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West Penn MLS agrees to FTC settlement

By , Wednesday, January 21, 2009.

A Pittsburgh-area multiple listing service has agreed to a proposed settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over charges that the MLS violated antitrust laws in restricting some real estate service contracts.  more...

Jan

20
2009

Buffett: Obama best choice to face 'economic Pearl Harbor'

By , Tuesday, January 20, 2009.

President Barack Obama takes office today holding the power to unleash the second half of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, and there's also legislation in the works to provide an additional $825 billion jolt to the economy (see Inman News story).  more...

Condo owners stuck with foundation repairs?

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, January 20, 2009.

DEAR BARRY: We own a two-story condo, located at the far end of our building. This year, we discovered foundation settlement when cracks and gaps appeared on the outside of our unit. The condo committee hired a structural expert who recommended pillars to prevent further settlement. The proposed cost for the work is $12,000. The attorney for the condo association says that we, not the condo association, must pay for the repair work. Unfortunately, we don't have that much money.  more...

Weathering big chill in Big Apple

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, January 20, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/tais/2289024318/sizes/l/" target=blank>t_a_i_s</a>.

Oh yoicks is it cold out there. We are in a spell where the highs are in the 20s and the lows are in the teens. I had already learned from going to school in Boston not to wear earrings in this kind of wintry weather, but I wasn't that aware of my new glasses and so now I have an abrasion on either side of my nose where my glasses have kind of frozen onto my face.

The outside, though, is something I'm basically avoiding: At this point it's all about wrap up, run the errand, and get back indoors. Except when indoors is my office.  more...

Obama, Dems ready to move on housing

By , Tuesday, January 20, 2009.
Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/11/images/20081110_d-577-515h.html" target=blank>WhiteHouse.gov</a>

Barack Obama will be sworn in today as the nation's 44th president with a green light from Congress to unleash the second half of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program and legislation providing an additional $825 billion jolt to the economy on tap.

Before Obama took the oath of office, lawmakers had introduced a slew of measures in the new year aimed at spurring home purchases and preventing foreclosures.  more...

Dwellicious offers home for search results

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 20, 2009.

Dwellicious, a site launched by former eNeighborhoods managers that allows consumers to save their list of favorite homes to a personalized Web page, has rolled out a subscription version of its service for real estate professionals.  more...

Jan

19
2009

Explaining the financial crisis with humor

By , Monday, January 19, 2009.

An update to last year's popular subprime sketch performed by British comedians John Bird and John Fortune.

In two parts:

   more...

Recipe for a powerful business plan

By Bernice Ross, Monday, January 19, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/billhr/3189167473/" target=blank>Bill HR</a>.

More than 90 percent of all real estate agents operate without a business plan. If you want to increase your profitability in 2009, you must address how to increase your revenue as well as how to decrease your costs.

There are numerous ways to create a great business plan. The most important step is to write your goals down and share them with someone else. If you do nothing else from today's column, taking this one step improves the probability   more...

Mortgage shopping is all about technique

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, January 19, 2009.

Last week I reported the results of a mortgage shopping expedition, but did not say much about how I got those results. This article is about shopping technique. Most of it is simple. In a highly imperfect market, an investment in the time needed to shop effectively can pay large dividends.

Shop online: Lenders generally are prepared to deliver the prices they post online. Prices shown in printed media are obsolete when they are published, while quotes offered over the telephone are worthless.  more...

Contingent sale offers can benefit sellers

By Dian Hymer, Monday, January 19, 2009.

Convincing a seller to accept an offer that's contingent on the sale of another property can be challenging. The odds of acceptance improve if the offer is structured to the mutual benefit of both buyers and sellers.

From the buyers' perspective, there are advantages and disadvantages to contingent sale offers. A big advantage is that the buyers don't have to go through with the purchase if their home doesn't sell. They don't risk much.

The buyers may incur costs of inspecting and appraising the property, but the expense is minimal compared to buying a new home before selling the old one and ending up owning two homes at once.  more...

Lender can't nix loan on inherited home

By Benny Kass, Monday, January 19, 2009.

DEAR BENNY: My father passed away in January 2008 and I have inherited his townhouse. He had an existing mortgage, and I am continuing to make the mortgage payments. I have not notified the mortgage company. I am unable to obtain financing for the home in my name at this time. I have already been turned down twice. Does state law allow me to assume this loan, or if the finance company finds out, can it pull the loan? I don't want to lose the house. There was a will (I was the personal representative and sole beneficiary) and I had an attorney prepare the deed, which has been recorded in my name. It was my father's wish that the house be mine upon his death. --R.N.

DEAR R.N.: Please relax. State law has nothing to do with this. Federal law -- called the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 -- protects you. This law, among many other matters, specially addressed your issue.  more...

Video isn't just about listings

By Inman News, Monday, January 19, 2009.

For the last several months, Vancouver Realtor Ian Watt has been blogging his daily thoughts about real estate by video.

It’s a really bare bones production - he just props up a small camera on his dashboard and records himself as he drives to and from his listing appointments.

If you haven’t seen them, it’s one of the most interesting uses of video in real estate I’ve seen. You can see these video diaries on his web site at ianwatt.ca. Go watch a few and then come back.  more...

Who are they and what do they want?

By , Monday, January 19, 2009.

There's more to Web analytics than holding a clicker and counting the number of people who come to your site and watching where they go.

Web analytics is about learning everything you can about your visitors, their intentions and needs. With a deeper understanding of how they use your site, you can tweak it to guide them not only to information they are seeking, but a "call to action" -- whether that's buying a pair of shoes or contacting a real estate agent about a listing.  more...

Jan

16
2009

Anger management

By , Friday, January 16, 2009.

Wondering what Barry Ritholtz -- who last week told attendees at the Inman News Connect Real Estate conference in New York City that housing rescue proposals to date amount to little more than "the hair of the dog that bit you" -- thinks of the government's $100 billion+ backstop of Bank of America and the breakup of Citigroup (the recipient of $45 billion in TARP funds)?  more...

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