Friday's News Articles for Realtors

Tips to tailor your web strategy to build your listing inventory. http://rismedia.com/2010-02-10/3-tips-to-tailor-your-web-strategy-and-build-your-listing-inventory/   A seasonal guide to home maintenance.

 http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2010/01/01/105890504/index.htm   Use marketing to stay strong in a weak economy.

 http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/findingcustomers/article204946.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+entrepreneur%2Flatest+%28Entrepreneur.com%3A+Latest+Articles%29   10 Green home improvements for 2010.

http://www.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2010/02/11/10-great-green-home-improvements-for-2010.htmln  

Top News
Bernanke eases fears that Fed will drive up mortage rates - USA Today - - WASHINGTON Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that he doesn't expect the central bank will sell its huge trove of mortgage securities in the short term, easing concerns that such a move would raise borrowing costs for ho

Freddie Mac Plans To Buy Loans That Are 120 Days Delinquent - Morningstar.com - - NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Freddie Mac (FRE) said Wednesday that it planned to buy substantially all loans that are delinquent 120 days or more from its fixed and adjustable-rate mortgage-backed participation certificate securities.

Market News
Mortgage applications for home purchases fell 7%- MarketWatch - - By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The volume of mortgage applications filed last week fell a seasonally adjusted 1.2%, compared with the week before, due to a drop in applications for mortgages to purchase a home, the Mortgage Bankers

Home prices fell 12% in 2009 - CNN - - rates," said Yun. "With inventory levels trending down over the past 18 months, we expect broadly balanced housing market conditions in much of the country by late spring with more areas showing higher prices." Sales volume increased in all but two

Underwater mortgages halt some move-up buyers - USA Today - - Chris and Candice Basso would like to move up to a larger home this spring, taking advantage of a federal tax credit worth up to $6,500 for repeat home buyers. But even a big tax credit won't be enough to lift them into a bigger, better home.

 
Foreclosures drop in January - but don't get excited - CNN - - NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- First, the good news: Foreclosure filings dropped nearly 10% between December and January. That's a total of 315,716 notices compared to 349,519 in December, according to RealtyTrac, which issues a monthly report

Citi offers alternative to foreclosure - CNN - - largest mortgage servicers, launches a pilot program Friday designed to ease the pain of some homeowners heading for foreclosure. Instead of borrowers falling further and further behind on their mortgages, leading to an eventual foreclosure sale, they

Technology News
Roost partners with Closing.com - Inman - - live rates from a database of more than 125,000 vendors, who provide services in 11 categories including title insurance, home inspections, pest inspections, appraisals, notary and home warranty services, Closing.com said. Closing.com's SmartClosing

Google adds Facebook-like features to Gmail - USA Today - - Google Buzz is Google's attempt to bring Facebook like sharing to Google. The company introduced Buzz today, launching it in 1% of Gmail inboxes. It plans to will roll the service out