Archive for July, 2008

Hedge Funds Buying Bad Mortgages – Better Able to Modify Loans

We all bitch and moan about the housing issues and expect the government to do it’s thing to protect us. But if you look at the private sector and how capital markets work, things tend to figure themselves out.
Take the capital markets. The big boys blew it by writing very profitable in the short [...]

31Jul2008 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Canadian Snowbirds Warned Off Sunbelt and Florida

An interesting editorial from the National Post of Canada by Diane Francis is not a ringing endorsement for Canadians to use their stronger dollar to buy up Florida real estate.
The whole article should be required reading for any agent selling to snowbirds in Florida and Arizona. Not that I am saying she is right, [...]

31Jul2008 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

Cadwalader to Cut 96 Real Estate Attorneys

Cadwalader, Wickersham, and Taft, one of the larger law firms in the country, is cutting 96 lawyers from it’s payroll.
Why is that important for a real estate blog? Glad you asked.
The attorneys are coming out of their real estate finance and securitization departments. The firm will still retain 150 attorneys in that division in [...]

31Jul2008 | Tom Royce | 2 comments | Continued

Los Angeles Times Real Estate Section “Put To Bed”

The Los Angeles Times has published it’s last real estate section. That was the word yesterday out of the venerable paper as cut backs and lack of interest hastened the end.
And I am not all to sad. The role of the internet has superseded the need for dead trees to bring the latest news [...]

30Jul2008 | Tom Royce | 5 comments | Continued

Top 10 Most Overpriced Zip Codes in America

Do you think that your home is overpriced in todays market even after the painful correction? If you live in one of these zip codes you may be right. Of course, some of these communities are still very highly desirable, but at the end of the day, do you want Tribeca or Central Park West? [...]

30Jul2008 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued

20 City Case Shiller May 2008 Analysis

The Case Shiller number are out and for some of the cities it looks rough, but you can see a base forming in some of the lesser hit cities in the country.
You will see across the news today how Miami is down 7 percent in a month and the top 10 cities in the index are down nearly 17 percent [...]

29Jul2008 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Top 10 Retirement Cities For 2008

The AARP has come out with their list of top retirement cities in the United States. Instead of staying in ones house as they get older, many retirees are looking to head someplace where they can enjoy the glory years.
One thing I am amazed at is the amount of cold weather cities on the [...]

29Jul2008 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued

Governments Look To Suck Money Out of Foreclosured Properties

The lust for more money is the bane of both state and local governments. During the boom times they added every perk they could to make themselves re-electable. Now that tax revenue is down, they are looking under every rock and crevice to find new revenue to pay for all the pork and excess they [...]

29Jul2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

JD Powers Survey Shows 28 Percent Use Internet To Find An Agent

While nearly half of all buyers and sellers still find their real estate agents through referrals, I was amazed to see that the internet provided 28 percent of the engagements for agents. The JD Powers survey used 3,205 respondents who bought or sold a home in the past year so the numbers should be statistically [...]

28Jul2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

1 Million Visitors, and then some…

I took a look at my stats on SiteMeter and lo and behold we have crossed a million visitors a couple of weeks ago.
This is a heck of a milestone and I want to thank each and everyone of you for coming and being a part of The Real Estate Bloggers community.

27Jul2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued