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Stabilizing and restoring the health of the housing market is critical to a broader economic recovery, according to a white paper released yesterday by the Federal Reserve Board. Many of the issues and recommendations outlined in the paper support key principles established by the National Association of REALTORS® to help revitalize the housing industry and economy. The white paper, The U.S. Housing Market: Current Conditions and Policy Considerations, calls for increased lending to creditworthy home buyers and more loan modifications, mortgage refinancings, and short sales to reduce the rising inventory of foreclosed homes and help stabilize

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT—As the new year begins, potential home buyers and sellers throughout the Mid Atlantic region are anxious about how their properties will fare in this coming year. To explore the issue, MRIS has released a list of several key triggers that are expected to shape the local economy, and ...

“Technology is changing everything!” When was the last time you heard this? Well, guess what? It’s still true, and as we make our way through 2012, your inbox will continue to be flooded with opportunities to own the latest and greatest “must-have” technology tools. But while emerging technology will always “change everything,” it also has the capacity to suck away your time and energy and cause you to lose focus on the most important things in your life and business. Let’s take a look at social media as just one example. Social media has taken not only the real estate industry, but the entire world, by storm. The concept of social media as a tool for business is a solid concept, and the premise of regularly staying in front of your clients has enormous value.

(eM+C)—While none would argue that 2011 was the year of the mobile app, marketers have been hearing more noise about the mobile web as a cross-device alternative to apps that are downloaded and installed. The reality isn't so clear-cut. If anything, the division of the mobile smartphone space into iOS and Android, as well as demographic and usage patterns on these platforms, means that targeting and developing effective mobile experiences just got a whole lot harder. But this is translating into more options for mobile marketers in 2012.

Matt and Rachel Kent are about to apply for a loan on a new home being built in Tucson, Ariz. It’s been three years since they lost their Las Vegas home to foreclosure. The Kents, who could afford to keep their home in Las Vegas, simply decided to “walk away” and let their lender foreclose. They join a growing population in the United States referred to as “strategic defaulters.” Foreclosure and its expanding negative economic impact continue to plague the nation. The situation in the Las Vegas area, a booming home market only a few years ago, now boasts some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Nationally, 34 percent of foreclosures are the “strategic” variety, according to a September 2011 survey conducted by the University of Chicago.

(MCT)—The most Americans in more than 18 months signed contracts in November to buy homes, raising hopes that a boost in sales will follow, NAR reported Thursday.

Most of us have dreamt of having a vacation home. It could be on the beach in New England, somewhere tropical, or even somewhere foreign. Many consumers don't realize that with the proper research, their dream vacation home might actually be in reach. Instead of visualizing how relaxing vacations and weekend getaways could be, why not try to make your second home a reality? The first step to purchasing a second home is organizing your finances to make sure you can afford it without compromising the security of your other assets.

Just three weeks after Congress restored $40 million in its budget for homeownership counseling, a new study by the Urban Institute reports that counseling greatly increased the ability of homeowners to stay current once they cured a serious delinquency or foreclosure.

Professionals Realty Group USA (ProsUSA) President Glenn Melton reports that the recent Chinese government’s liberalization of restrictions on investing capital outside of the country, will have a positive trickling down affect on real estate brokers and agents’ business in the United States.

The median home price in the U.S. has plunged nearly 40% in a little over five years, but the worst is definitely over, according to a recent report by Kiplinger: The market has finally wrung out the last excess valuations born of the housing bubble. Before you break out the party hats, note that this doesn’t mean prices across the nation are poised to rebound anytime soon. Alex Villacorta, director of research and analytics at Clear Capital, a provider of real estate data and analytics, said the housing market is in a “suspended state,” with positive and negative factors offsetting one another. But he doesn’t expect another free fall in prices, assuming “things are left to work themselves out and there are no further shocks to the economy.”

Whether it's filing your taxes on time, paying your bills, cleaning out the garage, or getting out of bed to exercise, everyone tends to procrastinate once in a while. It has been said that Robinson Crusoe is the only person to have all of his work done by Friday. Are you the type of person who tackles projects head on and gets tasks done right away, or do you tend to procrastinate and put things off? The habit of procrastination is an attractive form of self-sabotage and is the grave in which opportunity is buried. Procrastination can take a toll on all aspects of your life and has a significant impact on your mental and physical health. The habit of procrastination brings with it a whole host of overwhelming, negative emotions such as increased stress, anxiety, guilt, fear, worry, depression, and low self-esteem.

As 2011 draws to a close, it makes you wonder; where did the time go? On the other hand, one thing you’re not left wondering is whether mobile will remain an important part of the technological and marketing landscape moving forward. This year there was rarely a conference, seminar

Everyone knows that the housing market has been a little daunting for the last several years. Ups and downs, talk of good news and bad news, and a confusing amount of information about rising and falling mortgage rates has rendered the market all but inaccessible for a lot of prospective buyers. Good news! Times are changing. Whether you want to buy a home as your long-term residence or as an income property, things are looking up. Remarkably low mortgage rates are making houses more affordable than they have been in decades.

For sellers with homes on the market or for newly moved-in buyers, fixing up your home can be a worthwhile and satisfying process. Needless to say, the home improvement process can potentially be daunting when trying to keep track of room sizes, paint swatches, project information and more. With Lowe’s new MyLowe’s initiative, consumers have a revolutionary new way to maintain, manage and track all things relating to the home, making home improvement that much more simple. By registering for a MyLowe’s card, consumers can keep track of all purchases made online and in Lowe’s stores. From the shade of deck stain used on the garage last spring to the paint color used in a particular room, logging in to a MyLowe’s account will display a customer’s entire purchase history.

In recent years, it has been hard to ignore all of the negative publicity that has been circulating about the national economy, the stock market and current events. The state of the real estate market in particular has received a lot of bad press. With all of the foreclosures and short sales that have been flooding our market, and all of the problems that have been occurring in the lending industry, I thought it would be in all of our best interests to create a quick business plan to help us focus. Simplify, simplify, simplify — Find a few things that you are good at and become an expert in each one. We are constantly being bombarded by massive amounts of data, new marketing strategies, advancements in technology and new techniques for serving our clients.