Real Estate Home Marketing: It's Not Just Open House Signs!

With real estate brokers and Realtors cutting back on their advertising - but not their fees - we see a troubling trend towards 'marketing' being just open house signs.

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4 Ballantree, Rancho Santa Margarita: Detached Condo. Bruce Clark Team: Orange County Short Sale Specialists

Bruce Clark team is proud to announce that 4 Ballantree, a wonderful detached condo in Rancho Santa Margarita in now available for purchase.

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Is The Problem Really The Way A Mortgage Is Structured?

Why are home loans so front-end loaded? For a conventional 30-year loan, why does it take 18 years for a payment to be applied equally to principal reduction and payment of interest?

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Bank of America Sends Wave of Foreclosure Notices: Signals Surge in Local Foreclosures

North County Times reports Bank of America ramped up foreclosure activity in March, portending a wave of either bank-owned (REO) homes or short sales in the coming months.

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WaMu Bank Executives Aware of Rampant Fraud

Huffington Post Investigative Fund: WaMu Bank Executives Aware of Rampant Fraud

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$8,000 First-Time Buyer Tax Credit To End on Nov. 30, 2009

For those first-time buyers looking to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, time is running out. Escrow must close by Nov. 30, 2009.

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Local Realtor Bruce Clark Earns Most Prestigious of all Industry Achievements

Top 5 Member Bruce Clark, of First Team Real Estate, Irvine, CA Named a Charter Member of North American “Top 5 in Real Estate Network®”

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Loan Mod and Foreclosure Scams

Regulators struggle to contain foreclosure fraud: The government is struggling to hold back a wave of foreclosure "rescue scams arising from the growing number of homeowners facing the loss of their homes. It may be fighting a losing battle.

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PIMCO - Japan Credit Perspectives Jan 2009 Evolving Crisis

Excellent PIMCO market analysis titled 'Outlook for Global Finance: The Evolving Crisis and Japans Experience.' What did Japan learn and how we can apply it to the current economic crisis.

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High-End Now Being Affected: Newport, Corona Del Mar, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Malibu Seeing Decline In Values

The high-end of the market held up pretty well until around late-2008. The LA Times reports from California. The Southern California real estate crash has finally reached the high-end areas of the Westside. Home prices in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Malibu which continued to soar well into 2008 finally tanked at the end of the year, losing between 26% and 30% of their value in just a few months, the latest data show.

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How to vet your financial adviser: Avoiding getting ripped off: Lessons from the Madoff Debacle

There is much angst throughout the world about financial advisers and money managers. Newsweek has an excellent interview with Evan Roth, founding partner and director of client services at BBR Partners, a boutique wealth-management firm in New York City. (BBR Partners, after performing preliminary due diligence which raised significant red flags, opted not to recommend Madoff to clients). Roth, who ranks third in Bloomberg's 2008 ranking of wealth managers, says there are a few key questions to ask when vetting your financial advisor.

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Foreclosure Homes Losing Their Luster With Buyers

Buyers looking at buying a foreclosure worried that bottom might not be here yet.

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Mortgage Rates, Consumer Spending & Confidence Down, Unemployment Claims Up

Benchmark 30-year mortgage rate at lowest level on record, U.S. consumer spending falls 0.6% in November, U.S. durable-goods orders fall 1%; transportation category is key factor, U.S. first-time claims for jobless benefits hit 26-year high

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California Association of Realtors (CAR) Reports Sales Increased 83.2 Percent; Median Home Price Fell 41.8 Percent in November

Dec. 23, 2008: Home sales increased 83.2 percent in November in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 41.8 percent, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reported today.

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New Good Faith Estimate & HUD-1 Coming Jan. 1, 2010

For the first time in over 30 years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has proposed reforms to the longstanding regulatory requirements of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). Looks to be much easier to read.

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