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Keep your eyes on the prize Premium Content

By Bernice Ross, Monday, March 23, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lumaxart/2136953043/in/set-72157603545124242/" target=blank>lumaxart</a>.

Making eye contact with your clients is a good thing -- right? Not necessarily. As the U.S. continues to attract more global customers, it's important to know when to look your client in the eye and when to look the other way.

American culture places a high value on looking people in the eye, provided you were born prior to 1965. Individuals who fail to look you in the eye can't be trusted. On the other hand, Gen X (born 1965-1976), due to high computer use and a reliance on text messaging, almost never looks other individuals in the eye.  more...

Top mistakes today's sellers make

By Dian Hymer, Monday, March 23, 2009.

Low interest rates could spark a pickup in the home-sale market in some areas. If you're inclined to sell, here are some mistakes you'll want to avoid.

The biggest mistake sellers make is listing at an unrealistic price. If you want or need to sell, your home must be priced at or under current market value, particularly in places where prices are declining.

To avoid pricing too high or too low, carefully research your local market before selling.  more...

Report: Long & Foster exec to head FHA

By Inman News, Monday, March 23, 2009.

Long & Foster Cos. may soon be looking for a new president and chief operating officer, as David H. Stevens has reportedly been tapped to head the Federal Housing Administration by the Obama administration.

Stevens, who was promoted to president and COO of Chantilly, Va.-based Long and Foster in October, is a veteran of the mortgage industry.  more...

Existing-home sales up in February

By Inman News, Monday, March 23, 2009.

Sales of existing homes rose 5.1 percent from January to February, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million units, the National Association of Realtors reported today.

Distressed sales accounted for 40 to 45 percent of transactions, and total housing inventory grew 5.2 percent, to 3.8 million existing homes for sale.  more...

Real estate brokerages hit by bankruptcy, closures Premium Content

By Marcie Geffner, Monday, March 23, 2009.

An increase in real estate business closures and bankruptcies is an inescapable reality of any housing market downturn, and this cycle has been no different from those past. Though there are no hard statistics that quantify the number of companies that have closed their doors, merged with their competitors or filed for bankruptcy court protection, there's no doubt that closures and bankruptcies are on the rise and that both large and small real estate companies have been involved.

A search of court records for real estate bankruptcies pulled up hundreds of records of personal and corporate filings, and seemingly no segment of the industry has been immune.  more...

Digital documents weather downturn Premium Content

By Erik Pisor, Monday, March 23, 2009.

Despite the prolonged real estate downturn, companies that provide electronic document, electronic signature and transaction management services for home sales professionals are reporting an uptick in the use of paperless technologies.

"Agents are saying, 'I need to be smart about how I run my business and do more for less,' " said Tom Gonser, co-founder and vice president of product strategy for DocuSign, a company that offers electronic signature and online contract execution services for a range of industries.  more...

Life insurance for financial firms

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, March 23, 2009.

Last week, I discussed why capital requirements -- requiring firms to have capital equal to some percentage of their assets -- cannot prevent financial crises. Among other evasions, regulated firms can shift to riskier assets (such as subprime mortgages) within the asset categories defined by the regulations. Discretionary actions by regulators to offset such shifts during a bubble period would be extremely disruptive, requiring more foresight and political courage than we have any reason to expect from public servants.

Proposals have emerged to rectify these weaknesses of capital requirements by automating the adjustment process. This would require identifying one or more statistical measures to which capital requirements would be tied.  more...