Real Estate News Daily

Life in major cities like New York, London or Paris are glamorous and fast-paced, it can also cost you a bundle. According an article in the Global Property Guide: Most Expensive Cities In 2008, these cities have some of the most expensive apartments & condos. London & New York are the top two placers in the race for the most expensive property values, with Moscow coming in a close third. These highly urbanized cities are usually the centers of government, fashion, culture, politics and business. Space is also a premium in these locations, making apartments and condos the dwelling of choice for its lucky inhabitants.

If you’re lucky enough to already own a property in one of these areas, hold on to it. You can even make pretty good money renting it out. If you’re planning to invest in real estate in any of these cities,
it may cost more at the start, but since these cities’ property values are relatively stable, you’ll get a relatively good return on your investment.

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In the financial crisis of today, to use a popular maxim of Donald Rumsfeld’s invention, “there are known unknowns and unknown unknowns.” Some major unknowns have surfaced to become economic hurricanes reeking havoc on financial markets worldwide, such as the failure of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. But what unknown unknowns are still lurking under the surface, waiting to be discovered, buried in the media headlines, that could have an equally devastating effect on the economy and real estate markets across the country? One such potential dangerous unknown unknown that hasn’t received very much press attention recently is the current lack of financial stability in the municipal bond market.

Municipal bonds are sold by cities and municipalities across the nation to fund large real estate and infrastructure construction projects. They offer investors a tax free stream of income and offered by brokers around the nation as a low risk way to receive income without increasing the investor’s tax burden. Well, it turns out that the municipal bond markets now are starting to sound like a familiar story. Municipalities across the nation have taken advantage of low interest rates over the past two years to fund construction projects. However, about a one third of these funds were borrowed using a variable rate of interest. Now the municipalities are having trouble paying back their investors.

The innovations just keep coming on people who are betting on technology which is the Internet in helping ease the crisis in the housing market. The site is said to be one of the best place to buy, sell or just look around for properties that are for sale and so much more information. Want to rent, they also have options when you begin your search to select either for sale, for rent and comparison statistics whether to buy or rent. The best thing about the site is that it does not only give you addresses with names on them, it gives you a map with all the addresses superimposed on them so you get the best view say of how convenient it would be to get to the grocery or pharmacist. The maps are a true innovation for it gives you a virtual view of the property and the general area. Check out Hotpads.com for more information on the site.

If you’re seeking to sell your home and you want it done fast, then don’t just go out hunting for buyers but for the people who may know buyers themselves. You may have to shell out some money for referrals but they sure beat the fee’s brokers charge for their services. With more and more trying to cut out agents and going out to do the selling on their own for apparent reasons, this has proven to be a good way of getting to buyers. It also helps to go out once in a while to look for them rather than have them come to you for even with the current rock bottom prices, not many are buying due to the slowing economy.

In Montana that is, where a realtor group has asked the state board to review the actions of a listing broker who has violated the rules of engagement so to speak in the real estate business of the practice which was approved by the state, that all agents are to submit their listings to a broker who then consults the group which places the property in listings. The listing broker in question broke the rule by taking his listings and submitting offers to buyers without consulting the local industry thus bypassing their value in the whole deal. The norm for such transactions would have a seller hire an agent, who submits their listing to the listing agency who then is contacted by the agent of the buyers all while they are under the eyes of the realtor group and state officials. There was a circumvention of the process when the listing company got seller agents directly in contact with buyers with evidence to support it having taken place. The Montana Realty Board is reviewing the case and is set to release a statement soon.

Money may be harder to come by but these people who can afford to spend are indeed spending. The rock-bottom prices, even of the most affluent homes are getting the wealthy excited for they even get properties with everything inside as part of the deal having them get second, third and so on and so forth number of homes. These assets can be sold in the future as the market rebounds or kept to add to their ever growing empires in the arena of real estates. Before we forget, the wealthy represents around less than 10% of all Americans, the rest fall in the lower 90%.

Selling your home in today’s rock-bottom market may be hard enough but making it reality is even harder. This may sound scary, but it sure is for the tons of regulations and safety requirements that must be met for a house to be allowed for sale can cost you an arm and a leg if you’re serious about your plans. The clause “AS IS” is your way of telling prospective buyers that the contents of your house may or may not all function properly, it doesn’t end there. The stiff regulations in building and safety codes dictate that all safety related issues are to be remedied before a permit for listing the house would be allowed. Brokers would also advise you to do such for any problems with these issues can come to haunt you just as you are about to close your deal, ending all dreams of getting your dream house that is more manageable and would cost you less to maintain. Do consult licensed brokers for advice and hire one for your sake, they cost money but they can save you that arm and leg we started with!

Freddie Mac has forged an agreement with three major mortgage lenders which would enable funding for large home loans or those that reach almost half a million dollars. Freddie and Fannie Mae are two of the government-backed lenders who have been doing damage control after billions of dollars of losses in the sub-prime lending financial crisis they have been forced to deal with. The deal seems to be forged with Mac and those big-time lenders with no news yet from the avenue of Mae whether they would be following suit. This paves the way for large homes that would otherwise have to be foreclosed allowing more funding to alleviate and even prevent it from happening. This is one more event in the long period of recovery that would be needed to amend the broken housing market which is hoped to start rebounding this 2009.

Bad Idea, many financial analysts and politicians say. Why, the crisis in the housing market happened because they let it and we should help pay for it. I don’t think so, is the stand of GOD candidate McCain. Why should the rest of America pay for the mistakes of people, some of whom are almost considered to own the housing business? They’ve been earning big for a long long time and it’s about time they shell out some money from their own pockets. This should be a lesson for people who seek to earn money and not abide by the rules of the game. Let them figure it out by themselves; they’re old enough to stand up for the messes they’ve made.

Thanks for the insight!

This almost forgotten practice is now experiencing resurgence at a rate of 18% of total house sales in the industry. There are pitfalls which the lenders can initiate that could cause a total failure of the deal for they are taken into the equation for the sale to take place. Real-estate agents also see the success rates of such moves as very low for there is less money for all in the whole picture. One agent quoted getting 65 listings for short sales but estimate only about 2 or three to follow through. Buyers are advised to be cautious for however tantalizing the deal may be, the high-risks associated with it does indeed make for one balancing act.