real estate in newport beach: Another Lender Bails!
- 01/15/12 05:07 AM
Sign of the Times: MetLife, a Fortune 50 company with annual revenue around $66 billion, is getting out of the mortgage business. Why? Apparently, with today’s burdensome regulatory environment, it’s just not worthwhile anymore. Surely, that’s not what federal legislators had in mind when they "reformed" the financial industry in 2010. The decision didn’t come easy: the company expects this shift to cost $90 to $110 million, after taxes. MetLife tried to sell its mortgage division for some time. When that led nowhere, they decided to close up shop. The company will continue to honor its commitments to date, and is … (3 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Strategic Default: Everybody’s Doing It
- 01/11/12 05:11 AM
Mention strategic default in a roomful of people, and you’re bound to get some strong opinions. Homeowners refusing to pay their mortgages is a rather new and startling phenomenon. Default is understandable when homeowners are down on their luck. But studies show that strategic defaulters are typically upscale and educated, with high credit scores. So much for conventional wisdom. As with many social trends, the practice has become more acceptable as people see their friends and neighbors doing it. But middle class Americans are not typically comfortable abandoning their obligations. The issue of strategic default raises a raft of moral issues … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: A Sign of Big Changes Coming
- 01/08/12 05:29 AM
The Butterfly Effect is a term coined by meteorologist and mathematician Edward Lorenz to describe how small events can have huge consequences: a butterfly flapping its wings can set off a chain of events that culminates in a hurricane thousands of miles away. The butterfly began flapping its wings in a court ruling this week involving Bank of America and bond insurer MBIA. The story attracted little notice outside the financial community, but its implications could be enormous. The StoryIn 2008, MBIA sued Countrywide Financial for fraud and misrepresentation regarding the quality of certain mortgage-backed securities (MBS) the bank had issued. … (3 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Elizabeth Taylor’s Former Middleburg, VA Farm Listed for $10.25 Million
- 06/13/11 10:01 AM
Picture 2 of 25 | Toggle DATE:JUNE 10, 2011AUTHOR:ERIKA RIGGSCATEGORY:EYE CANDYRESPONSE: (48): 15 tweets32 likes1 comments Source: Huffington Post Although best known for her film roles, extravagant jewelry and many marriages, Elizabeth Taylor also had a stint as a politician's wife and dual owner of a huge cattle spread in Virginia. Taylor's former home is listed on the Middleburg real estatemarket for $10,250,000. Taylor and former Virginia Sen. John Warner owned the cattle farm during their marriage from 1976 to 1982. Taylor played the role of politician's wife with grace, Warner said in a statement after Taylor's recent death. "She was my "partner" in laying the foundation … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Brad Garrett’s Malibu Home for Sale – $13.95M
- 06/13/11 09:55 AM
NextPrevious Picture 1 of 25 | Toggle DATE:JUNE 10, 2011AUTHOR:ERIKA RIGGSCATEGORY:EYE CANDYRESPONSE: (33): 24 tweets8 likes1 comments Source: IMDb Lanky comedian Brad Garrett's home in Southern California just hit the Malibu real estate market for $13.95 million. The oversized Spanish villa was home for the tall, 6-foot-8 "Everybody Loves Raymond" star since 2007. Garrett got his start in stand-up comedy, winning "Star Search" in 1982 and performing on "The Tonight Show" at age 23. From there he opened for legends like Diana Ross and Liza Minnelli and headlined shows in several Las Vegas hotels. Following his comedic success, he moved into television and earned critical acclaim as the … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Strategic Default: The Facts About Walking Away
- 06/13/11 09:52 AM
Should you keep paying your mortgage on a home that's dwindling in value? No way, say an increasing number of underwater homeowners who are voluntarily choosing to "walk away" from their home loans, a practice known as "strategic default." * And a recent survey by home finance company Fannie Mae found that while only about 27% of homeowners would even consider walking away, that's up from 15% last year. * In an early 2010 report, Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) researchers said nearly 200,000 defaults in the prior year were voluntary, or roughly 12% of the total. The bank expects to … (2 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Expect volatility in real estate recovery BY ANDREA V. BRAMBILA
- 06/11/11 12:36 PM
Inman NewsTM Flickr image courtesy of swanksalot. Despite a recent report that U.S.home prices "double dipped"in the first quarter, prices bottomed out in March and saw seasonal rises in April and May, according to real estate data company Altos Research. "We're pretty confident that that means there is going to be a rebound," said Scott Sambucci, the company's vice president of market analytics, in a recentwebcast. "Even though we've busted through that floor in what is called officially a 'double dip,' there's still plenty of movement upside and we're going to probably move ... back into positive ground." In its most recent monthly report, … (1 comments)
real estate in newport beach: 5 smart tech tools for real estate agents BY BERNICE ROSS
- 06/11/11 11:42 AM
With so many hoops to jump through to close transactions, falling home prices, and unrealistic sellers and buyers, today's agents have to hustle harder than ever before. This doesn't have to be the case. With the right systems and the right processes in place, you can work smarter rather than hustling harder. Everyone has systems. The question is: Which systems support your business to thrive vs. which systems create a drag on your production? A system can be as simple as taking a different route to work each day to search for for-sale-by-owner homes, or as complex as doing all your … (1 comments)
Homeowners with home equity loans are more than twice as likely to be "underwater" as those who didn't take cash out of their homes, according to statistics compiled by real estate and loan data aggregator CoreLogic. CoreLogic estimates that at the end of March, 22.7 percent of homeowners with mortgages -- about 10.9 million borrowers -- owed more on their mortgage than their home was worth. That's down slightly from an estimated 11.1 million underwater borrowers at the end of December. Falling home … (1 comments)
real estate in newport beach: How Do You Measure Square Footage? What Is Defined As A Bedroom?
- 06/10/11 06:38 AM
Do you really know the square footage of your home? Do youreally know if that room you use as a den could be considered a bedroom in case you want to sell? You're not alone. If you're listing a home for sale or about to make a home purchase, it's key to understand the details of a home listing, specifically the square footage of a home and what defines a bedroom. Who has the official square footage number? While there are some standards to measuring the square footage of a home, "the problem is that it's specific to different regions," said Seattle real estate agent Sam DeBord ofColdwell Banker . … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Anthony Weiner’s Apartment Taken Off The Market
- 06/10/11 06:36 AM
Source: Washington Post As the scandal surrounding Congressman Anthony Weiner intensified this past week, Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, quietly took their New York co-op apartment off the exclusiveForest Hills Gardens real estate market. The couple had listed the Queens apartment with Madeleine Realty for $449,000. According to this timeline, the first report of Weiner's salacious online behavior occurred on May 28; the for-sale listing went on the market on May 21 and was removed on May 31. Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner has held the position as New York's 9th District Congressman since 1999 when he replaced Charles Schumer who was elected to the Senate. Weiner married … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Zsa Zsa Gabor’s Bel Air Mansion Listed For $15M
- 06/10/11 06:32 AM
Built in 1955, Zsa Zsa Gabor's Bel Air home has a hazy celebrity history. Gabor and her husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, have told the press that she purchased the home in the 1970s from Howard Hughes and that Elvis Presley also was a resident. Barbara Yobs, a California area mortgage banker disputed Gabor's claim in an LA Weekly weekly story, stating that the blonde starlet purchased the home from her grandparents in the 1970s. Hughes did live in at the Bel Air home, but only leased the home during the 1960s. The reclusive billionaire "wore a hole in a hallway carpet because of … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Peculiar, Normal And Boring: Homes For Sale In Oddly-Named U.S. Towns
- 06/10/11 06:28 AM
You may have a large master suite, fenced backyard and good schools on your home shopping list, but what about the name of the town you choose to live in? Forget living in Riverside, Fairview or Greenville. How about something a little more Peculiar, (Missouri) or maybe even Cool (California)? These homes are for sale in uniquely-named towns that are anything but Boring (Oregon).
132 Baywind Dr Niceville, FL (pictured above)For Sale: $325,000
Flickr user: ruline Niceville's city website claims that the "size, warmth and sincerity of the community is apparent throughout the city." This "friendly town" wasn't … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Tech Tools That Make Home Buying Easier
- 06/10/11 06:25 AM
Buying a home can be stressful. There are so many questions to be answered and decisions to be made, such as where you should live, what can you afford, and how do you find a real estate agent. Eventually, a whole new set of questions start coming, like, what color should you paint the kitchen? Thankfully, there are more tools than ever to help buyers answer these questions right from the get-go. To make your home shopping process, from shopping to moving in, easier and less stressful, follow these tips: Personal Finances - Make sure you're financially ready to take on home … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Home Renter-Ship On The Rise | 35% Of All Occupied Homes Are Rentals
- 06/06/11 05:32 AM
A housing trend that will continue to increase is renting. Renting can make financial sense for both the landlord and the tenant. Nearly 35% of occupied homes were rented out in 2010, that's opposed to 33.8% in 2000, according to census data compiled by USA Today. More than 500 cities have seen a rise in the share of homes being made into rentals. Of course, not all sellers can afford to rent in this market and move somewhere else and that has a direct effect on their ability to move and take a new job. What happens when someone has to … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Connecticut Home Of Mysterious Heiress Huguette Clark For Sale
- 06/06/11 05:29 AM
Last known photo of Huguette Clark, taken by Associated Press When Barbara Cleary ofChristie's International Real Estate was contacted to be the listing agent of Huguette Clark's 52-acre estate in 2005, she didn't know much about the home other than it was a "beautiful piece of property." Cleary had no idea that its owner was the heiress to a copper baron and worth an estimated $500 million. And she didn't know anything about the intrigue surrounding reclusive Clark until a reporter called her in 2010. "The history isn't apparent when we're hired to market the property," Cleary explained. Who was Huguette Clark? Huguette Clark preferred … (2 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Britney Spears’ Former Malibu Home Listed For $15.95M
- 06/06/11 05:24 AM
Source: People.com For Britney Spears, 2007 was not a good year. Recently divorced from Kevin Federline, or "K-Fed," Spears was attempting a come-back tour in the midst of a child custody battle, stints in and out of rehab and some heavy media attention after a self-inflicted buzz cut. It was also in 2007 that Spears was trying to sell a her home - an enormous piece of Malibu real estate that she and Federline purchased for nearly $7 million after marrying in 2004. Shortly after the couple separated in 2006, Spears put the house on the market in January 2007 for $13,500,000. In March 2007, the … (1 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Know Before You Owe
- 06/06/11 05:19 AM
If you have ever applied for a mortgage, chances are at some point in the process you may have asked: Is all of this paperwork really necessary? After many years of working as a mortgage broker, consumers have commented to me that they find the paperwork confusing. And although I understand the reasoning behind many of the documents that people are required to sign when applying for a mortgage, I have to admit ... It is confusing. Enter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was formed as an independent bureau within the Federal Reserve System and is charged with empowering … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: 10 Best Markets for Real Estate Investors BY INMAN NEWS
- 06/04/11 09:13 AM
In an in-depth, data-driven special report, "10 Best Markets for Real Estate Investors," Inman News analyzed hundreds of housing markets nationwide to develop a list of those that may be best suited for investors. The full report -- available at no charge atwww.inman.com/reports/10-markets-invest/ -- took into account economic, housing and demographic data from sources including median sales price data from CoreLogic, loan data from Lender Processing Services, foreclosure sales and discounts statistics from Realty Trac, InvestorScores from SmartZip, walkability scores from Walk Score, and population and unemployment data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data … (0 comments)
real estate in newport beach: Trulia launches crime maps in 50 metros BY INMAN NEWS
- 06/04/11 09:00 AM
Real estate search engine Trulia is aggregating crime statistics from multiple partners including CrimeReports.com, EveryBlock.com and SpotCrime.com to provide crime maps in 50 metro areas. Trulia's crime maps, which launched today, allow users to view crimes in a specific area, toggle between multiple neighborhoods, and add their own insights using Facebook's Social Comments plug-in. Trulia said it plans to quickly expand its "social crime mapping" capabilities to other markets nationwide. "As a business, Trulia continues to move beyond public record data to in order to add more depth and details about what it's like to live in a neighborhood," Trulia … (0 comments)
Sign of the Times: MetLife, a Fortune 50 company with annual revenue around $66 billion, is getting out of the mortgage business.
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