The Hawaii Team Real Estate Blog
The Great Flood Part Two
Last week I wrote about how my sump pump failed and flooded my basement. And how my insurance agent broke the news to me that I was “not covered†for the damage. I also shared with you how to avoid this predicament with a little $10 fix. If you’d like to...
Short Sale Standards On The Horizon
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conservator James Lockhart got an earful about short sales from REALTORS® last week at NAR's Conference & Expo. Practitioners complained about lenders' slow and inconsistent handling of loan modifications and short sales, but Lockhart...
NAR Affirms Four Point Legislative Plan
The Board of Directors of the National Association of REALTORS® in its Monday meeting in Orlando, took actions to keep its members positioned for success in today’s challenging real estate markets. Economic Stimulus The Board affirmed a four-point...
The Great Flood Part One
Naturally, it was about 3:00 a.m. on a Saturday when I discovered our basement was flooding. Can someone please explain to me why floods never happen between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday? The float on our sump pump decided to go on strike, so the...
Bernanke Offers Plan for Securitzing Mortgages
Speaking to a mortgage-finance symposium in Berkeley, Calif., by videoconference Friday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke described a plan for managing the mortgage-securitization crisis. He suggested creating a government bond insurer for mortgage funding....
“Flip This House” Being Sued
Richard Davis, broker-owner of Trademark Properties Real Estate Inc., goes to court today in his home city of Charleston, S.C., where he is fighting A&E Television Networks. His suit claims A&E owes him as much as $30 million for creating the popular show,...
Fly-in communities are still popular
Pilots and their planes now call more than 600 fly-in communities across the country home, says Dave Sclair, retired publisher of General Aviation News. "It's a very popular trend," he says. John Travolta keep his Boeing 707 parked at his estate in the air park...
Mortgage Crisis is quickly becoming a tax crisis
Municipalities with high rates of foreclosure are struggling to figure out how to deal with falling tax revenues. For instance, Stockton, Calif., draws 43 percent of its revenues from property and sales taxes. Home prices in the community have been cut in half since...
Renters Get Some Protection
Governments are stepping in to protect renters who find themselves evicted when the property they rent is foreclosed. A new law passed by the California Legislature gives renters a 120-day grace period before they must vacate a foreclosed property. A city ordinance in...
Yes You Can Still Get Mortgages
Lenders emphasize that loans continue to be available for a range of potential home buyers, not just those who are putting down 20 percent and have a credit score higher than 720. Although credit underwriting is tougher and loan terms stricter, borrowers can still put...
Election Year Madness
The nightly news is depressing to watch these days. With any more bad economic news one would feel like jumping a boat to Bora Bora. It’s clear we’ll need some time to recover, but the more important question everyone wants to know is where are we...
Builders Say Smaller Homes Are The Way To Go
Home builders are reducing the size and options available to appeal to buyers with less money to spend and who are facing a harder time getting financing. Los Angeles-based KB Homes had shrunk its homes from 3,400 square feet, selling for $450,000, to 2,400 square...