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Jan

27
2009

Vaynerchuk, round two

By Matt Carter, Tuesday, January 27, 2009.

Phoenix real estate broker Jay Thompson tweets that he's getting a lot out of a podcast interview with WineLibrary.com's Gary Vaynerchuk that Michael Price has posted to his MLPodcast.com blog. Vaynerchuk takes 30 minutes to expound on his Inman Connect NYC keynote speech.

"Don't think he applies to real estate? Listen!" says Thompson, who's PhxREguy on Twitter.  more...

The real estate dues blues Premium Content

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, January 27, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/hammer51012/3010232028/" target=blank>Hammer51012</a>.

This happens every January: Fired up with the energy of having played with the geeks at the Connect conference, I decide that I'm going to embrace technology again. It's good for me, this yearly attempt. I'm like a Polar Bear Club swimmer, jumping in and freaking out, but readying myself for a more lasting and satisfying attempt later in the year.

And today I jumped in and had two very distinctly opposite experiences.  more...

Home inspector missed defects 10 years ago

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, January 27, 2009.

DEAR BARRY: I bought my home 10 years ago. At the time, my home inspector reported no plumbing defects. But recently, my plumber pointed out several conditions that violate the plumbing code. Some of these involve pipes that are fully visible in the basement and should have been seen by my inspector. After this many years, do I have any recourse against the home inspector for not reporting visible and costly issues? --Paul  more...

Feds to retry former Homestore CEO

By Marcie Geffner, Tuesday, January 27, 2009.

LOS ANGELES -- Stuart Wolff isn't yet out of the woods. U.S. prosecutors intend to retry Wolff, the former Homestore CEO whose conviction and 15-year prison sentence related to an accounting scandal was tossed out last year by a three-judge panel.

"There will be a new trial. Where we are is essentially as if the original trial had never happened," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael R. Wilner told Inman News.  more...

Real estate searches surge in California, Florida

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 27, 2009.

The Los Angeles metro area topped the list of most-searched areas in the U.S. at Realtor.com in December, parent company Move Inc. announced this week.

Chicago was second on the list, followed by the Riverside, Calif.; Phoenix, Detroit; Dallas; Tampa, Fla.; Philadelphia; San Diego, Calif.; and Boston metro areas.  more...

Obstacles delay REO sales Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Tuesday, January 27, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/thetruthabout/2668750897/" target=blank>TheTruthAbout...</a>

While the government's efforts to keep lenders solvent may have allowed them to hold off on selling some properties at fire-sale prices in 2008 (see part one), real estate brokers and auctioneers expect REOs to be big business in many markets this year.

FDIC-insured banks had $23 billion of REO inventory on their books at the end of September -- a 134 percent increase from a year ago. That includes $11.5 billion in one- to four-family homes and $1.5 billion in property purchased with FHA-backed loans securitized by Ginnie Mae.  more...