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Burning Down The House or Torching Your Foreclosure
2008-05-27 19:33:00
Hold tight wait till the partys overHold tight were in for nasty weatherThere has got to be a wayBurning down the house (lyrics of the Talking Heads classic, Burning Down The House ) A report out of Memphis found that a new trend is emerging, burning down one home when it is in foreclosure. Out of the 148 residential arsons in the city, 20 are under foreclosure and 9 are suspicious are being investigated according to the report. This does make one think. The risk of going to jail for arson measured against saving ones credit rating and according to the report getting revenge. If you are reading this and think it is a good idea, think again. The penalties for arson and I would assume insurance fraud are much greater than having your credit dinged for a few years. 7 years bad credit or 7 years in jail. A no brainier in my mind. Experts say the motivation is revenge – or the chance to collect an insurance claim. But the lien-holder, in most cases the mortgage company, is who ...
More About: Foreclosure , The House

Case Shiller Analysis - When Was The Last Time Your City Was This Low
2008-05-27 17:14:00
The Case Shiller Report that was released today got me to thinking. The report was ablaze with how the sky is falling and the major media, and myself, jumped right through the hoop. It did get me to thinking. So I dug into the report and started looking at historical data. I wanted to see how affected markets were. Instead of looking a year out, I wanted to see when the markets were this low before. Of the cities that I could find, Cleveland’s home prices dropped the most, hitting their February, 2002 levels. Seattle has lost the least with homebuyers in June of 2006 still being on the plus side. Remember, these are the aggregate numbers, so personal experiences can be different. City March-08 Last Time This Low Atlanta 124.61 March, 2005 Boston 158.54 August, 2004 Chicago 150.35 January, 2005 Cleveland 106.42 February, 2002 Denver 127.43 February, 2004 Las Vegas 169...
More About: Analysis

Yikes! Case Shiller Report Shows 20 Largest Metro Areas Drop 14.1 Percent I
2008-05-27 15:24:00
The news today coming from the Case Shiller index is dismal as their top 20 metro areas dropped 14.1 percent and the top 10 metro areas fell 15 percent in March from the previous year. The numbers are rough folks, but going into the spring season the perspective on potential buyers may be even worse. We have long talked about the crowd psychology affecting purchases and this news will most likely make every buyer pause. And the news is big, look at the Drudge Report from this morning. Since most media people read Drudge expect this story to have legs and lead on a very slow news day across the evening news shows and tomorrows papers. Post from: The Real Estate Bloggers Yikes! Case Shiller Report Shows 20 Largest Metro Areas Drop 14.1 Percent In Quarter

Morgan Guarantee Ends Mortgage Insurance For Condos in Florida
2008-05-26 15:09:00
The largest mortgage reinsurance company, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., has decided to stop providing private mortgage insurance to condo owners in Florida starting June 1st. While others will continue to provide the service this is still fairly big news. The company lost 1.4 billion in the 4th quarter last year and is trying to get ...
More About: Mortgage Fraud , Foreclosure

Mortgage Guaranty Ends Mortgage Insurance For Condos in Florida
2008-05-26 15:09:00
The largest mortgage reinsurance company, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., has decided to stop providing private mortgage insurance to condo owners in Florida starting June 1st. While others will continue to provide the service this is still fairly big news. The company lost 1.4 billion in the 4th quarter last year and is trying to get out of those markets where it has a great exposure. The condo market for most parts of Florida are taking a beating with depreciation and foreclosures. The company has recognized they had to stop investing in it. Of course, it crossed my mind why they finally figured it out now as we are nearing the bottom. Anyone watching the market in 2006 could have told you that condo prices were on the down swing and that mortgage insurance in the state of Florida was probably not the best business to be in. Now as we near the bottom they are getting out of writing new policies. Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., the largest-volume insurer, recently expande...
More About: Mortgage Insurance , Ends

Blogging Is Hard Some Days
2008-05-25 10:13:00
Don?t you feel this way? I know I do. I try to do 3 posts a day during the week, more or less on the weekends (typically less unless it is raining). But if you are wanting to build a readership, blogging with regularity is very important. Face it, would you go to your local coffee ...
More About: Real Estate , Blogging , Hard , Days

Inventory and Sales Almost Equal, Is This The Bottom?
2008-05-24 14:19:00
Look at this chart from Calculated Risk carefully. If you need to see a bigger version, click on it or here. This is the scary part. It looks like we may hit a point where the inventory of homes for sale in the country will exceed the sales for the year. I wonder if that ...
More About: Sales , Inventory , Foreclosure , Equal , Bottom

The 230 Million Dollar Mansion - Most Expensive Home Sale Ever
2008-05-23 22:45:00
Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has bought Noam Gottesman’s Kensington Palace Gardens home for a cool 117 million pounds. The previous record was just up the road on London’s Billionaires Row. It is interesting to see London taking the place where all of the top end real estate is selling. Outside of Trump’s sale of his ...
More About: Dollar , Home , Sale , Mansion , Most Expensive

Libel Lawsuits and Real Estate Bloggers
2008-05-23 15:04:00
Before I started Real Estate Blogging I had a political weblog. The battles there were epic compared to those on the real estate side as Conservatives and Liberals fought for the hearts and minds of the nations public. There were bitter accusations and equally nasty responses. But real estate bloggers have a different worry. We ...
More About: Lawsuits , Real Estate , Bloggers

New Jersey Realtors Mad At NAR Over Inflated Numbers
2008-05-23 14:52:00
The public who follows real estate reporting, i.e. my readers, have long been amused and baffled at the overly optimistic numbers that the National Association Of Realtors has put out. Well, a new group of folks are getting annoyed at what is perceived as grandstanding by the NAR. Actual dues paying New Jersey Realtors. The ...
More About: Numbers

San Diego Foreclosure Rescue Scam Busted After 400 Ripped Off
2008-05-23 14:41:00
Desperate people tend to make desperate mistakes. This will bring out the worst in some people as has happened with a foreclosure rescue scam in San Diego . 5 people were arrested including the ringleaders William Hutchings and Xiaoke Li in a foreclosure scam that affected 400 mainly Hispanic families. What happened is that they offered ...
More About: Foreclosure , Busted , Rescue , Scam

Did Congresswoman Richardson Lose Her House To Foreclosure?
2008-05-22 17:17:00
In an example of the lack of character that has permeated the Congress of the United States, California Congresswoman Laura Richardson , Democrat from California, has reportedly lost here home in Sacramento to foreclosure. She put out a statement to the LA Times that she was renegotiating with the lender, but another report says that the ...
More About: House , Foreclosure

Housing Prices Drop, Affordibility Improves, Buyers Return, Media Notices
2008-05-21 15:43:00
We need to teach economics better in the country. Lets do the formula that we all know. Speculators drive the housing market up. Typical buyers are priced out. Some still buy. Market hits the top, speculators bail out. Prices drop hurting late buyers. Foreclosures and inventory make prices drop fast and hard. Homes become affordable to typical buyers. Buyers ...
More About: Media , Real Estate , Housing , Return , Notices

BlackRock Buys 15 Billion in Loans From UBS
2008-05-21 15:26:00
BlackRock has a new fund that is buying 15 billion dollars worth of Alt-A and Subprime paper from Zurich based UBS. The large bank is trying to reduce risk while BlackRock is looking to make a killing. To me this is an inflection point. Typically when the larger institutions are dumping their portfolios and able ...
More About: Loans , Mortgage , Billion

What Happens To Real Estate Prices When The Airline Leaves Your City?
2008-05-21 14:45:00
With the high price of jet fuel, airlines are stopping service to many cities across the United States. There are 30 cities that have seen air service end in the past year and 400 who have seen their service cut. But my question is, what does the loss of airline service do to property values in a ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , City , Real , Airline

Google Going Pac Man On Search Results For April, 2008
2008-05-20 21:32:00
This chart will tell you the story on why we focus on Google so much. (looks like PacMan eating the others, doesn’t it?) Tags: Google, Search , April -08 Post from: The Real Estate Bloggers Google Going Pac Man On Search Results For April, 2008

Property Rights The Key To Space Exploration?
2008-05-20 15:51:00
I read an interesting article this weekend in the Boston Globe about space exploration. Why space exploration you ask? Well it all comes down to property rights and how people motivated by greed can do a whole lot of good. Presently space exploration is moribund. From the time Kennedy made his famous speech government and ...
More About: Space , Real Estate , Property , Rights , Exploration

Paid Foreclosure Tour Starts In Atlanta
2008-05-20 13:49:00
Foreclosure tours have been popping up around the country and into the news, but a new one in Atlanta has an interesting twist. Instead of the real estate agent renting the bus and working to get commissions, Damon Borozny is charging for the tour. For $49, or $65 per couple, you get get a 5 ...
More About: Foreclosure , Tour , Paid

California Foreclosures Forcing Wells Fargo To Boost Reserves
2008-05-19 19:33:00
While this may unnerve some folks, I take it as a very healthy sign. Well Fargo is boosting it’s reserves to deal with the foreclosure problem it is facing, mostly in California . The company is not hiding behind any accounting trickery or denials but is instead recognizing the problem and confronting it. An analyst said ...
More About: Real Estate , Foreclosures , Boost

Are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac A Danger To US Economy?
2008-05-19 11:35:00
When trying to see the long term implications of the housing slowdown and the credit crisis, you have to put the 2 quasi governmental lenders front and center in the discussion. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac combined provide the support structure for mortgage lending in the United States. Be it setting benchmarks on lending or ...
More About: Economy , Foreclosure , Freddie Mac , Danger

Single Family Housing Starts Finally Below Purchase Rate
2008-05-19 10:46:00
Check out this chart from Calculated Risk comparing new housing starts, new home sales, and homes that are completed and ready for sale. (click for full sized chart) You will notice that for the past 2+ years we have had an extreme overbuilding issue in the housing market. Builders and developers had too many projects in the ...
More About: Family , Housing , Finally , Single , Purchase

Thomas J. Flatley, 76, RIP
2008-05-17 23:49:00
A great member of the real estate community, Thomas Flatley, has passed away today. He is one of the few that did it the right way with hard work and dedication to his craft. RIP Thomas. Born in 1921, he grew up on his family’s 25-acre farm in County Mayo, a poor rural region of ...
More About: Real Estate

Realogy Down 132 Million For First Quarter
2008-05-17 15:07:00
Realogy hit a rough patch this quarter losing 132 million dollars. Not a surprise for the largest real estate company in the United States. The method of saturating markets with different branded real estate offices is a great strategy in a climbing market. You are able to segment buyers while providing a dominant footprint on ...
More About: Real Estate , Million , Quarter

Certified ?Preowned? Homes - Or Selling Homes Like Cars
2008-05-17 15:03:00
You got to give ZipRealty credit. First they treat their employees like car salesman, now they are treating the homes like cars. According to Luke Mullins at US News and World Report, ZipRealty is offering a Certified Preowned Warranty on homes that pass a 24 point inspection. While it is not a bad idea and will appeal ...
More About: Cars , Selling , Homes

Some Classic Ideas On Word Of Mouth Marketing For Real Estate Agents
2008-05-16 13:49:00
If you are a real estate agent, you have uttered the less than memorable phrase, “Please tell your friends about me.” But the question that you need to ask is why should they? Seriously, did you go that extra mile in marketing, consultation, or execution that would make you memorable? For someone to talk about you ...
More About: Marketing , Ideas , Estate , Real Estate , Agents

Trump Sells Palm Beach Mansion For Record 100 Million Dollars
2008-05-15 21:53:00
Love him or hate him, Donald Trump knows how to make headlines in the real estate market. He is in the news today for going to contract on his mansion in Palm Beach that he purchased in 2004 for 41 million dollars. After 25 million more in upgrades The Donald has sold it for the ...
More About: Real Estate , Mansion

Show Your Tits When Selling Real Estate
2008-05-15 21:00:00
Sorry for the misleading and shocking headline, especially if you have come over from Google or any other search engine, but sometimes you need it to get attention to things that will attract a buyer. (Tenerife Blue Tit) But the title is dead on accurate. When selling a home these days pictures tell the story. Not to mention ...
More About: Selling , Estate , Real Estate , Show , Tits

Google Adds Listing Information For Google Maps (And Flash Compatibility)
2008-05-15 16:08:00
Google has added a great deal of capability to their Google Maps application that includes the ability to see property listings pulled from it’s Google Base, Wikipedia entries, and other sources. The other big thing I have been able to gather is that it has added flash capability to Google Maps. The ability to embed maps that ...
More About: Google , Information , Flash

Michigan Business Tax levies greater impact on real estate firms -
2008-05-15 15:57:00
Back in March I talked about how the Michigan legislature was trying to destroy real estate values in the state with a new tax system. Well, they passed the tax and now it is in effect. Take a wild guess who it is going to hurt the worst. You got it, landlords and real estate ...
More About: Business , Estate , Real Estate , Foreclosure

Failure and Success - Michael Jordon Commercial
2008-05-14 14:01:00
This advertisement from Nike is so dead on. For agents and non agents, to be the best you have to be willing to fail publicly. As Michael Jordon said, “26 times I have been trusted to take the game winning shot and I have missed.” Are you willing to step up and take the game winning ...
More About: Commercial , Success , Failure