Inman

‘House Lust’ author to kick off real estate conference

Author Daniel McGinn of Newsweek will kick off the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference on Wednesday, May 7, at the Magnolia Hotel in Dallas. McGinn will discuss his new book, "House Lust: America’s Obsession with Our Homes."

The country’s mania for homes is alive and well, according to McGinn, whose book explores the behavior more than the economics of America’s real estate obsession.

McGinn will be among the scores of real estate writers and communicators at the 42nd Annual NAREE Real Estate Journalism Conference, which runs May 7-10.

Tours of cutting-edge Texas real estate, important speakers and newsworthy panels are drawing interest in the conference from the nation’s leading journalists.

Real estate editor Carl Larsen, who worked at the San Diego Union-Tribune for 34 years, will lead a writing workshop.

Breaking news on the subprime crisis is expected at the NAREE conference. FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery, Urban Land Institute Chairman Todd Mansfield, and Charles McMillan, president-elect of the National Association of Realtors, are among the headlining speakers.

NAREE’s "Home Selling in the Internet Era" panel will feature speakers from Zillow, Realtor.com and Google. Other panels cover baby boomer housing, the apartment market and the economic outlook. The conference ends Saturday after morning panels on foreclosures and vacation homes.

Top contestants in NAREE’s 58th Annual Real Estate Journalism competition will pick up $10,000 in prizes during the Friday May 9th banquet. Winning entries will be displayed.

The NAREE conference will tour a trendsetting brownfield redevelopment, Victory. Developed by Ross Perot Jr. — who will speak to the group — this 75-acre new urban neighborhood has green office buildings and shop-lined streets with condos above. NAREE will tour a $10 million penthouse in the stylish "W" Hotel and condo there.

In a tour of historic redevelopment, attendees will learn how the Bass Brothers turned 36 blocks of downtown Fort Worth into "Sundance Square."

NAREE will board helicopters to tour the Circle T Ranch and the 17,000-acre Alliance development, where a panel will discuss large-scale projects.

Another informative session will be held in the original Neiman Marcus, located one block from NAREE’s headquarters hotel.

NAREE, founded in 1929, is a nonprofit organization. Registration for the journalism conference can be processed at NAREE’s Web site.


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