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Inman News Product Review Rules

By Inman News, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

Inman News has assembled several product review teams to offer numeric ratings for a range of real estate products, Web sites, online tools and services after a period of hands-on testing that spans at least seven days.  more...

Fannie, Freddie foreclosure starts spike

By Inman News, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

A new report shows foreclosure starts among the 30.4 million first-lien residential mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- most of them prime loans -- jumped 63 percent during the first three months of the year, to 243,800.

The sharp increase in the number of homes entering the foreclosure process compared to the previous quarter outpaced the 20 percent increase in foreclosure prevention actions by Fannie and Freddie's 3,000 loan servicers. Those actions, including loan modifications, forebearance and repayment plans, and short sales, totalled 87,000.  more...

Smart remodel, big returns

By Bernice Ross, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

DEAR BERNICE: We're planning on remodeling our two-bedroom, one-bath house and were wondering what upgrades will produce the best return on our investment. The house needs a new kitchen, and another bedroom and bath. We also thought of putting in a pool. Where should we begin? --Andy K.

DEAR ANDY: A common misconception about upgrades is that they always increase the value of the property. Upgrades normally make a house more saleable (i.e. easier to sell.) They don't necessarily increase the property value. For example, assume that you upgrade your property with cherry cabinets and green granite countertops. You sell the home to someone who wants white European cabinets and black countertops. Your upgrades made your home more attractive to more buyers, but in this case, the upgrades are not worth much if the buyer intends to tear them out. When deciding what to upgrade, the smart decision is to upgrade your home for your own enjoyment.  more...

'Surf bum' rides real estate SEO wave

By Inman News, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

Justin Britt, a founding partner and self-described "head Web-head" responsible for online marketing and Web site usability at Hawaii Life Real Estate Services, located on the island of Kauai in Kapaa, Hawaii, is coming to the Real Estate Connect conference, which runs from Aug. 5-7 in San Francisco.

Britt has worked for several online businesses and served as a search-engine optimization consultant for the real estate, travel, music and sporting goods industries. He describes himself as a "part-time surf bum, wannabe poker pro and sometimes world traveler."  more...

Get money matters on the mend

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.
Image courtesy <a href="http://www.sterlingpublishing.com/catalog?isbn=1402747349" target=blank>Sterling Publishing</a>.

This book is not new. But the concept and the content are so refreshing against the backdrop of finger-pointing, financial anxiety and knee-jerk non-solutions to our individual and collective financial dramas, I thought it warranted some exposure, especially to the real estate-minded folk of America. "Why Smart People Do Stupid Things with MONEY," by Bert Whitehead, is a 100 percent timely, holistic and insightful guide to understanding and rehabilitating financial dysfunction and setting the stage for long-term financial wellness.

At the outset, Whitehead, one of America's loudest proponents for noncommissioned, fee-only financial planning, discusses the beginnings of the current national financial crises, without excessively blaming either institutions or individuals.  more...

Index shows slowdown in price declines

By Inman News, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

U.S. home prices fell a seasonally adjusted one-tenth of a percent from March to April, and were down three-tenths of a percent in the first four months of the year, according to a government house price index that excludes many homes purchased with risky mortgages.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index tracks the purchase prices of homes backing mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  more...

Housing inventory shrinks in May

By Inman News, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

The inventory of existing homes fell 3.5 percent from April to May, with the 3.8 million homes on the market representing 9.6 months of supply, down from 10.1 months in April, the National Association of Realtors said. Economists generally consider a six-month supply of homes a healthier balance between supply and demand.

Sales of existing homes were up 2.4 percent in May, to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.77 million units, which helped nudge inventory in the right direction, though they were 3.6 percent below the May 2008 rate.  more...

Defaulting homeowners strike back

By Marcie Geffner, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lrargerich/2590387842/" target=blank>lrargerich</a>.

The windows are broken. The doors are off their hinges. The walls have been punched through like Swiss cheese. The appliances, curtain rods, faucets and other supposedly built-in fixtures have been ripped out and presumably sold. Paint or perhaps motor oil has been poured over the once-pristine carpets. The basement has been flooded. The plumbing is stopped up, and the stench is indescribable.

All that -- and much more -- describes the state of many of the homes that are for sale in foreclosure-wracked markets around the country.  more...

Illegal conversion must be undone

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

DEAR BARRY: The home I just bought has a workshop that was converted to a studio apartment, but no one told me that the conversion was not permitted. Now the city wants me to convert it back. I used all my money to buy the property and can't afford the construction costs. No one disclosed this to me: not my home inspector, the appraiser, the seller, or the agent. Do I have any recourse? --Norman

DEAR NORMAN: Let's run through the list of suspects:

1. The home inspector, if he was sharp and experienced, should have advised you to consult the building department to verify permits for the conversion.  more...

SEO: Beyond the 10 blue links Premium Content

By Gahlord Dewald, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

The first half of 2009 has seen some pretty strong adjustments to search-engine technology. The introduction of a new engine that assists and assembles scientific data: WolframAlpha.com. A rebranding of Microsoft's search product into Bing (see article), which bills itself as a "decision engine."

Yahoo held an entire event focused on how they're leveraging their multiple search products to decipher user intent. Google has products in Google Labs with new presentation formats (and new ways to help them understand their users).  more...

Unzipping investment properties Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

SmartZip, a Web site that offers rating and research tools for real estate investors, including color-coded investment heat maps, launches today.

The company offers automated scores for individual properties on a scale of 1 to 100 for "growth" and "income" and also scores cities, metro areas and counties.  more...

Bloom is off the refi boom

By Inman News, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

Rising interest rates and a slow start to the Obama administration's Making Home Affordable loan refinance program have the Mortgage Bankers Association retreating from an earlier prediction of big surge in mortgage originations in 2009.

In March, the MBA boosted its forecast for 2009 mortgage originations by $824 billion, saying it expected $1.96 trillion in refinancings would push total loan originations to $2.78 trillion.  more...

RealtyTrac numbers under fire in Atlanta Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

After changing its reporting methods two years ago in response to accusations that it was overstating the number of homes subjected to foreclosure-related filings, data aggregator RealtyTrac is facing the opposite problem: a newspaper analysis suggesting the company undercounted properties scheduled for auction in the Atlanta area.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said it reviewed legal notices published in newspapers in five metro Atlanta counties, counting 7,462 properties scheduled for auction in April. RealtyTrac, in contrast, reported that 3,746 properties were subjected to auction notices that month, the newspaper said.  more...