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Feb

19
2009

Brick and mortar, click and mortar, and more ...

By Inman News, Thursday, February 19, 2009.

Inman News has launched an online survey, "Beyond Brick and Mortar," that seeks your input on the changing real estate brokerage office.  more...

Beyond brick and mortar

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Thursday, February 19, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/marklarson/2435770670/">marklarson</a>.

Internet-capable handheld devices are deploying typical office functions in the field, allowing real estate professionals to be increasingly less reliant on a brick-and-mortar brokerage building.

Today's real estate office can be a car, a coffee shop or most any location within reach of a signal tower.  more...

MyNewPlace's apartment search goes social

By Inman News, Thursday, February 19, 2009.

MyNewPlace, a rental listing search site, has incorporated Facebook Connect functionality to allow its users to tap into their social graphs for feedback on prospective rentals.

According to Mark Moran, MyNewPlace's vice president of marketing and business development, users can "log into MyNewPlace.com using their Facebook account, post properties they are interested in to their Facebook page, and get feedback and advice from the people that are most important to them."  more...

Mortgage lending flat at big TARP banks

By Inman News, Thursday, February 19, 2009.

Residential mortgage lending was essentially flat during the fourth quarter at the 20 largest banks that the government has taken a stake in through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

The median change in residential mortgage loan balances at the banks was a 1 percent decline, the Treasury Department said in a report this week.  more...

Housing starts fall to record lows

By Inman News, Thursday, February 19, 2009.

U.S. housing starts in January fell 16.8 percent from December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units, a record low, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures reported Wednesday.

Compared to a year ago, new-home production declined 56.2 percent, the report found.  more...

Modifying option ARM a major headache

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Thursday, February 19, 2009.

Q: I have an option ARM mortgage and a home equity line of credit. Between the two, I owe about $300,000 more than my home is currently worth. Even so, I would still be willing to keep my home, and I have applied for a loan modification. However, it looks like the modified payment on my home will still be very high -- I can try to scrape to afford it, but if the economy and business gets any worse, I'll end up back in trouble. I wonder if I should give up on all these efforts to try to keep my home at any cost and try to do a short sale. What are your thoughts?

A: In many ways, this current phase of the housing market has been like a reset button on the market. Every day I get e-mails from homeowners who are considering simply "walking away" from their homes, without making any effort to discuss modification or short sale with their lenders.  more...

Jobless but on the hook for rent

By Janet Portman, Thursday, February 19, 2009.

Q: A month ago my adult daughter signed a one-year lease for her own apartment. She recently lost her job. Unemployment will cover only about half the rent. The landlord said she will have to pay rent until it is re-rented. What if it takes a long time and my daughter can't afford to pay? What can happen? --Diane N.  more...

Catching the copyright thieves

By Teresa Boardman, Thursday, February 19, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/mattimattila/2660481273/" target=blank>Matti Mattila</a>.

Most adults and even children understand that it is wrong to steal. We don't take something that does not belong to us without asking permission or paying for it.

Plagiarism is theft. I find it amazing that so many real estate professionals steal. We are supposed to be held to a higher standard. Entire articles from this site are lifted and posted on blogs. The blogger usually gives attribution and links back to this site, but it is still plagiarism because so many words have been copied that they make up the majority of the post.  more...

Californians boost real estate purchasing power

By Inman News, Thursday, February 19, 2009.

Some 59 percent of California households had sufficient income in the fourth quarter of 2008 to buy an entry-level home in the state, up sharply from 33 percent a year earlier, according to data from the California Association of Realtors' First-Time Buyer Housing Affordability Index.  more...