FAQs about HOPE For Homeowners Legislation - 07/30/08 04:06 PM
This is hot off the press news.  President Bush signs into law the HOPE for Homeowners Legislation on July 30, 2008.
When does the program start?
The legislation is effective upon enactment; the HOPE for Homeowners program goes into effect on October 1, 2008.  The Oversight Board will write more detailed program rules.
What agency is administering it? Will people be calling state offices or federal? Or will people just contact their lenders directly?
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will administer the program. The process begins when a homeowner or servicer of an existing eligible loan contacts an FHA-approved lender. Homeowners can … (0 comments)

Summit Lucero Software - 07/22/08 04:57 PM
I am looking for a support network of Lucero users who have developed work around solutions to the inflexibility of Lucero, which I am ashamed to say is fully paid for and unamortized.  I bought the software on the promise that it fully interfaces with Quick Books and is seamless.  Now that I own the software, I find that it doesn't interface with my other contact and lead management databases, the interface with Quick Books is very inflexble, to the point where it can't book a sales transaction properly, that I have to pay for a separate MLS interface, etc.
Is … (2 comments)

Weichert Forecasts Housing Market on the Rise - 07/22/08 03:27 PM
Real estate pioneer calls the bottom of the market and expects home sales to begin showing modest, steady increases
As president and founder of Weichert, Realtors, one of the nation's largest privately-held real estate companies, James M. Weichert has seen his share of market shifts. In fact, Weichert has become quite efficient at predicting changes by regularly studying the factors that shape the housing sector. Yet, this well-respected industry pioneer has never felt so strongly about a market shift that he would come out and declare so publicly - until now.
In a message to the company's nearly 1 8,000 sales … (0 comments)

New Housing Characteristics - 07/22/08 03:25 PM
THEY'RE GETTING BIGGER AND BIGGER
According to the Census Bureaus' Characteristics of New Housing report for 2007, the average square footage of homes is currently at a historic high.
On average, a completed single-family home had 2,521 square-feet, up 2.1% from 2,469 square-feet in 2006.
Additionally, the report provides characteristics on indoor and outdoor housing features. Data from this report gives insight into current trends to better understand today's buyer.
Home-size findings from the report include:
The average square footage of new homes completed has grown about 46.6 percent since 1 977, when the average was 1,720 square-feet. About 26 percent … (1 comments)