RECENT BLOG POSTS
Thanks Patti It's always challenging to navigate these difficult waters especially when the rules change from player to player. Whatever we can do to influence consistant strategies will benefit everyone,2 years ago I could easily have answered that the buyer's home inspection is generally done w...
09/03/2010
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A study from Bankrate found that 90 percent of owners do not regret buying their home. The findings also revealed improved mortgage awareness, with only 8 percent of home owners in the dark about what type of loan they have -- down from 26 percent two years ago. The poll of 1,001 randomly select...
09/03/2010
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Michigan’s Muskegon County, on the banks of Lake Michigan, is fighting its 14.9 percent unemployment rate by offering free land to companies that will guarantee 25 or more full-time jobs at one of two industrial parks. Besides land, companies that locate in the parks will pay no property taxes u...
09/03/2010
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Real estate entrepreneur Ryan Moeller offers these four tips for anyone considering a consumer real estate investment: 1. Don’t count on appreciation. Appreciation is a bonus. 2. Watch the loan-to-value ratio. Ideally, the total cost of the purchase, fees, and repairs should be no more than 70 p...
09/03/2010
State and local governments and nonprofit organizations will get a jump on investors as part of a new program announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. The National First Look Program is a partnership between lenders and communities to e...
09/03/2010
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Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke, speaking at a conference on vacant housing, called for more alternatives for the disposal of REO properties besides traditional homeownership. She advocated considering increased rental housing, lease-purchase deals, and converting foreclosed owners to re...
09/03/2010
SmarTrend, which analyzes securities to spot trends, identifies these publicly traded real estate companies as having the highest percentage of profits. E-House China has gross margin of 67.4 percent, a sales growth of 12.2 percent, and 12 months sales of $345.9 million. ZipRealty has gross marg...
08/31/2010
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Will the government revive tax credits to encourage home sales? Housing experts are dubious. Even suggesting that the tax credit might be revived could have a negative effect on the market, says housing economist Tom Lawler, because it could “lead many a prospective home buyer to hold off on buy...
08/31/2010
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BlockShopper.com searches property transfers for the home sales of the sort-of rich and semi-famous, then publishes the news of the sale as well as brief bios of the buyers and sellers. These reports not only appear online, but also in the real estate sections of about 50 newspapers, including t...
08/31/2010
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Selling short sales and REOs can be profitable opportunities for real estate practitioners. "If you're not working in the distressed part of the marketplace, you're perhaps missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," says Rick Sharga, senior vice president of foreclosure data company RealtyTrac. ...
08/31/2010