Archive for May, 2008

Are Hurricane Prone Areas Losing Population Due To Fear Of Storms Or Housing Slowdown?

Owning real estate in hurricane prone regions of the country has always had it’s risks. So after a particularly bad stretch of storms over the past few years one would expect the population to decline.
And it has, by about 1 percent since 2000.
Of course, according to the study by USA Today, the regions hardest [...]

31May2008 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

50 Cent’s Long Island Home Burns Down – Was It Arson?

The Dix Hills home of Rap star 50 Cent burned down in what investigators have deemed suspicious. The home was being lived in by Curtis Jackson’s (50 Cent’s real name) former girlfriend, his 10 year old son, and her family.
What has raised the concern of investigators was that earlier this week a violent discussion broke [...]

31May2008 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

Commmuting Pain Index – Los Angeles and Atlanta Lead The Way

If you are looking to save your sanity and pocket book, or if you really hate traffic, here are the cities to stay away from.
These cities share a high level of traffic combined with a spread out workforce. Long commutes are the norm and it is wearing on those who live there.

IBM commissioned [...]

30May2008 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

Patchwork Nation – A New Demographic Study Of The United States

Patchwork Nation is a new initiative by the Christian Science Monitor to break the country into 11 demographic units by county that best represent the population that lives there. The report has been done primarily for political purposes but the implication for housing and real estate are also included in the report.
These categories are:

Boom [...]

29May2008 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued

Does It Have A Mouse? An Amazing Video on Where We Are Going…

Does it have a mouse?
That is the question that is sticking in my head after watching this video. It is about how our society is changing from one that has been trained to receive information and be entertained to one which will participate and interact.
I want to thank Daniel Rothamel of the Real Estate [...]

29May2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Realtors 30 Under 30 Announced

I do not know about you, but when I was in my 20s I was always ready to go with new ideas. Just at that stage raw ambition and motivation were not enough sometimes to get me over the hump.
However, the new crop of Realtor Magazine’s 30 Under 30 have the motivation and the [...]

29May2008 | Tom Royce | 2 comments | Continued

The Later The Subprime And Alt-A Loan, The Greater The Default Rate

If you are looking for an indicator on who is defaulting on subprime and Alt-A loans, just see when they were written. A 2007 subprime loan has 26 percent chance of being in default.
These are some disturbing numbers. Is it because there is no equity in these homes or were the borrowers at the bottom [...]

29May2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

DOJ and NAR Reach Settlement in Suit After Technology Has Moved Forward

The long running lawsuit that the Department of Justice has brought against the National Association of Realtors has been settled. The big winners were the lawyers.
What a surprise.
The amazing thing about monopoly and governmental lawsuits against companies over the issues of technology is that by the time the slow gears of justice run [...]

28May2008 | Tom Royce | 5 comments | Continued

Harry Macklowe Sells GM Building (and others) For 3.9 Billion, Turns Over Business To Son William

Harry Macklowe, the New York City developer who is famous for his Houdini type escapes from impending doom, has sold the GM Building and 3 others to a group led by Mort Zuckerman. Macklowe was on the verge of bankruptcy when the shrinking credit market made it impossible for him to refinance some debt.
As [...]

28May2008 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Burning Down The House or Torching Your Foreclosure

Hold tight wait till the partys overHold tight were in for nasty weatherThere has got to be a wayBurning down the house
(lyrics of the Talking Heads classic, Burning Down The House)
A report out of Memphis found that a new trend is emerging, burning down one home when it is in foreclosure. Out of the [...]

27May2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued