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Donald Trump Reminds Us That Real Estate is a Solid Investment 2007-11-29 20:10:23 I guess everyone has a blog these days, including Donald Trump. Now, this man may not know a thing about hair! But I’m pretty sure we can all agree that he knows a thing or two about real estate. I was just checking out his blog today, and found an interesting little post about the doom and gloom articles out there. Writer Gary Eldred, PhD reminded us that historically, real estate has been a great investment. And that while there have been times when prices have flattened out, or were driven down by outside forces such as job layoffs, real estate always makes a recovery. But all the while, there have always been doom and gloom writers telling us what a horrible investment real estate is. To give you a rough idea of how real estate has performed over time, in the 1940’s in the Sunset district, you could buy a brand new home for about $5000 (which in today’s money is about $55,000). That same home today is worth anywhere from $650,000 to $800,000 or more. Eve ...

Forbes Says San Francisco Real Estate Still Performing Well 2007-11-29 19:39:05 REALTOR Magazine did a nice job of summarizing a recent report provided by Forbes magazine showing that San Francisco real estate is still performing, and in fact is one of the 10 best performing markets in the market. Here are the top 10 best performing housing markets, according to Forbes magazine, their third quarter median home sale prices and the percentage that prices have risen compared to third quarter 2006. Salt Lake City; Median Home Sale Price: $246,700; Percent Change: 14.1 percent Charlotte, N.C., $220,000, 11 percent San Jose, Calif., $852,500, 9.4 percent San Francisco, $825,400, 8.6 percent Raleigh, N.C., $229,500, 7.5 percent Austin, $188,200, 7.2 percent Pittsburgh, $127,700, 6.1 percent Seattle, $394,700, 6 percent San Antonio, $154,700, 5.7 percent Portland, Ore., $299,700, 5.2 percent Source: Forbes, Matt Woolsey (11/21/2007) What does this mean to you? Well, if you’re a seller - this is good news because that means your home likely hasn’t los ...

Industry VP Connected the Dot… Now I’m Gonna Paint the Picture 2007-11-29 13:43:00 Recently I read an interesting post by Jennie Norris, a Vice President at stagedhomes.com. In her post see “connected”� with what I see as one of the important yet troublesome industry “dots” that other stagers in others markets have experienced. Jennie wrote an expose’ on what she felt were wrongful pricing strategies taking place. Her post, entitled, “Get off your back and on your feet - and walk out of the red-light district!”� describes her frustrations with the low ball fees other stagers are charging for their services. Jennie writes “When are we going to stop giving it away - and realize the VALUE of what we bring to the table? And if you are out there undercharging because you think it’s the only way you can get business - for shame! Take another look at what your market will bear - and don’t leave money on the table!” While low ball pricing may be a new issue for Jennie in Sacramento, it is NOT new to other st ...

Mortgage Shoppers: Shopping for Advocates or Salesmen? 2007-11-29 07:22:08 For a mortgage advocacy website, this has to hit home, right???  One of the major issues I face as an originator is people who seem to want a salesman and not an advocate.  I am convinced that this is one of the biggest problems facing the mortgage industry today, but unfortunately I don’t think this is on Senator Schumer’s radar.  Changing consumer behavior is much more difficult than changing lender behavior. “Oh great, Morgan has brought on some crazy new contributor to Blown Mortgage.  Is this guy passing blame onto the consumer?  This guy shouldn’t even be allowed to comment on this page!”�  Perhaps that is true, but with the amount of loan originations that my partner and I lose to unscrupulous salesmen peddling bad financial sense to unsuspecting yet overanxious homeowners, I know this isn’t just a “me”� problem. Loan originators have the difficult task of balancing two very important goals: 1) make money by selling loans a ...

FHA & HUD Announce Incentives for Ohio Home Buyers 2007-11-29 04:40:53 I’ve been wanting to post this for a while, seeing as I received it last week. Better late than never: FHA Announces Incentives to Lower the Cost of Homeownership in Ohio Contact me if you’d like to explore your options for homeownership today! ... Amp

Could someone explain the differences between a co-op and a condominium purchase? 2007-11-29 03:27:26 Q: Could someone explain the differences between a co-op and a condominium purchase? A: A shareholder in a co-op does not own real estate, but a share of the legal entity that does own real estate. Co-operative ownership is quite distinct from condominiums where people “own” individual units and have little say in who moves into the other units. Because of this, most jurisdictions have developed separate legislation, similar to laws that regulate companies, to regulate how co-ops are operated and the rights and obligations of shareholders. Now in regards to other differences, a coop has a board, this board can deny the prospective buyer from actually BUYING an apartment within their building for any reason. Legally they don’t even need to supply one. This board also dictates and approves any and all matters in the building related to improvements, the color of the hallways, the doorman, the super, etc. In short, coops have LOADS of rules, guidelines, regulations and ...

You’ve many mortgage options 2007-11-29 02:35:09 With so many new mortgage features being introduced in the Canadian marketplace, the choices for the consumer are immense. Perhaps the most anxiety-ridden part of house hunting is figuring out how much you can afford. Your real estate Agent or a specialized Mortgage Consultant offers the expert, impartial mortgage advice you need, and can educate you on the range of mortgage types which are now available. The formula used to be simple. For decades, the thinking was that your monthly mortgage payment, including taxes and insurance, should not exceed 28 percent of your gross pay, and that all your loans, mortgage included, should not exceed 36 percent. Lenders used that formula to qualify people for loans, and people relied on lenders to tell them what they could afford. Today, lenders rarely use this cookie-cutter method. Some focus more on how much of a person’s monthly income goes toward paying off debt. Some do not use ratios at all. But whatever method lenders use, borrowers ...

Would You Like To Live Near a Celebrity? 2007-11-29 02:10:27 Fizber.com displays home search results with the icons marking the homes where the stars live. Fancy living next door to a celebrity? Fizber.com, an innovative real estate website, is constantly updating their properties search results pages and is now displaying star-shaped icons indicating celebrity homes on the maps. Search results appear in the left panel and as icons on the map itself. Star-shaped icons indicate the places where your favorite celebrities live. Fizber.com shows a diverse group of celebrity abodes on the map, ranging from the Los Angeles mansion owned by the late basketball star Wilt Chamberlain to actor/model Andie McDowell’s Montana ranch. Many of the celebrity homes listed here are for sale. Wondering where Billy Idol, Teri Hatcher, Madonna and Dustin Hoffman live? Celebrity icons on Fizber.com will show you. Many people wander how the rich and famous live, where they eat or dress, and celebrity homes will always ...

FSBO’s - Need Marketing Help? 2007-11-29 02:09:33 Fizber.com launches FSBO help center dedicated to helping homeowners sell their property without a realtor. Today’s home sellers and buyers are more and more willing to consider doing it themselves — and they have more options available than ever before to help them. Fizber.com, a major real estate property-listing website, announced the launch of a For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) Help Center which provides unrepresented home sellers and buyers with the guidance, publicity, and resources they need to successfully complete their real estate transaction. Over the years, internet marketing has changed dramatically. Nowadays just posting a property on any web site isn’t as effective as it was 3 years ago. “We’ve evolved with changing market conditions,” said Julia Foster, Fizber.com PR Manager. “We offer sellers who are representing themselves a menu of services and resources in our FSBO Help Center“. The ... Marketing

Taboo words in real estate listings 2007-11-28 02:00:54 What do “vampire,” “Guatemala,” “druidism,” “cyberhomes,” “orgy,” “Gandhi,” “agnostic,” “tenant” and “wee wee” have in common? They all fall into the vast category of verboten vocabulary that Realtor.com prohibits in its listings. Elaborating on those lovely Guatemalan woodcarvings? Gushing over a cutting-edge cyberhome? Mentioning that the apartment already has long-term tenants? (more…) ...

More contributors - more fun! 2007-11-27 19:32:49 Hey gang, I’d like to announce a few more contributors that are going to be sharing their thoughts with us here on Blown Mortgage.  They are Ricardo, Shawn and Graeme.  I’ll let them share their backgrounds with you and more, but I’m excited to have them contributing and know that they’ll continue to add value to and enhance Blown Mortgage.  Look for them to post here sooner or later! –Morgan Share This ...

Ohhh..You Mean it’s Not Just a Subprime Problem?? 2007-11-27 19:14:46 Go figure. From the way you would read it in the media these days the only problems on main street have to do with people with “those subprime mortgages.” It seems that the words mortgage and subprime have become inextricably linked together and, we’re told, that’s where the problem is. If I had a nickel every time I heard or read the phrase “…from trouble in the subprime mortgage market” or some variation thereof I’d be a wealthy man; but that rote commentary belies the much bigger problem facing our economy. The problem is not with subprime mortgages the problem is with the housing market and the mortgages tied to nearly all of those properties. It’s not a subprime mortgage problem, its a credit and collateral problem - and guess what? We’re all sitting on that time bomb. It’s a bit amusing (but mostly deathly frightful) that everyone references the following aphorisms when making the case for a non-systemic prob ...

A busy day”¦Some News and Notes 2007-11-27 17:33:01 Sorry folks, a busy day over here for yours truly. But lots of important news and notes to catch you up on. Enjoy the link love and check back soon for a more substantial post: Calculated Risk covers Wells Fargo setting aside $1.4 billion in loan loss reserves for home equity loans. Paul Jackson at Housing Wire covers the interesting case of dismissed foreclosure proceedings due to the securitization of mortgages Peter Viles notes that conforming loan limits will NOT be raised for 2008, at least for now. A couple of lenders ceased/reduced operations in one form or another M&T and Paul Financial (h/t Bill and Bryant) “It comes with deep regret to announce the cessation of M&T’s wholesale business from the Phoenix office. We will no longer be accepting new registrations or locks after today, Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 4:00 pm. In an effort to ensure our commitment of existing registered loans, we will continue to provide quality service through the remai ...

ByTheOwner.com Reaches 5,000 SOLD in 2007!!! 2007-11-27 07:21:54 ByTheOwner.com recently passed the 5000 SOLD properties mark in 2007. This is an incredible accomplishment as it is an increase of more than 40% over 2006 results. ByTheOwner.com is on pace to sell more than 1% of all the homes in Canada this year. The sold results also do not include the sold properties from our partner sites (OKhomeseller.com, Saskhouses.com, and nfprivatesale.com. Combined with our partner sites, the total number of FSBO properties sold would be approximately 6,500 in 2007. ByTheOwner.com maintains an average of 160,000 weekly visitors to our website and we have more than 5700 homes for sale. These stats, combined with our excellent website, customer service and signs, are the main reasons that we sell more homes than any other For Sale By Owner website in Canada. www.bytheowner.com ...

ByTheOwner.com in Halifax, Vancouver and Montreal Newspapers 2007-11-27 07:15:12 ByTheOwner.com recently appeared in the The Daily News, Halifax, The Province, in Vancouver, and the Montreal Gazette. The articles all discuss ByTheOwner.com’s unique way of helping people sell their home without using a real estate agent and our success to date. Here are links to each article: Montreal Vancouver Halifax www.bytheowner.com ...