RISMedia's Real Estate Information Network Member Directory
REsource- Real Estate Content Solutions

Consumer News and Advice Archive


Weekly Video Tip: Research New Products before Purchase

Video technology and computer technology have a lot in common, including the fact that something new hits the market every month. Being the first kid on the block with a new gadget can be an exciting thing, but sometimes there’s a price to pay.


More Young Adults are Living in Their Parents’ Home, Census Bureau Reports

Between 2005 and 2011, the proportion of young adults living in their parents' home increased, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The percentage of men age 25 to 34 living in the home of their parents rose from 14 percent in 2005 to 19 percent in 2011 and from 8 percent to 10 percent over the period for women.


Corelogic HomeStandings Now Available on RE/MAX Mainstreet

CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading provider of information, analytics and business services, recently announced the launch of HomeStandings on RE/MAX Mainstreet, a members-only extranet website exclusive to the RE/MAX organization, including RE/MAX Affiliates, RE/MAX Employees and RE/MAX Approved Suppliers. According to the company, the HomeStandings report provides property specific, easy-to-understand, professional-grade data and analytics that enable RE/MAX Agents to accurately assess the overall purchase quality of a home.


New from NAHB: House Price Estimator Shows Home Value

According to an online house price estimator and economic model just updated by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), a third full bathroom is the one feature that can have the greatest impact on the value of a standard new single-family detached house in a Southern suburb, increasing the estimated price by about $43,000. The estimator enables builders, developers, prospective home buyers and home owners to see the impact that various physical features might have on the price of a home.


Third Quarter Results: Refinancing Homeowners Maintain or Reduce Debt

Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) released the results of its third quarter refinance analysis showing homeowners who refinance continue to strengthen their fiscal house by maintaining or reducing their mortgage debt. In the third quarter of 2011, 82 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage either maintained about the same loan amount or lowered their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing table. Of these borrowers, 44 percent maintained about the same loan amount, and 37 percent of refinancing homeowners reduced their principal balance.


Trend Alert: Homeowners Opt for 15-year Fixed-Rate Loans

Consumer money resource Bills.com recently released its 2011 Third Quarter Mortgage Report. Driven by an increased demand for refinance loans, consumer traffic to the company's mortgage tools and calculators more than doubled from the second quarter. The majority of homeowners preferred 15-year fixed-rate loans as a way to combine lower interest rates with the stability of a fixed-rate product. Consumers in this quarter were also more accurate in estimating both their credit score and the value of their homes.


Computerized Appraisals Win One in HARP 2.0

The federal government—with the support of the two leading professional appraisal organizations—has sanctioned the use of computerized, appraisals using algorithms and computerized databases of property data to determine a property’s value.


Google+: Why It Makes Sense for E-Marketers

(eM+C)—Google+ is the latest player on the social media scene. With 40 million-plus users, the social media network has carved out a niche for itself. Like they do via Twitter and Facebook, consumers are sharing content, engaging with new contacts and building communities on Google+.


Jumbo Mortgages: How to Bag the Big Opportunity Today

Effective October 1, 2011, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lowered their conforming loan limits back to 2008 levels. And that means many home buyers suddenly need a jumbo loan to qualify for the homes they want. Real estate professionals who have worked with jumbo loans in the past know that the process and underwriting guidelines are far different than they are for conforming mortgages. So it’s important to choose a lender well experienced with jumbo loans.


The IMLS Search Delivery; One of the Largest Real Estate Applications Ever Delivered

The International Realty Inc. and The International MLS [IMLS] have announced recently the delivery of 55,000 IMLS search widgets into the Prudential Real Estate agency network. This comes on the heels of its recent announcement that its Free To List-Commission Share platform for all USA agents is now available so that real estate agents in the USA may now register and manually list their property listings for global exposure on all of its IMLS search widgets, as well as on the company’s two main web sites.


October Housing Scorecard: Positive Trends but Mixed Overall

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently released the October edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard—a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. The latest housing data offer continued mixed signals as new home sales rose compared to August, but were still slightly down from the prior year. Mortgage defaults and foreclosure sales continued a downward trend as more homeowners were able to secure mortgage relief. However, foreclosure completions ticked slightly upward in September after months of decline.


How to Get a Derailed Executive Career Back on Track

Executive recruiter Colleen Aylward wanted to figure out how many executives had been displaced by the poor economy over the last few years, but before she got her numbers, she discovered something else even more troubling. “No one actually keeps track of those stats,” says Aylward, president of recruiting firm Devon James and author of Bedlam to Boardroom: How To Get a Derailed Executive Career Back on Track (www.devonjames.com). “When I tried to look it up with the Bureau of Labor Statistics and even talk to some of the bureau’s staff, I couldn’t get a straight answer.”


The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: An Update on Real Estate Brokerage Charges

Real estate brokers continue to charge additional fees to cover the cost of their services. These fees, often mistakenly referred to as administrative/professional fees, are more appropriately identified as additional flat fee commission charges. It has been two years since a federal district court in Busby v. RealtySouth


House Budget Cuts Eliminated Nearly 400,000 American Jobs

Recently, a new report released by the Center for American Progress documents that budget cuts insisted on last spring by the U.S. House of Representatives cost the American economy nearly 400,000 jobs. The analysis tracks the impact those reductions had on employment in three specific areas targeted by the House for particularly deep cuts. Titled, "Creating Unemployment: How Congressional Budget Decisions are Putting Americans out of Work and Increasing the Risk of a Second Recession," the report examines the job-elimination efforts by the current Congress and the growing damage this is causing around the country.


Making Jobs: Energy Efficiency Funding

A report released recently, sponsored in part by the Appraisal Institute, outlines ways to finance $150 billion per year in energy efficiency projects that yield double-digit financial returns. The Appraisal Institute is the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers.


© 2012 RISMedia. All Rights Reserved Contact Us | Content Usage and Privacy Policy