Category Archives: Other

High unemployment persists and the European debt crisis continues to threaten the economic recovery, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Congressional Joint Economic Committee yesterday. The real estate market also continues to serve as “another drag” on recovery, he noted. But the Fed chairman likely will not push more stimulus programs when the Fed’s policy-making committee meets June 19 and 20, according to media reports. Instead, Bernanke pushed Congress to do more to help stimulate the economy. For the Fed’s part, Bernanke said it will continue to keep short-term […]

A new article at CNBC.com suggests that the real estate market is splitting in two, with the high-end segment soaring and the rest of the market continuing to struggle as it inches toward recovery mode. “It’s become a tale of two markets,” Michael Simonsen, CEO of Altos Research, told CNBC.com. “At the high end, well-financed people have taken advantage of cheap money. And demand is up, inventory is down, and prices are responding.” The article says that wealthy buyers tend to have good credit and are taking advantage of record […]

Real estate professionals rank higher than lawyers, business executives, and advertising practitioners when it comes to the public’s perceptions of honesty and ethics, according to a recent Gallup poll. In fact, real estate professionals received their highest rating yet in the poll, since Gallup began measuring Americans’ perceptions of honesty and ethics of 21 professions since 1976. In the survey, 20 percent of respondents gave real estate professionals a “very high to high” rating on honesty and ethics. Fifty-seven percent of the Americans surveyed rated them as “average” when it […]

Celebrities are increasingly finding that having a famous name doesn’t always help them sell real estate, even though those famous names may help them move movie or music tickets, perfumes, or other products. Several celebrities who have tried to sell their homes recently have had to reduce their asking prices or have found their big-priced homes linger on the market waiting for a buyer. In the last year, for example, actors like Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have had to reduce the asking price for their $11.2 million Malibu beach home by […]

The short-sale process is expected to get shorter starting June 15. New guidelines issued under the Federal Housing Finance Agency will require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to give home buyers of short sales notice of their final decision within 60 days. The new guidelines also will require the mortgage giants to respond to initial short-sale requests within 30 days of receiving an offer from a potential buyer. The speedier process is expected to be a boost to the housing market, Michael McHugh, president of the Empire State Mortgage Bankers […]

The Federal Reserve released a plan between Ally Financial and third-party consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers, hired to conduct the independent foreclosure review. The release also included an action plan from Citigroup ($26.75 0.28%), updating the Fed on its implementation of consent order requirements agreed to in April 2011. The Fed also included a letter from HSBC ($40.15 -0.08%) covering how the bank plans to implement single-point-of-contact requirements under the consent order. The consent orders came after an investigation into widespread foreclosure abuses and documentation problems. The agreements include new servicing standards and […]

Foreclosure filings fell to their lowest level since July 2007, driven by declines in foreclosure-burdened states like California, Arizona and Nevada. Data firm RealtyTrac said 188,780 homes received a foreclosure filing — which includes default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank-owned properties — in April, dropping 5% from March and 14% from a year earlier. Foreclosure activity dipped 67% in Nevada, 44% in Arizona and 30% in California from April 2011. “Those three states, and several other nonjudicial foreclosure states like them, more efficiently processed foreclosures last year, resulting in […]

Many housing experts for months have been warning a foreclosure wave would soon flood several markets throughout the country. But was it all a false alarm? Recent surveys have shown that foreclosure sales have dropped to their lowest point in more than two years. And while according to March data, 8 percent more homes did enter the foreclosure process from the previous month, that number is down more than 30 percent from a year ago, according to Lender Processing Services. CNBC real estate reporter Diana Olick notes that it could […]

The number of assaults against real estate professionals is on the rise, with the nature of attacks becoming more violent and sometimes deadly. Fatal injuries among real estate professionals while working on the job reached in 2010 their highest level since 2003, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Figures from 2010 are the latest year available. Sixty-three workplace fatalities occurred in the real estate industry category in 2010, which is a 19 percent rise over the previous year. Of the 63 fatalities, 23 were homicides, according to BLS. That […]

My most important job is listening to my clients not only in the initial interview but also as they tour prospective properties allowing me to search properties through their eyes. Once the desired property is located I work with other team members to ensure all aspects of the transaction are completed smoothly Click here to search for a gay or lesbian real estate agent anywhere in the country.   Professional/Personal Distinctions: ABR, SRES   Specialties: The majority of my time is spent working with Buyers and helping them locate the […]