The two most dreaded words in real estate today must be “low” and “baller.”
So publishing a how-to guide for lowballers is a little like hanging a kick-me sign around our neck. We’re the ones who have to make deals happen, even when our client is convinced a house in Palo Alto is overpriced by 15%. 
Yes, […]

The two most dreaded words in real estate today must be “low” and “baller.”
So publishing a how-to guide for lowballers is a little like hanging a kick-me sign around our neck. We’re the ones who have to make deals happen, even when our client is convinced a house in Palo Alto is overpriced by 15%. 
Yes, […]

My apologies… we’ve been doing some upgrading around these parts, and as is often the case… upgrading does weird stuff.  So pardon the dust while we’re under a bit of construction……..  we’ll back back to our regularly scheduled programming in no time. 

Bloomberg reports that Countrywide’s President Dave Sambol won’t stay after the merger goes through.  Some head has to roll for the disastrous lending practices that have built up at Countrywide over the years.  I guess that’s what you get for “protecting the house.”
Bloomberg on Sambol’s exit at Countrywide:
Countrywide Financial Corp. President David Sambol, who became […]

Countrywide shareholders are sure to approve the Bank of America takeover at a special meeting on June 25th.  The real question is whether Bank of America’s due diligence and Countrywide’s deteriorating loan portfoliio will be enough to scare away the would-be suitor.
From Market Watch on Countrywide’s special meeting:
Countrywide Financial said late Wednesday that it will hold […]

Here’s the latest Fast Facts update from the SFAR. Updates are provided almost weekly and each week is a different sector of the market (ie. Condos, Single Family Homes, 2-4 unit dwellings, etc.).
Check back next week for more statistics.

Fast Facts

2-4 Units

District 1

April 2007

April 2008

Number of Sales

7

8

Median Selling Price

1,450,000

1,380,000

Average DOM

95

90

District 2

April 2007

April 2008

Number of […]

New Anti-Money Laundering Regulations

The Issue

The Department of Finance and FINTRAC are currently proceeding with an aggressive plan to implement new anti-money
laundering and anti-terrorist financing (AML/ATF) regulations in mid 2008 and 2009. New regulations affecting the real
estate industry take effect on June 23rd, 2008.
REALTORS® have consistently supported the federal government’s efforts to monitor, document and report […]

Who woulda thought that someone out there was willing to report good news about the real estate market?
It seems that every other day I’m getting a call from my mother asking me how I can possibly afford to eat because the real estate market is doing so horribly.  And when I’m not trying to convince my […]

Ambac, one of the top bond insurers in the country continued to hemorrhage cash on bad mortgage-related bets. Ambac reported a loss of $228 million in CDOs and its investment portfolio in April. Many of the CDOs include subprime mortgage debt.
From the Associated Press on Ambac’s subprime mortgage backed CDO losses for April:
Bond […]

AIG, who has taken a beating on mortgage-related insurance bets may need to raise an additional $10 billion in cash on top of the recently-raised $20 billion in order to keep its rating.
From Bloomberg on AIG’s cash needs:
AIG may seek $5 billion to $10 billion rather than let its credit ratings be cut again and […]