Estate

The Real Estate Bloggers

Posted: 28 Mar 2013 07:03 AM PDT

If you are an older guy like me, you remember the old TV show, The 6 Million Dollar Man, featuring Steve Austin as an astronaut who suffered a crash and was rebuilt as a cyborg. It was a story of hope and change in the 1970′s.

Now in the new era of hope and change, we have a new version of the 6 million dollar man squatter. By using amazing technology of the internet, people are finding obscure laws and codes that allow them to try to beat the system. This is the story of Lamont Butler who found an obscure century old treaty that he felt entitled him to take over a 12 bedroom, 17 bathroom mansion in Bethesda, Maryland.

He did not last long, and faces a host of charges including burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, and attempted theft over one hundred thousand dollars.

But in this world of realtity TV, we may have a new show to pitch. The 6 Million Dollar Squatter. Instead of saving the world, we follow Lamont as he finds seaches Zillow to find mansions that are vacant. Then after another quick search of Findlaw he will create the legal basis for his takeover of the home.

During the half hour show we will watch real estate agents, bankers, law enforcement, and the courts find ways to legally evict Lamont from the home as he valiantly tries to maintain the residency.

DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

Tags: Squatter, Bethesda

The Real Estate Bloggers

NAR Invests in 6 Startups Through REach Accelerator Program

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 07:46 AM PDT

I bet you did not know that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) runs an accelerator program for new startups through their Second Century Ventures fund, did you? I didn’t until this week, but it is a concept worth exploring.

Innovation through technology has been an important driver in the real estate industry, and needs to be supported. That being said, the 6 companies picked to be part of the 2013 REach accelerator program are getting the best of both worlds; an investment in the company and the weight and power of the NAR to help them succeed.

These companies are focused on forward thinking customer engagement tools that will help Realtors, and that is a great thing. A commitment from the NAR to their membership to drive improved client services and communication will be beneficial for all in the industry.

NAR’s REach Accelerators Class of 2013

BombBomb – Provides a complete e-mail and video marketing platform for developing, sending and tracking results of traditional and video e-mail campaigns from any device.
Lumentus – Gives companies a measurable edge in identifying, understanding and engaging social media communities keeping social media communications on brand and on mission.
Planwise – Offers a financial planning service that enables individuals to plan for major life events by simply and visually testing real-life scenarios.
Reach150 – Provides a turnkey referral platform for service professionals to quickly build a positive reputation online.
Updater – Provides a free service for anyone who is moving to easily forward mail, update accounts, transfer utilities, and sign up for home services in a single location.
Workface – Offers a unique, quick-to-deploy live chat (text, audio, video) software platform for real time one-on-one conversations at a customer's moment of interest.

I wish all these companies the best of luck going forward, you have earned the opportunity. I would also cousel them to use the mentors in the REach program. I have been fortunately to get to know a few of them and they can offer you advice that will move your companies forward.

To learn more about the REach program, visit their site here.

Tags: REach+NAR

The Real Estate Bloggers

Top 10 Most Expensive Luxury Cities In the World For 2013

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 11:16 AM PDT

Top 10 Real Estate Market

With the significant increase in billionaires in the world over the past year due to the improving stock markets, Savills has come out with their annual World Cities Review report. The reports shows that the luxury markets in the major cities have improved much faster than the markets as a whole.

Asia has seen the biggest increase of luxury housing prices, led by Hong Kong at nearly $11,000 per square foot. With the average home being over 5.200 square feet, you are looking at the typical luxury home on Hong Kong priced at 57 million dollars.

That is a significant investment.

Here is the list of the;

Top 10 Most Expensive Luxury Cities In the World For 2013

City            Price Per Square Foot   AVG Price for 5,000 sf Home    1.  Hong Kong           $ 11,000                $55,000,000   2.  Tokyo               $  7,600                $38,000,000   3.  London              $  5,300                $26,500,000   4.  Paris               $  4,400                $22,000,000   5.  Moskow              $  4,350                $21,750,000   6.  New York City       $  4,100                $20,500,000   7.  Shanghai            $  2,125                $10,625,000   8.  Singapore           $  1,820                $ 9,100,000   9.  Mumbia              $    970                $ 4,850,000   10. Sydney              $    880                $ 4,400,000

via Savills and Forbes

Now remember this one fact looking at these numbers, this is average price for the luxury segment of the real estate market in the listed cities. The average price is much lower for all real estate. But for the upper echelon of the market place, the prices are pretty amazing.

The Real Estate Bloggers

Freddie Mac Shares Optimistic Outlook For 2013

Posted: 22 Mar 2013 06:40 AM PDT

Freddie Mac, one of the key mortgage lenders, has issued it’s outlook for the real estate market and it is coming up roses. Now every increased percentage point of property value removes a huge amount of risk to their mortgage portfolio, so every bit of positive spin needs to be recognized as slightly self serving, the news is still great.

Here are the key takeaways from the March 2013 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook issued by Freddie Mac.

Compared to 2012, expect home sales to be up 8 to 10 percent for 2013.
Expect housing starts to increase to 950,000 units for 2013, compared to 780,000 in 2012.
In 2012, real estate added $1.5 trillion to balance sheets, and residential mortgage debt outstanding increased by 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, indicating household deleveraging might be drawing to a close.
Because of sequestration spending reductions, expect the unemployment rate in 2013 to average about 7.8 percent, essentially flat for the year or about 0.25 percentage points higher than it otherwise would have been.
Regardless, the housing wealth effect is taking hold in the broader market which should translate into the healthiest spring homebuying season since 2007.

You can see the complete Freddie Mac housing analysis here.

Tags: Freddie+Mac, March+2013+Housing

Estate

Place 728 x 90 Ad Here

The Real Estate Bloggers

The Real Estate Bloggers

The Real Estate Bloggers

The Real Estate Bloggers

NAR’s REach Accelerators Class of 2013

The Real Estate Bloggers

The Real Estate Bloggers

Top 10 Most Expensive Luxury Cities In the World For 2013

The Real Estate Bloggers

The Real Estate Bloggers

Blog Archive

Place 160 x 600 Ad Here

Footer