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Nov

30
2009

ICREA to relaunch online portal

By Global Edge, Monday, November 30, 2009.

The International Consortium of Real Estate Associations (ICREA) has announced the relaunch of its business-to-business portal Worldproperties.com with the aim of improving networking among its 2.1 million members.

ICREA, which represents national associations such as the NAEA in the U.K. and NAR in the U.S., will use the technology from real estate networking site Proxio.com as the platform for its new site. Basic networking will be free, but agents will be asked to pay a small subscription to upload their properties onto the system.  more...

Nov

24
2009

Stimulus boon

By Curbed.com, Tuesday, November 24, 2009.

Thanks to the 2008 stimulus act, the federal government has been insuring about six mortgages a week in San Francisco -- compared to none for all of 2007. Traditionally, loans underwritten by the Federal Housing Administration are for the poors ("in low-cost states like Texas and Michigan"), but the bar's been raised, allowing middle- and upper-income buyers into the game.

Profiled in the New York Times: three friends who dropped $33K in order to buy a Hayes Valley building. The idea? "We're banking on real estate. Everyone expects prices to keep going up."  more...

Nov

23
2009

HVCC doesn't allow market to set prices

By Inman News, Monday, November 23, 2009.

Re: 'HVCC makes cash buyers king' (Nov. 23)

Dear Editor:

I agree with your commentary that the Home Valuation Code of Conduct is causing lower prices in some areas. The market value of a home is what a ready, willing, able and informed buyer is willing to pay, not what the comps say it is worth.  more...

Nov

20
2009

The flood-zone deal-breaker

By Inman News, Friday, November 20, 2009.

Re: 'A real underwater threat for homeowners' (Nov. 19)

Dear Editor:

I appreciate your article bringing up the issue of flood insurance. Located in a coastal area, flood zones are plentiful here. In one transaction two years ago, we sold a house located in a VE zone (worst of the two evils) and the new buyers were quoted a $5,500 annual flood insurance premium! Imagine my surprise to see the increase -- when I had been paying $3,400 annually for the same flood coverage on the same property.  more...

Nov

19
2009

Appraisal co. owner slams HVCC

By Inman News, Thursday, November 19, 2009.

Re: 'Appraisal rules draw more fire' (Nov. 18)

Dear Editor:

I have been a licensed appraiser for nearly 20 years. During all those years, I have formed great relationships with many lenders and loan officers. Now, I've lost that thanks to HVCC (the Home Valuation Code of Conduct).

In the past 10 years or so, many appraisers have never had a raise. Now we're being forced to take a pay cut of approximately 50 percent. This does not help my retirement fund, or trying to just make ends meet. Many of the "good" appraisers are now quitting because they can't make it anymore.  more...

Nov

18
2009

Data sharing and the rise of market blogs

By Joel Burslem, Wednesday, November 18, 2009.

Altos Research has released four new WordPress Plug-ins that make it dead simple to go deep into the numbers and create data-rich local market blogs.

Altos is among many real estate data providers out there, but is unique in that many of its core products cater to individual Realtors rather than large institutional or corporate clients.

These new plug-ins allow subscribers to easily embed Altos charts on new posts or pages on their blogs through a very easy interface. The upshot to all this?  more...

Nov

17
2009

1997 or 2002

By Curbed.com, Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

When did the housing bubble start?

One economist claims "most" analysts agree on 1997, a year in which house prices began moving sharply upward, buoyed by the government pushing homeownership more. Another says actually few people think it was 1997 -- the actual year should be 2002, when the dot-com bustees landed on real estate as the latest and greatest bubble of choice.  more...

Wear real estate license on your sleeve

By Inman News, Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

Re: 'Buyer wronged by unlicensed agent?' (Nov. 13)

Dear Editor:

Lenders, by law, must advertise their license. Brokers at mortgage companies must use their licenses as well.

Realtors could and should display their license (and in some cases the license number is required to schedule a showing).  more...

Nov

13
2009
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