Real Estate News

Today in Inman News, real estate freelance writer Steve Bergsman wrote an in-depth review of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace as the two-year anniversary of the product launch nears.

By allowing borrowers to submit loan requests to Zillow’s network of lenders nationwide — without having to share any personal contact information — and then giving them a way to “slice and dice the offers so a potential borrower can judge one mortgage offer against the other to see which loan is more appropriate and at what price,” Steve writes that Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is “one cool way to find a home loan.” Borrowers agree, submitting over 50,000 loan requests each month.

The lender response has been equally enthusiastic with lenders writing more than 10 million quotes against loans requested. These stats mean that borrowers are getting a lot of choices, and lenders are getting a lot of borrower contacts. 

Kathy Whitman, president of Whitman Metropolitan, Inc., told Steve, “Over the past year we’ve done in excess of $100 million in volume. And that includes ’second generation’ where one Zillow customer referred another to Metropolitan. It’s not only been fantastic for us, but it is now one of our main sources of generating customers.”

As Steve writes, the time has come to comparatively shop for that new mortgage and Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is one cool place to do so. We think so, too.

Thanks for the great review, Steve!

Read the original here:

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Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages fell this week, with the weekly average rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 4.62%, down from 4.69% the week prior. This is the lowest weekly average rate on record since Zillow Mortgage Marketplace launched in April 2008. Additionally, 15-year fixed borrowers were quoted on average, 4.19% and for 5/1 ARMs, 3.74%.

This morning, the national rate for 30-year fixed purchase mortgages was 4.56%.

What are the rates right now? Will they fall further? Check Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for up-to-the-minute mortgage rates.

Read the original post:
Free Fallin’: Thirty-year Mortgage Rates Drop To Record Lows

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Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed rates remained steady this week, with the weekly average rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 4.86%, down from 4.87% the week prior. For 15-year fixed mortgages, borrowers were quoted on average, 4.31% and for 5/1 ARMs, 3.79%.

This morning, the national rate for 30-year fixed purchase mortgages was 4.83%.

What are the rates right now? Check Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for up-to-the-minute mortgage rates.

Read more:
Mortgage Rates Remain Steady

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mckylie (who has over 5,000 contributions on Zillow, BTW), asks in Zillow Advice:

What is the best way to remove wallpaper?

Do you have any tried and true ways? Please chime in!

Read the original here:
What is the Best Way to Remove Wallpaper?

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Due to popular demand, we’ve decided to extend the inaugural Zillow Trick-or-Treat Housing Index to the Windy City, Chicago. So, if you’re taking your kids out this Saturday, here are the best Chicago neighborhoods on our list. Please check the methodology below to see how we came up with this list.

Top 5 Chicago Neighborhoods to Trick-or-Treat

1. Bridgeport
2. Albany Park
3. Logan Square
4. Rogers Park
5. Lake View

Methodology

There is a common belief that wealthy neighborhoods are the Holy Grail for harvesting the most Halloween candy. However, to provide a more holistic approach to Halloween trick-or-treating, the Zillow Trick-or-Treat Housing Index was calculated using four equally weighted data variables: Zillow Home Value Index, population density, Walk Score, and local crime data. Based on those variables, this Index represents neighborhoods that will provide the most candy, with the least walking, and minimal safety risks.

Halloween Hot Spots

Bridgeport, the #1 Chicago neighborhood to trick-or-treat, is a traditional South Side community with good schools, an easy commute, and friendly faces. “You drive down the street, and you’ve got people waving hello,” says a Bridgeport local. “You may not know their names, but you’ve seen them all your life. It’s really a family neighborhood.” Bridgeport has long been one of the city’s political hotbeds, having been home to five of Chicago’s 45 mayors. In fact, current Mayor Richard Daley was also born and raised in Bridgeport. The Zillow Home Value Index for Bridgeport is $295,600, up 4.9% year-over-year.

Albany Park is one of the most ethically diverse areas of Chicago, and the entire the US; residents speak an estimated 25 different languages.  Such cultural diversity is sure to bring many creative costumes, cultures, and candies to trick-or-treaters. Low crime and high walkability are notable features of Albany Park. The ‘hood is also notorious for being the home of the former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich- that ought to spark some good costume ideas.

The Logan Square neighborhood community is centered on the public square that serves as its namesake. Logan Square proper houses the 3-way intersection of Milwaukee Avenue, Logan Boulevard and Kedzie Boulevard. The Logan Square Chamber is hosting the 14th District Haunted House. Admission is free! Logan Square ranked in the top 30% in each Index category, making it an overall great place to spend Halloween.

Rogers Park is a lakefront neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. Rogers Park parents are hosting “Halloween in Rogers Park” in Jarvis Square on Saturday from 4-8 PM, complete with face painting, a giant spider web, and a princess lip gloss station. Housing prices are down in the neighborhood about 17% year-over-year.  So, hop on the Metra and check out the neighborhood, and while you are going door to door, keep an eye for some scary good real estate deals.

Lake View rounds out the top five list as the ‘hood with the highest Zillow Home Value Index ($365,500) and great walkability. The young neighborhood is especially fun for “big kids,” with great dining, drinking, nightlife, and baseball.  Lake View has some beautiful homes, and there is sure to be good candy for the kids and good real estate eye candy for adults.  So grab your Bugaboo stroller and have a great time trick or treating.

See the Zillow Trick-or-Treat Housing Index for:

• Top 5 Los Angeles Neighborhoods

• Top 5 Seattle Neighborhoods

(Photo of Sasha and President Barack Obama on a Halloween walk in Chicago last year, courtesy Chicago Sun-Times)

See the rest here:
Trick-or-Treat Housing Index: Top 5 Chicago Neighborhoods

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Good question in Zillow Advice by Kelly Roehrich:

What is the success rate with loan modifications using an attorney?

Do you have any experience doing a loan modifications with an attorney’s assistance? Can you give Kelly some advice?

See original here:
What is Success Rate of Loan Modifications Using an Attorney?

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Cast your eyes on one of America’s largest, most ornate residences that just happens to be for sale. Le Rêve is described as a modern-day chateau complete with formal gardens, fountains, and statues on 72 acres of land just north of Atlanta. Think of it as Versailles in the Deep South.

Le Rêve is located at 2015 Trammell Rd, Cumming, GA, 30041, about 45 minutes north of Atlanta, and was built for businessman Hubert Humphrey (no relation to the former VP) and his wife, Norma in 2004 (completed in 2007) by Atlanta architect Norman Askins. Humphrey founded World Leadership Group, which is a marketing and mortgage brokerage company that shuttered its doors in 2008 due to the mortgage crisis. Prior to striking it rich, Humphrey was a freight train conductor for 17 years.

As you can see in the photo above, the 72 acres of the estate are elaborate, consisting of formal gardens, statues, fountains, a golf course, a lake and a great lawn that is four times the size of a football field.

Outdoor grounds:

• 9-hole golf course (two holes are modeled after Augusta National’s 11th and 12th greens).
• a 4 ½ acre lake
• horseback riding trails
• Venetian-shaped elliptical swimming pools fed by natural creeks
• an amphitheatre carved into a grotto
• a lawn tennis court
• formal French gardens with an English maze
• flower garden
• orchard

Indoor:

• 82 rooms
• 6 guest suites
• billiards room
• 27-seat movie theatre styled after Moorish style of Atlanta’s landmark Fox Theatre
• model train room
• virtual golf room
• massage room
• arcade
• corporate business suite with conference facilities
• two-lane bowling alley
• 1950s style diner
• 10 fireplaces
• 12 full and 11 half bathrooms
• ballroom, with terrazzo floors and crystal and bronze chandeliers
• 10-car garage
• security guard houses and high-tech security, electronics and utilities systems

This home has been on the market since last year and according to high-end real estate agents and brokers who deal with luxury properties, “It’s just being in the right place with the right people, ” said Rosina Seydel, an agent with Atlanta Fine Homes.

>> Want to see the largest home in the U.S.?

Here is the original post:
Le Rêve on Market for $45 Million

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Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed rates continued to fall this week, with the weekly average rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 4.87%, down from 4.97% the week prior. For 15-year fixed mortgages, borrowers were quoted on average, 4.32% and for 5/1 ARMs, 3.80%.

This morning, the national rate for 30-year fixed purchase mortgages was 4.91%.

What are the rates right now? Check Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for up-to-the-minute mortgage rates.

Here is the original post:
Mortgage Rates Continue to Fall

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A New York City photographer, who is a Detroit native, and an architect plan on encasing one of Detroit’s 80,000 foreclosed homes in ice this winter to bring attention to Detroit’s growing economic crisis and housing downfall in an art project titled “Ice House Detroit.”

Detroit home values have taken a huge hit, dropping 23% year-over-year.

>>Scroll through their Ice House blog to see photos and maps of Detroit’s urban decay.

Read more here:

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Some interesting news about a possible extension of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit came out today, according to CNBC’s Diana Olick. A senate vote could come as early as this week, but the credit may take on a slightly different different form. The plan under consideration is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. Here is how it would work:

1. For first-time homebuyers who purchase a home between Dec. 1 2009 and March 31, 2010: The credit would be as it is now, worth a maximum of $8,000.
2. For those who buy between April 1, 2010 and June 30, 2010: The credit value would fall to a maximum $6,000.
3. For those who buy between July 2, 2010 and Sept. 30, 2010: The credit value would fall to a maximum $4,000.
4. For those who buy between Oct. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31 2010: The credit would  go down $2,000, but it’s unclear when it would end.

This incarnation of the credit would also raise the income cap to $300,000 for joint filers from the current level of $150,000.

There have been other proposals concerning the tax credit, but they’ve run into some roadblocks. Sen. Johnny Isakson and Sen. Chris Dodd’s tax credit bill amendment, which would have extended the credit until June 30, 2010 for everyone (not just first-time home buyers) and increase income limitations to $300,000 per couple was called too expensive by Concept Capital’s Washington Research Group, which estimated the cost of that program at $17 billion.

The proposed amendment will be offered to the Legislature Tuesday with the goal of having it pass the Senate on Wednesday and the House on Thursday. We will keep you posted.

See the original post:
A Senate Vote on Extending First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit Could Come This Week

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With so much housing market data showing marginally better news these days, there’s been a lot of buzz lately about a housing market recovery. But is recovery in the near future a realistic expectation? Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries talked to Alison Rogers of CBS Moneywatch about the housing market drivers that could stimulate or stall any recovery.

The moral of the story: It’s a complicated issue. Zillow’s stance is that a recovery is probably not around the corner, but we will probably see a bottom in home values next year.

More here:
Zillow’s Stan Humphries in CBS Moneywatch: Housing Market Drivers That Will Help/Hinder Recovery

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Some blogs are chattering away that former Alaska governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and husband, Todd, are building something on the parcel they purchased on July 14, 2009 — about 10 days after Palin announced she would resign as governor. The building is right next to the Palin home in Wasilla.

One blogger even has aerial photos of the construction site.

(Photo courtesy Palingates)

Source:
Palins Building Something On Their New Lot

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Two years ago, we wrote that foreclosures help to spread the West Nile Virus. How? When abandoned homes with swimming pools are left with water in it, untended, it creates the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry the virus.

This problem is still making the news. According to The Californian.com, a second dead bird in the Salinas, CA, area was found that tested positive for West Nile. Authorities with the Northern Salinas Valley Mosquito Abatement District have asked residents to help report “… neglected swimming pools, hot tubs and ornamental ponds at bank-owned homes.”

Additionally, authorities are also using aerial mapping sites, such as Zillow’s Bird’s Eye View to help locate homes that have pools. The view from above certainly helps to cover more ground.

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Two years ago, we wrote that foreclosures help to spread the West Nile Virus. How? When abandoned homes with swimming pools are left with water in it, untended, it creates the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry the virus.

This problem is still making the news. According to The Californian.com, a second dead bird in the Salinas, CA, area was found that tested positive for West Nile. Authorities with the Northern Salinas Valley Mosquito Abatement District have asked residents to help report “… neglected swimming pools, hot tubs and ornamental ponds at bank-owned homes.”

Additionally, authorities are also using aerial mapping sites, such as Zillow’s Bird’s Eye View to help locate homes that have pools. The view from above certainly helps to cover more ground.

View original here:

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Piano man Billy Joel is splitting with his third wife, Katie Lee Joel, which means two of their homes in the Hamptons will hit the market soon for a combined asking price of $35 million.

Joel’s oceanfront homes, sitting side-by-side in the Sagaponack neighborhood of Long Island (photo above), are located at 9 and 23 Gibson Lane, Sagaponack, NY, according to Newsday. The bigger one (9 Gibson) was purchased from the late, great Roy Scheider (”Jaws”) for $16.75 million in 2007. It was completely renovated and decorated by designer Nate Berkus and will be listed for $22.5 million. It has four beds, six baths.

Joel then purchased the smaller, adjacent property later in 2007 for $11.6 million. He is asking $12.5 million for the one-story, three bedroom bungalow.

The properties are being listed with The Corcoran Group’s Biana Stepanian.

Joel also owns a humongous Tudor-style waterfront mansion in Centre Island (on Long Island’s North Shore), which he has listed on and off for the past few years.

Read more here:
Billy Joel Selling Side-by-Side Sagaponack Homes

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