Real Estate News

As actor Mel Gibson proceeded with his highly publicized divorce from wife Robyn last year, it was revealed that a lot of Gibson’s wealth is tied up in real estate. Last year, he put his Old Mill Farm estate on the market for $35 million and it looks like it’s still for sale, but at a big price cut. The Greenwich, CT property is now listed for $29,750,000. (See more celebrity price cuts).

Now, another Gibson estate is up for sale, but this one is on the other coast. Gibson’s Lavender Hill Farm is for sale for $14.5 million. Located in a secluded area of Malibu known as Serra Retreat, it is Gibson’s own private escape. The 2.75-acre grounds have mature trees, a fruit orchard, and organic gardens.

The home is newly remodeled and has 6 bedrooms and 6 baths with a hardwood/stone floors. The master bedroom is on the upper floor and includes a sitting room. Extras include a lighted tennis court, pool, three guest houses, two offices, a detached gym, library, and a garden cabana with game room. It sounds, well, divine. But, don’t take our word for it — see more photos of Mel Gibson’s Malibu home.

> See Malibu real estate

> See Malibu home values

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Real estate pros in Houston: We just wanted to give you a heads up that Zillow COO, Spencer Rascoff, will be in Houston on March 30 to talk about how Zillow — one of the most popular real estate Web sites — can help you and your business.

Spencer will address:

• Zestimate® values and accuracy
• Networking with consumers in your local area
• How to leverage Zillow’s 8M+ monthly users to promote your listings, yourself and your expertise
• How to dominate ZIP codes where you work

What: Zillow A to Z: From Advertising to Zestimates, Learn How to Make Zillow Work for You
When: Tuesday, March 30, 11:30 am to 1 pm
Where: Hilton Houston Post Oak

PLEASE REGISTER HERE

Hope to see you there!

View other Zillow events.

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It’s been a tough couple years for borrowers who are looking to secure a home loan or to refinance an existing loan. Today, the Wall Street Journal reports in the article “Where to Find the Money,” that “…U.S. banks posted a 7.5 percent decline in 2009 in total loans outstanding — the steepest drop since 1942 — and consumer lending fell by 3.8 percent as roughly 7,200 banks and credit unions pulled back on mortgages, credit cards and other loans.”

What is interesting, according to the article, is that while the largest 10 percent of banks by asset size shrank their consumer lending by 4.7 percent, consumer loans actually grew nearly 3 percent at smaller financial institutions — the ones that fell in the bottom 50 percent of the industry in assets. Seems like there is some money to be had if borrowers know where to look.

That’s just part of the beauty of using Zillow Mortgage Marketplace to shop for a home loan.  Zillow’s network of lenders range from individual brokerage firms and small local banks to the larger, national banks.  Borrowers simply submit an anonymous loan request and receive custom quotes from a wide range of financial institutions almost instantly.  Even better, borrowers can compare all of these quotes on an apples-to-apples basis inclusive of all fees, and review lender ratings and reviews before deciding which lender to contact.

As the WSJ writes, the trick to getting a good deal on a loan is to compare costs and there is no easier way to do so than on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

More:

When an agent uploads a photo, you’ll notice their name is attached to the bottom of the photo when you are on the overview page of a listing (aka the home details page).  Occasionally, agents think that the agent under the photo is falsely claiming the listing.  This is not the case. This simply means the agent uploaded the photo. To get rid of the agent’s name, you can do two things:

1)  Rearrange the photos so that the main photo is a photo you uploaded. This will ensure that your name pops up under the main photo on the home details page.

2)  Delete all photos not uploaded by you.

We have seen many posts asking how to remove old or incorrect photos on owners’ home details pages. Until recently, only the person who added the photo could remove it, or one of us Zillow folks would have to remove it for you.  Now you can remove photos yourself!

Caveat: You need to be the claimed owner or the current listing agent to remove photos from a home details page.

To remove photos as the owner:

• First, claim the home as the owner
• Remove photos by clicking the button. Then click the remove link on any photos you want to delete. (Note: Once they are removed, they cannot be retrieved by Zillow).

To remove photos as the agent:

• As an agent, once you have a home details page in your listings queue, you will have the same access to the photos as the owner. Read this thread to learn how to claim a listing

Read more:
Wrong Agent Underneath Main Photo!

Today I am very pleased to announce a partnership which enables John L. Scott Real Estate, one of the most productive regional real estate companies in the nation, to automatically feed all of their listings to Zillow on a regular basis.

This partnership is great news for home buyers in John L. Scott’s markets (Washington, Oregon, Idaho)  because they will now see 15,000 additional homes for-sale in their local area. If you’re a John L. Scott agent, it’s time to celebrate and to thank your broker for doing you a huge favor.  Your listings are now on one of the largest real estate websites at no additional cost to you, complete with multiple photos and open house information.

John L. Scott brokerage joins more than eight hundred partners participating in the Zillow Listings Feed program, which launched in November 2007 and has grown to more than four million for-sale listings, and 60,000 homes for-rent today.

In addition to being displayed on the Zillow.com Web site, John L. Scott’s listings will also appear on the Zillow iPhone app, which has been downloaded nearly one million times since launch in April 2009 and is the number one real estate application in the iTunes Store.

If your MLS or brokerage has more than 50 listings and would like to send them to Zillow, please contact me or watch this video to learn more.

The rest is here:
Zillow Partners with John L. Scott Real Estate

Foreclosure-related filings topped 300,000 last month, according to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac. Nationwide, 1 in every 418 households was served some form of foreclosure notice but — as always — foreclosures are more common in some areas than others. In February 2010, 4 states accounted for more than half of the country’s foreclosure-related activity

Read the rest here:
February 2010 : 4 States Account For More Than 50% Of Foreclosure Activity

“The Blind Side” and “Moneyball” author Michael Lewis turns his attention to the U.S. financial crisis.

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Steven Pearlstein reviews ‘The Big Short’ by Michael Lewis

Perfect Furnished Florida Condo in Palm Coast in Palm Coast, FL – $105,000 – 2 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms –

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Perfect Furnished Florida Condo in Palm Coast

With new Treasury Department rules designed to expedite short sales set to take effect April 5, relief can’t come soon enough for some area buyers, sellers and real estate agents who have waded through a long and arduous process to get short sales approved by the bank.

Here is the original:
Treasury hopes new rules send short sales to the rescue of underwater mortgages

When Mike Walker and his wife, Kathy, found an affordable house in Landover Hills back in 1979, they were looking for an upgrade from their apartment in nearby Bladensburg. The house was advertised as a “fixer-upper,” Mike Walker recalled, and cost $39,500.

Read the rest here:
Landover Hills: location, affordability still draw first-time buyers

As daylight saving time begins this weekend, it’s a reminder that spring is just around the corner. So we have an assortment of questions that spans the winter-spring boundary.

View post:
Green Scene: Pruning tips, groundhog repellent and other gardening advice

I tried to buy a house. I applied for a loan, and the bank processed it as a Federal Housing Administration loan instead of a conventional loan. The house I was buying failed the FHA inspection, and I did not buy it.

Continued here:
Expenses incurred buying a house can be a risk

Mortgage interest rates declined for a second consecutive week as the number of home loan applications rose.

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Mortgage interest rates down for second week as home loan applications rise

Fairfax County aspires to greatly increase the amount of affordable housing at Tysons Corner for workers who now must commute there from afar, consuming time and fossil fuel while contributing to traffic congestion. But this newspaper reported recently that achieving Tysons’s affordable housing…

Source:
Affordable housing needs some public funding

DEAR TIM: I stopped by a friend’s house the other day as she was painting the wood steps leading to her basement. She was using a stencil, and it looked fantastic. What’s the best paint for steps? How do you keep the steps from getting scuffed? — Pam W., Green Bay, Wis.

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How to paint and protect steps