With the healthy real estate market over the past few years, more older adults are opting to purchase homes in what’re now called “active-adult communities,” luxurious communities designed for buyers 55 years and up with an array of activities and amenities such as golf courses, clubhouses, greenbelt trails, hobby centers, and computer labs—all wrapped into a country club setting. Click to read more
You’ve created and uploaded your website a week ago, but you still haven’t gotten any leads from the site — what gives? The often-used "Field of Dreams" quote, “If you build it they will come” doesn’t apply to the World Wide Web. Unlike the television and print advertising which may simply reinforce your message or your company’s name, people who use Internet search engines know what they are looking for, but they don’t necessarily know where or how to find it. You need to tell them. Click to read more
Independent mortgage broker Terry Silver of Jeffersonville, IN and Tersha Inc. was selected the winner of a la mode, inc.’s Rolex™ giveaway in a drawing of mortgage professionals who had tried a demo Mortgage XSite in conjunction with the launch of Mortgage XSites websites for mortgage professionals in June. Click to read more
At its 2004 Annual Convention last week, the California Association of Mortgage Brokers introduced the first definition for predatory lending that could become the model for the rest of the U.S. Click to read more
Adjustable-rate loans (ARMs) are more popular than ever, even though today's low rates have almost nowhere to go but up, but homeowners who opted for this type of loan may be in for more mortgage than they can handle in the next few years. Click to read more
Many mortgage brokers know that they will have to work harder to keep the record volume of business they've enjoyed over the past few years now that interest rates seemed to be on their way up. Finding customers with top-quality credit eager to refinance may not be so easy anymore and mortgage brokers may need to look to different markets than they're used to. Click to read more
Real estate is becoming more complex with each transaction bringing about the potential for more and more lawsuits. Real estate agents are increasingly finding themselves caught in the crossfire between buyers and sellers, making errors and omissions (E&O) insurance a necessity. Click to read more
We reported in June that the MH sector was poised for a rebound, owing to new capital entering the market and investors and dealers learning (the hard way) from past mistakes. According to Asset Securitization Report, underwriters are "paying more attention to the appraisals they receive from brokers and dealers, and have made changes to their own internal scorecards as well." Click to read more
Microsoft said August 6 that it released Windows XP Service Pack 2 to PC manufacturers, and said it would be made available for end users to download by the end of August. What's SP 2? It's a response to security concerns exploited in Windows XP. "Service Pack 2 is a significant step in delivering on our goal to help customers make their PCs better isolated and more resilient in the face of increasingly sophisticated attacks," said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. Click to read more
Productivity in the field has never been more important than it is today, with homebuying showing no signs of slowing — existing home sales increased at a record pace in the second quarter, the National Association of REALTORS® said. Refis may dry up — but haven't people been saying that for a year and a half now? — but home sales won't. To keep up, appraisers have armed themselves with technology to complete the most reliable reports as efficiently as possible. Click to read more
Contact Kara Calderon for appraisal or real estate industry news and Molly Dowdy for mortgage industry news. Or call 1-800-252-6633.
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