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Congress forgets role in $350B whodunit

By Lou Barnes, Friday, December 12, 2008.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/loopzilla/216718092/" target=blank>LoopZilla</a>.

On Wednesday morning mortgage rates collapsed close to 5 percent -- just under for fee-heavy deals, just above for fee-light, and all were a tad higher today.

Some notes on mortgage pricing:

These super-low rates are limited to 740-plus FICOs and 80 percent or less loan-to-value. Fannie and Freddie, despite 90 days in federal hands, still maintain punitive FICO pricing -- 695 FICOs have to pay a fee just to get 5.5 percent.  more...

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2008

The big three ... title insurers?

By Matt Carter, Friday, December 12, 2008.

The auto industry's got GM, Ford and Chrysler -- for now at least. In real estate, you've got your big four title insurance underwriting companies -- soon to be the big three.

In 2007, the top four title insurers controlled 87 percent of the $14 billion U.S. title insurance business. First American Corp. led the pack with 30 percent market share, followed by Fidelity National Financial Inc. (26 percent), LandAmerica Financial Group (19 percent) and Stewart Information Services Corp. (12 percent).  more...

Picturing real estate through agent's eyes Premium Content

By Pooja Kumar, Friday, December 12, 2008.
Ira Serkes, left, and Carol Serkes. Photo courtesy BerkeleyHomes.com.

Parking outside of a red farm-style house on Francisco Street in Berkeley, Calif., Realtor Ira Serkes steps out of his car and pulls out a camera from his vest pocket.

He walks around the property, taking pictures of the rooms and the backyard. Then he stops on the sidewalk before getting into the car to snap a photo of the apartment building across the street.

"My plan is to give clients the information to make the right decision," Serkes says. "If they don't like the apartments across the street, it will save them time and energy."  more...

When it comes to routers, spare no expense

By Paul Bianchina, Friday, December 12, 2008.

For many carpenters, woodworkers and home improvement enthusiasts, a router is one of the essential tools in their collection. Routers are extremely versatile, and once you have one, you'll no doubt find any number of uses for it.  more...

More suitors for LandAmerica Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Friday, December 12, 2008.
Image by <a href="http://www.lumaxart.com">LuMaxArt.com</a>.

Fidelity National Financial Inc. is not the only suitor hoping to snatch up LandAmerica Financial Group Inc.'s title insurance underwrtiting subsidiaries in bankruptcy court.

But the $298 million offer by Fidelity for Lawyers Title Insurance Corp., Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co. and United Capital Title Insurance Co., is the best LandAmerica has received so far, the company said in a bankruptcy court filing seeking approval of the sale.  more...

The office-less real estate brokerage Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Friday, December 12, 2008.
Flickr image by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/websage/114865810/sizes/l/in/set-72057594067891025/" target=blank>JohnAnthonyHartman</a>.

In this age of mobile technologies and financial distress, some real estate brokers are finding that maintaining large offices can be more of a burden than an asset.

Real estate industry veteran Larry Whited hopped aboard the virtual office bandwagon years ago -- he launched WebMLS.net in 2003 as a full-service, low-cost, real estate brokerage company that allows agents to work from home.  more...

Redfin goes with Google Maps

By Inman News, Friday, December 12, 2008.

High-tech brokerage company Redfin on Thursday announced that it has picked Google Maps as its exclusive interactive mapping platform and will no longer use a mixture of Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth at the Redfin.com site.  more...