Fannie Mae repaying our dime

Published by Reuters.

That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind  ~ Neil Armstrong

So are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of the woods? Not quite, but a step in the right direction.

Fannie Mae, the largest source of U.S. housing funds, on Wednesday said it would not need to request more taxpayer aid this quarter after posting a $2.7 billion profit in the first three months of the year. For the first time since the third quarter of 2008, the government-run company did not require taxpayer aid to stay…

REALTORS unite. may 14th – 19th

Published by NAR

NAR and estimated 10,000 REALTORS are prepped and ready to go. DC here they come.

 WASHINGTON (May 14, 2012) – Realtors® from across the country are meeting with legislators, public policy makers and industry leaders this week to address pressing concerns and issues that affect homeowners, aspiring homeowners and real estate investors everywhere as the Realtors® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo begins.

Read full article here

So who’s heading to march on the capitol? Oh and don’t forget, MidYear meetings and trade show are there too. Convenient…

The secret of writing killer headlines

Posted on copyblogger – By: Brian Clark

If you like to play the numbers then these should be in held in high regard: 8 of 10 people will read a headline and 2 of 10 will read the rest. See the importance. Here is a great How To series on writing killer headlines.

 Your headline is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader. Without a compelling promise that turns a browser into a reader, the rest of your words may as well not even exist. So, from…

New QM rules raising many concerns

Pubished on Speaking of Real Estate – By: Robert Freedman

NAR is at it again. This time its about the QM rule. Find out why they fear regulations have gone too far.

 It’s the QM rule’s turn in the spotlight, and so far a federal proposal raises concerns. If you’re applying for a loan, what determines whether or not you can repay that loan?

That’s what a federal regulator is trying to determine right now, and based on a proposed rule they’ve written, they’re thinking about setting standards that NAR and other…

Mortgage didn’t cause housing bubble

Published on NASDAQ – By: Kirk Haverkamp

The Boston Fed released a study listing 12 facts that rebut traditional explanations for the housing bubble.

 The most popular beliefs as to what caused the U.S. mortgage crisis and subsequent economic collapse are wrong, according to a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

The report rejects the popular explanation that industry insiders misled borrowers and investors by pushing mortgages that they knew were likely to default. Instead, they argue that both borrowers and lenders had overly optimistic views of home prices, which led…

Company sued over agent performance system

Posted on Inman – By: Andrea V Brambla

2 MLSs are suing a website over their agent performance evaluation system. NeighborCity.com’s usage of MLS data is being contended by two regional MLSs. Read this interesting article from Inman

Two regional multiple listing services have filed copyright lawsuits against the operator of NeighborCity.com – not long after the site rolled out updated profile pages for 850,000 agents that feature agent scores and performance metrics based on their transaction history.

The lawsuits allege that NeighborCity.com’s owner and operator, American Home Realty Network Inc., reproduced, displayed and…