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An FDIC call for smaller financial firms

By Inman News, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

The U.S. financial sector should rely on smaller, less complex financial firms, rather than a few large firms that can bring down the whole system, said Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairman Sheila Bair during testimony to a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday.  more...

Bernanke: Housing market stabilizing

By Inman News, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

The housing market is beginning to stabilize, and the recession should end later this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress this week. However, Bernanke said this will happen only if the financial system continues to gradually improve and doesn't relapse into a credit squeeze.

The slight improvement with the housing market is the first to be seen in three years. Bernanke said that sales of resale homes are stable, and sales of new homes have recently increased, though both still remain at depressed levels. According to Bernanke, the affordability of homes is the most steadying factor.

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Goodbye popcorn ceiling, hello drywall

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

Q: My husband and I live in a high-rise condo on Russian Hill in San Francisco, which we bought in 1975 and have updated over the years. However we have not tackled the popcorn ceiling problem.

The contractor who remodeled the building's lobby a few years ago is going to upgrade our apartment (replace carpet with tile), and we broached the subject of the ceiling with him.  more...

Bringing home the rubber chicken Premium Content

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/organisciak/16780309/" target=blank>Ordered Chaos</a>.

This week I bought my dog a rubber chicken. He's not a budding stand-up comic; he's not even a little bit funny. It's just that during my most recent trip to the pet store for an essential -- dog food -- I made a wrong turn down the chew-toy aisle, and this particular plaything amused me. As did the squeaky hotdog I brought him last time, and the rubber wrench the time before.

All Simon wants is food, yet last time I checked, he doesn't have an active debit card. So I'm his personal shopper. And the pet store knows this. While his single purpose in life is to consume, I am the consumer -- at least where the pet store is concerned.  more...

Extending escrow: Unreasonable or not?

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

Signing a written contract with someone includes an unspoken agreement to be reasonable. A court recently found that this means property sellers must be reasonable in their decisions about whether to allow the buyers to extend escrow.

The buyer contracted to purchase 86 acres from the seller, to subdivide it and build homes on the lots. At the outset, the buyer agreed to close escrow within two years; as time went on, it became clear that the permit situation was complicated and that it would take much longer than two years to obtain the planning permissions to subdivide the property, which needed to be in place before escrow could close.  more...

Despite scares, Mexico still lures buyers

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

In recent weeks, the question has become common. Curiously, U.S. and Canadian citizens living in Mexico have retained the "manana" attitude even when it comes to crime.

"You think Americans really are not visiting Mexico because of crimes in the papers? Don't they realize it's basically a border deal among drug gangs?" asked Jerry Kerr, a native of San Francisco who spends his winters windsurfing in the warm waters of the Sea of Cortes.  more...

Trulia, HotPads win Webby Awards

By Inman News, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

For-sale home search and marketing site Trulia.com, and for-sale and rental property search site HotPads.com received awards in an annual online competition.

Trulia received the 2009 Webby Award in the real estate category -- the awards are selected by a body of hundreds of individuals, collectively known as The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.  more...

ZipRealty Q1 net loss totals $7.5 million

By Inman News, Wednesday, May 6, 2009.

ZipRealty Inc. on Tuesday announced a net loss of $7.5 million in the first quarter, or 38 cents per share, with revenues growing 5.3 percent compared to the same quarter last year and real estate transaction volume up 33.6 percent.

The quarterly net loss was larger than the $7.3 million loss in first-quarter 2008. Revenues totaled $21.7 million in the first quarter, compared with $20.6 million in the same quarter last year.  more...