Commercial Property
More often than is widely acknowledged, courts come up with good and sensible rulings. When that happens, we do well to acknowledge them. In the case of Dee v. PCS Property Management, California"s Second Appellate District Court of Appeal affirmed the good ruling of a trial judge. Inasmuch as the case had to do with claims regarding mold, it is of more than a little interest to a variety of parties involved with real estate.
When one piece of the market is doing poorly, look around. You"ll probably find another part that"s doing just fine.
If it bleeds, it leads. That"s been a newspaper reporting maxim for decades.
For the first time in seven months, existing home sales increased, says the National Association of Realtors. February sales rose nearly three percent over January. That"s encouraging says the NAR, but is it enough to spur buyers?
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have agreed to a $200 billion bottle of Drano that will help to unclog the gunk clogging lending pipelines, but will it be enough to save the spring selling season?
When you have luminaries like Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron telling investors that peak-to-trough, housing should decline 15 percent, it"s hard to estimate what kind of psychological and economic damage it will do to housing and the overall economy.
Standard & Poor"s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are the "leading measure of U.S. home prices," S & P says in its press releases. Apparently if you say you"re the leader, it must be true, because the financial press appears to buy every word, even if they"re superficially skeptical.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is interviewing several overpaid CEOs today to find out what the relationship is between outlandish executive pay and the subprime mortgage meltdown.
It"s the kind of sacrifice that brings a tear to your eye.
This week, the Federal Reserve cut short-term target borrowing rates by 25 basis points, the third such cut in three months. And it was hailed for not kowtowing to Wall Street. After stocks plummeted nearly 300 points Wednesday, the Fed quickly came out with an appeasement plan.
To hear the national media tell it, homebuyers are fools to buy right now. Home prices have dropped 5 percent since October 2006. Our economic problems aren"t over, so home prices are bound to drop further. Why would anyone catch that falling knife? But there are some markets out there that are making monkeys out of housing bears.
There are five major groups that are trying to put Realtors out of business, and the Department of Justice is one of them. I say Realtors because it is members of the National Association of Realtors who share data with each other through rules established by their associations and multiple listing services.
In a hush-hush deal with Meredith Corporation, Realogy has obtained the licensing to the Better Homes And Gardens real estate brand with the intention of creating a new division and branding opportunity for franchisees by July 2008. The agreement is long-term (50 years) and forward-thinking, just the way Realogy Vice-president and Chairman Richard Smith likes things.
No wonder buyers are paralyzed.
Home sales have dropped nine percent since year-ago levels in July 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. The wonder of it is that home sales haven"t plummeted even further thanks to the steady and inaccurate drum beat of the financial press that mortgage money isn"t available. For that reason alone, sales figures for August should be disastrous.
With many lenders shutting down programs for first-time borrowers and tightening underwriting requirements for everyone else, it"s nice to see a lender show some consideration for the nation"s 16 million-strong police, fire fighters, teachers, and medical workers.
This week, the Dow Jones Industrials reached 14,000 points, testing a new psychological barrier. To put the index into perspective, think back to July 2006. Housing was widely recognized as slowing, gas prices were rising, and the DOW was straining to reach 11,000. Since then, the Dow has risen well over 30 percent. That"s a good year for equities investors, who may decide that now"s the time to trade up to that bigger, better home.
California will not suffer a recession in 2008.
Economists at the National Association of Realtors are a little more optimistic than David Seiders of the National Association of Home Builders. According to NAR"s senior economist Lawrence Yun, a "good" buyers market has evolved. Does that mean that consumers are actually buying something?
You may be supplied a workspace/computer/phone station by your broker, but there will be plenty of times when working from home will be more productive. The trick is in making your surroundings function well enough to keep distractions, temptations and timewasters to a minimum.
The number of legal immigrants into the U.S. is about one million annually, and between 300,000 and 500,000 illegal immigrants move into the U.S., too, says research gathered by the Joint Center For Housing Studies at Harvard University for its yearly report, The State Of The Nation"s Housing. Over 10.5 million illegal immigrants resided in the U.S. as of January 2005.
Even though he may face a major financial loss, a California homeowner is so fed up with the way speculator-owned rental occupants are destroying the neighborhood that he and his wife are willing to sell short and bring money to the closing table to get out.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.27 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.60 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.90 percent.
Citizen media is the fastest growing trend on the Internet, from movie making to journalism. Now blogging is hitting the real estate industry like a tsunami.
Campbell Communications has just released its fourth annual survey of real estate agents on mortgage lending, which tracks their attitudes toward mortgage brokers and direct lenders. The report, "How Real Estate Agents View Relationships with Mortgage Providers in a Shifting Market," was released this week and is based on a February survey conducted by Campbell Communications of Washington.
Virginia Association of Realtors" CEO Scott Brunner is on a mission -- to make Realtors realize that the bad reputation they have in the public"s mind is a result of their own actions -- or tolerating bad behavior from colleagues.
Single heads of households are growing while single parent heads of households are barely changed from 1994 to 2006, says the U.S. Census Bureau"s latest report on Families and Living Arrangements from data collected in February, March and April of 2006.
When he"s on his blog, broker Frank Borges LLosa, founder of Frankly Real Estate Inc , enjoys exposing the myths, tricks and truths about the real estate industry -- primarily the less-than-stellar practices of his competition.
In an open letter to Toronto Mayor David Miller, the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) has raised concerns about a possible home-buying tax in Toronto as the city discusses potential new revenue sources. They say a Toronto land transfer tax, on top of the existing provincial land transfer tax, would cause homebuyers to pay the same tax twice and encourage homebuying outside city limits.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what are you saying about your seller"s home? Realtors are paid to help sellers market their homes, but some do a terrible job using the most basic marketing tool there is -- photographs.
A new survey by Citi Smith Barney says that over half of millionaires and 40 percent of affluent investors, those with $100,000 in assets excluding real estate and employer retirement plans, or approximately 25 percent of the U.S. population, surveyed believe that real estate is good investment.
What is it with these Seinfeld stars? First cast-mate Michael Richards embarrasses himself by hurling racist remarks at a heckler, thereby miserably failing Standup Comedy 101.
It doesn"t matter that Realtor.com is free advertising to brokers. What matters is that it"s popular with consumers.
While the front page of its website blares that it"s a great time to buy a home, seemingly in contradiction to the endless stream of negative press about how housing is crashing whether it actually is or not, the National Association of Home Builders commissions a study to find out if the press indeed is behind buyers" reluctance to buy a new home.
Real estate agents are resentful of the money they spend at local newspapers trying to please sellers. Yahoo!, one of the Internet"s leading search sites, has just struck a deal with 150 newspapers across the U.S.
As the housing market continues to slide though the mortgage morass, the growing economic impact is generating more talk of a housing industry-spawned recession.
When a borrower signs a promissory note, he is agreeing to pay the lender a specific amount of money according to certain conditions. In order for the lender to protect his interests, he will require that the borrower sign a mortgage or similar security instrument in favor of the lender. This may be in the form of a mortgage or a deed of trust. Whichever document is used, the purpose of both types of documents is to secure the note and offer protection to the lender.
There often comes a time when a business model outlives it"s usefulness and it"s possible that the commission system in real estate definitely falls in that category. Now, this statement might surprise you coming from a real estate agent, but I see two things wrong with the commission system: 1) It penalizes both the consumer and the Real Estate practitioner and 2) Being paid on commission is totally incompatible with providing fiduciary-level services.
If you are buying a short sale, foreclosed home or other distressed property, you ought to have someone experienced in distressed properties working for you.
Claudia Armbrister, our market expert for coastal Georgia, reports her area is strongly trending towards a buyers market.
Curb appeal, the first impression your home conveys to prospective buyers, should create an emotional desire to own the home and enjoy the lifestyle and status it represents.
The Corcoran Group is the fourth NRT, Inc. brokerage unit to be targeted by the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) for fair housing violations. While Realty Times doesn"t condone fair housing discrimination, there is some question as to the legitimacy of the accusations brought by the NFHA.
According to The Detroit News, foreclosures have surged in the metro Detroit area, three times what they were last year. Michigan and other "rust belt" states (MI,OH, IN,) where economies were dependent on automobile production and steel, have been bleeding jobs for years, and new businesses aren"t moving in to take advantage of the available workforce.
We"ve been telling you at Realty Times that the housing slowdown wouldn"t last long, and now optimism is to the point that some economists are starting to wonder if the Federal Reserve will start to lower short-term interest rates in 2007 in order to reignite home sales.
With more grandparents raising or contributing significantly to the welfare of their grandchildren, it seems fitting to honor these not-yet-retired parental figures on Grandparents Day, September 10, 2006, with some facts from the U.S. Census -- that they"re not alone.
The Federal Reserve has raised short-term interest rates to banks another quarter point -- as it has for 17 straight meetings since June 2004. The lag effect on long term interest rates, such as mortgages, is they also rise.
According to the U.S. Census, the idea of Father’s Day was conceived by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash., while she listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Dodd wanted a similar tribute to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who raised his six children on a farm.
According to a complaint by the seller"s daughter, who"s just looking out for her dad, the listing agent representing her father failed to let him know that he was marrying one of the property"s buyers.
For consumers remodeling their homes, working with contractors is among their least favorite parts of getting the job done. Many contractors work in a netherworld of undocumentation -- most states don"t require licenses or certifications for contractors, and some contractors hire illegal aliens to save money, but the number one complaint is shoddy workmanship, with the top reasons being:
There"s a growing fear among economists that housing will take a rougher fall than the soft landing intended by the Federal Reserve, but there"s a lot to indicate that housing will pick itself up, dust off, and start running again.
The housing market is showing a little schizophrenia, according to February sales reports. On one hand, existing housing went through the roof, while new homes sales dove into the ground.
According to the 2005 MLS Technology Survey, the third annual report of its kind by the Center for Realtor® Technology (CRT), two trends are impacting the future of the MLS industry -- consolidations and expanded data-sharing agreements.
Want to know what the experts on the street are saying about the housing market?
While the National Association of Realtors (NAR) observes that housing is returning to a more normal market that is balanced between buyers and sellers, the U.S. Census reports the hottest counties for population growth in the U.S.
Is the news media beginning to see that buying and selling homes is a sure way to capture consumer eyeballs online? If so -- will it do anything about opinions on the real estate industry and its commissions?
Michael Khouri, 49, is a partner in Buckner Khouri Chavos & Mirkovich, an Orange County (CA.) law firm. He has a busy law practice focusing on federal court, criminal defense, and administrative law. When his father passed away last year, Khoui became trustee of a triplex in a very desirable area of Marina del Rey, California, only a block from the beach.
Our local market experts for the Gold Coast, Streeterville and River North neighborhoods, Sandy Adler, reports a growth in inventory as sellers continue to wait out the slow market.
It"s like listening for the other shoe to drop. The markets are all watching new Fed Chief Ben Bernanke for signs of a slowing economy. The stock market is teetering and home prices are pausing. Will he or won"t he raise short-term rates again?
You hear a lot of economic statistics that come in with the proviso that they are adjusted for inflation. What exactly does that mean, and if you take out inflation, are we really in a housing bubble?
Do you measure up? The National Association of Realtors" latest buyer-seller survey suggests that buyers have certain expectations of their agents.
Consumer prices were up for the year. Now we find out they"re down. What does consumer spending have to do with housing? A lot.
December brought a late Christmas present to America"s homebuyers -- lower mortgage interest rates. Will they continue through January? That"s very possible, considering a recent economic event as rare as a solar eclipse.
While real estate softens in the rest of the country, three out of four wealthy Floridians remain optimistic that their homes will continue to appreciate in value, according to a survey by Harris Interactive and The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., a wealth management company.
You may notice that a lot of national housing news seems to center on California. There"s a very good reason why.
An anti-trust lawsuit brought by a real estate broker against the Northern Kentucky Association of Realtors was dismissed.
The National Association of Realtors" new president Tom Stevens doesn"t pussy-foot around about banks, group health insurance, the housing bubble, and other hot topics.
The CENTURY 21® First-Time Homebuyer Index offers some surprising insights into the Hispanic first-time homebuyer market. This group is not only younger than white and African American first-time homebuyers, they are likely to spend much more on their first home.
The balance of power in advertising media is shifting further. Call it the Google economy.
There"s been so much talk about the so-called housing bubble, that a pull-back in sales is an inevitable self-fulfilling prophecy. With so many pundits suggesting that housing surely can"t get more expensive and that rising mortgage rates will discourage some homebuyers, our local experts say the market seems to be suspended in mid-air.
Awhile back, I realized that my last name, "Roberts," spelled backwards is "Strebor," and I designed a system for effectively implementing any plan for success. When you"re ready to put your plan into action, follow the Strebor System:
Could it be the end of the McMansion?
On September 8, 2005, the Department of Justice filed suit against the National Association of Realtors over its new Internet Listings Display (ILD) policy less than one hour after the NAR announced the policy to its members.
A homeowner writes Realty Times with the question that"s on everyone"s mind today -- should I sell my house and wait out the coming real estate bubble burst?
As residents return to New Orleans, Houston and other areas hit or spared by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, new questions are arising about housing. Some will find a way to salvage their homes, while others will find total devastation. Hundreds of thousands of people will have to start over somewhere else, which will make for the largest relocation effort in U.S. history.
The California Association of Realtors" "2006 Housing Market Forecast" is highly anticipated because one in nine U.S. residents lives in California.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, economists and futurists are speculating as to what will happen to housing across the United States. Only a short time ago, "the housing bubble" was the big news, now it"s finding homes for millions of refugees. While over 30 states have responded to the crisis with temporary shelters, the long-term outlook is that existing housing will be more precious than before.
Question: We have two board members that plan projects outside of the board meetings. When the rest of the board finally finds out about them, they are already in process. This is creating unnecessary tension or friction.
Like many buyers, Diane and her husband believed they could negotiate a better deal on a house if they weren"t represented. Then they crossed the threshold.
While Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan worries how to cool the housing market without damaging the sensitive American economy, the nation"s builders may give him a little help by limiting some of the speculative buying that"s been happening in "hot" markets.
Like its neighbor Oklahoma, Texas didn"t waste any time getting its minimum service legislation passed through the legislature over the objections of the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. All that remains is for Governor Rick Perry to sign the amendment and it becomes law.
When the National Association of Realtors found that one in three homes purchased in 2004 were purchased either by investors or second-home buyers, real estate watchers became more interested in which are the "hottest" cities. But "hot" can mean different things to different people.
In spite of warnings by the Department of Justice, the Texas House and Oklahoma Senate moved forward on the same day to pass bills which are intended to support statutes that require minimum levels of real estate brokerage services to consumers.
In reading the impassioned reporting by national media about the Department of Justice"s anti-trust investigation into the real estate online policies, it"s obvious that the newspapers and magazines are getting the identical anti-NAR source - the DOJ.
Suddenly Bill Powers, COO of Realty Executives, finds himself to be the go-to pundit for media covering the investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) into NAR"s online policies. During the NAR"s mid-year governance meetings last week, CNN and USA Today both tapped Powers to be the counterpoint to the media"s position that NAR is in the wrong to fashion an online listings policy for MLS subscribers.
National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) counsel Laurie Janik was feisty, but unable to convince the Department of Justice that brokers have no legal obligation to help competitors profit from the advertising of MLS listings to the public without their permission. The trade organization hopes a revised Internet display policy will help the DOJ better understand the competitive issues involved in voluntary listing exchanges.
The Real Estate Standards Institute (RESI), a recently incorporated grassroots organization of 26 plus real estate associations, has released a white paper about the need for standards called "Driving Profitability and Consumer Satisfaction: The Need for Standards in Real Estate," authored by John Ansbach, vice president of RECON Intelligence Services.
Now, she"s really the "Yellow Rose of Texas." Legendary Realtor, Ebby Halliday was honored with a rose named in her honor as her company Ebby Halliday Realtors, the state"s largest independent real estate company enters its 60th year as she, enters her 94th.
Will County, Illinois powerhouse Realtor, Rosemary West, is reporting some promising news for her market -- the cities of Naperville, Plainfield, and Joilet.
Realty Times has been flooded with mail about the story "Sickened by fraud, a real estate appraiser turns in his pencil" we did about Texas appraiser Bob Burnitt. He was so tired of being pressured by lenders and real estate licensees to make fraudulent appraisals that he decided to quit the business.
Spending the last three months in its "quiet period" prior to launching its IPO, HouseValues is announcing the business plan it believes will make it a more worthy competitor against publicly-held competitors such as LendingTree and the privately-held HomeGain.
RE/MAX International"s size, scrappiness and success in building the agent-centric franchise business model are only a few reasons the industry loves to wonder about the company. With more focus on broker profitability over agent loyalty, is RE/MAX making big changes?
Maybe it was just the year, but it seems there was a lot that was funny about 2004. Or, Realty Times is turning into The Onion. We don"t know which.
According to Standard & Poor"s Ratings Services" Housing Volatility Index (HVI), which calculates the volatility of housing in 331 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and determines the probability of price declines in the event of an economic downturn, what went up may be coming down.
With 35 franchises around the country, Showhomes of America serves sellers with homestaging and home management services designed to help vacant homes sell faster and for more money, and at no cost to the Realtor.
A future buyer"s agent writes Realty Times because he is curious as to how he would be paid. His question is at the heart of consumer confusion over how the real estate industry operates.
Realtors attending the general session of the National Association of Realtors Convention and Expo in Orlando, Florida last week were treated to jumbotron videos of famous people touting the NAR and its members.
While MLSNI and association executives run for cover in Chicagoland due to the findings of an audit of the MLS and its CEO that suggests that directors may have fallen down in their fiduciary duties to protect association members, the Chicago Association of Realtors and the Three Rivers Association of Realtors are taking lead roles in bringing closure to matters surrounding the CEO of MLSNI and what happened to two million dollars MLSNI invested in the CEO"s wife"s company REBIG by dumping their directors and helping to convene a special executive session of the board of directors of MLSNI.
MLSNI Directors should have known that the PriceWaterhousCoopers Report of Investigation would not be swept under the rug without a fight for the broom, but what"s interesting is how shareholders disagree on what"s dirty.
The REALTOR(r) Association of West/South Suburban Chicagoland (RWSSC) has instructed its attorneys to send a formal shareholder request for information of MLSNI on the basis that the PriceWaterhouseCoopers" Report of Investigation "leave unresolved a number of serious questions about whether MLSNI"s officers, directors and professional advisors discharged their fiduciary duties to MLSNI and its shareholders."
REBIG is upset by the forensic audit called for by MLSNI Chicagoland shareholders and wants the recipients of its "Update for Licensing MLSs" update to know that the audit is an "ill-informed and careless action hastily taken; at worst; it was an outrageous and malicious action taken to further a political or anti-competitive agenda."
Following the success of the Real Estate Cyberspace Society"s annual online conventions in which attendance reached as much as 31,000, founder Jack Peckham is rolling out an online convention format for real estate associations to follow.
Brokers, agents and association executives are waiting for the other shoe to drop in the forensic audit called for by MLSNI board members into the activities of MLSNI, its CEO Jay Huffman, and MLSNI"s investments into entities such as Multiple Solutions, LLC, a subsidiary formed to oversee MLSNI"s investments into REBIG, a data licensing firm headed by Huffman"s wife, Brenda Huffman.
Erica Winborne (not her real name) was divorced in 1988 from a man who lost his business and wound up owing the IRS a lot of money. The ex didn"t pay his employee taxes, and the IRS came down on the household because Erica foolishly signed a joint tax return not knowing that her accountant-trained husband was using their personal credit cards and avoiding paying employee taxes to stay in business.
Out of towners are flocking to Alleghany County, Maryland. Rolling mountain views, a slower country lifestyle and recreational opportunities are making Maryland’s least expensive housing market to suddenly heat up. More than 40 percent of houses purchased in the area are by buyers who live elsewhere, according to the county’s website.
They want to enjoy life, take it easy, travel. But the once-78 million strong "Baby Boomers" may not get the chance, if aging parents and boomerang adult children have anything to say about it.
The housing market slowdown hasn"t affected the majority of landscape architects" business, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).
Agents as loan originators has people talking. Is it greed or can one-stop agents really provide better service to consumers?
For those of you still basking in seller"s markets across the country, enjoy it while it lasts, because your market could switch to a buyer"s market overnight, and it could be brutal.
According to information obtained by Realty Times, Realtor.com is discontinuing its XLerator(tm) feature, a lead-matching system designed to provide "blind" lead generation opportunities to participating agents.
Over 115 association and brokerage leaders representing about 200,000 members from almost all 50 states have pledged over $100,000 toward research and development funding in their quest to improve and nationalize practice standards for real estate salespersons.
With skyrocketing marketing costs, some agents are wondering whether it"s smarter to form a team. If so, there are many questions to consider.
It"s easy to stay focused on your own clients and customers and their needs, but it is also important to maintain and polish the image of the professional Realtor by meeting responsibilities to non-clients, too.
The chance is faint, but Informedia founder Alan Isabelle could come back and demand that the domain names that MelbourneIT releases to Realtors still belong to him. Never mind that he registered agents" domain names to his company without their knowledge.
Homestore announced that losses were narrowed, and the improved results were due to cost-cutting, but they were also due to a rise in revenues in their media services division including advertising sales through Realtor.com. What do Homestore CEO Mike Long, Executive VP Corporate Development Group Allan Merrill, and the rest of the company do for their next trick?
You"re trying to get your sellers to get rid of clutter before putting the house on the market. The last thing you should do is suggest a garage sale. Here"s why.
In a new white paper, Clareity Consulting & Communications, Inc. suggests that brokerages must derive revenue from ancillary services such as mortgage, title, closing services, home protection, etc. in order to remain in business.
A flood of complaints to Realty Times all said the same thing - that the agents who purchased the Websites from Informedia Group, Inc. had done so because they attended a training seminar with Floyd Wickman as the keynote speaker. While most agents say they don"t blame Wickman directly for the loss of their money, they felt that his reputation contributed to their decision to buy from his sponsor Informedia.
On February 12, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a division of the U.S. Treasury, has adopted a regulation that "preempts state banking laws and exempts national banks from having to comply with state banking laws, including those protecting consumers from predatory lending and other abusive banking practices," says the National Association of Realtors.
If you think only boomers and GenXers use the Internet to find homes, a new survey by ERA Real Estate, conducted by Insight Express, has some surprises for you that may change your ideas of what seniors want in their next homes.
Concerned, repeated million dollar fines levied against the escrow and title insurance industry amount to little more than a slap on the wrist. The California Department of Insurance wants to slash escrow and title fees so much that a home buyer could save more than $2,300 on closing costs.
When I first started out in real estate, buyers and sellers hired real estate agents primarily because agents held the keys the information vault. Knowledge is power, and because agents had exclusive access to the MLS and other sources of information, consumers had to hire agents in order to buy or sell a home.
This week Middletown, CT-based subprime lender Mortgage Lenders Network USA (MLN) pulled the plug on its loan originating operations after growing from 7 to 1,800 employees in 10 years.
A new law working it"s way through the Kauai, HI, county council would regulate some vacation rentals and outlaw others in certain residential areas.
Can"t sell that condo? List it as a rental.