Americans bought fewer homes in March, and the rate of sales dropped to the lowest level since July 2012, according to industry data released Tuesday.
Sales of existing homes fell 0.2 percent in March from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.6 million, the National Association of Realtors reported. They fell 7.5 percent from the same time last year.
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We wish the pictures were better with this listing. It starts out very well. “Built in 1902, this Georgica mansion sits high and majestically on meticulous grounds and is situated on the treasured Apaquogue Road in East Hampton Village.” Can’t argue with that. The 6000sf house has got six bedrooms and 5.5 baths and its own two-bedroom, one-bath carriage house. There are lovely brick pathways, mature plantings and a pool set on one acre. We’d like to see more and better pictures of the interiors. The kitchen and baths, for one. The property last sold in October 2007 for $8.5M, which would have been the top of the market. What do you think?
http://hamptons.curbed.com/archives/2014/04/15/oldschool_east_hampton_mansion_for_105m.php
The housing boom is spreading across the country, with rapidly rising prices and long queues of buyers no longer restricted to London, experts are to announce.
Property sales in the first three months of 2014 reached a six-year high as the market recovered on a “truly national” scale, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
Activity is at levels last seen in early 2008, before the banking crisis took hold, and is spreading to the Home Counties and beyond, figures suggest.
The trend is “striking in that it is clearly broadening out”, said Simon Rubinsohn, a Rics economist. “There has been a sense that it was one story for London and a very different outlook everywhere else, with perhaps a few other city centres edging ahead. But that is not the case any longer,” he added.
“Now that the housing market recovery is well and truly under way and mortgage finance is more readily available, buyers seem to be looking to test the market right across the country, not just in the usual hotspots of the South East.”
According to a report prepared by Ellie Mae, a mortgage technology company, the average FICO credit score for approved mortgage loans dropped to 727 in December 2013. It was 748 a year earlier.
The average credit score for home loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also dropped a little; December 2013 borrowers had an average credit score of 756, down from December 2012′s average of 761.
Refinance mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac were approved with an average credit score of 729 in December 2013; this was a significant drop from the average credit score of 763 in December 2012.
Only 46 percent of mortgage applicants approved had credit scores above 750 in December 2013 while approximately 57 percent of applicants had credit scores over 750 a year earlier. Mortgage Credit Scores: What’s Going On? – –
Reasons for approving mortgages with lower minimum credit scores include mortgage lenders’ growing confidence as the economy improves and mortgage defaults decrease. As rates rise and refinancing activity dries up, lenders may also exercise more flexibility with credit scores in order to encourage more business.
While this isn’t life-changing news for would-be mortgage applicants with sub-par credit scores, a mortgage lender’s willingness to work with less-than-perfect credit is a positive sign in the aftermath of the recession.
But wait — there are conflicting opinions concerning how or if mortgage lenders will change their minimum required credit scores for any but the best-qualified applicants. Mortgage applicants with credit problems can expect to encounter glitches on the path to mortgage approval. Mortgage Underwriting Policies: Out with Overlays — or Not
Another practice that can limit a mortgage applicant’s chances of approval is the use of “lender overlays.” Lender overlays are underwriting requirements, imposed by lenders, in addition to the guidelines set out by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the federal government. Overlays create extra hoops for applicants to jump through (or get stuck in).
Some analysts have said that mortgage lenders may be willing to reduce or eliminate lender overlays if economic conditions continue to improve.
All photos by Will Femia.
The New York Palace Hotel is without a doubt one of the city’s most iconic, given its prominent appearances in television and film alone. But taking a look around two of its triplex suites (on the 53rd, 54th, and 55th floors of the Palace’s Towers section) affords an even closer look at the crazy-luxurious options there following a renovation that just finished up last fall. The Jewel Suite opened in November, and it’s completely blinged out with baubles, art, fixtures, and furnishings by jeweler to the stars Martin Katz. Oh, and booking a night there comes with a diamond-studded band. Across the hall lies the Champagne Suite, with a temperature-controlled wine cave and expansive master bathroom. Both suites total more than 5,000 square feet, include private elevators, large terraces with hot tubs, and have floorplans more porn-worthy than many on the market. Oh yes, they’re a mere $25,000/night. Go on, enjoy the photos
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/03/24/tour_the_palaces_wildly_lavish_25000night_themed_suites.php
So I was doing my daily blog reading routine when I encountered a certain post. In it, the author was complaining about receiving a lot of guest posts with clear “client links” in the bio boxes. In other words, guest posts where the author wanted to promote a third-party company or website instead of their own personal brand.
The blogger in question was kind of angry that these guest authors “would dare” to send such posts, instead of wanting to “share with the community naturally.”
So the main question is this: Is guest posting on your client’s behalf bad?
(Well, you can see my point of view in the headline, but I’m curious to learn yours, so feel free to comment.)
Anyway, I’m going to tell you exactly why guest posting for clients isn’t bad at all, and also, what you can do when dealing with bloggers declining your posts just because your link points to a client.
There’s a lot of guest blogging advice circulating around. Most of it portrays the whole practice as a fairy tale. The preachers use words like: “when you guest post, you get to add to the community, reach out to other people, be part of something bigger than yourself.”
True.
But it’s not the whole truth.
Guest blogging is always an exchange between the writer and the host.
The host gets a free post (unless they pay for guest posts, ekhm). The writer gets an audience to speak to, the possibility to spread their brand, and the chance to link some website of their choice. In a word, they get to grow just a tiny little bit thanks to the guest post.
Now here’s the kicker, I honestly believe that if there was some international law forbidding guest bloggers to link to their projects, we’d see at least a 90% drop (not that I’ve done any research) in the volume of guest posting done worldwide. And I’m not trying to judge whether it’s good or bad, that’s just what would likely happen.
Now, since the above pretty much explains that most of guest blogging is done to achieve the writer’s goals and pursuits (in other words, it’s a case of “me marketing”), let’s move on to the next thing.
Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/03/04/the-dirty-little-secret-about-guest-blogging/#muLSQhzkk9A4duHJ.99
If the memory of your university is a somewhat hazy mix of missed lectures, cheap food, empty beer cans and cold, concrete classrooms, you won’t recognize this list.
Hamburg-based architectural data company Emporis recently released a report on what it’s calling “the world’s most spectacular university buildings.”
“Lecture halls at dizzying heights, libraries with glass-domed roofs or crooked seminar rooms with slanting walls — it is not just in the field of learning that universities have plenty to offer, but on an architectural level, too,” the report stated.
The 10 buildings include Lomonosov Moscow State University, the world’s tallest university building at 240 meters; Swanston Academic Building in Australia, which “catches the eye with its wavy and jagged façade”; and Bradfield Hall at Cornell University in the United States, which is “almost entirely windowless.”
The report also describes how old school university buildings are gradually being replaced.
“One by one, chunky relics of the ’60s and ’70s are being torn down,” it states, citing the demolition of the AfE‑Turm in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, which was brought down earlier this month in Europe’s largest inner-city controlled blasting.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/19/travel/spectacular-university-buildings/index.html?hpt=wo_bn2
Pressure is mounting at the mortgage banking divisions of the biggest US banks.
As refinancing activity has plummeted, banks are trying to step up their new home loan books, in an attempt to offset the dramatic revenue drag on overall bank earnings. There are few easy ways to boost new purchase originations, but one of the starkest battles is playing out in the bidding war for hotshot mortgage loan officers.
“People are fighting over a smaller pie,” said Franklin Codel, head of mortgage production at Wells Fargo, the biggest US home lender. “The competition for quality loan officers is very high.”
Up to now, the focus has been on thousands of job cuts in the mortgage divisions of US banks – many of which came in the refinancing call centres as higher interest rates deterred borrowers from refinancing their mortgages.
But as credit quality improves the banks have begun vying for a slice of the new purchase market and have started an intense competition for experienced mortgage bankers with existing client relationships.
The role of government-backed entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac means that US banks tend to offer similar mortgage products so it is harder for them to stand out in this area than in credit cards, where their benefits packages differ.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ef5d1b9e-8377-11e3-86c9-00144feab7de.html#axzz2sIQ3eQmw
Homes.com today launched a new responsive design website platform for real estate professionals, Homes Connect Fusion, that adapts content for viewing across desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Fusion provides custom-designed websites using responsive technology to showcase content and branding while enhancing the consumer search experience. Fusion allows users to select from 32 background images and seven color options to match individual brand requirements, and provides integrated Internet Data Exchange (IDX) and map-based listing search. Homes.com also released Homes.com Studio, which provides more customized design solutions utilizing the Fusion website platform. Real estate pros will receive expert design advice from Studio consultants who match their individual marketing and branding goals.“With mobile traffic expected to surpass desktop traffic in 2014, implementing a comprehensive high-impact website product for real estate professionals is essential to achieve a positive user experience,” said Homes.com Executive Vice President Brock MacLean in a statement. “We are excited to offer real estate pros the tools to provide a responsive Web browsing experience for homebuyers and sellers through the affordable and customized Homes Connect Fusion and Studio products.”
– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2014/01/14/homes-com-offers-responsive-design-website-platform-for-agents/?utm_source=20140115&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.4TDO8PAm.dpuf