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RISMEDIA, June 2, 2011—For renters, the national recovery could be very bad news. That warning came from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies’ latest report on America’s rental housing. Rental markets are now tightening, with vacancy rates falling and rents climbing. With little new supply of multifamily units

RISMedia, June 1 2011—The word "auction" is derived from the Latin augeo which means "I increase" or "I augment." Auctions have a long history, having been recorded as early as 500 B.C. There were many types of auctions held during the Roman Empire. One of the most significant historical auctions occurred in the year 193 A.D. when the entire Roman Empire was put on the auction block by the Praetorian Guard who offered the empire to the highest bidder. In some parts of England during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries auction by candle was used for the sale of goods and leaseholds. This auction began by lighting a candle after which bids were offered in ascending order until the candle spluttered out. The high bid at the time the candle extinguished itself won the auction. The oldest auction house in the world is Stockholm Auction House, established in Sweden in 1674.

RISMedia, June 1 2011—Summer is renowned as the ‘vacation season’ where even thriving companies tend to slow down. Real estate is notoriously sluggish during the summer months, but with the consistently high number of foreclosures flooding the market, could this be a potentially lucrative season for real estate auctions? According to last year’s data, PropertyAuction.com had a plethora of listings in summer 2010. The month of June saw 5,044 listings of both commercial and residential auctions combined, July came in at 5,649 total auctions, and August proved to be a very busy month with a total of 9,912 auctions listed. None of the summer months were at the bottom of the inventory list—the lowest amount of auction listings were in January, February and April, respectively.

RISMedia, June 1 2011—The National Association of REALTORS® supports a secondary mortgage market model with some level of government participation that would protect taxpayers and ensure that creditworthy consumers have access to affordable mortgage capital in all markets at all times.

RISMedia, May 26, 2011—This business is about connections and relationships. Before you can ratify a contract and go to closing, you have to connect. You have to engage. You have to collaborate. You have to deliver an experience, not just a transaction. Finding the right technology to help you accomplish this objective is critical. For the better part of a decade, technological advances allowed consumers and REALTORS® to increase efficiencies, but did very little to enhance an experience. People did pretty much the same things, only faster.

RISMedia, May 26, 2011—YouTube has changed dramatically over the last five years. Everyone in video marketing feels like they’re playing Calvinball, the game invented in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. As Calvin once said, “The only permanent rule in Calvinball is that you can’t play it the same way twice!”

RISMedia, May 26, 2011—Whenever a new trend hits any market I have to ask, “Will it simply become another fanny pack?” You know, have its heyday then fade away, only to be held onto dearly by a few mullet-wearing fans for way too long. I have spent the last eight months completely consumed in mobile technology

RISMEDIA, May 24, 2011--Buffini & Company is honored to be a sponsor at RISMedia’s marketing and opportunity conference, Achieve!, opening in Rye, N.Y. , yesterday and continuing through today, May 25. ...

RISMedia, May 23 2011—Existing-home sales slipped in April, although the market has managed six gains in the past nine months, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, eased 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million in April from a downwardly revised 5.09 million in March, and are 12.9 percent below a 5.80 million pace in April 2010; sales surged in April and May of 2010 in response to the home buyer tax credit.

RISMedia, May 21, 2011—OK, so you’re standing in line in the supermarket, or in an elevator, at a party, or in a networking group. Sooner or later, someone is going to say to you, “So what do you do?” This is what you want, free publicity, so to speak. However, how you handle this question could determine whether this person becomes a prospective client, a prospective referral source or just walks away.

RISMedia, May 21, 2011—The inventory of homes in foreclosure awaiting resale fell slightly in April, but they are still 12.7 percent higher than they were a year ago, according to Lender Processing Services April 2011 month-end mortgage performance statistics. Some 2,184,000 homes are in the presale foreclosure inventory. The total presale foreclosure inventory rate is 4.14 percent of all mortgages. However, month-over-month mortgage delinquencies of 30-days or more rose 2.4 percent during the month. They are still 16.3 percent lower than last year at this time.

RISMedia, May 19, 2011—For the month of April, Massachusetts foreclosure activity remained at levels dramatically below those recorded last year. However, foreclosure petitions—which mark the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts—posted the highest number so far this year. The number of foreclosure petitions statewide dropped almost 51 percent year-over-year to 1,192 from 2,431 in April 2010. In the three previous months, petitions have ranged from 694 to 1,048. This was the highest level of petitions since September, when there were 2,358 starts. Through April of this year, 3,727 petitions to foreclose have been filed statewide, down 58.6 percent from 9,008 during the same period in 2010.

RISMEDIA, May 12, 2011— A seasonal uptick in both median prices and inventory has appeared in most metropolitan areas across the country, contradicting earlier price reports, according to Altos Research’s 20-city Composite trends data in April. Price increases are apparent in 24 of the 26 tracked markets, and inventory

RISMEDIA, May 10, 2011—The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently released the April edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard—a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Officials caution that the latest housing figures underscore fragility in the housing market and highlight the importance of the Administration’s foreclosure-prevention programs, which continue to help tens of thousands of struggling homeowners each month and play a critical role in setting standards for the mortgage industry.

RISMEDIA, May 10, 2011—Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) released the results of its first quarter refinance analysis showing homeowners who refinance continue to strengthen their fiscal house: