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Termite damage a nightmare to fix

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Q: I had a termite inspection done on my home. Now I must find a reputable contractor to do the work. The work to be done is extensive, and I feel it will be costly. The termites have damaged the rim joist, mudsill and subfloor in the subarea. Termite evidence was also noted in the subarea that appears to extend into inaccessible areas and should be treated.

I would appreciate any help that you can give me, as I have no idea where to start.  more...

Coldwell Banker dials in with iPhone interface

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate on Tuesday announced a redesign for its ColdwellBanker.com Web site and navigational tools that are customized for display on iPhones.

The Web site "automatically recognizes that it is being accessed by an iPhone, and will serve up the special iPhone interface," the company announced -- no software downloads are required for the custom interface.  more...

8 Democrats back bailout alternative

By , Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Eight House Democrats Tuesday proposed an alternative plan for unfreezing credit markets without putting taxpayers at risk that includes dropping "mark to market" accounting rules for mortgage backed securities and allowing the FDIC to buy "net worth certificates" in troubled banks.  more...

Write what you know

By Kris Berg, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

My writing tends to have a read-between-the-lines style. Many get it, and I was reminded recently that some don't. So today I will be as clear as a San Diego/Santa Ana day. This is about journalism and its many flavors, be it citizen blogger or professionally trained student of the medium. It is about authority and responsibility, and about how the two don't always coexist.

   more...

Can lender challenge loan data after closing?

By Tom Kelly, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

The mortgage meltdown has brought a return to the process of proper verification of a borrower's assets. But just how long is the information stated on your home-loan application considered valid? If you retire or lose your job after your loan closes, can the lender demand payment in full?

Those questions, and others like them, were raised recently by a longtime nurse whose lender demanded that a "reverification form" be signed at closing. She was especially concerned because she had already given financial information -- bank deposits, stocks, income -- at the time of application.  more...

Real estate industry sells 'rescue' plan

By , Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Backers of a plan to allow the government borrow up to $700 billion to buy troubled assets from banks and financial institutions insist that it's been miscast as a taxpayer-funded bailout of Wall Street, even as opponents rolled out a competing proposal to unfreeze credit markets by .

Supporters of the bipartisan plan voted down by the House Monday, including real estate industry trade groups, say the cost to taxpayers is likely to be significantly less than $700 billion and that the government may even make money on the deal.  more...

Life after a failed bailout

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Editor's note: The following is a collection of real estate professionals' responses to a real estate-related question.

QUESTION: What will happen to the U.S. economy and the housing market if Congress does not approve the proposed bailout plan?

 

Kevin Tomlinson
Realtor
EWM Realtors
Miami Beach, Fla.

For the first time, many people have expressed that they are "scared."  more...

Sucking on a Real Estate 'Binky'

By Marc Davison, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Flight 168 touched down at 2 a.m., many hours past the time printed on my boarding pass. There's no do-over. No "fly the next time on us" hookup. The airlines dish out bad times and we accept it.

I sat in the middle seat, wedged like a cold cut between two oversized slices of human bread. Each time I leaned forward I had to dislodge myself between two doughy arms on either side that encroached upon my space over the armrests.  more...

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'Let's not get fooled again'

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Editor's note: The following is a reader comment made on the Sept. 26 Inman News column, "Bailout incites 'grassroots rage.'"  more...

Home-price index drops a record 16.3%

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

An index that tracks home-price changes in 20 U.S. metro areas dropped a record 16.3 percent in July compared to the same month last year.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price 20-metro area index, which measures price changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, measured a 29.9 percent year-over-year price drop in the Las Vegas metro area -- the most substantial drop on the list.  more...

Fidelity offers public search sites for MLSs

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Fidelity National Financial Inc. is offering a new public face for multiple listing services, in the form of customized online property-search portals. The company's Cyberhomes MLS Portal allows MLSs to customize and brand public-search sites that are powered by frequent updates of MLS-supplied information.  more...

VFlyer offers custom branding for property ads

By Inman News, Monday, September 29, 2008.

VFlyer, a real estate technology company that offers tools for real estate professionals to build property ads and distribute property listings information to a variety of sites, is offering more options for custom branding for its members. The company's Theme Editor tool, first released in 2007, has been updated to include a range of stock images for a number of brokerage companies, including Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Keller Williams, RE/MAX and others.  more...

Canadian company acquires GMAC Home Services

By , Monday, September 29, 2008.

GMAC Home ServicesLLC, which operated one of the largest real estate brokerage companies in the United States and also offered relocation and mortgage operations, has been acquired by a Canadian company.

GMAC Real Estate, which ranked fifth in the nation for its company-owned brokerage operations, has been acquired by a Canadian company, Brookfield Residential Property Services.  more...

Sellers: Don't blame us for wall rot

By Barry Stone, Monday, September 29, 2008.

DEAR BARRY: We sold our house a few months ago and signed a disclosure statement that said no water problems existed. But the new owners found carpenter ants in a closet, which led them to rip off the drywall and remove the hardwood flooring. What they found was rot in the wall. No one could have known about this rot, but the new owners say we should have seen water stains on the subfloor when we installed the hardwood flooring last year. We don't recall any stains or we would have disclosed them.  more...

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