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A real estate 12-step plan

By Bernice Ross, Monday, December 22, 2008.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kyknoord/1442045860/" target=blank>kyknoord</a>.

Gary Keller, author of the new book "Shift" and founder of Keller Williams Realty, is no stranger to market downturns. He started his real estate career in the 1980s recession and started his franchising operation during the recession in the 1990s. In his recent seminar at NAR, Keller recommended 12 different ways to put your business on the road to recovery.

1. You can run towards or you can run away from the market
Agents who are succeeding in today's market are embracing short sales, foreclosures and REOs rather than running from them.  more...

Broker won't lower rate after locking

By Benny Kass, Monday, December 22, 2008.

DEAR BENNY: I recently purchased a new home. Before I wrote an offer to the seller, I contacted three mortgage brokers to get a loan. After meeting with the brokers ("A," "B," "C"), I chose broker "A" and went through the application process, and was approved for the loan. I signed a lock-in agreement to make sure that the interest rate would not change before closing.  more...

Top reasons home won't sell

By Dian Hymer, Monday, December 22, 2008.

It's a challenging home sale market for sellers in many areas around the country. Sellers who are having difficulty selling have several options.

The first goal is to find out why your home isn't selling. Ask your listing agent for information about listings similar to yours in your neighborhood that sold within the last three to six weeks.

You need to know the facts about listings that have sold and closed and those that went pending during this period. A pending sale is one where the sellers have accepted an offer, but the sale has not yet closed.  more...

FDIC loan mod plan flawed

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, December 22, 2008.

"Do you have an opinion about the FDIC plan to jumpstart loan modifications as a way to reduce foreclosures?"

Yes, I admire FDIC, under the leadership of Sheila Bair, for taking the lead in attacking the root source of the financial crisis: the vicious cycle of declining home prices and foreclosures. I share FDIC's view that the way to break that cycle is to modify mortgage contracts in ways that enable borrowers in distress to return to good standing and stay there -- AND to do enough of them to make a difference.  more...

Rebuilding trust, image in downturn

By , Monday, December 22, 2008.
Related Podcast/Video: 
Roadmap to Recovery Audio Town Hall

Falling home prices and mortgage rates could get many would-be home buyers off the fence in 2009, but many will continue to be wary of "catching a falling knife" or won't be able to get financing if they're ready to buy.

It will be up to a shrinking cadre of knowledgeable, tech-savvy agents and brokers to rebuild trust with consumers by providing "value added" information and insight to clients while finding ways to cut their own costs ...  more...

Mortgage brokers sue to block RESPA

By Inman News, Monday, December 22, 2008.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is going to court to block implementation of changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), saying the Department of Housing and Urban Development failed to assess the impact on small businesses.

HUD's RESPA rule changes include a standardized Good Faith Estimate form, which requires the disclosure of yield spread premiums paid by lenders when borrowers take out loans with higher interest rates. The GFE also requires that the rebates be credited to borrowers.  more...

Home values by we, the people

By Inman News, Monday, December 22, 2008.

Officials at real estate brokerage company ZipRealty see a serious side to a real estate guessing game that allows its clients to weigh in on home values.

The company's Web site now displays the average price estimate of its community of users for specific homes alongside automated home valuations from real estate sites including Zillow.com, Cyberhomes.com and Eppraisal.com.  more...

Dec

19
2008

Did you miss Wednesday's audio townhall meeting?

By Inman News, Friday, December 19, 2008.

If you did, not to worry. You can now listen to it on Inman.com.

Our Roadmap to Recovery Audio Townhall is now available exclusively for Inman Premium Members. This 60-minute call is packed full of great information and features Inman News publisher Brad Inman, Inman News columnist Kris Berg, Patrick Stone of the Stone Group, Cyberhomes GM Marty Frame and Pam O'Connor from the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World.  more...

Price drops spark California home sales

By Inman News, Friday, December 19, 2008.

Southern California home sales jumped 26.9 percent and San Francisco Bay Area home sales rose 12.3 percent in November compared to the same month last year -- while median prices plunged 34.5 percent and 44.4 percent, respectively.

That's according to data released this week by real estate research company DataQuick Information Systems.  more...

The 4.5% mortgage myth?

By Lou Barnes, Friday, December 19, 2008.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/moe/15797987/" target=blank>Moe</a>.

The Fed's cut to "zero to 0.25 percent" cost of money and non-response in the mortgage markets combined to produce consternation among a refinance-hungry public.

Excepting a frantic hour at no-fee 4.75 percent on Wednesday morning, mortgage rates remain as they have been for 10 days, roughly 5 percent with an inescapable origination fee. And that deal is available only for the best FICOs and loan-to-values.  more...

Mortgage rates down, applications up

By Inman News, Friday, December 19, 2008.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are at their lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking them in 1971, the mortgage financier said in releasing the results of its weekly primary mortgage market survey.  more...

When double-pane glass needs replacing

By Paul Bianchina, Friday, December 19, 2008.

Q: I am sort of handy around the house and was wondering how difficult it is to remove and replace the windows in my house. There seems to be moisture between the double-pane windows now. Any tips? --Frank C.

A: If you are seeing moisture between the panes of glass in a double-pane window, that indicates that the air-tight seal has failed, which is not unusual. What you want to do is replace the insulated glass unit, not the entire window -- the same as what would happen if you broke the window glass.  more...

China at forefront of environmentalism?

By Arrol Gellner, Friday, December 19, 2008.

(This is Part 3 of a four-part series. Read Part 1, "China's growth has lessons for U.S.," and Part 2, "As China grows, so do its problems.")  more...

Fidelity set to be largest title insurer

By Inman News, Friday, December 19, 2008.

The last major obstacle to Fidelity National Financial Inc.'s $282 million acquisition of LandAmerica Financial Group Inc.'s two largest underwriting subsidiaries fell at midnight Thursday, as federal antitrust regulators allowed a legal waiting period to expire without intervening in the deal.  more...

How will bank bailout affect my mortgage?

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Friday, December 19, 2008.

Q: My home mortgage is held by a bank that was just bought out, and the bank that bought it has received some of the bailout money. How will the buyout and the bailout impact my mortgage?

A: Despite all the hyperbole in the media, the buyouts and bailouts will not affect the vast majority of homeowners. If you are happy with your mortgage, the biggest impacts you might see are an institutional name change and/or a change in Web site address and mailing address for your mortgage payment. However, if you are struggling with your mortgage, the buyout may have an impact on your situation.  more...

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