Home

Foreclosure and debt: Contagious?

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Monday, October 5, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyllows/3490494812/" target=blank>Dan Queiroz</a>.

In my leisure time reading lately, I've noticed that several concepts just seem to keep coming up over and over again. And they're not just garden variety topics, either. One, for example, social contagion theory, is a growing area of study in social science that I read about in Psychology Today ("Is Depression Contagious?"), on Deepak Chopra's blog and in a couple of other places, all over the course of a couple of weeks.

The most in-depth article I read on the topic was a 10-screen New York Times article detailing the results of a new re-analysis of some of the data from the six-decade-long Framingham Heart Study, which resulted in the eureka-style epiphany that "good behaviors -- like quitting smoking or staying slender or being happy -- pass from friend to friend almost as if they were contagious viruses."  more...

Oct

5
2009

Try looking in 1998

By Inman News, Monday, October 5, 2009.
 more...

Obama open to extension of tax credit

By Inman News, Monday, October 5, 2009.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs today confirmed that President Obama supports an extension of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, along with prolonging jobless benefits and health care subsidies for unemployed workers.

Briefing reporters, Gibbs said the measures don't amount to a second stimulus plan.

Evidence of bipartisan support in the Senate for extending the first-time homebuyer tax credit was also on display Sunday ...  more...

Climbing the real estate search ladder Premium Content

By Bernice Ross, Monday, October 5, 2009.

How Google and other search engines determine Web rankings is a mystery. Nevertheless, there are specific steps you can take to help you obtain better search-engine placement.

In a recent article, I suggested that it was smart for agents to obtain URLs for their Web site such as WilshireHighriseCondos90024.com or AustinTexas78757LakesideHomes.com.

One of our readers commented that this couldn't possibly be a good idea since no one could remember those addresses. The point in using this approach is to capitalize on how people actually conduct searches using what is known as the "long tail" of search.  more...

Real estate losses force quick resolution

By Benny Kass, Monday, October 5, 2009.

DEAR BENNY: I am a retired teacher on a fixed income, with a home in California, a small 401(k) and an even smaller Roth IRA. I bought two very good new houses in 2005 with nothing down at a 10 percent market discount. I have a first loan and a second loan on each house. Since then, the rents have dropped dramatically and both houses are now empty.

This summer I will lose $12,000 on both houses, and renting them will add up to an $800 loss per month. I can no longer throw money away on these investments. If I go into foreclosure, what can happen to me besides my first-ever bad credit rating and an IRS bill for the difference in foreclosure price vs. loan amount? --V.K.  more...

Broker, innovator joins Inman News

By Inman News, Monday, October 5, 2009.
Matt Fagioli

Matt Fagioli, operating broker at Diamond Dwellings Realty and co-founder of the Atlanta-area REtechSouth real estate technology conference, has joined Inman News as vice president of business development.

"Events, social media and other 2.0 stuff is my passion. I love marketing, brand development, the thrill of sales and the joy of helping people in the process," says Fagioli, who also worked to develop the first-ever New Media Atlanta Conference, held last month.  more...

To be a broker: the series

By Inman News, Monday, October 5, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwimsnr/3728360403/" target=blank>kwimsnr</a>.

Inman News is preparing a series of articles focusing on the everyday experiences of real estate brokers, including the pressing issues and hardships they face. We will profile brokers across the country, detailing the market conditions that they face and their varied operating styles and business models.

Many brokers have been faced with tough decisions during this national recession and prolonged housing slump, such as staffing cuts and office downsizing and consolidations. This series will examine how brokers are enduring this challenging onslaught of foreclosures, tightened lending, and economic decline, and what changes they are making to survive and thrive.

As we prepare this series we are open to reader recommendations on broker profiles: Send us names and contact information for brokers who you think we should profile, as well as your reasons on why they would make a good subject for this series.  more...

Former homeowners go the rental route Premium Content

By Inman News, Monday, October 5, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frozenchipmunk/52753779/">frozenchipmunk</a>.

With about 1 million homes in foreclosure at the close of the second quarter, according to a Treasury Department report released last week, the American dream is going into reverse at bewildering speed for homeowners across the country.

For some former homeowners, renting provides financial relief or a new beginning. And while those interviewed for this article became renters for different reasons, they all plan to be owners again.  more...

A model mortgage market

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, October 5, 2009.
Denmark's flag. Photo courtesy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dannebrog.jpg">Per Palmkvist Knudsen</a>.

In 2002 I wrote a column contrasting the housing finance systems of Denmark and the United States. Recently, both systems have been stressed by the worldwide financial crisis, prompting me to take another look. I was interested in whether the impact of the crisis on the two systems revealed anything further about their relative strengths and weaknesses?

The core of the Danish system is eight specialized mortgage banks that originate all home mortgages, and a mortgage bond market where the loans are funded. There are bonds with fixed and adjustable rates, and within each category there are separate bonds for different terms.  more...

Lender infighting on the rise

By The Real Deal, Monday, October 5, 2009.

NEW YORK -- As the real estate industry scrambles to unwind billions of dollars in distressed inventory, a number of high-profile deals are stuck in neutral as lenders battle it out with each other to see who will get paid and who will be left holding the (empty) bag.

While creditors often turn on each other during a workout, the massive number of securitized loans with multiple lenders and third-party servicing firms managing the funds is creating a level of complexity that may take years to sort out, analysts said.  more...

N.Y. condo sales up sharply

By Inman News, Monday, October 5, 2009.

Condo sales jumped 45.6 percent from the second quarter to the third, helping boost the median sales price of both new and re-sale units, according to a report prepared by the appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. for Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

The median price for a Manhattan condo grew by 1.7 percent from quarter to quarter, to $850,000, but was down 8.4 percent from a year ago, the report said.  more...