|
|
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The United States Senate passed a landmark FHA modernization bill (S. 2338) that could help stabilize the housing finance crisis. Because there are significant differences between the recently passed Senate legislation and the bill passed earlier this year by the House of Representatives (H.R. 1852) a conference committee with members of the House and Senate will be appointed to reconcile the differences.
Senate action on legislative overhaul of the Federal Housing Administration, was delayed nearly a month because of a hold by Tom Coburn, R-Okla. Earlier this month REALTOR® members from key states participated in a "fly-in" to directly lobby Senators and Staff members to urge action on S. 2338. REALTOR® Members from Oklahoma lobbied Senator Coburn's office to impress upon him the importance of acting on FHA Modernization. the Oklahoma Association of REALTORS® also engaged in a state-wide Call For Action and submitted letters to the editors of key newspapers i...
| Posted by maricela at 10:37 AM |
|
|
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Date: 12/20/2007
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Bogus Basin Resort
Bogus Basin Mountain Resort will fire up the lifts this Thursday. It is 65th anniversary of the resort north of Boise. The Deer Point, Showcase, Morningstar, Coach and Easy Rider lifts will operate, getting the bulk of terrain on the front side of the mountain open. The resort will be open from 10am to 4:30pm each day - just in time for the busy holiday season. In celebration of the anniversary, all lift tickets will be free for Thursday - but skiers and snowboarders are asked to stop by the ticket office and get a ticket before getting on the lifts. The Gold Rush tubing hill and Nordic operations opened last week.
Source: Idaho Business Review
| Posted by maricela at 10:28 AM |
|
|
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Date: 12/19/2007
Time: 11:45 AM
Location: The Small Business Administration, 380 East Parkcenter Blvd., Suite 330 in Boise
Seats go on Sale:
Last Seat Sold:
11:45a.m.-12:45 p.m. The cost is free. For more information or to reserve your space call (208) 334-9004, extension 336. Seating is limited.
Source: Idaho Business Review
| Posted by maricela at 12:17 PM |
|
|
Monday, December 17, 2007
McLean, VA - Can a custom made video posted to YouTubeT keep troubled borrowers from losing their homes to fraud artists? Freddie Mac aims to find out.
One of the nation's largest investors in residential mortgages, Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) decided to produce an Internet video dramatizing a common foreclosure fraud scheme after a new survey found one-in-four delinquent borrowers go to the Internet before their bank or lender for information about avoiding foreclosure. Freddie Mac's anti-fraud video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/AvoidFraud.
Freddie Mac's two-minute YouTube video uses professional actors to demonstrate how con artists can:
Get copies of foreclosure notices at City Hall or a county courthouse;
Persuade distressed borrowers to give up the deeds in exchange for suspicious promises to solve their financial problems;
Use the deeds to secure new loans for themselves; and,
Let the new loans go into foreclosure, which means the homeowners looking ...
| Posted by maricela at 11:24 AM |
|
|
McLean, VA - Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.11 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending December 13, 2007, up from last week when it averaged 5.96 percent as well. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.12 percent.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.78 percent with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.65 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.86 percent.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.89 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.75 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.92 percent.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.50 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it was 5.46 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.45 percent.
(Average com...
| Posted by maricela at 10:17 AM |
|
|
Thursday, December 13, 2007
WASHINGTON, December 03, 2007 -
Many buyers judge a house by its exterior, or so it seems from the results of the 2007 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report. Three of the four projects with the highest national percentage of costs recouped this year were exterior upgrades.
The most profitable project on the national level was upscale siding replacement, recouping 88 percent of costs upon resale. Wood deck additions and wood window replacements also returned more than 80 percent of costs, at 85 percent and 81 percent, respectively. On a national average, the only interior project to return more than 80 percent of remodeling costs this year was a minor kitchen remodel, returning 83 percent of project costs at resale.
"The results of this year's Cost vs. Value report underscore the importance of curb appeal in the buyer's eye," said NAR President Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif. "Realtors® know what attracts buyers in thei...
| Posted by maricela at 10:52 AM |
|
|
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Decorate holiday lighting is increasingly being used year-round to brighten homes and businesses. To reduce energy costs, consider replacing traditional incandescent holiday lights with Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights.
LED lights:
Save Energy. LED lights use just 0.08 watts per bulb compared to 0.48 watts for an incandescent mini-light and six watts for a larger incandescent C7 bulb.
Last longer. LED's epoxy lenses makes them very durable. They are rated for up to 100,000 hours or more when used indoors, and up to 50,000 hours for outdoor use. Some manufacturers even provide a limited lifetime warranty.
Reduce Risk. LEDs do not get hot like incandescent bulbs. This reduces the risk of combustion since the bulbs are cool to touch, regardless of how long they are left on.
To encourage the use of LED technology among commercial customers, such as businesses, cities and counties, Idaho Power offered a pilot incentive program this holiday season. Ince...
| Posted by maricela at 10:08 AM |
|
|
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Beyond the current cyclical downturn in the nation's home building industry, strong underlying demand for housing should produce a healthy resurgence in residential construction, according to a report published last month by the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies.
According to the projections of the analysts who worked on the study, sustainable demand for housing is conservatively measured at 19.5 million for 2005 through 2014 - or an annual average of 1.95 million.
By 2007, yearly average projections for the period decline somewhat because of the oversupply that occurred in the market as a result of the housing boom. Analysts at Harvard calculate that the period they scrutinized may well have begun with an oversupply of 500,000 to 750,000 units, to which another 250,000 excess units were added in 2005 and 2006 as the boom began winding down.
However, even assuming that the extent of the oversupply was as large as 1 million, the economists reported that th...
| Posted by maricela at 9:49 AM |
|
|
Monday, December 10, 2007
BOISE, Idaho -- When Europeans think if Idaho, Karen Ballard wants them to remember the state for something more than famous potatoes.
And, thanks to a new four-state international marketing initiative, there's been a seismic shift in the way potential overseas visitors see Idaho, the state's new tourism director says.
"People are starting to place us in the mountains, which is where we belong, versus we grow potatoes and we're somewhere in the Midwest, one of those 'I' states," Ballard said recently.
Ballard handled international tourism development for the state Department of Commerce before being named tourism chief last month. She's been attending international tourism trade shows for more than a decade on behalf of Idaho and notes that fewer people at European trade shows ask, "Where is Idaho?"
Now, hoteliers approach her to ask about their prospects for developing new hotels in the state. "It was a pretty seismic shift," she said.
Ballard credit...
| Posted by maricela at 11:42 AM |
|
|
Friday, December 07, 2007
McLean, VA - Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.96 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending December 6, 2007, down from last week when it averaged 6.10 percent as well. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.11 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower since the week ending September 29, 2005, when it averaged 5.91 percent.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.65 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.73 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.84 percent. The 15-year FRM has not been lower since the week ending October 13, 2005, when it averaged 5.62 percent.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.75 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.86 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.92 ...
| Posted by maricela at 10:37 AM |
|
|
|
|
|