Top Stories

1. Real Estate Video is Dead  

Joel Burslem / 1000Watt Consulting

Nearly ten years ago, I joined a startup that was dipping its toes into streaming video. The company had been producing a broadcast television show for many years. The show featured technology product profiles and computer reviews and was widely syndicated across Canada and the United States. Then, in the late 90s, this thing called the [...] ...

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Jon Lansner / Lansner on Real Estate
Real Estate Video Is Dead, Encore O.C. real estate skeptic now sees opportunity   —  Widely watched money manager Bill Gross, chief of the bond-trading team at Pimco in Newport Beach that made a killing by being early forecasters of the real estate debacle, now thinks real estate investments are a worthwhile investment. According to CNBC.com, Gross told the business TV channel this morning … Both commercial and residential ...

RISMedia
Real Estate Video Is Dead, Encore Zillow.com Partners with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services   —  RISMEDIA, April 16, 2010—Zillow.com and Howard Hanna Real Estate Services announced a partnership that enables Howard Hanna to automatically feed all of its 21,000 for-sale listings to Zillow.com. The syndication of Howard Hanna’s listings to Zillow will improve the real…

2. Agent Success Newsletter - March/April 2010 Issue  

Agent Success Newsletter - March/April 2010 Issue
Jessica Gopalakrishnan / HomeGain Blog

HomeGain emailed out its March/April 2010 newsletter for real estate agents, called “Agent Success Newsletter“. The digital real estate newsletter included: Feature Story: We featured the results of the HomeGain First Quarter 2010 Home Prices Survey, which indicates that the vast majority believe that home prices will decrease or stay the ...

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Mbrown / Real Estate Internet Marketing
Agent Success Newsletter - March/April 2010 Issue USM Site launches for March and April   —  Over the last month, the Union Street Media web development team has been hard at work launching a wide variety of sites for new and existing clients.  After putting in hundreds of hours of our time and our clients’ time, we are pleased to add the following sites to our portfolio. Author Stephen P. Kiernan came [...]

Julie Broad / Real Estate Investing For Real
Agent Success Newsletter - March/April 2010 Issue Let’s Talk About Success Baby!   —  Let’s talk about success for now to the people at home or in the crowd. It keeps coming up anyhow. Don’t decoy, avoid, or make void the topic. Cuz that ain’t gonna stop it. For all those people who weren’t born in the 70’s or early 80’s to know I am referencing an old song by Salt N Pepa [...] This Article is ...

3. Fannie Shortens Wait for Some Distressed Borrowers to Get New Loans  

AUSTIN KILGORE / HousingWire

Fannie Mae (FNM: 1.24 -4.62%) announced it is reducing the wait time for some borrowers between when they complete a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transaction and when they can obtain a new mortgage. Previously, a borrower was required to wait four years before getting a new mortgage, or two years if their home sold [...]

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Lucas Lechuga / Miami Condos Investments
Fannie Shortens Wait for Some Distressed Borrowers to Get New Loans The Mark on Brickell Granted Special Approval Designation by Fannie Mae   —  I was notified earlier this week that The Mark on Brickell was granted the Special Approval Designation by Fannie Mae.  This news hasn’t been disclosed on the Fannie Mae website yet but the information has been confirmed.  It should appear on the site this upcoming Monday when their next update is released.  It will now [...]

4. PBR's Ryan McConnel Joins FANTASY Las Vegas Show And Angelica Bridges  

PBR's Ryan McConnel Joins FANTASY Las Vegas Show And Angelica Bridges
Las Vegas Real Estate Agent Bill / LAS VEGAS REAL ESTATE

PBR’s Ryan McConnel and fellow Team USA member McKennon Wimberly enjoyed a performance of FANTASY at Luxor as guests of Playboy Angelica Bridges on April 15, 2010. The professional bull riders enjoyed the show from the audience before McConnel joined the cast for a special guest appearance as Elvis Presley! PBR Ryan McConnel With FANTASY [...]

5. Carlton Group to Auction $400m Non-Performing Mortgages and REO  

DIANA GOLOBAY / HousingWire

Real estate investment banking firm Carlton Group is set to auction more than $400m of non-performing first mortgage loans and real estate owned (REO) assets through its Carlton Exchange (CEX) auction unit. Chairman Howard Michaels announced today CEX will auction over $400m of Florida-based REO assets and loans on multi-family, retail, ...

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Shae Bynes / Real Estate Investing For Real
Carlton Group to Auction $400m Non-Performing Mortgages and REO REI Strategies: Know What You Want   —  When it comes to real estate investing, I think it is really important to know what you want.  There are numerous articles (including mine) that talk about the importance of knowing why you want what you want and I still believe that’s a key first step.  However, along with your “why” must be your “what”. Here&# ...

6. Friday Chart – Homes listed in April in Charlottesville MSA  

Friday Chart – Homes listed in April in Charlottesville MSA
Jim / RealCentralVA.com

Looking at the type of home listed in the first 15 days of April in the Charlottesville MSA* over the past few years ... Of the 325 properties that have come on the market in the first 15 days, 13 are listed as being short sales. That's ridiculously inaccurate (using anecdotal evidence). See all Friday Charts Search the Charlottesville MLS ...

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RISMedia
Friday Chart – Homes listed in April in Charlottesville MSA Today’s Featured Listing – Own a Piece of the Big EZ Lodge   —  RISMEDIA, April 16, 2010—The Big EZ Lodge, a 60-acre luxury mountain retreat in Big Sky, Montana is set on more than 60 acres and boasts a 19,500 square-foot lodge. The lodge is complete with 13 bedroom suites and 15 bathrooms, as…

7. Housing Starts Reach 16-Month High, Economic Impact Muted  

Housing Starts Reach 16-Month High, Economic Impact Muted
AUSTIN KILGORE / HousingWire

Housing starts increased to a 16-month high in March, but some are warning that boost may not be sustained through the year. After it appeared harsh winter weather took a toll on housing starts in February, revised data showed the annual rate of housing starts actually increased from January, according to data released by the Department [...]

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Dallasnews.com
Housing Starts Reach 16-Month High, Economic Impact Muted U.S. housing starts gain on multifamily building   —  WASHINGTON -- Housing construction posted a better-than-expected performance in March, rising to the highest level in 16 months, as strength in the South offset declines in the rest of the country. But economists believe the housing industry is still facing significant headwinds as it tries to recover from the steepest slump in decades.

8. Federal Government Closes Energy Star Self-Certification Loophole  

Federal Government Closes Energy Star Self-Certification Loophole
Www.ens-newswire.com

WASHINGTON, DC, April 14, 2010 (ENS) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy today jointly announced changes to the Energy Star® product certification process to ensure that only products actually meeting the Energy Star requirements can receive an Energy Star label.

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9. Almost Live from the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Chicago  

Almost Live from the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Chicago
Annalisa Burgos / FrontDoor Unlocked

HGTV's FrontDoor.com senior editor Annalisa Burgos is at the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Chicago looking for the hottest trends for the home's two most popular rooms.

10. Massachusetts Foreclosure Update  

Massachusetts Foreclosure Update
John Ford / Boston Real Estate Blog

In order to provide balance information on the real estate market, I though I would include a foreclosure update, in lieu of all the postive Boston condo 1st Q sales data that was released today. In Massachusetts, more than 9,000 homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure last year. In the first two months of this year [...]

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Www.bostonherald.com
Developer sells Back Bay site   —  As the city’s real estate market tanked, Ted Raymond abandoned plans to turn the last empty lot in the Back Bay and an adjacent apartment building into a five-story luxury condo project. Each of the 4,000-square-foot units was expected to fetch up to $8 million.

11. GMAC/ResCap Servicing Executive John Vella Lands at Equator  

JACOB GAFFNEY / HousingWire

With 27-years of service in the mortgage industry, John Vella a former executive vice president at GMAC/Residential Capital (ResCap), will begin on April 26 as the new chief operating officer of Equator. Equator is a provider of automated default servicing, REO and short sale technology for the mortgage industry. Once there, Vella will be in ...

12. Observer Home: Mucho Musto  

Observer Home: Mucho Musto
Real Estate

For the past 25 years, writer Michael Musto has been a fixture on the New York nightlife scene, faithfully recording the downtown high life for his Village Voice column La Dolce Musto. Musto hasn't strayed far from his childhood Brooklyn home; he rented his first apartment in Manhattan after graduating in English literature at Columbia ...

13. How To Consolidate Your Email Notifications…In A Nutshell!  

How To Consolidate Your Email Notifications…In A Nutshell!
MyTechOpinion / MyTechOpinion.com

I don’t know about you, but I get quite a few email notifications from the various social networks I engage in. From new Twitter follower notifications to Facebook friend requests and updates….my inbox can get uber-cluttered, uber-fast! A new service called NutshellMail aims to be the Mr. Clean of your email inbox! With it, you can [...] ...

14. Economic cheerleading is misleading  

Economic cheerleading is misleading
Lou_Barnes / Today

Mortgage and long-term Treasury rates are falling suddenly today, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fraud charge against Goldman Sachs is tanking the stock market.

15. Naperville houses for sale by number of bathrooms  

Naperville houses for sale by number of bathrooms
Fran Bailey / Chicago Metro Area Real Estate

Need a house with 3 or more full bathrooms? You might want to look in Naperville where 43% of houses for sale have 3 or more bathrooms.* After my recent blog post, “Naperville 4 bedroom houses for sale“, a Naperville dentist wrote a comment asking about the distribution of houses for sale by number of bathrooms. I [...]

16. Karin Posvar-Picket, SVP  

Karin Posvar-Picket, SVP
Corcoran.com

This mint condition, 2319 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, corner unit with views North, West and East. Opened up to make very loft-like. Windowed dining room. Oversized double pane windows. Beautiful wide plank sound-insulated hardwood floors, and 10ft ceilings. The chef's gourmet windowed eat-in kitchen (sits up to 8!) has all Viking stainless ...

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17. Hitwise: zillow.com in Second Place  

Hitwise: zillow.com in Second Place
Www1.propertyportalwatch.com

Zillow.com has edged into second place on the Hitwise list of top US real estate websites with a 3.43 percent market share over realestate.yahoo.com’s 3.40 percent.

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18. Fenway Restaurant Row Changed to Apartments  

Fenway Restaurant Row Changed to Apartments
John Ford / Boston Real Estate Blog

The owner of the former restaurant row on Peterborough Street is planning to construct apartments, not a boutique hotel that was originally planned. The Boston Courant reported that according to a source, the developer will build residential units at the corner of Peterborough and Kilmarnock Streets. If you recall, Peterborough Street is where ...

19. Breaking: Goldman Sachs charged with mortgage fraud  

Breaking: Goldman Sachs charged with mortgage fraud
Lani Rosales / AgentGenius

Bad news for Goldman As the Securities and Exchange Commission continues to investigate the subprime mortgage crash, Goldman Sachs is listed as their latest target (source: AG Industry News). The Wall Street Journal reports that the SEC is bringing fraud charges against Goldman Sachs. According…

20. Lessons from the Web: Finding Familiar Ground in Home Improvement  

Lessons from the Web:  Finding Familiar Ground in Home Improvement
Elissagiroux / Real Estate Internet Marketing

We’ve all heard the old cliché “Write what you know.” I decided to take a different approach with this article, and address something I very recently learned and tie it into something I know well. As it turns out, remodeling a kitchen isn’t so different from building a new website.

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