Summer rental? Disclose, inquire so all benefit

June 9, 2011

We have some friends who rented a home in the mountains for Memorial Day weekend. It was the only weekend of the summer their entire family could gather. Summer jobs, baseball tournaments and out-of-town weddings erased the chance of taking their usual time during July and August, so they settled for the traditional opening weekend [...]

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Let lenders fund mortgage counseling

May 10, 2011

Federal and state regulators need to better support basic information in housing and housing finance. They are too concerned with potential conflicts of interest, even when counseling is a mandatory requirement and funding for programs is scarce. An example surfaced recently when the $38.5 billion slashed from the national budget for the remainder of fiscal [...]

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Will reputation risk further erode reverse mortgage industry?

May 10, 2011

Four years ago, Bank of America made headlines in the reverse mortgage industry by acquiring a turnkey operation and then simultaneously announcing a reverse mortgage program for second homes. This was big news – especially for baby boomers who had significant equity in two homes. B of A, a latecomer to the reverse party, came [...]

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Local Realtors reject dues increase: Can you blame them?

May 10, 2011

The Puget Sound’s largest association of Realtors is opposed to a suggested dues increased from its national association in order to fund a Political Survival Initiative. Given the current market and other more pressing issues, who’s to blame them? In a letter to D’Ann Jackson, a local National Association of Realtors director, the SeattleKing County [...]

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More renters qualified to buy a home

May 10, 2011

Many factors have increased the number of renter households qualified to purchase a home in 2010 versus 2005, according to the American Community Survey: • Incomes have increased • Population has grown • Prices have fallen • Mortgage rates are lower For example, 25 percent of renter households earned more than $50,000 in 2005. In [...]

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Marketing your home? Pictures better than video

May 10, 2011

The Internet is now all about video. However, that medium may not be the best way to show a home. Brian Sharples, chief executive officer for Homeaway.com, told attendees at the company’s annual weekend summit the best single thing they could do to market their properties was to use more high resolution photographs. “Photos are [...]

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Bank of America, Seattle Mortgage exit reverse mortgage market

February 4, 2011

Bank of America shocked the lending community today when it told employees it was leaving the reverse mortgage business. The B of A announcement comes on the heels a similar move by Seattle Mortgage. While Seattle Mortgage has not publicly announced its exit, the company has informed its reverse mortgage specialists that it would close [...]

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‘Transfer of wealth’ probably will help only the wealthy

January 21, 2011

‘Transfer of wealth’ probably will help only the wealthy There are those who believe that housing markets will soon recover and that the reported “transfer of wealth” from more frugal (and thus more affluent) parents will pull the baby boomers – and their children – through all financial difficulty. It most likely will not be [...]

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If you look hard enough, you can still find a MLS book

January 21, 2011

If you look hard enough, you can still find a MLS book A friend of mine, a longtime Realtor who has always been an early adopter of the latest and greatest in real estate technology, cranked up a listing on his cell phone to show me an example of a well-priced, four-bedroom property in his [...]

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Real estate IRAs: Not just for high rollers

September 19, 2010

The recent national story about a $12 million sale of waterfront mansion listed for $40 million six years ago sparked some interesting comments and questions from our adult children at Sunday night dinner. They wondered about the market, and considered real estate as an investment, calculated the number of individuals who could afford ultra-priced homes, [...]

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