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FHA premiums should cover losses Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, November 12, 2009.

The Federal Housing Administration's capital reserve ratio has fallen below statutory minimums, but the government mortgage insurance program will not require a taxpayer bailout unless the economy becomes mired in a depression, officials said.

In releasing the results of an independent actuarial study, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan and FHA Commissioner David Stevens today said that in the event of a second severe recession, FHA's capital reserves would be wiped out, but premiums from insurance written in coming years would be sufficient to cover losses.  more...

A beef with Realtor association blogs

By Teresa Boardman, Thursday, November 12, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxtongue/24720422/">Foxtongue</a>.

Over the years Realtor associations have expressed interest in starting blogs, and some have followed through. I have been watching the association blogs. It is hard to get them off the ground and to keep them going.

Some associations rely on agent volunteers to write, and others rely on staff or some combination of the two.

I went searching on the Internet looking for blogs written by associations and found several. Most don't appear to get much traffic or have a clearly defined audience.  more...

Taking social media seriously Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Thursday, November 12, 2009.

In this increasingly communicative world, the age-old phrase, "Be careful what you say," may be due for a dust-off: "Be careful what you say, type, tweet, text, blog or e-mail."

And as social media blurs the line between personal conversations and business communications, companies and groups within the real estate industry and in other industries are working to define the gray areas and draw clear lines about what's acceptable and what's not.  more...

Must-haves when buying from builder

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Thursday, November 12, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/minidriver/423349158/" target=blank>sciondriver</a>.

Q: I am a first-time homebuyer in the New York metro area. I am considering purchasing a new condo in one of the boroughs, where most of what I am looking at is new construction. If I am buying a new-construction condo, is there any real need or benefit to having a Realtor represent me?

A: Short answer? Yes. Now for the longer answer.

Here's a hypothetical. You're a novice poker player -- in fact, you've never played a game before in life. And you're playing in the World Series Olympiad Playoffs ...  more...

Favoring families over frat boys

By Janet Portman, Thursday, November 12, 2009.

Q: For the past three years, we have been renting out our summer cottage for two- or three-day overnight periods to a group of university boys. We were given their Greek name, which we interpreted to be a Greek honorary group. This is a relatively new fraternity and when we began renting to them, we could find little information about them.

During a recent rental, our neighbors became concerned because the boys were conducting some kind of a ritual on our deck involving chanting, robes and candles (I believe it was a new membership ceremony). We now know that this is a fraternity for gay, homosexual and progressive men.  more...

MLS buy-in key to NAR database Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Thursday, November 12, 2009.

A national property database to be rolled out by a new subsidiary of the National Association of Realtors in April could give its members a bigger say in property valuations -- if their multiple listing services agree to participate, backers say.

NAR's Realtors Property Resource (RPR) database will attempt something that's never been done at the national level: integrate public property records, residential and commercial, with information gathered by Realtors and others when properties are listed in multiple listing services (MLSs) and commercial information exchanges (CIEs).  more...

Foreclosure slide: calm before storm?

By Inman News, Thursday, November 12, 2009.

U.S. foreclosure filings fell for the third straight month in October -- which "at first blush" may indicate the tide is turning, though fundamental forces driving foreclosures "continue to loom," with filings up about 19 percent compared to October 2008, foreclosure data provider RealtyTrac reported today.

James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer for RealtyTrac, reported that "high-risk mortgages, negative equity and unemployment" are among the contributors to higher foreclosure activity on a year-over-year basis in most states.  more...

Buyer $5,000 short: How to close the gap

By Bernice Ross, Thursday, November 12, 2009.

DEAR BERNICE: We need $237,900 to pay off our first mortgage and to cover closing costs. We have an offer from some buyers who qualify for a total purchase price of $233,000. We have to move because of my job change. We have the money for the downpayment on our next house. If we take this offer we will have to use part of our downpayment money to close the deal. That will probably put us short on our next house. Our agent says we should be thankful we have a preapproved buyer who can actually close the deal. Do you have any suggestions? --Mark L.

DEAR MARK: First, if you have a preapproved buyer who can definitely close the transaction, it would be very smart to take the offer, even if it's $4,900 less than what you need to pay off the loans and closing costs.  more...

Going with the REO flow Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, November 12, 2009.
<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ww6nM2Vf6Qj1YLwuo_2fpUiw_3d_3d" target=blank>Click here to take survey</a>.

Q: What is the biggest change you have made to the brokerage in the past year, and what prompted this change? How has this change impacted the bottom line, if at all? What has changed about your service offering in the past year?

We switched from working with short sales and bank-owned (REO) properties in 2008 to working only with REOs in 2009. Two years ago, we handled short-sale listings as well as REO (real estate owned) listings. In 2009, we focused only on REOs/bank-owned properties. Our business-to-business model allowed us to expand from one county to presently five counties, including: San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano, Contra Costa, and Alameda. We also gained additional REO lenders in 2009.  more...

Debate over real estate 'Buyer's Choice' law Premium Content

By Erik Pisor, Thursday, November 12, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/respres/2539334956/" target=blank>respres</a>.

Aimed at preventing banks from dictating the escrow and title services used in bank-owned (REO) property transactions, California's Assembly Bill 957 was approved and immediately implemented last month.

However, some real estate agents and brokers question the effectiveness of the bill, dubbed the Buyer's Choice Act.

"I don't know if it's going to make a difference," said Ralph Gorgoglione, a real estate agent with John Aaroe Group Inc. of Sherman Oaks.  more...