Real Estate Bloggers Looking for the Best Real Estate blogs around? Wether you're looking for homestaging advices, real estate agents, fsbo support, you're at the right place. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 48 4109

Articles from Real Estate Bloggers

“Do you think China’s gonna forget?”� 2007-09-16 18:53:48 It’s amazing what a few beers and a trip to New York City can get you these days.  In a recent conversation with an unnamed employee of an unnamed big NYC firm that is huge in the mortgage backed securities game I got a feel of just how bad it is on Wall Street.  This person worked on the front lines - packaging and selling CDOs (collateralized debt obligations) to big-time investors.  How big you ask?  How about China, Austria, and a ton of other countries as regular customers? His take seems to me to be right on.  When asked if the housing market is going to “come back” he frankly said, “never.”  The reason?  “Do you think China’s gonna forget [how screwed they got]?”  As he tells the story he could get anything he wanted rated AAA by the agencies with just a bit of alchemy and some statistics.  Take a pile of subprime mortgage debt and slice and dice and voila - an AAA rated CDO.  His firm would turn around and sell millions ...

[AUTOSAVED] Enviromentally And Fiscally Responsable Decorating 2007-09-16 05:21:56 Envirmental consciousness is on the rise. Extravegance and abundance is out and simplicity is in. We are all looking for ways to reduce- reuse and recycle. With ever changing styles in fashion and decor it can be a challage to be up to date without a continual turn over in our belongings. There is also a lot of truth to the saying “They just don’t make things like they used to.” One of the latest trends has made the Re-use princiiple an easy one to adopt. The Retro Revival. Fashions and furnishings from the 70’s are the hot! This doesn’t mean we need to head for the nearest furniture store to buy over priced and poorly constructed particle board knock offs. There are some great peices to be found at your local flea markets, thrift shops, and antique markets. I have recently aquired some great tables, dressers, head boards, dining room suites, consoles… I furnished a large farm house for less than $1000. For me, the trill of the hu ...

Maureen’s phantom phantom bids 2007-09-16 04:19:38 The secret’s out. “It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book.” The incoming head of the Toronto Real Estate Board has come out swinging against phantom bidding tactics after denying they even existed when she ran for the job three months ago. “It’s dirty realty, it really is,” Maureen O’Neill said of agents who fabricate offers during bidding wars. She is now calling on the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) to yank the licences of agents convicted of using phony bids. O’Neill made her comments after learning that the Toronto Star had received documents proving the Real Estate Council of Ontario has been called upon to deal with complaints about bidding war tactics. Until this week, she steadfastly refused to acknowledge made-up bids occur, saying the Ontario council’s CEO Tom Wright and registrar Allan Johnson assured the Toronto Real Estate Board’s directors on July 19 that no complaints had ever been received. But ...

A brief history of your Blown Mortgage Scribe, Part 3 2007-09-15 14:03:54 A lot of people ask me about my background and how and why I am in mortgages. Most people want to know why someone in the mortgage industry has a web site like Blown Mortgage. I guess its a little weird having a site that is primarily focused on the negative aspects of the industry in which I work. So with out further ado, for those of you that care about who is writing this blog please enjoy this autobiographical article that should shed some light on who I am and why I write Blown Mortgage. Part 1 Part 2 PART 3 A New Day Like being dunked in cold water you realize right away that sitting behind a desk dreaming up customer experience is a whole lot cleaner than the messy business that is running a company.  Marketing theory and strategy that look good on paper can quickly fade in the face of overwhelming reality.  But we continued to force the issue of quality and writing good loans.  We focused on customer service, developed a 10-point customer service pledge, and took an oath ... History

Property Flipping 2007-09-15 08:16:27 Property flipping is becoming increasing popular in Canada. The goal- renovate and update, getting the property back on the market fast so as to get the highest possible return on investment in the shortest possible time. When flipping a property it is important to prioritize your investment for maximum impact. The right finishes and fixtures can make all the differance in attracting buyers. By having a Certified Staging Professional consult with you on your project you can increase the properties marketability. LifeStyled Interiors is on top of the latest real-eatate and decor trends. We can help you to select and source the types of finishes that buyers are looking for. LifeStyled Interiors President, Karen Salzsauler is a Certified Colour & Decor Consultant. Having a professional Colour Consultation will ensure that you get just the right shade and tone to set the mood and highlight the homes architecture and selling features. Once you have the work completed, LifeStyl ...

Average Home Price Dropping? 2007-09-15 03:00:52 Average home price slips $6,600 in August The average price of a resale home in Canada’s major markets fell in August for the second month in a row amid slower sales, new figures show. The average price in 24 major markets was $325,881 last month, compared with $332,442 in July and $335,180 in June. But even with that slippage, August’s prices remained 11.2 per cent above those of August 2006. The figures were released Friday by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and are based on sales through the MLS system. August’s decline was due largely to drops in Alberta, where the average price in Calgary fell $13,000 to $423,801 and Edmonton’s average slipped $8,100 to $345,809. Saskatoon continued to be the country’s real estate hot spot. In August, the average resale home cost $253,240 “? up $8,100 from the previous month and up a stunning 56.4 per cent from a year earlier. Sudbury’s resale market showed continued strength, as the average p ...

MLS home sales remain strong 2007-09-15 02:49:32 The resale housing activity in Canada’s major markets edged back from record levels but remained strong in August 2007, according to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Seasonally adjusted national MLS® sales activity totaled 29,717 units in August 2007, down 5.3 per cent from July when monthly sales hit the second highest level on record. While MLS® sales edged lower in many major markets, the national monthly decline was largely the result of fewer sales in August in Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver. The month-over-month decline in seasonally adjusted sales in August also reflected a return to more normal activity levels from the record levels seen in recent months. August 2007 marked the eighth highest monthly MLS® sales level on record for seasonally adjusted activity in Canada’s major markets. Seasonally adjusted transactions posted the third highest monthly level on record in Saint John NB and St. John’s NF, and reach ...

The importance of branding 2007-09-14 23:19:53 I think that Inman may still has some work to do as far as branding and name recognition go……. Inman News Turn Here Video ...

The First Time Mystery, The Second Time Farce 2007-09-14 14:45:27 Ira Glass recently complained that though everyone aspires at some level to be a detective, it is rare in life that there are any actual mysteries to solve. We all know why the dog won’t leave the house alone anymore, what someone was looking for in our garbage, which family member has been drinking out of the jug. But here today we present to you an honest-to-goodness mystery. In the remote Northern California wilderness of La Honda, someone has begun posting Redfin bumper stickers on guardrails, mile-markers, and even put some in trees. The bumper stickers are high-quality, requiring significant work and expense to produce, re-appearing whenever they are taken down. This would be good news, except that we have never printed bumper stickers, and the citizens of La Honda have called us to complain. Perhaps this is a dirty trick, like McGovern campaign workers who once plastered cars with Nixon bumper stickers, or called in the middle of the night to ask for a Nixon vote (and th ...

Housing boom will falter, bank says 2007-09-14 07:09:36 Canadian home prices deviating from long-term trends Continuing tight supply-demand conditions have lifted real housing valuations in Canada above their long-term trend, raising the risk of an eventual softening in prices, according to the latest Real Estate Trends report, released yesterday by Scotia Economics. “The fundamentals underpinning Canada’s housing market are still quite good,” said Adrienne Warren, Senior Economist, Scotia Economics. “Unemployment is low, immigration is high and apartment vacancy rates are tight. There is little evidence of overbuilding or speculative buying. The industry also has relatively little direct exposure to subprime lending, with these loans accounting for only about five per cent of domestic mortgages in recent years compared with about 20 per cent in the United States. “Yet, there is little doubt that current trends are unsustainable,” added Ms. Warren. “Affordability is becoming increasingly stretched ...

Chase Eliminates Stated & No Income Alt-A Loan Types 2007-09-14 06:45:02 In another case of “what took so long?” Chase has announced the elimination of their no income and stated income ChaseFlex loan types.  The change, announced yesterday, goes in to effect on the 19th.  Just the latest in a long line of investors who find that secondary market buyers want to see proof of capacity to repay; something that was minimized in favor of credit score over the last few years.  As we’ve maintained - “FICOs can’t make your mortgage payment” and the market seems to finally be agreeing. From the announcement: As a responsible lender and investor, we continue to monitor the lending environment and make changes as necessary. The security of our customers, employees, and shareholders is our highest priority, and as such, we are charged with ensuring that our products and policies remain prudent and further support our commitment to help borrowers sustain home ownership. When reviewing product performance, we find adequate documenta ... Amp

Honest Company or Scammers? You decide - Part III 2007-09-13 11:15:19     Well, I've gotten some additional information about the companies that are doing business.  While it seems like one heck of a coincidence, It appears that there is an  Ann Tate doing business in Toledo as RidgeCrest Ventures who purchases homes for sale in full cash deals.  Additionally there is an Ann Tate doing business out of Florida as RidgeCrest Ventures who tried to purchase properties using a lease-purchase and then doing rent to own on the properties with tenants, as was done by Pearce Enterprises, In Faith Properties, KACW Investments and WH Investments.  I'll admit, in today's world where you can be in one location (say maybe Florida) with a telephone number from another location (say maybe Toledo) I am still skeptical.  I have, through a separate person, asked this woman to contact me.  Hopefully she will so I can try and get some more information on this.     I've also received the FAQ's that Eric and Joanne Pearce of Chi Rho Investm ...

Housing affordability deteriorates 2007-09-13 09:21:47 Affordability in Toronto sharpest deterioration since 1994 After some improvements earlier in the year, Ontario’s housing affordability deteriorated sharply in the latest quarter, according to a new housing report issued today by RBC Economics. "A combination of higher house prices, rising mortgage rates and increasing utility costs have forced affordability to deteriorate dramatically across all housing segments," said Derek Holt, assistant chief economist, RBC. "Despite the sudden drop, if we take a historical look back at the affordability numbers for Ontario, the cost to own a home still remains comfortably below levels witnessed in the late 1980s." RBC’s Housing Affordability report, which measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home, increased across the board in Ontario to 37 per cent for the benchmark detached bungalow, 43 per cent for the standard two storey home, 30 per cent for the standard ...

Countrywide Layoffs Gear Up 2007-09-13 09:00:38 My sources just informed me that the entire Anaheim subprime wholesale production office was given 60-day notices as the Countrywide layoffs announced last week apparently get underway in earnest.  I am not sure of the size of the Anaheim production office but it was a sizeable division. Please email me if you have more information about the sure-to-be ongoing Countrywide layoffs. PS. I’m still on vacation but finally have high-speed internet - finally! Share This ...

Does this house make my butt look big? 2007-09-13 07:48:43 University of Washington researchers recently found wide disparities in obesity rates among King County ZIP codes. The rates range from less than 10 percent in parts of central Seattle and Bellevue to more than 25 percent in some south county neighborhoods. (From The Seattle Post-Intelligencer) The strongest predictor of obesity rates wasn’t income or education but property values, the study found. Each additional $100,000 in median home value for a ZIP code corresponded with a drop in obesity of 2 percentage points. It’s further evidence, experts say, that weight isn’t solely about individual behavior and that the environment you live in matters. As the Seattle P-I notes in “Overweight? Blame your zipcode”: “If you have this mind-set that obesity has to do with the individual alone, then ZIP codes or areas really should not come into this. But they do, big-time,” said Adam Drewnowski, director of the UW Center for Obesity Research. It&rsq ...