The Percentage of people moving has sightly increase,after a historic slow down.

Most demographic groups saw a small increase, in U.S. migration

Why do we move? There are many factors in why we choose to travel and relocate. To other places which are better, bigger or can afford a better opportunity,whether it is across town, within the same state, or across the country. 

After hitting a 60-year low, the share of Americans who moved edged upwards last year again, but they do not go far, people are taking fewer chances, the reason been the wreaking housing market, jobs,and lack of opportunity in the down turn in the economy.

"This is the absolute worst time to lose our residential mobility," said Richard Florida, a professor of U.S. urban theory at the University of Toronto, citing the fledgling economic recovery. "It's important for people to move to where the new opportunities are, because that is the cornerstone of our idea-driven economy."

Americans are on the go again, moving across state lines and across their own states.

Roughly 12.5 percent of the U.S. population, or 37.1 million people, moved to a new home, up from a low of 11.9 percent, or 35.2 million, in 2008, according to census figures released Monday.

According to an article from USA Today, there has been the first percentage gains, in U.S. mobility, since the height of the housing bubble in 2005. Virtually all the new moves in 2009 also occurred within county, indicating that most were renters and lower-income people going locally from job to job.

Demographers say the jump is fueled largely by two highly mobile segments of the population:

Immigrants who have left traditional gateway states and fanned out across the USA in search of jobs and lower living costs.

• A larger generation of 20-somethings,are an age group more likely than others to move, since they attend college, launch their careers or leave their childhood homes. The number of people in their 20s dropped from 40.5 million in 1990 to 38.3 million in 2000 but rebounded to almost 42 million in 2006.

Some levels of people moving have been gradually declining for decades, more recently due to an aging baby boomer population that is less mobile, since hitting a peak of 21.2 percent in 1951.

The rate had generally started to leveled off around 13 to 14 percent before dropping sharply in 2008, due to the recession.

Most demographic and market indicators suggest that growth and development across the country are moving away from the suburban and exurban fringe and toward center-cities and close-in suburbs.

What's behind this shift? Empty-Nester's don't need the big house and don't want to mow the big lawn. High gas prices are making long commutes less practical. The urban renaissance in big cities is towards inner cities moves.

The share of longer-distance moves across counties and states starting to change upwards. That is evidence that college graduates and younger professionals were temporarily staying put during the housing crunch, rather than seeking out new careers in other regions of the country.

About 1 in 4 adults ages 25-34 last year changed residences. That's up slightly from 2008 but down from 2 percent in 2000 as many held off on a job search, delayed marriage or opted to pursue an advance degree in the current recession.

Older Americans are also stayed put, their overall mobility in 2009 was largely flat, registering at 3.4 percent for seniors 65 and older and 4.9 percent for pre-seniors ages 60-64.

Long-distance migration for both groups of Senior Americans, fell to below 2 percent, the lowest in at least two decades. Since most older people delayed retirement, and kept working due to thier shriveled stock portfolio's, lost of home values, and disappearing saving accounts.

There are also implications , for the 2010 census, which will be used to distribute House seats and more than $400 billion in federal aid.

Based on the growth of movement of people, towards the sunbelt cities, earlier this decade, states such as Arizona, Florida and Texas,two of these states, were on track to gain two House seats apiece, in Florida and Arizona, before the mortgage foreclosures began to wrack their economies.

The States of Arizona and Florida,may now lose out to states like California and New York, which may avert a loss of seats as they retain more big-city residents.

"Overall, there is nothing here that suggests a light at the end of the tunnel in the continued slowdown of long distance migration in the U.S.," said William H. Frey, a demographer at Brookings Institution who analyzed the numbers.

Other findings:

The number of immigrants coming to the U.S. from other countries fell to 1.09 million, the lowest since 1995.

African-Americans, single people, high-school dropouts and the poor in general are among the most likely to move.

The most commonly cited reasons for moving were housing-related, such as a desire to live in a better neighborhood; they represented 45.9 percent of movers. Other factors included family (26.3 percent) and jobs (17.9 percent).

About 29 percent of renters moved in the previous year, more than five times the rate of homeowners.

Locating downtown is sometimes associated with the "buy local" movement - the idea that the community benefits if businesses and consumers spend their money with independent, locally owned businesses.

The percentage of Americans who say they moved from another state the previous year has risen every year this decade. At 2.2% in 2003, it reached 2.5% in 2005 and 2.7% in 2006, the first year that the Census Bureau's American Community Survey counted people in dormitories, prisons and other group settings.

The increase in movers from 2003 to 2006 amounts to an extra 1.5 million people moving to another state every year or a total of 8 million in 2006. Mobility is a good barometer of changing demographics and economic conditions nationwide.

Many states may be getting the outflow from California, which has one of the smallest shares of residents who came from other states in the previous year.

Other states drawing few movers include Michigan, Ohio and New York. Michigan and Ohio have been hit hard by layoffs in the auto industry. Much of New York state has suffered similar industrial losses.

"Now the question is, what will happen if housing continues to cool down?"

If we can safely assume, as many economists do, that the country is "over-retailed," some downtown development plans based on more shopping will stall, but the center will still prosper relative to the fringe - and more businesses might find the downtown storefront affordable.

The findings are the latest to highlight the impact of the housing crunch and subsequent financial meltdown on U.S. population growth. The effects include renewed gains for large cities that had been losing residents to far-flung exurbs as well as losses for retirement destinations concentrated in the South and West.

The census data was based on the Current Population Survey as of March 2009. The government first began tracking movers in 1948.

What are the implications in the real estate industry as a whole?

How hard hit,will the construction industry be, in the down-turn in new contruction, across some states?

What will these statistics mean in the long run, to our own individual housing markets?

12 Hidden Costs of Homeownership

As the spring season gets underway, many Americans will be looking to take advantage of the lower real estate prices, attractive mortgage rates, and federal tax credit by purchasing a home. But remember: Not all of the costs associated with homeownership are reflected in the listed price.

 Indeed, many buyers -- particularly first-time buyers -- may be surprised by the amount of cash they'll need to set aside for housing-related expenses that they hadn't previously considered.

These often-overlooked expenses can include everything from title insurance to lawn mowing. To give would-be home buyers a better sense of the budget they'll need to buy and maintain a home, U.S. News spoke with a handful of real estate experts and compiled a list of 12 hidden costs of homeownership:

1. Home inspection. Since a home purchase is likely to be the largest financial investment of your life, it's a good idea to have it professionally inspected beforehand. A home inspector can point out areas of the property that may need repairs. Buyers can use this information as leverage during home-price negotiations or simply to determine whether or not the property is worth purchasing. "It's not required, but certainly I recommend it to buyers," says Judy Moore of Re/Max Landmark Realtors in Lexington, Mass. "It is actually very helpful in that [buyers] learn about the property and how to maintain it and it also alerts them to any potential issues that may be coming up in the near future or need to be taken care of." The cost of a home inspection, which can run several hundred dollars or more, is typically incurred by the buyers before they go to closing, Moore says.

2. Pest inspection. Buyers should consider obtaining a separate inspection for wood-destroying insects, such as termites. Although no laws mandate pre-transaction pest inspections and not all lenders require them, Greg Baumann, senior scientist for the National Pest Management Association, says buyers would be smart to have the procedure done prior to closing. "If you buy a house and you don't have an inspection and the house is riddled [with termites], you go to closing and now the house is yours," Baumann says. "It happens at a time in their lives when [homeowners] can least afford repairs." Termite inspections typically cost between $50 and $200, Baumann says.

3. Appraisal fees. Before you can purchase a home, your lender will require you to have the property valued by a professional real estate appraiser. Lenders use such appraisals when determining the amount of money to offer mortgage borrowers. In years past, appraisal costs were often rolled into the fees that borrowers paid at closing, says Tom Vanderwell, a mortgage officer for Fifth Third Bank in Michigan. Today, however, he makes sure to collect this fee up front. "We've got to pay the appraiser whether the deal goes through or not," he says. "And with the way that the market has been, there is certainly a substantial percentage of deals that are not going through." After buyers pay the fee-which typically ranges between $350 and $400-it appears as a credit on their closing statement, Vanderwell says.

4. Closing costs. When you arrive to sign your closing documents, be prepared to pay thousands of dollars in assorted fees. Such expenses-known as closing costs-can include processing fees, underwriting fees, recording fees, survey fees, and title insurance fees. "This industry has done a bad job of explaining to people that there are legitimate fees which must be paid in order to grant you a mortgage loan," says Keith Gumbinger, of HSH.com. "There are various service providers who are involved in this process-they have their costs and [lenders] have some of [their] own administrative costs as well." But savvy consumers can limit these expenses. Gumbinger recommends that would-be buyers ask several different lenders for so-called good faith estimates, which outline closing costs in detail. (Lenders, however, are under no obligation to offer you such information before you apply, he says.) "If lender A charges a document preparation fee and lender B doesn't, that might be one of the considerations," Gumbinger says. Closing costs vary, but they usually range between 2 to 3 percent of the mortgage loan amount, he says.

5. Moving expenses. Buyers face an additional wave of costs once their home purchase is complete. Take moving expenses. Unless your new house is around the corner or you have a large group of helpful friends, you'll likely need some professional help to transport your belongings. Such expenses can reach several thousand dollars or more, depending on the distance of the move. "Moving is a significant expense-particularly across the country," says Gail Cunningham of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. For those moving on account of a job, Cunningham recommends asking your new employer to chip in for some of the costs associated with the transition. "I know that people are probably so excited to get the job that they don't want to rock the boat, but that's a pretty normal question," Cunningham says. "A lot of these companies have standing contracts so it is certainly a question worth posing because you don't want to have to cough up that out-of-pocket expense unnecessarily."

6. Furniture. Once you've lugged all of your furniture into your new property, you may find that your old sofa and dining room table aren't nearly enough to fill out the house. "Maybe [the buyers] came from a one-bedroom apartment and they are buying a three-bedroom house," Cunningham says. "They are really going to have some major expenses just to furnish the house with the basics." The beds, lamps, and tables often needed to furnish additional rooms can add up quickly. "The expense of that can really catch you by surprise," Gumbinger says.

7. Property taxes and homeowners insurance. If you have never had a mortgage, be aware that your monthly bill won't simply reflect the loan amount plus interest. It will also reflect property taxes and premiums for homeowners insurance, which all mortgage borrowers are required to obtain. For that reason, housing experts encourage buyers to think of their baseline monthly mortgage payment as encompassing "PITI," or principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Annual homeowners insurance premiums typically range between 0.5 to 1 percent of the mortgage loan amount, Gumbinger says. Property taxes will vary a great deal, but can run several thousand dollars a year or more.

8. Supplemental insurance. Consumers who buy homes in areas exposed to flooding may have to purchase a supplemental insurance policy, says Guy Cecala, the publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance. "[For] just about any mortgage you get now that's in the 100-year flood plain, you have to get flood insurance," Cecala says. Buyers can use online tools to determine if the property they are considering is located in such an area. "There is no real cheap private alternative. You really have to get into the federal flood insurance program, and it's relatively affordable," he says. Premiums on such policies will cost most homeowners less than $20 a month, he says.

9. Homeowners association/condo fees. Consumers who buy into certain developments will have to pay an additional monthly fee on top of their payments for principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Condominium and single-family developments often charge residents for services that benefit the community, like lawn mowing or employing a front-desk attendant. "Condo fees are specifically for condominiums. Home association fees can also be for single-family home developments," Moore says. "They are essentially the same thing but different variations." Such fees will vary, but can total more than $100 a month.

10. Utilities. You may be surprised by how much you'll need to budget to keep your house warm and the water running. "You might have been renting an apartment and you [were] paying some portion of your utilities or maybe all of them, but the first cold winter you are in your house, you [might] say, 'Wow, look at these power bills,'" Gumbinger says. "That's one of the costs I think you really don't think about." Utility costs will vary by region and consumption. To get a sense of the costs, home buyers should ask sellers for monthly utilities estimates before they close the transaction.

11. Ongoing maintenance. Although that big backyard might be a great place to grill burgers, it's also an expense. As a homeowner, it's your responsibility to keep your property maintained. That means raking the leaves, mowing the lawn, trimming the hedges, and clearing out the gutters, among other tasks. (Unless, of course, you live in a development that handles these chores for you.) To maintain the exterior property, you may have to buy a lawnmower, a hedge trimmer, or other equipment that you didn't need when you lived in an apartment. "If you are a first-time buyer, you may fail to appreciate just how much stuff you need to buy in order to manage your home," Gumbinger says.

12. Repairs. Remember, when you move out of that apartment, there's no longer a landlord to call when the sink backs up. Instead, it's up to you to contact-and pay-the plumber. And the sink is just one of the many home features or appliances that homeowners may one day need to repair. Homeowners are encouraged to set aside funds to take care of such repairs when they become necessary. And because broken appliances can be a major hassle and a significant expense, Ron Phipps, a broker with Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I., recommends that buyers put key appliances under warrantee. "What we really recommend is that the buyer negotiate into the transaction a home warrantee for one year," Phipps says. "That's about a $500 item, and if [the buyer] gets the seller to pay for it, that minimizes [the cost]."

Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss

  by David Streitfeld
Monday, March 8, 2010

In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave.

 This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way, is one of This latest program, which will allowthe administration's most aggressive attempts to grapple with a problem that has defied solutions.

More than five million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government's $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped only a small slice of them. Consumer advocates, economists and even some banking industry representatives say much more needs to be done.

For the administration, there is also the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy's tentative recovery -- the last thing it wants in an election year.

Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed.

"We want to streamline and standardize the short sale process to make it much easier on the borrower and much easier on the lender," said Seth Wheeler, a Treasury senior adviser.

The problem is highlighted by a routine case in Phoenix. Chris Paul, a real estate agent, has a house he is trying to sell on behalf of its owner, who owes $150,000. Mr. Paul has an offer for $48,000, but the bank holding the mortgage says it wants at least $90,000. The frustrated owner is now contemplating foreclosure.

To bring the various parties to the table -- the homeowner, the lender that services the loan, the investor that owns the loan, the bank that owns the second mortgage on the property -- the government intends to spread its cash around.

Under the new program, the servicing bank, as with all modifications, will get $1,000. Another $1,000 can go toward a second loan, if there is one. And for the first time the government would give money to the distressed homeowners themselves. They will get $1,500 in "relocation assistance."

Should the incentives prove successful, the short sales program could have multiple benefits. For the investment pools that own many home loans, there is the prospect of getting more money with a sale than with a foreclosure.

For the borrowers, there is the likelihood of suffering less damage to credit ratings. And as part of the transaction, they will get the lender's assurance that they will not later be sued for an unpaid mortgage balance.

For communities, the plan will mean fewer empty foreclosed houses waiting to be sold by banks. By some estimates, as many as half of all foreclosed properties are ransacked by either the former owners or vandals, which depresses the value of the property further and pulls down the value of neighboring homes.

If short sales are about to have their moment, it has been a long time coming. At the beginning of the foreclosure crisis, lenders shunned short sales. They were not equipped to deal with the labor-intensive process and were suspicious of it.

The lenders' thinking, said the economist Thomas Lawler, went like this: "I lend someone $200,000 to buy a house. Then he says, 'Look, I have someone willing to pay $150,000 for it; otherwise I think I'm going to default.' Do I really believe the borrower can't pay it back? And is $150,000 a reasonable offer for the property?"

Short sales are "tailor-made for fraud," said Mr. Lawler, a former executive at the mortgage finance company Fannie Mae.

Last year, short sales started to increase, although they remain relatively uncommon. Fannie Mae said preforeclosure deals on loans in its portfolio more than tripled in 2009, to 36,968. But real estate agents say many lenders still seem to disapprove of short sales.

Under the new federal program, a lender will use real estate agents to determine the value of a home and thus the minimum to accept. This figure will not be shared with the owner, but if an offer comes in that is equal to or higher than this amount, the lender must take it.

Mr. Paul, the Phoenix agent, was skeptical. "In a perfect world, this would work," he said. "But because estimates of value are inherently subjective, it won't. The banks don't want to sell at a discount."

There are myriad other potential conflicts over short sales that may not be solved by the program, which was announced on Nov. 30 but whose details are still being fine-tuned. Many would-be short sellers have second and even third mortgages on their houses. Banks that own these loans are in a position to block any sale unless they get a piece of the deal.

"You have one loan, it's no sweat to get a short sale," said Howard Chase, a Miami Beach agent who says he does around 20 short sales a month. "But the second mortgage often is the obstacle."

Major lenders seem to be taking a cautious approach to the new initiative. In many cases, big banks do not actually own the mortgages; they simply administer them and collect payments. J. K. Huey, a Wells Fargo vice president, said a short sale, like a loan modification, would have to meet the requirements of the investor who owns the loan.

"This is not an opportunity for the customer to just walk away," Ms. Huey said. "If someone doesn't come to us saying, 'I've done everything I can, I used all my savings, I borrowed money and, by the way, I'm losing my job and moving to another city, and have all the documentation,' we're not going to do a short sale."

But even if lenders want to treat short sales as a last resort for desperate borrowers, in reality the standards seem to be looser.

Sree Reddy, a lawyer and commercial real estate investor who lives in Miami Beach, bought a one-bedroom condominium in 2005, spent about $30,000 on improvements and ended up owing $540,000. Three years later, the value had fallen by 40 percent.

Mr. Reddy wanted to get out from under his crushing monthly payments. He lost a lot of money in the crash but was not in default. Nevertheless, his bank let him sell the place for $360,000 last summer.

"A short sale provides peace of mind," said Mr. Reddy, 32. "If you're in foreclosure, you don't know when they're ultimately going to take the place away from you."

Mr. Reddy still lives in the apartment complex where he bought that condo, but is now a renter paying about half of his old mortgage payment. Another benefit, he said: "The place I'm in now is nicer and a little bigger."

Investor Report: Tax Extender Act

 by Kenneth R. Harney

Real estate investors are facing a squeeze play on Capitol Hill, with important tax incentives nearing an end-of-the-year deadline.

Last week the House approved what's known as the Tax Extender Act, a Christmas tree bill filled with nearly 50 tax program extensions beyond their December 31st scheduled expiration date.

Two of the extenders are especially significant for investment real estate: First is the so-called "leasehold improvements" provision, which allows owners of commercial, retail, hotel and office buildings -- large and small -- to use an accelerated 15-year depreciation schedule in writing off renovations and upgrades they make to their real estate.

The House bill extends favorable leasehold writeoffs for another year.

The second key one year extension in the bill involves depreciation writeoffs for developers who clean up so-called "brownfield" sites that have experienced environmental damage from toxic chemicals or pollution.

But the House bill also contains a massive penalty for real estate, a multi-billion dollar tax increase for investors in real estate partnership deals.

The House bill would remove favorable capital gains treatment that now exists for a type of compensation that general partners frequently receive, known as "carried interest," and instead tax it at ordinary income tax rates.

For many investors functioning as general partners, that would mean a crushing tax increase -- more than double their tax rates overnight.

Though strongly opposed by housing, real estate and other financial market groups, the extender bill with the "carried interest" tax change has now gone to the Senate for a vote.

And that's where the deadline squeeze comes in. The Senate already has a jampacked year-end schedule dominated by health care, and is not likely to take up the tax extender bill before December 31st.

As a result, the popular leasehold improvements and brownfields tax programs are likely to expire, effectively go into limbo, as of January 1st.

Real estate industry legislative analysts say the Senate could take up the tax extenders bill as early as January or February, but will probably not accept the House's controversial carried interest changes.

Should investors worried about the expired tax benefits get upset?

Not quite yet, lobbyists tell Realty Times. If the Senate can quickly cobble together some alternative tax increases to satisfy the House, the extender bill is likely to pass sometime early in the year with a January 1 retroactive date - minus the tax increase for real estate partnerships.

Then again, nothing is certain on Capitol Hill.

So talk to your tax advisor before committing to investment decisions that might be affected by the expiration.

Published: December 18, 2009

Where The Term Real Estate Come From.  

 A Brief History And Origins of Real Estate. 

Definition: Real Estate

Continue from previous post.

The Industrial Revolution.

The industrial revolution was one of the great equalizers in human history, The use of machines for manual labor freed many peasants for different tasks, and allowed a privileged few time for education and specialization into new fields of labor opened up by the mechanization of industry. Cobblers, seamstresses and cabinetmakers found that their once invaluable skills were now obsolete, leaving them to return to the land and the coal mines beneath it to try to eke out a living.

People were able to jump classes and bring some of their lower class sensibilities with them, leading to track housing for laborers and a range of products aimed at the lower classes.

 The people who made up the classification of peasants now became middle class, blue collar, white collar, and a handful of other things. They owned houses, cars, and eventually, radios and televisions, which suggested what other things they might want to own.

 Economic aspects of real property:

Land use, land valuation, and the determination of the incomes of landowners, are among the oldest questions in economic theory. Land is an essential input (factor of production) for agriculture, and agriculture is by far the most important economic activity in preindustrial societies. With the advent of industrialization, important new uses for land emerge, as sites for factories, warehouses, offices, and urban agglomerations.

 Also, the value of real property taking the form of man-made structures and machinery increases relative to the value of land alone. The concept of real property eventually comes to encompass effectively all forms of tangible fixed capital. with the rise of extractive industries, real property comes to encompass natural capital.

 Mortgages in Real Estate.

The invention of mortgages belongs to no particular country. Mortgages existed for a long time as an exclusive loan given only to nobility. After the industrial revolution, however, the wealth of the world increased to the point where banks opened themselves to "higher-risk" mortgage loans to common people. This allowed individuals to own their own homes and, if they so desired, to become landlords themselves. It took 30,000 years, but home ownership is now open to many people.

Mortgages in developing countries.

In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich or poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings.

In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgage loans (or other instruments). These are loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral. Banks are willing to make such loans at favorable rates in large part because, if the borrower does not make payments, the lender can foreclose by filing a court action which allows them take back the property and sell it to get their money back. For investors, profitability can be enhanced by using an off plan or pre-construction strategy to purchase at a lower price which is often the case in the pre-construction phase of development.

But in many developing countries there is no effective means by which a lender could foreclose, so the mortgage loan industry, as such, either does not exist at all or is only available to members of privileged social classes.

Real Estate Business in Latin America.

The real estate business in Mexico and Central America is different from the way that it is conducted in the United States.

One important difference from the United States is that each country has rules regarding where foreigners can buy. For example, in Mexico, foreigners cannot buy land or homes within 50 km of the coast or 100 km from a border unless they hold title in a Mexican Corporation or a Fideicomiso (a Mexican trust). In Honduras, however, they may buy beach front property directly in their name. There are also different special rules regarding certain types of property: ejidal land - communally held farm property- can only be sold after a lengthy entitlement process, but that does not prevent them from being offered for sale.

In Costa Rica, real estate agents do not need a license to operate, but the transfer of property requires a lawyer.

Influence of Real Estate on the economy and people.

Ownership, specifically ownership of land, was the basis of all the investment opportunities we see today. Without a stable population and a set location, trade and commerce between groups is limited. Ownership has moved from being established by strength to being something you can buy, sell, trade and rent. There has always been a trade off for tenancy, a fee paid to the "owner" for the land and its protection.    This responsibility was first afforded to tribal leaders, then to kings and finally to landlords. Now we have the power to own our homes, a move that has changed the way people live.

 Categories of estates

Estates in land can be divided into five basic categories:

1. Freehold estates: rights of ownership
   • fee simple (fee simple absolute)-most rights, least limitations, indefeasible
   • fee tail-inalienable rights of inheritance
   • conditional, Defensible estate, or determinable fee-voidable ownership
   • life estate-ownership for duration of someones life
2. Leasehold estates: rights of possession and use but not ownership. The lessor (owner/landlord) gives this right to the lessee (tenant). There are four categories of leasehold estates:
   1. estate for years (tenancy for years)-lease of any length with specific begin and end date
   2. periodic estate (periodic tenancy)-automatically renewing lease (month to month, week to week)
   3. estate at will (tenancy at will)-leasehold for no fixed time or period. It lasts as long as both parties desire. Termination is bilateral (either party may terminate at any time) or by operation of law.
   4. tenancy at sufferance-created when tenant remains after lease expires and becomes a holdover tenant, converts to holdover tenancy upon landlord acceptance; see Forcible Entry and Detain-er Statutes

• Types of leases:
  • gross lease
  • net lease
  • percentage lease

Where The Term Real Estate Came From.  

 A Brief History And Origins of Real Estate. 

  Definition: Real Estate   A piece of land, including the air above it and the ground below it, any buildings or structures on it also called realty, and improvements there to, also called real property.

    In law, the word real means relating to a thing (res/rei, thing, from O.Fr. reel, from L.L. realis "actual," from Latin. res, "matter, thing"), as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between "real" property (land and anything affixed to it) and "personal" property (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money).  

   Our ancestors abandoned the hunter-gatherer lifestyle gradually over the period from 30,000 B.C. to 15,000 B.C. This change was far from global and hunter-gatherer societies still survive in some areas of the world today, but it did mark a transition toward an agrarian society.

 A transition that also heralded the advent of home ownership, the birth of home ownership and real estate.

  Staking A Claim

Many agrarian systems progressed like this: Fertile plains were staked out and settled in a might-makes-right manner in which those who could defend the land were those who kept it.   Eventually, a system of tribal leaders developed, and those who had the approval of the tribe would disperse lands, settle disputes and require a payment from all his subjects.  

The shift toward more and more powerful tribal leaders culminated in a pooling of labor resources, to direct efforts. Irrigation channels were dug, strongholds were built, farming methods improved and temples were erected.

With the land improvements, populations also exploded. Now, where a family of hunter-gatherers might be able to support one or two children at best, farmers could produce several children. The increased fertility also meant increased available laborers.

In return for the sacrifice of familiarity, people living in these small societies gained the safety of numbers. A well-fed army easily repelled any desperate raiders. In return for this security, the people all paid homage to the lord or king who claimed ownership of the land - which, in essence was the first system of rent.

As these farming villages grew into cities, the leading families maintained ownership by right of lineage - their ancestors had clubbed all other challengers senseless - thus becoming the kings, pharaohs, daimyos and the heads of other feudal dynasties.

    An invaluable glimpse of legal history regulating the most valuable asset of them all: land. In medieval times, land was the sole form of wealth.

Land ownership in feudal times, as with most objects, depended primarily on possession:

• You had it, you owned it.
• You wanted it, you fought for it.
• You found it, you kept it.

There were no courts or police force ready to recognize or enforce "legal rights" as we know them today.

    A king and a feudal system is establish.

    This system of labor-for-protection developed into two separate systems in most countries: taxes and tenancy. Royal families spread their wealth to friends, signing away titles and deeds to lands that allowed the holders to collect the revenues (rent) produced by the peasants living on the land.

 On top of this rent, all the people within a ruler's realm were generally required to pay a tax.    Many other demands were made by a king or a ruling Nobleman, such as military service, and they were grudgingly met because these rulers owned the land not only by birthright, but by military might as well. 

Rulers could be overthrown by other rulers, and sometimes by peasants, but a new ruler would sit on the throne and the average peasant could rarely notice a difference.

  People  were eventually able to trade with other kingdoms and the general level of wealth increased, giving rise to a merchant class as well as specialized laborers - the tradesmen, who were able to earn a living with their skills and not by their crops.  

 This, in turn, resulted in non-agrarian shops and houses that still paid rent and taxes to the various lords and kings, but were bought, sold and rented among the common folk rather than by the royal class.

 Richer merchants became the first common-born landlords and gained wealth and status. These merchants did not own the land, but they owned the houses on it.

What happen lands with titles were broken into smaller parcels and sold on a free market of sorts, but the people with the money to buy the deeds were either merchants or former aristocrats who managed to escape from being depose or killed  by revolutionary fervor.

Peasants had yet to make much progress from the original farming-tribesmen 30,000 years before them.

  The Development and Origins of Modern Real Estate.

The conceptual difference was between immovable property, which would transfer title along with the land, and movable property, which a person would retain title to.

The oldest use of the term "Real Estate" that has been preserved in historical records was in 1666.

The use of "real" to refer to land also reflects the ancient preference for land and the ownership thereof (and the owners thereof). This, in turn reflects the values of the medieval feudal system, which is the ultimate root of the common law.

   The word Real is derived from "royal" (The word royal-and its Spanish cognate real-come from the related Latin word rex-regis, meaning king. For hundreds of years the Royal family / King owned the land, and the peasants paid rent or property taxes to be on the Royal's land (Estates).  Thus, the term Real Estate.

Today, just like hundreds of years in the past, we pay property taxes to the government, or rent to be on the government's land. However, the "real" in "real property" is derived from the Latin for "thing.  

Estates and Ownership Define:

The underlying principle of the system was that nobody owned land but the king. The expressions dominion directum and dominion utile are often used to describe the relative ownership of king and lords; the former as landlord the latter as tenant.

This represents a significant difference between real estate and chattels. Chattels can be owned outright. It can also be contrasted with those countries that have an allodialsystem (absolute ownership of land). Even today, in those countries that have inherited the tenurial system, all land belongs to the Crown; persons only own an estate in the land.

The device used by the king to control and administer his land was that of tenure. Tenure was the key component of the feudal system. The king struck a bargain with a lord for a large chunk of land. The lords that held their tenure directly from the king were called tenants-in-chief or in capite

The most important of the incidents is the concept of "escheat" which allowed the land to revert back to the lord. There were two causes for escheat. The first was the death without heirs of the tenant. The second was the conviction of the tenant of a felony.

 Have a happy day, thanks for taking time to read.

Who Owns My Mortgage?

by Ralph Roberts

When trying to contact your lender to work out a payment plan or some other deal, knowing who owns your mortgage can be very helpful. Unfortunately finding out is not as easy as it sounds. You should be able to call the phone number on your last mortgage statement or the number in your payment coupon book and connect directly with your lender.

More often than not, this merely puts you in touch with the servicer - the business that collects and processes your payments. In some cases, the servicer is prohibited from divulging the true identity of your lender. In other cases, the person you're dealing with has no idea who your lender is.

Mortgages are often sliced and diced and repackaged into mortgage backed securities (MBS's) that are sold and traded on Wall Street. Many investors subscribe to an automated system called MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration System) that keeps track of who owns the mortgage and note as it changes hands among investors, as well as who services it for that investor. MERS can provide another level of anonymity to the process. On many mortgages, the Mortgagee (the party that was granted the mortgage) is listed only as MOM (MERS as Original Mortgagee).

 No, that doesn't mean you can call your mom to find out who owns your mortgage note. It means you have to try to look it up in the MERS registry. Customers trying to look up the investor on the MERS registry will not find it. MERS makes the name and contact information of the servicer available, but not the name and contact of the investor. That information is for the servicer or investor to disclose, not MERS.

To add to the confusion, the mortgage meltdown sank many banks and other lending institutions which were taken over by other banks or regulators.

So, what should you do if you're trying to track down your lender? Take the following approach:

1. Call the phone number on your most recent mortgage statement or your payment coupon book. This will put you in touch with the servicer who may also be the lender who owns your mortgage or at least be able to tell you the name of your lender. (Remember, the person may not know or may not be permitted to tell you.)

2. If you have an FHA loan, contact FHA's National Servicing Center to determine who owns your mortgage:

(800) CALL- FHA / (800) 225- 5342

Email hsg-lossmit@hud.gov

Department of Housing and Urban Development National Servicing Center 301 NW 6th Street, Suite 200 Oklahoma City, OK 73102

3. You can try to contact Fannie Mae. If they own the note, they may provide the identity of the investor:

1-800-7FANNIE (1-800-732-6643).

4. If the mortgage is listed as MOM or has a MIN (Mortgage Identification Number) assigned to it, you can search the MERS database by mortgage identification number (MIN), your name and social security number, or the property's address. Dial the toll-free MERS Servicer Identification System at 888-679-6377 (an automated touch-tone system) or search online.

5. If you know the name of the bank or other lending institution that owns your mortgage but have no contact information for them, check out Hope Now .

One of the most important steps to saving your home from foreclosure is to get in touch with your lender immediately. Better yet, hire a qualified attorney with experience in foreclosures and loan modifications to contact your lender on your behalf, so you have legal representation on your side.

 I can guarantee that your lender has an attorney reviewing the paperwork. You should have one to watch your back, too.

Published: April 27, 2009

Descriptions of Agency: The Buyer Agency Agreement

There are agents, and then there are agents. Yes, it sounds confusing. That's because the term "agent" is often used in a casual manner, referring to any real estate practitioner.

But agent also refers to someone with whom you've established a formal agency relationship-someone who represents your best interests in a real estate transaction and owes you fiduciary responsibilities. Agency relationships are usually established in writing with buyer agency agreements, and require:

• loyalty
• obedience
• disclosure
• confidentiality
• reasonable care and diligence
• accounting

The birth of buyer agency

For many years, real estate was practiced in such a manner that agency relationships were only extended to sellers. Any real estate agent who brought a buyer to the table was actually working as a sub-agent to the seller.

This all began changing in the 1980s, when buyer agency started gaining momentum in residential transactions. Today, agency laws still vary from state to state. But even if you live in a state that recognizes buyer agency, you can't assume that you will automatically receive fiduciary responsibilities from the agent you're working with as a potential homebuyer.

That's why it's vitally important to talk to the agent or broker early in your working relationship about his/her agency status. You may also want to consult your state association of REALTORS® to gain a better understanding about agency laws in your particular state, or contact the agency charged with regulating real estate professionals in your state, often referred to as the state real estate commission.

Details vary from one state to another, and each brokerage has its own contract terms within these broader guidelines. But for purposes of illustration, this table outlines how your status may affect the level of service to which you are entitled:

* This chart is for general illustration purposes only. Agency laws vary by state; and specific terms of individual agency contracts will vary from one agent to another.

You may not know if you're a customer or a client.

Depending on the laws in your state, you may find yourself working with someone who is actually negotiating for the seller, not you the buyer. The best way to be certain your interests are being considered and protected is to sign a buyer agency agreement with a trained buyer's rep, which clearly establishes client-level services and spells out what services you can depend upon.

What about dual agency?

In some cases, it will become necessary for your real estate professional to deviate from the single agency model. For example, a buyer-client may become interested in a house that also happens to be offered for sale by a seller-client of their buyer's rep, or by the same brokerage firm. How can a buyer's rep, in this instance, maintain complete loyalty to their buyer if he or she also owes complete loyalty to the seller?

Obviously, they can't. But, depending on the real estate license laws in your state, and your status with the brokerage firm, the manner in which this situation is handled will vary. To get concrete answers, you should read and discuss the brokerage services disclosure statement, which should reflect your state's agency law. If your agent hasn't supplied a disclosure statement, you should ask for it. It spells out the different categories of agency services they provide and how they address dual agency.

Almost all states require disclosure of dual agency and often require that a buyer's rep (or his or her brokerage firm) only act as a dual agent with the written consent of all parties to the transaction. In such a situation, the brokerage agrees to endeavor to be impartial between both parties and will not represent the interest of either party to the exclusion or detriment of the other party. Neither will they share the confidential information of one party with the other party. This is how brokerage firms and their agents strive to create win-win situations for everyone involved. There are a few states that prohibit dual agency even with disclosure and consent.

Other types of relationships

Some states also allow different types of relationships beyond agency relationships. For example, a transaction broker assumes responsibility to facilitate the transaction, rather than represent one side over the other. Further obligations may also be set forth in a written contract with a client.

Even though the laws concerning agency can vary from one state to another, one thing that is constant throughout the U.S. is the obligation for all REALTORS® to comply with the National Association of REALTORS® Code of Ethics.

Issues to discuss with a buyer's representative

Real estate agency relationships, like all business relationships, can be formed in a number of ways. In order to help talk through your options, here are several questions to ask your buyer's rep:

• Do you represent buyers, sellers or both?
• What services are provided to (or excluded from) me, based on my status as a buyer-customer or buyer-client?
• When does representation begin? When does it conclude?
• If I'm not ready to commit to your normal term, can you offer me a one-day buyer agency agreement or a 24-hour opt-out clause?
• How is dual agency addressed in your firm?

The Ten Commandments of a Successful IDX Solution

 Published on Monday, February 23, 2009, 1:04 PM Last Update: 3 hour(s) ago

by Peyman Aleagha Tags: idx free idx realtysoft.com

The Internet is changing the way that Realtors do business and market themselves to such an extent that many will not be around in a few short years. Survival of the fittest is the way of the world, and the fittest in real estate will be those agents and brokers who understand the new Internet consumer and how to engage them from first contact through a commission.

The very first contact that most of you with websites or blogs will have with a consumer will usually be their visit to your site to search for listings. And, you will probably never know that they were there. They come anonymously, and they want to stay that way. They want to find homes or land that meets their requirements and, on this first visit, they do not want to be contacted or to talk to you. If you ever want to talk to these people, ever, then pay heed to the Ten Commandments of IDX.

1.      Thou Shalt Not Underestimate IDX.
It doesn't matter whether it's a buyer or seller visiting your website or blog for the first time. Surveys have shown that 95+% of first time visitors for listing searches want to see all of the listings in the MLS, not just yours. Not having IDX will cost you huge amounts of future web-generated business. Again, no IDX, no leads, no business.

2.      Thou Shalt Not Make Assumptions About Your Yisitors.
Successful Web real estate lead generating site owners will all tell you the same thing. They have had clients tell them that the business came to them because other online Realtors dismissed, ignored or underestimated them. They were visiting the sites months before they were ready to talk to anyone, and the site owner didn't serve them well in this phase. Though they aren't ready to get into the car with you right now, they do not want to be ignored until you think they are a "hot" prospect.

3.      Thou Must Take Ownership of Your IDX.
Do you think you've diverted a bullet, getting an IDX link for your web presence by linking out to your broker's site? Would you take every one of your walk-in prospects into your broker's office, introduce them, and leave them there to be served? Don't send your prospects off to be served by others by not having an IDX solution ON your site.

4.      Thou Shalt Not Secret Away Your IDX.
How does a site visitor get to your IDX search page? Don't make it a tiny button, or make them go through several clicks to find it. If you're doing PPC, bring them straight to the search page if that's the key phrase you're marketing. Make it a highly visible one-click link from your home page.

5.      Thou Shalt Make IDX Easy to Use.
Web visitors are not patient people. They want to locate listings by characteristics, location, price, school systems, and in other ways. Make the search process easy for them to find homes the way they want to find them.

6.      Thou Should be Generous with Other Information and Tools.
If you were buying a home in a new area, what would you want to know? Give your visitors interactive maps, calculators for mortgages, gadgets for climate information, shopping and banking locations, and more. Give them easy access to information and tools to determine what it will be like to live in the home on the screen. And, lots of photos!

7.      Thou Shalt Deliver.
Once a visitor has decided that your IDX search is a good one for them, don't lose them to another who makes it even easier to use. Give them the ability to create custom searches with their criteria and have new listings delivered to their email. This is the delivery that will keep them coming back and keep you on the top of their mind when the timing is right.

8.      Thou Shalt Promote Your Visitors to Management for Leads.
Once these visitors are using your site and IDX, give them the ability to log in to manage their accounts, including multiple saved searches. This is great for them, but it's even better for you ... now you have that email address lead to market.

9.      Thou Shalt Always be Right There.
No matter what screen they are looking at, no matter how many homes they view, always have an easy one-click link to email you. When they are finally ready to ask a question and get personal, don't make them search around for contact information.

10. Thou shalt Never Sit Still.
The most difficult target to hit is the one that's moving, and the Internet and your prospects are moving constantly. Use an IDX solution provider who understands this and stays on the leading edge of Internet consumer engagement.

There you are. If you can live by those 10 IDX commandments on your website or blog, success will be yours in online real estate business generation.

Peyman Aleagha is the founder and President of RealtySoft.com.

RealtySoft provides Realtors with Real Estate Web Design (http://www.realtysoft.com), Real Estate Print Marketing and Free IDX (http://www.realtysoft.com/freeidx.php) solutions. Find out more about RealtySoft by visiting RealtySoft.com

Housing Opportunity Program

REALTORS® are ideally situated to improve housing opportunities where they live. They are the first stop for the prospective homebuyer or renter. Accordingly, REALTORS® can reach out - through personal involvement in their own communities - to those who need greater access to quality, affordable homeownership and rental opportunities.

NAR's Housing Opportunity Program was created in 2002 with the vision of positioning, educating and assisting REALTORS® to create housing opportunities for all. The Housing Opportunity Program offers programs, grants, trainings, and resources that help REALTORS® and REALTOR® associations expand housing availability and insure an adequate supply of rental housing and homeownership opportunities in their communities.

Get Involved

• Partner with your Mayor and City with Ambassadors for Cities
• Apply for Funding to Support a Housing Program
• Sponsor or Attend a Home From Work Class
• Add your Housing Program to REALTOR Housing Solutions
• Create Local Partnerships with NAR's National Partners
• Subscribe to the Housing Opportunity Program e-Newsletter

♦ More About Housing Opportunity

♦ Video: The New Face of Housing Opportunity

HOP News & Updates 

NAR Survey Shows Americans Want More Government Involvement in Lending
NAR's sixth pulse survey revealed that with an unstable American economy and slowdowns in the housing market, most consumers are open to the federal government taking a more active role in overseeing mortgage and lending practices.  Review the new Pulse Survey. 

New Home From Work Brochure for Employers
NAR has developed a new brochure for Realtors® to give to employers to explain the Home From Work program and employer-assisted housing benefits. The brochure is downloadable from the Home From Work web site and can be customized with your contact information. Download the brochure. 

Employer Assisted Housing Conference
NAR hosted the first national conference on Employer-Assisted Housing (EAH), Employer-Assisted Housing: Bring Workers Home in Chicago in October. This one-day conference highlighted successful EAH programs from companies and local governments, provided strategies on ways that REALTORS®, housing organizations, lenders, public officials and other stakeholders can partner on EAH programs and workforce housing initiatives. Review the conference materials.

REALTORS® and Chambers Working Together To Promote Workforce Housing Solutions!
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and the Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW), an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce, have collaborated to develop a report profiling efforts in five communities of businesses and REALTOR® associations working together to address the bottom-line effect of housing shortages on working families.  Download the report.