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Accepting the real estate downturn

By Inman News, Wednesday, December 17, 2008.

Pam Alexander is CEO and managing director of North American Operations for RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada Inc. and Integra Enterprises Corp.

She will speak during a global real estate panel at the Inman News Real Estate Connect conference in New York City, which runs Jan. 7-9, 2009.

Alexander responded to a set of questions posed by Inman News:

What do you see happening in the real estate market in 2009?  more...

Worries amid foreclosure wave

By Inman News, Wednesday, December 17, 2008.

A rising number of U.S. adults are worried about the potential negative aspects to purchasing a foreclosed home, according to survey results released Tuesday by online real estate company Trulia and foreclosure data provider RealtyTrac.

Both companies also compiled a series of statistics on foreclosure properties to accompany the survey results.  more...

HomeGain launches 'what if' valuations

By Inman News, Wednesday, December 17, 2008.

HomeGain, an online real estate marketing company, today announced the launch of a home valuation tool that offers estimates on how a range of home improvement projects might impact the value of their home.

This "what if" feature of its home values tool, accessible at the site's "Get Home Values" section, adjusts its home-value estimate based on hypothetical room additions and other added square footage, as examples.

***  more...

Fidelity closes in on LandAmerica deal

By , Wednesday, December 17, 2008.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/kid_pro_quo/406983727/" target=blank>Allan Ferguson</a>.

Fidelity National Financial Inc. has the green light from Nebraska insurance regulators and a federal bankruptcy court in Virginia to buy LandAmerica Financial Group Inc.'s two largest underwriting subsidiaries, Lawyers Title Insurance Corp. and Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co., for $282 million.

Should antitrust regulators approve the deal, Fidelity would surpass First American Corp. as the nation's biggest title insurance underwriter.  more...

Fed cuts short-term rates to the bone

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 16, 2008.

The Federal Reserve slashed short-term interest rates today to nearly zero, bringing to an end a 15-month campaign of rate reductions intended to encourage borrowing and stimulate economic growth.

With further cuts no longer possible, members of the Fed's open market committee promised to continue to "employ all available tools" to support financial markets and stimulate the economy, including purchases of mortgage-backed securities and other debt.  more...

Brokerages beef up brands

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 16, 2008.

HomeServices of America Inc. and Sotheby's International Realty Affiliates LLC both announced today that they have boosted their presence along the East Coast with the addition of multi-office brokerages.

HomeServices said it acquired Raleigh, N.C.-based York Simpson Underwood, a brokerage firm with 250 agents and six offices that handled a reported $717 million in closings last year. The company will merge with HomeServices firm Prudential Carolinas Realty to form Prudential York Simpson Underwood Realty.  more...

Dec

16
2008

Announcing the Winner of the Inman News "Future of Real Estate Commissions 2009" Survey Drawing

By Jeff Bernheisel, Tuesday, December 16, 2008.

A couple weeks ago we launched the "Future of Real Estate Commissions 2009" survey. We had a great response from our readers and would like to thank everyone for their valuable feedback.  As promised, we held a random drawing of the survey participants for a chance to win a $250 Amazon.com gift card.

And the winner is:  more...

Think twice before buying 1950s home

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, December 16, 2008.

DEAR BARRY: I'm buying a 1954 home and have just gotten the report from my home inspector. My main concern is the electrical system. According to the home inspector, the main panel has fuses, rather than circuit breakers, and the capacity of the system is only 60 amps. The home is about 2,000 square feet, and most of the wall outlets are the two-prong ungrounded type. An electrician I know says the panel should be upgraded to 100 amps, and the house should be rewired for three-prong outlets. Does the code require the seller to upgrade the electrical system?  more...

Housing permits, starts hit record low

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 16, 2008.

New-home construction activity slowed to a record low in November, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts plunged 47 percent year-over-year in November, and fell 18.9 percent compared to the October 2008 rate. The rate is a projection of a monthly total over a 12-month period, adjusted to account for typical seasonal fluctuations in construction activity.  more...

The Big Close

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, December 16, 2008.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/jasoon/10837680/sizes/o/" target=blank>Jasoon</a>.

This is, let me see, the beginning of my third year working as a part-time agent in New York City. I just recorded my second sale, which definitely put some mileage on me in a market that I have often described as "choppy."

It was a great win in many respects: a sale in my target neighborhood (SoHo); the first time I crossed the $2 million mark; and the first time I got both sides of a deal (grin).  more...

Spain most-searched real estate destination

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 16, 2008.

In an analysis of 1.4 million Google searches during September, real estate business portal Globaledge on Monday announced that Spain was the most-searched international property destination among English-speaking Internet users.  more...

From 'Z' to 'A': Zillow Advice

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 16, 2008.

Online real estate company Zillow today rolled out a new feature that allows consumers to pose questions to its online community of real estate experts.

"Zillow Advice," available at the "Advice" tab on the Zillow.com Web site, also allows users to add a tag to each question to specify a topic or geographic area.

The new feature builds on Q&A and discussions sections of the site -- Zillow's community generates 40,000 contributions per day, on average, according to the announcement.  more...

Dec

15
2008

HUD honcho 15

By , Monday, December 15, 2008.

 

Barack Obama announces NYC housing commissioner Shaun Donovan is his choice to be nation's 15th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (see story).  more...

Don't hate the real estate optimist

By Bernice Ross, Monday, December 15, 2008.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/62327186@N00/2550698529/" target=blank>crabchick</a>.

"Pollyanna!" "Inman should fire you!" "You give the business a bad name!" What have I done to merit these comments? I've had the audacity to say that the real estate market might actually be better in 2009 than many people anticipate.

In 2008, I've seen many good friends lose their jobs, their offices, and/or their companies. Everyone has scaled back. Companies are scrambling to weather the storm. Many agents are being forced out of the business or into second jobs to make ends meet. Our clients are scared to buy or unable to sell. The stock market is in a shambles. There's no reason for optimism -- right?  more...

NYC housing commissioner to run HUD

By Inman News, Monday, December 15, 2008.
Shaun Donovan

President-elect Barack Obama has tapped the head of New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Shaun Donovan, to be the next secretary of housing.

Obama called Donovan -- who held a key position at HUD under the Clinton administration and also has experience in the private sector -- a reformer who's expanded access to affordable housing in New York City.  more...

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