Archive for May, 2007

Casey Serin’s Site Iamfacingforeclosure.com Shutdown

The site that will symbolize the excesses of the last housing boom and the excesses it can breed, iamfacingforeclosure.com, has shut it’s doors.

I have not written much about the travail of Casey Serin and his very public entry into the depths of mortgage fraud, foreclosure, and most likely a long and painful process of [...]

31May2007 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Once In A Blue Moon is Tonight, Live it Up

If there is something that you do “Once in a Blue Moon” tonight is the night to do so. The phrase traditionally means that there has been a full moon twice in a month, which is what is occurring tonight.
So let your hair down and enjoy the “Blue Moon” tonight.
The phrase “Once in a blue [...]

31May2007 | Tom Royce | 2 comments | Continued

James Brown’s Manhattan Apartment Up for Sale

If you want to “Feel Good, I know that you could” by buying James Brown’s former Manhattan apartment. He lived in this property during the 70’s and 80’s. The Godfather of Soul’s apartment is not a very lavish place as one would expect from the pop icon, but it a spacious 2 story property in [...]

31May2007 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Mortgage Trigger Leads May Be Shut Down By Federal and State Laws

Trigger leads, those insidious creatures that credit monitoring companies sell when someone pulls your credit file for a mortgage application, are coming under increased pressure from state and federal government agencies. Typically what happens is that you apply for a mortgage and the lending company runs a credit check.
Then about 12–24 hours later your phone starts [...]

31May2007 | Tom Royce | 14 comments | Continued

Pulte Homes Reduces Workforce by 16% or 1,900 employees

It looks like there is a major retrenchment going on at Pulte Homes. The Michigan company is reducing it’s payroll by 1,900 jobs or 16 percent as a slow housing sales environment is causing the company to reduce overhead. The company expects to save over 200 million a year with this move.
My only question [...]

30May2007 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued

The Double Thank You Moment – Tools To Build Your Career

I was just reading this article by John Stossel, the ABC consumer reporter, and it struck a huge chord with me. I listen and read regularly to the real estate blogs about the growth of the low cost broker. It is a fact, but a great broker to protect his commission should fight for the [...]

30May2007 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Swampland in Florida, Waterfront on Hawaii’s Newest (Potential) Island

You have to admire the chutzpah of a couple of Hawaii entrepreneurs. They are selling land on the island of Lo’ihi for 39.95 per parcel. The only problem, it is presently 3,000 underwater and not expected to be above sea level for 10,000 years.
Small potatoes for Jimmy from Cleveland who wants to brag to [...]

30May2007 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Tishman Speyer Buying Archstone-Smith – Price Tag 15.5 (22.2 or 13.5) Billion

The commercial real estate mergers keep getting bigger. After buying Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town in 2006, Tishman Speyer has put on it’s aquisition hat again and is swallowing up Archstone-Smith for the paltry sum of 15.5 billion dollars. Archstone-Smith owns more than 86,000 apartments across the country and is a publicly traded company.
Tishman [...]

30May2007 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Top 10 Tips For Photographing a Home For Sale

Selling a home these days means that it has to be marketed through the internet. And for the home to be sticky on the internet, photography is very important. The Los Angeles Times had a great post on photographing homes for the web. I have culled some of the best advice and added some of [...]

29May2007 | Tom Royce | 10 comments | Continued

Booming Commercial Real Estate Market Creates Demand For Cranes

Demand for cranes is soaring and the lack of them is slowing down commercial construction in parts of the country. With all the focus on the residential slowdown we sometimes fail to see how busy commercial construction has been.
The commercial market is up 14 percent in the first 3 months of 2007 as compared to [...]

29May2007 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued