The Rookie Realtor

I've only been in real estate for six months and I still haven't closed a deal, but I'm learning a little more every week.

Not all of the lessons are good. One is that serious buyers are outnumbered by lookie-loos and downright weirdos by a margin of about 3-to-1. Another is that while some veteran agents will do everything they can to help a rookie Realtor get started, others seemingly go out of their way to make a newcomer's job more difficult.  more...

IRS warns of common tax schemes

The IRS this tax season has alerted taxpayers to avoid falling victim to one of the most common tax scams and a variety of other schemes. In the new 2004 ranking, several new scams have reached the top of the consumer watch list, including abusive trusts and the "claim of right" doctrine.

In addition, the IRS has taken a new step this year and issued 10 new pieces of legal guidance involving scams in the "Dirty Dozen" and other tax schemes. The new guidance debunks the schemes and provides new legal details to help tax practitioners and taxpayers.  more...

CampusMBA partners with Encomia

The Mortgage Bankers Association on Friday announced a partnership with Encomia LP in which CampusMBA, the educational arm of the Mortgage Bankers Association, will offer Encomia's eMortgage courseware through its online courses.  more...

Overnight mortgage rates drop

Long-term mortgage interest rates fell Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield sank to 3.85 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.18 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate slid to 4.46 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 3.15 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.76 percent.

Rates are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  more...

ERealty gets first secure technology stamp of approval

Online real estate company eRealty, now part of the Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, is the first brokerage Web site to earn the National Association of Realtors' Realtor Secure Designation, Prudential announced today.

NAR developed the Realtor Secure program in December to certify that policies and procedures are in place to protect real estate information and systems from internal and external risks and prevent business interruptions.  more...

Real estate Web sites enter Phase 2

A mysterious company called Phase 2 Systems will take over the Web site operations of Informedia Group, a real estate Web site vendor, effective March 15, according to an unsigned e-mail Informedia sent its customers last Wednesday.

Little is known about the company, which appears to be a new entity. The Informedia e-mail didn't supply any information about where Phase 2 is headquartered, who heads the operations or what Informedia customers can do in the meantime to resolve problems with Web services.  more...

GHR Systems promotes Cyrus Brinn to CEO

GHR Systems Inc., a provider of lending automation technology, today announced that Cyrus Brinn has been promoted to CEO and David Morrison has been promoted to executive vice president and general manager of GHR's Mortgage Automation Solutions (MAS) division.  more...

Prudential launches real estate audio tours

The tri-state consortium of Prudential California Realty, Prudential Nevada Realty and Prudential Texas Properties has launched TalkingTour, an online audio tour of home listings.

The company has an exclusive agreement to offer the TalkingTour service in its market areas with developer Home Sweet Home. The service is offered free of charge to agents.  more...