making the move in to the United States in early 2009.

They are following the footsteps of early leader Dothomes, which announced its US expansion in April of this year (see DotHomes is in the Running).  more...

RE/MAX partners with REO software firm

By Inman News, Monday, October 20, 2008.

Franchise company RE/MAX International Inc. announced a partnership today with tech company REO Maestro to offer software to help agents manage foreclosure property listings. The workflow management software offers a range of expense and performance tracking functions and an online forums for agents to interact, among other features.
 more...

Builders change their ways

By Inman News, Monday, October 20, 2008.

In September, single-family housing starts in the Midwest, Northeast and West hit the lowest paces since government record-keeping began in 1959, and analysts say that some big and small builders may be doomed to fail as the housing slump progresses, according to a Reuters news analysis.  more...