Brookfield Properties Corp. reported Wednesday a 4% increase in third quarter funds from operations, as the sale of an office tower helped offset losses caused by damage from Hurricane Ike in Houston.
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Brookfield Properties reports strong 3Q
Improved Existing Home Affordability Causes Rise in Existing-Home Sales
Existing home sales increased in September as buyers responded to improved housing affordability conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors
November is fast approaching and election 2008 is rounding the corner. Did you realize that if you haven’t registered to vote by today, you could be giving yourself laryngitis on Election Day? In 20 states around the country, if you are not registered to vote by today, October 6, you won’t be able to vote on Election Day.
If you’re concerned about housing, you need to register to vote.
Housing issues are plentiful this election:
Here’s how John McCain and Barack Obama have publicly addressed these issues. The most immediate way for Americans to address these issues is to call and write their Congressmen and Senators. The biggest way for Americans to address these issues is to register to vote and then come November, speak up and vote.
There are so many reasons to vote and it’s really simple to register. I made a move across state 
borders since the last election, so I needed to register again. The process is simple. You can go online to the Rock the Vote website, fill out a form and in two minutes tops, your online registration form will be converted to a printable, official registration form.
Rock the Vote provides information on where you can mail/drop off the form to register and what your state requires.
Registering couldn’t be any easier.
Are you concerned about housing? Register to vote.
Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson
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Concerned about housing? Register to vote
I wrote a post earlier this month, “Downpayment assistance goes down the drain October 1st.” As of this writing, the groundswell movement has not yet passed H.R. 6694 - FHA Seller-Financed Downpayment Reform and Risk-Based Pricing Authorization Act of 2008. This bill would allow downpayment assistance to continue.
Is there still time to save DPA?
On the DPA Groundswell website, there’s a ticker that counts the number of Americans denied access to homeownership since DPA was eliminated October 1. As of this writing, the ticker stands at 2,870 and is quickly rising.
Adding more weight to the pro downpayment assistance camp, a press release issued October 1 stated:
“According to Nehemiah Corporation of America, a report issued by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week confirms that The FHA Seller-Financed Downpayment Reform and Risk-Based Pricing Authorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 6694) would not cost the federal government any money for the next five years. This is due largely to the self-funding mechanism that sets premiums based on an individual’s credit scores.”
If you are pro downpayment assistance, the DPA Groundswell movement wants your help. They are asking that you contact your Congress people and encourage them to add H.R. 6694 to the bailout bill.
Is there still time to save DPA? It seems the movement is still pressing forward. Stay tuned; 52 Lee Street will continue to provide coverage.
Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson
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Is there still time to save Downpayment Assistance (DPA)?
It’s time to shake off the bailout blues and move on to better news.
Homeownership is a big deal. The economy is a big deal. Your lifestyle is a big deal. It’s sometimes so big of a deal that the all-consuming messages of fear and helplessness fed from the media make you want to grab your blankie and hide under your bed.
Can you relate on any level to that fearful feeling?
I want to be the instigator that shows you how to unplug from the negative. This is a sneak peek at my endeavor: Welcome to The Age of Empowerment Series. I will inform you with money-saving, fun-loving, empowering, enlightening news. This will be a reoccurring series making a home on 52 Lee Street every week.
Sit back, relax, take a deep breath and enjoy.
Lesson I debuts with energy conservation. October is Energy Awareness Month. Not only is it timely because we’re headed into the fall and winter seasons, but also because the cost of energy to our pocketbooks and environment has become quite costly. Before you smash open the piggy bank with your hammer and begin stacking those coins in preparation of energy expenses, there are some easy things you can do to cut down on your energy use.
1. Limit your driving - Even if you don’t live in a walkable neighborhood, you can find ways to limit your driving. Carpool to work. Ask your employer to allow you to telecommute one to two days a week. Just make sure when you pitch it that you list the benefits to them - not you. Here’s a good basic list to use as a guideline.
Make sure to tailor the final proposal to your specific situation.
2. Use heating wisely - If you’ve got a woodburning fireplace, put it to use and turn down the heat. Add some extra layers of clothing and pull out some extra blankets.
Snuggling up by the fire is so cozy and elicits a natural, good feeling.
Make sure to close vents and shut doors in rooms that aren’t being used as often as a family room. It just makes good common sense.
Replace your furnace filter every three months. If you have pets, you might need to change it monthly.
3. Reduce waste - When you’re not using appliances like coffee pots, toasters, or curling irons - unplug 
them. This also includes shutting off lights, televisions and radios when they’re not in use. Sounds simple, but if you have kids, it might not be second nature.
Instill these good habits in your children now.
Do you like saving money and helping the environment? Are you starting to get some warm fuzzies? Learn how to slash home energy costs by more than 40 percent and conserve even more.
If you’re all about conservation and you dig the graphics on this post, you can download your own here free and spread the empowerment by posting them to your own website or blog.
Welcome to The Age of Empowerment.
Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson
Credit:
The Age of Empowerment Series (Lesson I)
There is a difference between being honest and being blunt.
Some people get this right away, and others “insert foot in mouth” before they realize and learn. Still others never get it and their honest personality is to speak what’s on their mind and be darned of any consequences.
So why am I bringing this up and what’s it got to do with selling real estate? Oh, my friends, a ton.
There have been too many times when I have been involved in past transactions and words have flown out of people’s mouths like:
Now let’s think about how such statements can make an impact to the person on the receiving end. AND, what kind of impact is it? Will it reflect positively on the speaker?
Continue reading: Shooting from the hip? Sometimes it’s better to think before you speak
During the events of yesterday, I was able to pick up the phone and call my father to talk
through my thoughts on this issue. This is a huge deal - the biggest shake-up in many American’s lifetimes. I am going to pay attention. I am going to listen. I am going to participate. I am going to learn.
We are a society used to instant gratification. Yesterday, anyone on the pro-bailout side, used to our “gimme now” culture, had a new order thrust their way - wait and see.
Regardless of what side of the fence you’re on, we’re all chomping at the bit. We all want the same thing in the end - a reasonable resolution and some peace of mind.
After my conversation with my father, the television spouting its fear in the background, I turned to the Internet and scoured the news stories. I watched in eerie fascination as Congress cast its vote and Wall Street responded in kind. Even though I wasn’t keen on the bailout, I do feel we can’t be completely hands off this issue, so when the politicking began, I was feeling a little powerless; a little sad.
I jumped back on my computer and signed into Twitter. Here I found that Web 2.0 gave me a pill for my bailout blues.
Conversations were buzzing yesterday. Many of them were happening online. You could talk with people across the nation or overseas about the bailout. This kind of connectivity is unprecedented … and comforting.
The President just spoke, and his 10-minute blurb did nothing to put my mind at ease or answer my questions. Television is a one-way medium and it pumps fear into millions of living rooms across America like nobody’s business.
If you’re feeling helpless, confused, aggravated or uncertain, you might want to stop staring at your screen and hop online. The conversations continue and the invitation to join is open.
Some of my conversations:
Get involved in a conversation or start one one on this post. It’s time for blunt talk and change, folks.
Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson
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Web 2.0 is Prozac for your bailout blues
This week, the American public will witness another bill: The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is up for vote in Congress to help American homeowners. A $700 billion bailout - here’s what I am hearing from media players that it will do:
So it’s all great news, everyone’s happy - right?
I have a few questions.
While homeowners might be able to refinance their loans … will it be too late? Do many of these homeowners have the means to pay on their mortgages, especially if they are already behind?
My biggest question (selfish me) is: How does this affect me, an American taxpayer? Before this $700 billion bill, there have been other monetary bills passed to help stop the downturn in the housing market. Is anyone adding up the bill?
What does this mean for me and my family come tax time 2009?
I have so many questions because I am serious about my money and how it’s spent. Maybe it’s because I only hear pros and cons, not a serious “common person” discussion of the major points of the bill and the cause and effect of each.
I am asking Congress members before they vote to put a face on the people this bill will affect. Put real-life scenarios behind your words … and once you’ve done that, and only then … cast your vote. And make sure to be real with the American people about what this bailout means to us.
It is our money, after all.
UPDATE as of 1:56 p.m EST today: US HOUSE VOTES ON BAILOUT — YES to plan: 186; NO: 201; Not yet voted: 47; VOTING HAS ENDED; VOTING EXTENDED. -Courtesy of my associates on Twitter - @andykaufman and @mdelfs
Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson
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$700 billion bailout - Lifesaver or Band-Aid?
Say no to blame game playas.
You might have time to say that three times fast as you sit on hold, waiting for the customer service department of any major wireless carrier or utility service.
It is a running joke with my friends and family that it is a part-time job to question your bills or service these days. My latest experience is a glass of customer disservice on the rocks with a twist of lemonade.
Try it - here’s my glass.
I received a bill from my cell phone carrier. It stated I owed three times my monthly amount. I scanned the bill to see that they were charging me for three family plans. I have two cell phone lines that share one family plan and unlimited text messaging. I don’t even own three cell phones.
How could this be?
The first time I tried to call to straighten out my bill was after 5 pm. Big Mistake. I was put on hold for 1 1/2 hours, only to be hung up on. Lucky for me, I have a speaker phone. I was able to cook and eat dinner, discuss the day with my family, clean the dishes, check my email and get the kids in a bath before I was hung up on.
I tried again two days later, at 8 am. After telling three ” account specialists” in three different departments my request, I was connected to a man named Bill.
Bill did not transfer me. He corrected my bill, apologized for his company’s errors and reviewed my account to see if I was in the best package according to usage and price. This man was the cell phone God in my eyes, and I fell over myself on the phone telling him so.
After I showered Bill with compliments and accolades, I said to him “I am sorry if you took more time with me than you were allotted. I hope you don’t get in trouble for helping me for too long.” He simply said to me, “This is my job and that’s what I am here to do. The conversation doesn’t end with my customers until we can resolve the problem. Period.”
This man didn’t have to claim responsibility for his company’s errors. Heck, most times when I call to try and resolve something with customer service, the first thing they do is try to find a way to blame me. When that is unsuccessful, they try to find a way to blame someone else in their company. All that does is infuriate me as a consumer, and I try to find a way toward the exit door.
I can’t change my utility companies. They are the only ones that service my area. I can’t change my cell phone carrier. I upgraded my service and had to sign on for another two-year contract.
If I am a real estate buyer or seller, once my initial listing/buyer agreement expires, I don’t have to return if I am unhappy with your service.
customer.Blame game playas - take accountability for your services, even in the most uncomfortable of situations. Even if it wasn’t initially “your fault.”
Consumers - Say no to blame game playas. Walk away and find an alternative - they aren’t worth your time or your money.
Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson
Source:
Say no to blame game playas
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to continue through November. As we have already witnessed with Gustav and Ike, a hurricane doesn’t have to rank the highest (category 4/5) to have a crushing impact.
You can’t stop the beasts from rearing their heads, but you can cushion yourself from the blow. In “Swiss Re Says Ike, Gustav to Cost It Net $300 Million (Update1)”, Warren Giles of Bloomberg informs, “Net claims from Ike will probably amount to $250 million (for Swiss Reinsurance Co.) and Gustav will cost it additional $50 million, the Zurich-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.”
Got disaster insurance? Check your policy today and make sure your coverage is sufficient. I want to revisit a post I wrote last November, “Homeowners: Do you have enough homeowner’s insurance coverage?” Read on and if you aren’t convinced to do a checkup on your insurance policy, please comment at the bottom of this post.
If you own a house in an area prone to natural disasters, how can you make sure you have enough homeowner’s insurance coverage?
I recently watched a video, “Home Insurance 9-1-1″, that provides a harrowing picture of the insurance industry. The video was co-produced by Bloomberg and NOW, a weekly magazine from PBS. It relays stories of homeowners who have suffered through wildfires, earthquakes and hurricanes, and lost their houses in the process.
One family in the video lost their house to a wildfire in Southern California. This family thought they had full replacement coverage that would guarantee the costs to rebuild their house. When they submitted a claim from their contractor, the insurance company did not pay the full estimate. They had to get a loan for $280,000 to cover the costs needed to rebuild their house.
Another family lost their house in an earthquake. This family was not aware that their insurance policy contained a replacement clause that did not fully cover the cost related to damage/replacement in the event of an earthquake.
The total bid to replace their house came in at $589,000. The insurance company offered $305,000, leaving this family a difference of $284,000 in total out-of-pocket expenses. They were still in mediation with the insurance company at the time the video aired, and had been for six months.
Most of the other families interviewed in the video suffered extensive damage or loss to their houses. In a room of approximately 30 homeowners, only two had received claim money from their insurance companies that covered the full cost to rebuild their houses.
The families who were interviewed strongly suggested that homeowners take the following precautions to protect themselves against being underinsured:
Share your insurance stories
Have you had to make a claim with an insurance company because of damage to your house? Do you have any advice that you can share about your claim process? I invite you to share by commenting below.
Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson
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Got disaster insurance? Check your policy today
Every For Sale Sign has a story.
A southeastern Wisconsin homeowner I spoke to a few weeks ago found himself laid off from a position of 20 years. He found there weren’t any current openings needing to be filled, leaving him jobless. His choice was not to cower in the corner and let grief set in, along with the mortgage company and the bell of foreclosure.
He is going to try and sell his house and get out from under and on with it.
Last year I spoke with a couple in California, the Molokies. They decided to move up and purchase the house of their dreams. They realized they would take a loss on profit and have to battle out stiff competition to get their existing house sold. The Molokies had at least three foreclosures on their block and one adjacent, but that didn’t get in their way. They researched and worked as true partners with their agent and sold their house in 30 days.
This year they are living in a house that was priced out of their range three years ago.
In 2005 I sold my house on a short sale. I was going through a divorce and with two young children and one on the way, I could not financially carry my mortgage on one income. I had three different contracts on my house; two defaulted their earnest money. The third one finally closed. Today in a different economy, I am a renter working toward another day to own.
Some dreams die but new dreams and hope spring eternal.
Behind each house for sale is the face of a homeowner … a single mom or an empty nester, a young couple or a single professional. Their stories are no less real or valid than the next. They each have their own desires, needs, hopes and dreams.
Each will rise and falter based on their mindset, which controls action-reaction-accountability-outcome.
In this economy, it strikes me that the real estate professional who puts the sign in the yard is more akin to the homeowner who hired them than ever before.
Each needs each other now more than ever. FSBO ain’t easy, ’cause a sign can’t replace a real estate agent. Cancellation ain’t easy, ’cause a lost customer is hard for a real estate agent to replace.
How do you find that common ground? Maybe you could change venues. When a homeowner and a real estate agent meet, maybe that meeting can take place at the gym instead of at a kitchen table or local Starbucks. Both parties don boxing gloves and stand in front of punching bags and let the conversation begin.
You tell the homeowner they need to reduce price, they punch the bag and ask why … you punch the bag and let them know how much the market has changed and that the pendings and Days On Market are indicating the house is overpriced. They punch the bag … pause … punch the bag again … pause … suggest a slightly higher figure. You punch the bag … pause … punch the bag again … and give them your honest answer. So it goes until you’re both a little tired, but a little relieved and you come to a meeting of the minds.
You leave feeling this time that you spoke and your client really listened.
You don’t have to meet at the gym to make it work, but you do have to find a way to make it work. Your clients need it; your business needs it.
Real estate agent and consumer: the best chance and true measure of the industry stands before you today … how do you want to proceed?
Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson
Source:
Every For Sale sign has a story
I am humbled and awakened by the strength that surfaces from humankind in the wake of a natural disaster. Last week, I followed some of the news reports about Hurricane Ike - the touchdown and the aftermath - and it all was a little distant through my lens.
I was forwarded an email from Christine Phillips, a membership consultant with Connect2Agent, which brought my lens into clear focus. The email was a record of an electronic conversation Christine had with her client, real estate agent Eric Gage, who is in the Galveston Corridor area. Christine wanted to check in and make sure that Eric had evacuated safely.
I present to you, with permission from Christine and Eric … An inside view: Coming home after Hurricane Ike.
Evacuating Galveston
” … I am safe in Dallas. We drove up yesterday after 9 hours in the vehicle which typically take 5. We went the 
back roads to avoid the traffic … I am with my parents and we were pulling their RV. My sister and her husband followed us.
“This is pretty upsetting. I am watching live video stream from the local news stations on the Internet and talking to friends that are TV reporters for different stations.
“I think the house I was house-sitting for in Galveston is gone! My friend is traveling, I got his dog but I think all his things are gone. He has a house ½ block from the seawall which is now overcome. It’s a one-story beach cottage that he redid when he moved there last year to start medical school.
“I just got a report from Texas City, where my parents and family members live, that we are still dry. We have a levy system and let’s pray that they hold up. That’s where my rental properties and my car … I left it in my parents’ garage! Anyhow, thanks for checking on me.
“Many of my friends all over the country are calling and sending messages and it’s truly a blessing. I just hope people I know all got out! Many people are still there and they can’t get out now so it’s not going to be pretty! Talk to you soon!”
Returning home
“… Just got back in the area this morning. I have a rental property heavily damaged and not livable and so I don’t know what my renters will do. It’s my best home and in a great area! My parents’ home sustained damage to the roof and water damage in two rooms.
“Still waiting to hear on my friend’s home in Galveston but we are thinking it is OK. They are now saying we can’t get on the island for 30 days. A few other friends’ homes in Galveston were spared. Waiting to hear from a few relatives in Galveston that we haven’t been able to get a hold of. I am trying to find a former high school teacher that lived on the Bolivar side which is demolished.
“All the homes pretty much have damage but we are lucky … we have a home! I am in a damp mood right now because we went out to the beach area of Texas City and it’s gone … GONE! Drove down to one of two homes that are located out there and gone! The husband and wife were rummaging through the debris trying to find belongings.
“They didn’t take pictures and cherished items because the home has been through several hurricanes and she thought it would be spared once more. We don’t know them but I had to get out and help them find things. Of course it is all ruined and wet but found a few pictures.
“Sad … the lady had such a devastating reaction that I tried not to cry helping her. It’s crazy … places I go to as a kid growing up in the Galveston area are now in memory. Loss of life to people in my community is going to be masses … I am getting reports from friends that are reporters in the field. War zone it is! Please think of those that have lost their homes! I am fortunate and blessed and that’s all I can say! Thank you for your concern!”
Helping those in need is a mouse click away
I am grateful to Eric for sharing his story with Christine and allowing it to be posted on this blog. His request, after agreeing to let us publish his comments, was to “… make sure it says to help those who have lost everything. I felt guilty last night sleeping in my bed because we have a home … many do not. Thank you for thinking of us!”
The Red Cross is currently running a campaign to help Hurricane Ike victims and raise $100 million in funds that were depleted from last hurricane season. No donation is too small, so think big and act today.
Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson
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Coming home after Hurricane Ike
Investors remained hesitant to buy into the market, especially after a big rally in the previous session, after a disappointing report that indicated pending U.S. home sales fell more than expected in July as …
Wall Street retreats after home data
We’ll see if Wall Street can keep the rally going. In the latest session, the Dow rose nearly 290 points to 11,510. The S&P was also up 2%, while the Nasdaq managed a gain of just 0.6%. With the housing slump …
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Top Business News 9/9
Apartment, Mexico, This oceanfront condo is simply amazing … 600.000 USD
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Oceanfront condo is simply amazing
