Asid Idris's (asididris) Blog

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) says Senate Democrats have agreed to extend the first-time home buyer tax credit. The latest version extends the program to home sales signed — not closed — by April 30. Purchasers would have another 60 days to close the sale. The credit will...

It seems likely that the U.S. Senate will approve a deal to extend the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, but the devil is in the details. Florida Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson told reporters traveling to Florida with President Obama on Monday that he thought that the extension would be approved, but b...

AX7114065 - ALEXANDRIA CITY 6101 EDSALL RD #1107, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22304 Large 2 bedroom, 2 bath 1408 SF Condo of Luxury Hi-Rise in Resort Community w/view of superb panorama. Spectacular balcony terrace, 60 ft. long w/3 separate entrances from living room and both mster room and 2nd bedroom. Brand...

Home staging, long recognized as one of the most effective means of capturing a potential buyer’s interest, gets its own makeover with the arrival of Virtually Staging Properties (”VSP”). Through a combination of a patent pending process and a proprietary library of thousands of images of real fu...

Bank of America introduced its Bank of America Home Loans brand at locations nationwide and unveiled new tools through which homebuyers and homeowners will find greater clarity in the home finance process. The Clarity CommitmentTM, a single, one-page loan summary clearly presents to borrowers the...

The end is near. When exactly, is hard to predict. It is also hard to predict what that end will look like. However, it is hard to escape the sense that some things will change forever. But what? Will law and order, if you can call this that, descend into chaos? Will nations withdraw from the glo...

Sarah Susanka, author of the popular “Not So Big” home-design books, devotes lots of space in her eighth book “Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live,” to ceilings. She urges owners of homes with vaulted ceilings to consider lowering them so the house has what she ...

Some cities hit hard by foreclosures are helping artists set up shop and residences to stimulate revitalization projects. Artists are known for being urban vanguards in blighted areas, but local government officials and nonprofits now view them as urban pioneers. Artists are snapping up homes for...

New planned communities, mixed-use developments and condominiums are particularly hard to sell in the current economy where the prices of units in so many developments have fallen through the floor. The Wall Street Journal interviewed Roger Winston, a real estate attorney at Ballard Spahr Andrews...

The housing industry is facing new national rules for real estate appraisals, which will ban mortgage brokers from ordering valuations and divert more business to third-party appraisal management companies. Lenders seeking to sell their loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have to adopt the h...