ALLEN, TX
Signs of real estate recovery in Allen
There are some encouraging signs that the North Texas real estate market — hit hard by the recession — is beginning to improve. Housing starts are up in several Collin County cities, especially Allen. Developers believe the worst is over. Mesha Coleman says this is the time to buy a new house. She’s looking in Allen. “We were excited about looking into the market, with the lower interest rates…Rest of Story…

BROOMFIELD, CO
Vail Resorts Revenues Plunge 33% on Real Estate Woes
Fiscal 2010 second quarter results released today by Colorado-based ski and snowboard resort operator Vail Resorts revealed a drop of nearly 33% year over year, driven largely by Real Estate segment net revenue that trickled to $0.9 million for the three months ended January 31, 2010, compared to $89.2 million in the same period in the prior year. Despite this drop, the company announced…Rest of Story…

FLORIDA
Florida Real Estate – Sellers Still Slashing Prices
In an effort to attract buyers, home sellers in major cities throughout Florida are reducing prices by more than 10 percent, according to a monthly survey of home listings conducted by ZipRealty, an online real estate brokerage based in Emeryville, California. In February 2010, sellers in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Palm Beach reduced list prices by an average of 14.89 percent…Rest of Story…

MANHATTAN, NY
COLUMBUS AVE & 73RD ST
Beautiful New Store Opens On Columbus Avenue
La Terrine has opened a colorful and beautifully stocked new location on Columbus Avenue and 73rd Street featuring their distinctive ceramic tableware and linens. Featuring items imported mainly from Italy. This is another deluxe store for the ultra- rich like the nearby Jonathan Adler store that opened last year on Columbus Avenue between 74th & 73rd…Rest of Story…

SEATTLE, WA
Seattle Real Estate: The Ole Wells Fargo Short Sale Approval Switcheroo…Thanks for Nothing!
Although the Seattle Real Estate Market has its share of Short Sales and Foreclosures, it’s not as bad here as in other parts of the Country. So, I suppose when a Short Sale does go together and actually closes, we Seattle Real Estate professionals have cause to rejoice! That said, I just received a disturbing message on the very day doc’s were scheduled…Rest of Story…

TEMPE, AZ
New short sale section of website starts with short sales FAQ videos
Video 100: The more and more short sale videos I do, the more questions I get from home owners and other agents. I am launching a new short sale section on DeanSellsAZ.com which you will find above. It it starting out with Short Sale FAQ and we will be adding more to build out the section. I will be adding in all my short sale videos and other short sale information…Rest of Story…

DeedStreet is attempting to bring the best real estate stories/blogs of the day to one place in the form of a daily NewsRoll. We would like to make the NewsRoll as hyperlocal as possible. So if you have a RE story from your town/city/nerighborhood/blog, send it our way; we will be sure to give you recognition and a link back to your site. This is just our latest experiment with real time social media, so please be sure to give us any feedback on how we can make this service even better.

CHANDLER, AZ
Developer reveals plans for Chandler corner
Chandler officials are in talks with a New York-based developer to build a mixed commercial/residential project several stories tall on a high-profile corner viewed as a future northern “gateway” into downtown. The land – about four acres on the east side of Arizona Avenue between Chandler Boulevard and Buffalo Street – previously had been slated to house future phases of the…Rest of Story…

CHICAGO, IL
Jury selection begins in real estate developer case
Jury selection was under way Tuesday in the trial of a Chicago real estate developer, accused of bribing an alderman. The process had been delayed one day to allow a defense appeal. Calvin Boender is accused of providing former alderman Ike Carothers with $40,000-worth of home improvements…Rest of Story…

MANHATTAN, NY
One for the Trophy Shelf: Helmsley Hotel Sale
The estate of real-estate baroness Leona Helmsley has signed a deal to sell one of its prime Manhattan hotels for about $170 million, in a sign that investor appetite is keen for trophy assets. The sale of the Helmsley Carlton House to a venture of private-equity firm Angelo, Gordon & Co. and Extell Development Co. also marks the beginning of the final…Rest of Story…

OHIO
Tax Escrow Reserve Chart For Home Purchases In Hamilton, Warren, Butler And Clermont County
When home buyers opt to “escrow taxes” with a lender, there’s a dollar-cost to starting that escrow account. It can add significant costs to a final HUD-1 Settlement Statement, depending on the time of year. Defining “Escrow Your Taxes” First, let’s answer the question “What does it mean to pay taxes in escrow…Rest of Story…

SAN ANTONIO, TX
Building A New Home In San Antonio? Consider this…
Being a Realtor® in San Antonio, I spend a lot of time looking at new homes and getting to know the different builders and neighborhoods. I enjoy this work immensely, but more often than not, I hear the same question from buyers looking to build a new home: do I need a Realtor® to buy a newly built home? Whether it’s in casual conversation with friends about real estate…Rest of Story…

SEATTLE, WA
Seattle Real Estate: How Do YOU Come up with an Asking Price in this Market?
Pricing your new Listing? Frantically trying to find comps or justify your asking price based on what the house across the street sold for 6 months ago? As a Professional Real Estate Broker or Agent, how are you pricing your listings in this market? I’m writing this post after having a conversation with a prospective Seller yesterday and we got to talking…Rest of Story…

WORTHINGTON, OH
Worthington Ohio 43085 homes for sale – a market report
The graph represents the single family homes for sale for the past 15 months in the City of Worthington and the Village of Worthington. The Columbus Board of REALTORS MLS area for the City of Worthington lumps the Village of Riverlea but does not include the entire Worthington school district. There was 8.7 months of inventory, a buyers market in the City of…Rest of Story…

DeedStreet is attempting to bring the best real estate stories/blogs of the day to one place in the form of a daily NewsRoll. We would like to make the NewsRoll as hyperlocal as possible. So if you have a RE story from your town/city/nerighborhood/blog, send it our way; we will be sure to give you recognition and a link back to your site. This is just our latest experiment with real time social media, so please be sure to give us any feedback on how we can make this service even better.

COLUMBUS, OH
Clintonville homes for sale – a market report
The graph shows the inventory of single family homes for sale in the mls area that Clintonville is in. The graph shows the inventory of homes for sale for the past 15 months through the end of February 2010. The northern boundary of the MLS area is the the City of Worthington, the eastern border Interstate 71. The western boundary 315, and the southern boundary? Down there somewhere. The southern boundary of Clintonville is north of the University District…Rest of Story…

PHOENIX, AZ
Interest Rate Lock or Float: Protect your Arizona Mortgage
he million dollar question: When is the best time to lock my interest rate? The obvious answer: When home loan rates are at their lowest. The problem is that loan officers don’t really have a crystal ball. With that being said, some home loan professionals utilize financial market indicators that can help them advise home buyers on whether to lock or float their interest rate…Rest of Story…

SAN ANTONIO, TX
Vista del Norte – San Antonio 78216
Vista del Norte is an interesting mix of older and newer homes (ranging from the 1980s to early 2000s) located off Blanco Road in San Antonio 78216 (map). Being so close to Wurzbach Parkway, 1604, IH 10 and 281, it’s easy to see why this neighborhood has maintained it’s popularity. Featuring a community pool, tennis courts, a clubhouse, and mature trees through out most of the properties, Vista del Norte offers many different styles and sizes of homes, many of which on larger size lots than can typically be found in this part…Rest of Story…

SEATTLE, WA

Seattle Real Estate: Your Weekly Mortgage Market Update
“WORKIN’ NINE TO FIVE – WHAT A WAY TO MAKE A LIVIN’…” Dolly Parton. But full time employment is nothing to gripe about these days – last week’s Jobs Report showed that there are millions of people who would love to be working full time…or even working at all. The labor market continues to struggle, though it has shown improvement from its worst levels. As you can see in the chart below, the Jobs Report for February…Rest of Story…

SOUTH FLORIDA
Florida Real Estate Remains “On Sale” With Sellers Slashing Prices by More Than 10 Percent According to Zip Realty
Home hunters are finding deals in South Florida, with sellers in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale having reduced their list price by an average of nearly 15 percent, or $36,000 in February 2010. In addition, one out of every two “for sale” homes in Jacksonville included at least one price reduction in February, according to a monthly survey of home listings in 27 major U.S. housing markets conducted by the online real estate brokerage ZipRealty …Rest of Story

TEMPE, AZ
Arizona Aloha Festival Back in Tempe!
The Arizona Aloha Festival will be here before you know it! In fact, it is this coming weekend, March 13th and 14th, 2010. Somehow, this one snuck up on me. I try to follow this festival, because it is a lot of fun and the people that put it on are really nice. When I spoke with planning committee chairperson Lacretia Bacon today she sounded really excited about the…Rest of Story…

Should a buyer put in a backup offer on a short sale
Video 99: So I just got done showing a short sale listing to a buyer in Tempe and we were discussing putting in a backup offer. They were a little concerned about doing so, but I think it’s a smart idea. If you have a house that you really really like, it’s a great idea to put a backup offer in so that if the buyer on that walks, you’ll be in first position to jump in and snatch up the property often at a really good price and at the same time you can continue shopping…Rest of Story…

DeedStreet is attempting to bring the best real estate stories/blogs of the day to one place in the form of a daily NewsRoll. We would like to make the NewsRoll as hyperlocal as possible. So if you have a RE story from your town/city/nerighborhood/blog, send it our way; we will be sure to give you recognition and a link back to your site (the cut-off to send us a story for the next morning release is 6:00pm PST). This is just our latest experiment with real time social media, so please be sure to give us any feedback on how we can make this service even better.

GILBERT, AZ
5 Places in 5 Weeks – Gilbert: Bergies Coffee House
DeedStreet chats with The Phoenix Real Estate Guy (Jay Thompson) at Bergies Coffee House in GIlbert, AZ. This video is the third in a five part series named “5 Places in 5 Weeks,” where we visit five different places within Gilbert in 5 weeks. The goal of this series to to show everyone why a town is so awesome from the perspective of a local Real Estate agent. In this case, the town is Gilbert and…Rest of Story…

LAKE GENEVA, WI
What’s Ahead For Lake Geneva Real Estate Mortgage Rates
Lake Geneva real estate mortgage markets improved last week in low-volume trading.
Between Monday to Thursday, Wall Street focused on the upcoming jobs reports and mortgage markets gained while traders jockeyed for position. Mortgage rates drifted lower through Thursday afternoon. But, then, after a better-than-expected Non-Farm Payrolls report Friday morning, mortgage markets — and mortgage rates — reversed…Rest of Story…

LONDAN, UK
London’s Chester Square Tops U.K. Priciest List for Second Year
London’s Chester Square retained the top spot for a second year in an annual list of the most expensive U.K. addresses as luxury property prices recovered from the housing slump, property researcher Mouseprice said. Home values on the Belgravia street close to Victoria Station, whose residents have included former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich…Rest of Story…

LOS ANGELES, CA
Interest in buying state offices in California building
The 24 buildings being offered, including two in L.A., are drawing global investors. The sale is also being criticized for the loss of long-term capital assets in favor of short-term gains. Efforts to sell 24 state office buildings have drawn lots of interest from potential buyers as well as the ire of some former public officials who labored to get them built years ago…Rest of Story…

MYRTLE BEACH, SC
Condo sales suffering in Myrtle Beach area
It’s no surprise that the condominium market, especially along the oceanfront, took a big hit in the real estate downturn, but data released this week details the extent of the damage. The total number of condos sold last year was down more than 50 percent from the peak in 2005 and the median price dropped about 33 percent from when prices peaked in 2007, according to a report on the condo market from Site Tech Systems, a local company that tracks the real estate market…Rest of Story…

NEW ORLEANS, LA
Louisiana real estate sales will get boost from first-time homebuyers credit, Saints’ Super Bowl win
Real estate sales in Louisiana are expected to get a boost this year from the federal first-time homebuyers credit and, quite possibly, the Saints’ Super Bowl win, according to the Louisiana Realtors group. “The phones are ringing right now,” said Malcolm Young, Jr., CEO of Louisiana Realtors, said of the impact of the federal tax credit. Congress has extended…Rest of Story…

SEATTLE, WA

Seattle Real Estate: Refinancing in this Market? President Obama says you can for another Year!
The Obama administration announced Monday that borrowers with little or no equity in their homes will have another year to take advantage of a refinancing program that so far has made little progress. The Home Affordable Refinance Program was set to expire in June, but so far it has reached fewer than 200,000 of the up to 5 million borrowers federal regulators hoped it would help…Rest of Story…

TEMPE, AZ
Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 3/8/2010
Here is today’s list of top real estate posts of the day. 1) REDC Auction: Scam or the Real Deal? – There are different types of auctions for houses, there is the type where you go to the courthouse step and bid on the foreclosures and then there are the auctions like Hudson &Marshall or REDC where you can bid on a property that has been on the market a while. The advantage to the…Rest of Story…

DeedStreet is attempting to bring the best real estate stories/blogs of the day to one place in the form of a daily NewsRoll. We would like to make the NewsRoll as hyperlocal as possible. So if you have a RE story from your town/city/nerighborhood/blog, send it our way; we will be sure to give you recognition and a link back to your site (the cut-off to send us a story for the next morning release is 6:00pm PST). This is just our latest experiment with real time social media, so please be sure to give us any feedback on how we can make this service even better.

DeedStreet chats with The Phoenix Real Estate Guy (Jay Thompson) at Bergies Coffee House in GIlbert, AZ. This video is the third in a five part series named “5 Places in 5 Weeks,” where we visit five different places within Gilbert in 5 weeks. The goal of this series to to show everyone why a town is so awesome from the perspective of a local Real Estate agent. In this case, the town is Gilbert and the agent is Jay. We tried/ are trying to pick places that are unique, cool or just popular with the locals. Last week we were at Cosmo Dog Park. The week before that, we were at Liberty Market. This week we went to Bergies Coffee House. And hopefully you’ll join us next week, when we go to the San Tan Mall.

Doug

ANN ARBOR, MI
Encouraging News for Michigan
Michigan was ranked # 3 in the Nation for Corporate Expansions. Site Selection’s annual Governor’s Cup award recognizes the state with the most new or expanded private-sector capital projects as tracked by publisher Conway Data Inc.’s New Plant Database. Ohio was named #1 and Texas #2. Major new corporate projects for Michigan in 2009 included…Rest of Story…

LAKE GENEVA, WI
Lake Geneva Real Estate Pending Home Sales Drag In January, But Should Rebound For Spring
Fewer homes went under contract in January as the Lake Geneva real estate housing market continues to limp through the winter months. According to the National Association of Realtors®, the Pending Home Sales Index fell to its lowest level in 3 quarters this January. By contrast, in October 2009, the index had touched a 3-year high…Rest of Story…

PHOENIX, AZ
Arizona Earnest Money
Earnest money is the amount of money a buyer submits with an offer to purchase a house. You actually write a check and send a copy with the purchase offer. Typically it’s a personal check.
Earnest money proves the buyer is ‘in earnest’, or serious about buying that house. If the seller accepts the offer, the earnest money is immediately deposited with the escrow/title office. Contributing to the funds needed to purchase the house…Rest of Story…

SAN ANTONIO, TX
Huebner Village – San Antonio 78248
Huebner Village, located off of Huebner Road, just south of Bitters Road in the 78248zip code (map), is a small custom home community built by McNair Homes. Featuring Mediterranean style homes with clay tile roofs, this neighborhood of thirty-three homes offers beautifully designed homes and a close-knit community feel. Although the entryway to Huebner Village is rather unassuming, the homes are grand in style and the subdivision is anything but…Rest of Story…

SEATTLE, WA
Seattle Real Estate: Thinking about Buying a Short Sale…Be Prepared to Hurry Up and Wait!
Buying a Short Sale can be an exercise in futility. Often Glacially slow, the process may not be for everybody…especially if you are looking to move into your new home before the next Ice Age! I posted an article yesterday about the process of buying a foreclosure, the distinction between that and buying a short sale has a number of noticeable differences none of which more important than you may still have someone living in the home…Rest of Story…

DeedStreet is attempting to bring the best real estate stories/blogs of the day to one place in the form of a daily NewsRoll. We would like to make the NewsRoll as hyperlocal as possible. So if you have a RE story from your town/city/nerighborhood/blog, send it our way; we will be sure to give you recognition and a link back to your site (the cut-off to send us a story for the next morning release is 6:00pm PST). This is just our latest experiment with real time social media, so please be sure to give us any feedback on how we can make this service even better.

ARLINGTON, VA
fha financing & condos: what you need to know
The FHA is a tease. Yes, I said it. You’re a tease. You tempt buyers by flashing a mere 3.5% down payment and interest rates below 5% (at the time of this writing), but then you go and pull the rug out from under everyone! The FHA has now decided to tighten lending on condo buildings (not one area specifically, but all condos in general)…Rest of Story…

MANHATTAN, NY
Manhattan Real Estate: A Healthy Return
What’s the expected return on investment (ROI) on an investment apartment in Manhattan? Well, it’s a forecast, and as a real estate broker, I never promise investor clients prices will appreciate by X percent within Y years. But what I can share is the historical trend of price appreciation on a Manhattan apartment, as this chart shows…Rest of Story…

MIAMI, FL
Miami Couple Accused Of Running Ponzi Scheme
A Miami couple whose real estate company was forced into bankruptcy last year was charged Wednesday with using that company to bilk hundreds of investors – including Roman Catholic Jesuit priests and elderly Cuban-Americans – out of $135 million. The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Gaston Cantens, 71, and wife Teresita Cantens, 73…Rest of Story…

PHOENIX, AZ
Phoenix Sky Train To Connect Light Rail Riders
The PHX Sky Train, a massive public works project now under construction at the east end of Sky Harbor Airport, recently became the topic of media attention when it was not included among the projects receiving federal stimulus funds announced by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion…Rest of Story…

SEATTLE, WA
Seattle Real Estate: What is Escrow?
One of the most common questions I get is, “What is Escrow?” Such a misunderstood part of any real estate transaction, Escrow can vary from State to State. However, in the State of Washington, Escrow is the depositing of funds and documents by the parties with an impartial third party for delivery upon completion of the terms of the escrow instructions…Rest of Story…

TEMPE, AZ
Short sale agents need to stand up to banks when the overreach
Video 97: I had a email from an agent in Colorado the other day. We had a conversation back and forth on Skype and I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. GMAC was requiring the buyer in a short sale purchase to put down x amount of money as earnest money. Then once it got past the inspection period if the buyer backed out and the they lost their earnest money, the earnest money was to be given to GMAC…Rest of Story…

DeedStreet is attempting to bring the best real estate stories/blogs of the day to one place in the form of a daily NewsRoll. We would like to make the NewsRoll as hyperlocal as possible. So if you have a RE story from your town/city/nerighborhood/blog, send it our way; we will be sure to give you recognition and a link back to your site (the cut-off to send us a story for the next morning release is 6:00pm PST). This is just our latest experiment with real time social media, so please be sure to give us any feedback on how we can make this service even better.

DeedStreet is attempting to bring the best real estate stories of the day to one place in the form of a daily NewsRoll. We would like to make the NewsRoll as hyperlocal as possible. So if you have a RE story from your town/city/nerighborhood, send it our way; we will be sure to give you recognition and a link back to your site (the cut-off to send us a story for the next morning release is 6:00pm PST). This is just our latest experiment with real time social media, so please be sure to give us any feedback on how we can make this service even better.

LOS ANGELES

Mom lists Brittany Murphy’s house
The late actress’s Mediterranean mansion in L.A.’s Hollywood Hills is reportedly for sale at $7.25 million…Rest of Story…

PHOENIX

Rise in Valley pre-foreclosures dulls hopes for recovery
Pre-foreclosures in metropolitan Phoenix climbed in February, dashing hopes that the housing market is starting to recover from the crash…Rest of Story…

SEATTLE

Home Shoppers Unlikely to Obtain Estimated Good Faith Estimates
As the days wear on, we are learning more and more about HUD’s 2010 Good Faith Estimate. Yes, we’ve had the 2010 GFE to review for quite some time and HUD has offered several updates on their RESPA FAQs…Rest of Story…

TOPEKA

Topeka ‘renames’ itself ‘Google, Kansas’
At 79, Bill Bunten doesn’t exactly understand the Internet boom. The Topeka, Kansas, mayor has an e-mail account, he said, but his assistants take care of most of his online communications and tend to search the Web for him…Rest of Story…

VANCOUVER

Vancouver property sales, home prices soar in February
Metro Vancouver property sales soared last month, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver – and so did housing prices. Property sales totaled 2,473 in February, according to the board, a 67.1 per cent increase over February 2009…Rest of Story…

DeedStreet chats with The Phoenix Real Estate Guy (Jay Thompson) at Cosmo Dog Park in GIlbert, AZ. This video is the second in a five part series named “5 Places in 5 Weeks,” where we visit five different places within Gilbert in 5 weeks. The goal of this series to to show everyone why a town is so awesome from the perspective of a local Real Estate agent. In this case, the town is Gilbert and the agent is Jay. We tried/ are trying to pick places that are unique, cool or just popular with the locals. Last week we were at Liberty Market. This week we went to Cosmo Dog Park. And hopefully you’ll join us next week, when we go to the San Tan Mall.

Doug

Hey all. Below is a transcript from my real time twitter interview with Patrick Flynn ( @mySeattleblogs ) on the Seattle Real Estate market. The tweeterview took place this past Tuesday (2/23/100). Of course, no interview on Seattle is complete with out the mention of coffee, grunge rock and rain. So sit back, relax, grab your orange mocha frappuccino and enjoy. By the way, if you’d like to do an interview over twitter (or the social media of your choice) on your city or hyperlocal neighborhood, just ping me.