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Asset decline, but no 'Grapes of Wrath' rerun Premium Content

By Lou Barnes, Friday, March 6, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/tonythemisfit/2860050075/" target=blank>Tony the Misfit</a>.

General financial and economic deterioration has helped mortgage rates to fall close to their lows, still fee-heavy, but a "four" in front.

The decline in all long-term interest rates is no mean achievement, days before the Treasury will auction $63 billion in longer-term paper -- the cash volume the Treasury will need every two weeks this year.  more...

Be safe installing roof truss

By Paul Bianchina, Friday, March 6, 2009.

From complex commercial buildings to simple garden sheds, the advent of the manufactured roof truss has simplified roof construction for carpenters and do-it-yourselfers alike. However, trusses are both flexible and awkward until they're on the roof and braced, and it's very easy to get injured during the installation process. You need to pay attention, take things slow and in the proper order, and observe some simple but very important safety procedures.

DELIVERY AND PLACEMENT  more...

Mar

6
2009

'Waterfall' and the falling-out of Move Inc. and ActiveRain

By Inman News, Friday, March 6, 2009.

Inman News reporter Matt Carter delves into the courtship and parting of ways by Realtor.com operator Move Inc. and real estate blogging network ActiveRain in a two-part series.

Move Inc. had eyed an acquisition of ActiveRain but pulled out of the deal. In response, ActiveRain filed a lawsuit.

Read both parts:

Code name 'Waterfall': Move's play for ActiveRain

Why did Move spurn ActiveRain?

Zillow turns off 'it's for sale' button

By Inman News, Friday, March 6, 2009.

Listing and valuation portal Zillow.com will no longer allow just anyone to flag homes in its database to "tell us it's for sale."

In announcing the change Thursday, Zillow said any user -- not just property owners and listing agents -- to report that a property in its database was "for sale" was a little used feature that antagonized some real estate agents and brokers.

Only 4,323 properties on the site were reported as for sale by someone other than the owner or listing agent -- less than one one hundredth of a percent of the site's listings.  more...

Delinquencies, foreclosures hit new highs

By Inman News, Friday, March 6, 2009.

More than one in 10 homes with mortgages were behind on their payments or in foreclosure in the fourth quarter of 2008 -- the highest proportion in records dating back to 1972, the Mortgage Bankers Association said today.

About 7.88 percent of all mortgages outstanding on one- to four-unit residential properties were at least one payment past due during the fourth quarter, and another 3.3 percent were in foreclosure. The combined delinquency and foreclosure rate of 11.18 percent was a record, as were the percentage of loans 60 days or 90 days or more past due.  more...

Why did Move spurn ActiveRain? Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Friday, March 6, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/billtex48/772002589/" target=blank>(Bill and Mavis) - B&M Photography</a>.

When executives with Move Inc. met with founders of ActiveRain Corp. at a January 2007 industry conference in New York City, they were worried that the rapidly growing real estate blogging and social networking startup might soon be snatched up by -- or partner with -- a Move competitor (see Part 1).

When launched in June 2006, ActiveRain had made a big splash among real estate professionals. The company not only provided members with a free blogging platform, but boosted their search-engine rankings by aggregating the contributions of thousands of contributors on ActiveRain.com.

 more...