Real Estate News

Social networking: In real estate, they're taking it to the tweets
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn among social networks agents, builders use to connect with clients
By Leslie Mann
Chicago Tribune
November 1, 2009

Human communication vehicles have evolved from smoke signals to the town crier to the Internet. So it's no wonder homebuyers and sellers are using social networking sites to connect.

Vulture not ashamed of picking real estate bones
By Mary Umberger
Chicago Tribune
November 1, 2009

Peter Zalewski is a vulture.

He's not shy about it either: He named his Miami brokerage Condo Vultures Realty when he formed it in 2006, specifically to help bargain hunters sift through the carcasses left behind when South Florida's real estate market crashed.

He's gotten some media attention for his willingness to tread (or should that be "fly"?) where others flinch, including an appearance in December on "60 Minutes" talking about the meltdown in Miami.

U.S. Stops Short of Faulting Drywall
By Melanie Trottman and M.P. McQueen
The Wall Street Journal
October 30, 2009

Federal product-safety regulators said Thursday that their sampling of Chinese drywall emits higher concentrations of sulfur gases and strontium than U.S.-made product, but found no evidence so far that the emissions were to blame for health problems and metal corrosion reported by at least 1,900 U.S. homeowners.

Home sales contracts rise for 8th straight month.
Real estate rally attributed to first-time homebuyer tax credit that expires at the end of November.
By Les Christie, CNN Money
November 2, 2009

The number of signed sales contracts to buy homes rose in September for the eighth straight month, according to a real estate industry report released Monday.

The September Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) spiked 6.1% to 110.1, consolidating a 6.4% gain in August. It was the index's highest level since December 2006, when it stood at 112.8.

Landlords Offer Incentives to Stay Put
By Dawn Wotapka
The Wall Street Journal
November 2, 2009

Amid the jobless recovery, some landlords are showering flat-screen TVs, cash, rent cuts and other incentives on tenants to encourage them to renew their apartment leases and thus avoid the expense of filling empty units.

Meltdown 101: What to know if your bank fails
By Eileen AJ Connelly
The Associated Press
October 30, 2009

Dozens of banks have failed this year. What do you need to know if yours is next?

The number of bank failures has reached 115 since January — more than four times the total for 2008 and the most since the savings and loan crisis in 1992. And most experts expect problems caused by unpaid loans to force many more closures in the coming years, mostly among small, community-based banks.

Housing slump hits California timber industry like a buzz saw.
Weak demand for lumber is forcing some mills to close and leaving many loggers and truckers unemployed.
By Alana Semuels
LA Times
October 28, 2009

Reporting from Orick, Calif. - Ron Barlow's 34-year career at the sawmill in the heart of California's Redwood Empire was a study in consistency.

What a Median-Priced Home Looks Like in 10 Different Cities
Exploring how far your real estate dollar will stretch in various American housing markets
By Luke Mullins
US News & World Report
October 27, 2009

Bankers' Group Burned
By Christina S.N. Lewis
The Wall Street Journal
October 28, 2009

A trade group for the mortgage industry has proved itself a poor judge of the commercial real-estate market.

Less than two years after it acquired a 10-story building for its Washington headquarters, the Mortgage Bankers Association is putting the property on the block for what may be a big loss. The MBA said Tuesday that it has retained commercial real-estate broker Holliday Fenoglio Fowler to sell the property.

Landlords Sweeten Pot for Renters
Office Owners Are Slashing Rents, Increasing Incentives to Hold On to Tenants
By A.D. Pruitt
The Wall Street Journal
October 28, 2009

Some of the country's top office-building owners reported they are cutting rents and increasing tenant incentives to keep buildings filled during one of the worst commercial real-estate markets in decades.