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Home buyers: There's more to purchase offer than price

By Dian Hymer, Sunday, May 4, 2008.

There is more to a home purchase offer than the price. Ideally, the offer, including any counteroffers, should encompass all the terms and conditions that will apply to the purchase transaction.

In some states, attorneys draft purchase offers. In other states, like California, most residential purchase offers are filled out by real estate agents using pre-printed contracts that were drafted by attorneys. In either case, make sure to read the offer and understand it before it's presented to the sellers.  more...

Home-sale commissions too high, seller says

By Benny Kass, Sunday, May 4, 2008.

DEAR BENNY: I had my home priced under the market price and recently took it away from the brokers so I could lower the price even more. Why? Well, I have a beautiful, wonderfully priced home and did not get any offers.

In this period of downturn in the real estate market, each week we are told, "Price your house under the market value or pull it off the market."  more...

Lenders wise to beef up default-risk reserves

By Jack Guttentag, Sunday, May 4, 2008.

(This is Part 1 of a five-part series.)

The housing finance system, while still functioning, is in a crisis state. Interest-rate risk premiums -- the rate increment on mortgages classified as riskier -- are two to four times as large as they were two years ago. Day-to-day rate volatility, which can cause havoc in the relationships between borrowers and loan providers, is larger than I have ever seen it.  more...

DOJ sues MLS in South Carolina

By Inman News, Sunday, May 4, 2008.

The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against a broker-operated multiple listing service in Columbia, S.C., charging that the MLS's rules restrict competition and drive up the cost of real estate services.

The civil antitrust lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Columbia, alleges that CMLS "requires brokers to perform a prescribed set of services, which limits consumer choice, and excludes competitors who might offer innovative options that could provide better services to consumers in that area."  more...

Agents: a test on grading yourself Premium Content

By Alison Rogers, Sunday, May 4, 2008.

I have a listing where the contract has been out, for various reasons, for weeks instead of days. All the parties involved want this deal to happen, so every day I wake up and tend to the deal, which feels excruciatingly like moving down a football field one yard at a time.  more...

Don't blame Fed for weak dollar

By Lou Barnes, Sunday, May 4, 2008.

Long-term interest rates stayed about the same (mortgages 6 percent, 10-year Treasury 3.84 percent) as markets quarreled over the meaning of a new mountain of data.  more...

Signs of life in down market Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Sunday, May 4, 2008.
  • Paula Bean, an Orlando Realtor, says that many of the sellers who contact her these days owe more than they paid for their homes or are facing foreclosure.

"Most of the leads I get are all upside down -- they bought at the wrong time in the market," Bean said, adding that about 90 percent of all e-mail and phone leads she receives are related to sellers who are facing the prospect of foreclosure or short sales.  more...