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Aug

11
2009

Mobile Inman: read Inman News on your smart phone

By Jeff Bernheisel, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.

Next time you're sitting in the coffee shop waiting for your client to show up, don't start up a new game of Brick Breaker to pass the time.  Do something constructive.  Be smarter than your competitors.  Get the latest Real Estate headlines from Inman News!  more...

Realogy losses narrow to $15 million

By Inman News, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.

Drastic cost-cutting measures helped real estate franchisor Realogy Corp. limit second quarter losses to $15 million, despite a $371 million decline in revenue from a year ago.

Realogy -- which in February was forced to respond to rumors that it could be forced to seek bankruptcy protection -- had posted a $259 million net loss in the first three months of the year, due in part to interest payments on its massive debt (see story).  more...

Deconstructing consumerism

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.
Image courtesy <a href="http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781101047798,00.html?Spent_Geoffrey_Miller#" target=blank>Penguin Group</a>.

The old marketing adage "sex sells" is to "Spent: Sex, Evolution and Consumer Behavior" as your uncle's old 35-millimeter vacation movies are to YouTube.

Rather than looking at how "consumerist capitalism" has evolved over the last few hundred years, "Spent" author Geoffrey Miller zooms way out historically speaking, analyzing the often-detrimental buying behaviors of modern Americans -- from the purchase of a Hummer to the purchase of a McMansion -- from the perspective of Cro-Magnon man (and woman).  more...

Loan mod may be better than selling

By Bernice Ross, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.

DEAR BERNICE: I need some advice to know what to price my home at when we do sell. We got an appraisal on our property and it said we lost more than $100,000 in value. Is there any way to sell it for what we paid for it? My husband thinks if we refinance our home we could sell it for what we paid for it originally. Is that true? --Rachel D.

DEAR RACHEL: The price you paid for your property has no bearing on what it is worth right now. A good analogy is the stock market. If I paid $100 for IBM stock and today it's selling at $60, I would have to settle for $60 a share if I wanted to sell today.  more...

Testing for asbestos in popcorn ceiling

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.

DEAR BARRY: We just learned that the "popcorn" ceiling in our home contains asbestos. Unfortunately, we already removed it from two rooms and did not follow the recommended procedures to prevent air contamination. Instead, we scraped the ceilings while they were dry, which made a lot of dust. Then we cleaned up the floor with a shop vacuum. So now we have two concerns. Have we contaminated our home, and have we potentially damaged our health? --Deborah

DEAR DEBORAH: Many people have removed ceiling texture from their homes without knowing they were disturbing asbestos. To determine whether your home is contaminated with asbestos, you should hire a qualified asbestos inspector. Air samples should be taken from your home and from the surfaces of fabric-covered furniture and carpets; even from the shop vacuum that you used.  more...

John L. Scott rolls out mobile platform

By Inman News, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.

John L. Scott Real Estate has launched a mobile Web site platform for consumers to access property listings. This mobile Web site includes several features designed for iPhone users.

The platform automatically detects when the site is accessed by an iPhone and provides a customized user experience. The platform also offers iPhone users a GPS technology that gives the option to view nearby homes for sale and open houses.  more...

Real estate R&D made easy Premium Content

By Gahlord Dewald, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/52581560/" target=blank>jurvetson</a>.

Your people and company culture matter more than the technology you use.

Coming back from Inman's Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco and putting all the information into practice can be daunting: Where to start implementing all the new shiny toys, the ideas and concepts shared by thought leaders, and the upcoming products and services coming from real estate technology partners?

Over and over again, in the hallways of the conference site and at lunches and in presentations and the Q-and-A sessions that followed, I heard individuals struggling with issues of permission.  more...

Loss seen on nearly 1 in 3 June sales

By Inman News, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.

Home values essentially held steady from May to June as the volume of sales picked up by 3.8 percent, according to an index compiled by real estate search and valuation site Zillow.com.

But nearly one in four owners of single family homes (23 percent) were "underwater" during the second quarter -- owing more on their mortgage than their homes were worth -- and foreclosure re-sales made up 22 percent of all home sales in June, Zillow said.  more...

Consumers getting power to shop Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.

SAN FRANCISCO -- There's a lot of talk about providing more transparency to consumers in real estate transactions, but delivering on those promises can be a complex undertaking, according to online providers who are attempting to crack the "black box" in lending and settlement services.

"Transparency is not as simple as turning on the lights," said Dave Gibbons, Zillow.com's director of community relations, and the man responsible for "keeping the peace" on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.  more...