Primary market
Nearly a quarter-million more families in high-cost areas throughout the country could qualify for financing if the federal limit was raised on mortgages that can be purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a new report.
Question: Our house deed has the following language: "grant and convey unto John Doe and Mary Doe, his wife, to hold as tenants by the entirety ... ." Can you please clarify this for us? If one of us should die, is the remaining spouse the sole heir of the property? In these days post-Terri Schiavo, I want to make sure that my "house is in order."
I just returned from a meeting in the wonderful town of Coeur D"Alene, Idaho.
The latest example of the conflict between PR and policy, concerns the effort to standardize loan rules nationwide.
Home equity credit line lenders have been doing it for two years, and now the concept is migrating to the primary home purchase market: Super-streamlined loans that require applicants to pay none of the usual lender fees -- appraisals, credit reports, document preparation, tax service, underwriting or processing. Yet the mortgages carry interest rates identical to those the lender quotes on loans in the regular market that come with full fees.
If you"re nervous about taking that real estate investment plunge on your own, you may want to consider finding a team of experienced investors you can learn from in your area. Real estate investment clubs are located all over the country. I"ve listed some websites below where you can look up clubs in your area, but first let me provide you with a couple of safeguards about how you should approach a club.
With home values ballooning upwards in dozens of markets across the U.S., an already-popular real estate finance tool has begun to produce loan origination volume that is off the charts.
Whither Fannie Mae? What are the potential impacts of its current problems on home buyers, Realtors and lenders?
In another month, checks are likely to bounce much sooner than before if you write them with insufficient funds in your checking account.
Hot on the heels of Fair, Isaac"s new "Expansion" credit score, personal data compiler First American Corporation recently announced a new array of services to help hone the credit histories of non-traditional credit consumers.
More than half the nation"s adult population has problems comparing mortgages and negotiating loan terms and that makes them vulnerable to predatory lending pitches.
My grandfather was always proud of the way he financed his home. Family lore says he bought a row house on a dirt road -- in Brooklyn! It was an immigrant"s dream, financed with an interest-only "term" mortgage that lasted three to five years. At the end of the term you either paid off the loan or, more likely, signed up for another few years.
For many years the lending process has become less and less rigid. In the general case this is a trend to be welcomed, but the question to be asked is this: Have we gone too far?
It"s final. Your credit report is free for the asking.
One of the neatest things about being in the home loan business is seeing the faces of first time homebuyers when you tell them they"re approved. You know that "oh my gosh, I"m buying my first home" sort of look. That"s the fun part. But there"s also a not fun part; telling someone they"re not approved.
Brace yourself for slowly rising, but higher interest rates.
Once upon a time, in a world all-too-common, the mortgage business didn"t give a hoot about loans received under fraudulent circumstances as long as they were performing as expected.
Question: Last year, we took advantage of the lower mortgage interest rates and refinanced our home. This was the second time in three years that we have refinanced. After shopping around for the best rate and terms, we decided to stick with our current lender for the new loan. When we refinanced the first time -- two years ago -- we paid one point and were advised by our accountant that we could not deduct that point in full, but would have to spread it over the 30-year life of the loan. However, at that time, we were also advised that if we sold our home -- or refinanced again -- the balance of the nondeductible points could be deducted in full.
One of the most under utilized home financing groups I"ve seen are the nationwide offices of State Housing Finance Agencies. These are state-chartered authorities that help meet the housing needs of each state"s residents. Not all HFAs are created equal in regards to their relationship to state government, however, most are independent entities operating under the direction of a governor-appointed board of directors.
Question: I have mortgage insurance on my primary residence that I"ve had for a year and one month. I originally did a ten percent down loan with my lender. We did lots of improvements on the home, which is in a great neighborhood, and appreciation has been good. I paid for an independent appraiser to re-appraise our house. Our equity now is about 24 percent. I sent a copy of the appraisal along with a request for my lender to drop the mortgage insurance, however, they refused, saying it was their policy to wait two years regardless of the equity we now have. They would not honor an independent appraisal and now we would have to pay one of their appraisers after the two years. Is this right and legal?
Question: We have just signed a contract to purchase a home. We love the house and qualify for a mortgage but we feel that we are over-extending ourselves in taking out a $360,000 mortgage. When interest rates were one percent lower earlier this year, we still thought the payments were high. But we love the house and are prepared to make the sacrifice. We"ve been checking out adjustable rate mortgages and see that these rates are still pretty good. But we plan on plan on staying in this house for at least seven years, probably longer. What do you think? Should we take out an ARM instead of a fixed rate?
Just weeks after saying it had enough capacity to make it through the end of the 2003 fiscal year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has shut down several important loan programs.
Q. We recently made an application to refinance our home with a local mortgage company. We paid the application fee. Rates have gone up, and our circumstances have changed. We no longer want to refinance. We told the company to stop processing our application. Is there any hope of getting our application fee back?
Landscaping is a homeowner association asset that can and should improve with age. However, diligent attention is required in order to make this happen. Skilled maintenance work, along with occasional and ongoing improvement work are essential.
Q: My husband and I will be closing on a “no-cost” refinance next month. However, we have run into some unforeseen costs. The key issue is the overlap between our old loan and our new one. Our new lender will issue funds after the federally-mandated three-day rescission period ends, and thus interest on the new loan will begin on the fourth day after closing. Our settlement attorney will then send a live check – via express overnight mail – to our old lender to pay off our current loan.
The mortgage industry"s first crack at a so-called "portable mortgage" lets home buyers today lock in record low interest rates they can also use on another home they may purchase years down the road when rates could be higher.
"Are we there yet?" The child"s question that annoys parents on a long trip is currently the main preoccupation of media and general conversation regarding the recession.
Last week I read an article about how some expert thought that rates would remain as low as they are now and maybe even dip further as the economy continues to struggle. Today I read another article predicting that rates will move up throughout the remainder of the year as the economy continues to improve. So what’s the deal? Where are rates going, what does it really matter and who really knows what they’re talking about, anyway?
The Federal Trade Commission stopped the clock on 30 Minute Mortgage Inc."s activities with a complaint that charges the firm with spamming consumers with an offer for a non-existent 30-year mortgage and illegally collecting personal financial data in an effort to later sell that data.
Let’s see. Do I want to refinance now or wait until I finish with my home improvements? Or do I go ahead and get a construction loan, complete my addition, then refinance both my mortgages when the addition is complete? Do I need the value of my new addition to increase my appraised value? These are questions many in America area asking, improve now or refinance now? Why not do both?
Often it can take days, even weeks, to finalize all the necessary paperwork
Nearly 16 months after securing Congressional approval to insure hybrid adjustable rate mortgages, the Federal Housing Administration has proposed offering borrowers a choice of four different options.
Question: I recently refinanced my mortgage through an internet mortgage company and found out that I paid interest to both lenders for five days. The new lender funded the loan on January 30th but the old lender didn"t clear the loan from its books until February 4th, which meant I had to pay interest to both lenders during that period. Is this legal?
You have been investing in real estate for the last 15 years. During this period we have seen interest rates range from 12% to 5% for the purchase of investment property. Many of us have been coached to believe in the concept of high leverage, so we tend to put the least amount down. By so doing we have fallen into the compound interest trap and paid the banks a lot of interest. With today’s low interest rates, we have an opportunity to adjust our strategy and look at another approach to financing that can save us a significant amount of money.
Household debt is now at a record high level relative to disposable income, according to the Federal Reserve. This latest bit of news explains why there’s “no early end” in sight to bankruptcy filings as consumers recover from their debt incurring binge of the 1990s, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute in Alexandria, Va.
Americans are buying homes and refinancing existing mortgage loans in record numbers. With the heavy activity, many are turning to the Internet to shop for and apply for mortgages. While this route may involve fewer hassles, you still need to educate yourself on the process - and protect your privacy and get the best deal you can.
When Fair, Isaac recently partnered with the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to provide discounted educational credit scoring information to real estate agents it wasn"t because of a mortgage industry oversight.
[Note: To follow is an excerpt of an interview with Manfred Chemek, CCIM, CEO of Manhelm International, LLC an international real estate investment and consulting firm with offices in the United States and Europe. To listen to the show archive or download an MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com/031109.]
If you are considering applying for a loan, ordering a copy of your credit report may well be the best place to start. Why? Because it’s also the first thing a potential creditor will be looking at, and even if you pay your bills on time, you will want to ensure that all the information in your credit file is up-to-date and accurate.
We are all faced with call reluctance at one time or another in our sales careers. We all know that we need to prospect and make calls daily to generate new business. However, knowing and doing can be two entirely different things. The fear of calling can be a career ender for many sales people.
Before regional markets begin a turnaround to positive or negative territory, it usually starts in certain price ranges, zip codes or communities. Pricing drives most transition markets – hit the right price, and the sales will pick up. But even in the over-1 million dollar market of South Beach, some communities are considered "bargains" in today"s post-foreclosure world.
One of the biggest challenges facing today"s Realtor: Marketing themselves appropriately to prospective clients. How do you reach these clients? You have the Internet, newspapers, billboards, the classifieds and direct mail, and these are just a few of your options.
In one of the best marketing combinations since "dinner and a show," Ingenio is offering a toll-free phone number and a sponsored link for consumers to call advertisers on one of the largest subscriber-based search engines in the world - AOL.
With Realtors across the country gearing up for spring sales, swimming pools are an important consideration -- do they add value to a home? And if so, how do you determine how much they"re worth?
Recently, while contemplating relocation to Virginia, and searching the internet as a consumer, I was surprised at how many agent and company listings do not post additional listing photos or virtual tours. I was shocked at how many listings, including the high upper end market, do not even have a listing photo displayed. That was very hard to believe. Could you imagine a seller entrusting their home for sale to an agent or brokerage if they knew it would be without any online marketing or effort?
The holidays are over and it"s time for all of us to get back to our real estate businesses. But oftentimes this may not be as easy as we would really like it to be.
Editor"s note: Information contained in this article has been adapted from information in the book Environmental Psychology for Designers written by DAK Kopec, Ph.D, CHES to be published in fall 2005 by Fairchild Books, a division of Fairchild Publications, Inc., New York, NY.
Good-looking interior and exterior photographs make a major impact on marketing a home, says Issaquah, Washington digital camera aficionado and Realtor Larry Lohrman.
As one that surfs the Internet looking at agents sites, and searching for listings on a regular basis the one item that disturbs me most is agent or broker self promotion.
Personal marketing is easy to throw money at -- just look at the thousands of agents who waste millions of dollars a year in marketing that yields little to no results.
Agents work hard for listings, but it is the broker who pays for the display ads that generate extra advertorials -- those feature stories that show up in the Sunday Homes section of the local paper. That makes the advertorials an extension of the ad that the broker has already paid for. When establishing an advertorial policy, keep in mind that the one with the gold makes the rules.
Who"s in charge of the future? Surprised to learn it"s you?
Agents are always looking for more leads. With the advent of electronic mailing lists, many are too quick to "buy" lists of e-leads to generate more listings or sales. The problem is that with so many people getting so many e-mails, "broadcast" emails return lukewarm to minuscule results. There is a much smarter way to prospect.
Many mortgage brokers are self-employed, and work out of their homes. As refinancings and sales slow down, many mortgage brokers that you know may be looking for more work. They rely on Realtors to bring them business, just as you rely on referrals. The right mortgage brokers - ones that you trust will stick to a bargain - can be useful in helping you do a better job in marketing your listings and getting them closed.
Are you meeting a friend for lunch? According to "The Farmer"s
Realtors and advertising portals that use listings can reach a more productive and profitable accord by determining what the true value of a listing is - to both sides.
Will you earn personal referrals with your expertise in:
Where do your customers and prospects look for information about a city or area that they"re already in or moving to? Where do they look for a list of local businesses, such as yours? Where should you list your site or place its ad? One answer to all these questions may be the many city, county (or parish) and state sites. Almost every North American city of any size today has one or more “city” Web sites. Most of them have business sections that list categories of firms.
Because of the increase in required disclosures, inspections, and documents, it is becoming more difficult for an agent to do all the functions of real estate on his own. The need to create a team of specialists is becoming more necessary for success in the real estate field. The three main reasons to create a team are better quality service for your clients, increase in production, and increase in quality of life.
The old paradigm is to increase productivity to drive profit. Today"s model has changed to affect profit first. It"s time to learn how to run your business like a business, and show a real profit for the investment of your time and earnings.
When Emily Post wrote her famous manifesto on social etiquette in the 1920s, she believed that good manners were not about knowing which spoon or fork to use, but how to treat others in all situations, including business.
Some of the 3 to 4 million homeowners eligible for loan modifications could see interest rates as low as 2 percent under the Obama administration"s new "Making Home Affordable" (MHA) initiative.
When you key a generic phrase like "real estate" into a search engine, you expect to get mixed results. But what about trademarked names like John L. Scott or Windemere? Should search results return those companies at the top of the page -- and also an advertiser who pays to be there?
When it comes to selling a property, most people believe the agents control the entire process. In actuality, the seller controls the positioning and salability of the property (i.e. price and condition), and the buyer control the prices (since only the buyer decides what to offer on a given property).
A proposal by the Ontario government that would force homeowners to conduct an energy audit before they could sell their home has stirred up lots of controversy within the real estate industry.
June is a pivotal month for housing sales. Deluged with bad news that has already been released about June"s performance, will anyone give credence to a rise in month-to-month pending home sales?
OK, so consumers shopped at Nordstrom"s and Wal-Mart instead of buying ovens and dishwashers from Sears. The retail report was so good for June that the Dow Jones stock market hit an all-time high of 13847.83. It"s not that retail did so well, it"s that it didn"t do as badly as anticipated by investors who had already priced their uncertainty into the equities market. Mortgage interest rates sank a little on the good news and everybody"s happy. Or are they?
A report created for AARP and "analyzed" by the Consumer Federation of America"s president and lobbyist, Stephen Brobeck, last year finds that recent real estate consumers don"t know much about how the real estate industry works, but were mostly happy with the services of their agents (68 percent). Those who used agents and brokers within the last five years were even happier (73 percent.) Those who rated their own agents were downright ecstatic (84 percent.)
Real estate isn"t usually the first choice in careers for people who later become real estate agents. In fact, only five percent of Realtors chose real estate as their first career, according to the 2005 NAR Member Profile. Yet, several professions are highly compatible with real estate -- managers, salespeople, and teachers, to name a few. While only two percent of real estate agents were formerly architects or engineers, there"s some terrific synergy there.
For the first time in 38 years, since the National Association of Realtors began tracking housing prices on a national scale, home prices are projected to fall instead of going higher, the trade group recently reported.
Despite a nearly six percent decline in home sales in December 2005, existing housing sales easily set a fifth annual record, but what does 2006 hold in store?
In an urgent plea for help, the National Association of Realtors® is calling on all Realtor organizations and members to assist recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Three states have been largely affected, but others will also need to rally as thousands of realtors and millions of homeless move out to other cities and states to begin life anew.
According to the latest information gathered in the "2004 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers And Sellers," household compositions are changing slightly.
The National Association of Realtors Marketing Research Department has conducted an online "Safety Survey" for members to find out Realtors" experiences with personal safety while on the job. Out of over 4,337 respondents, over half reported experiencing safety concerns, incidents, or harassing situations while working as a Realtor.
WASHINGTON (May 22, 2003) – For the second consecutive Congress, a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives has cosponsored legislation that will keep banking conglomerates out of real estate brokerage and property management and permanently stop a proposed rule pending before the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board, the National Association of Realtors® announced today.
The National Association of Realtors announced today that the omnibus spending package passed by the U.S. House and Senate last night includes a provision that prohibits the U.S. Department of Treasury from finalizing a rule that would allow banks to enter the real estate business. This is a major victory for Realtors, consumers and communities everywhere and is a testament to the sustained, proactive grassroots activities of local Realtors.
It may take a few years to shake out what the numbers really say, but there is some growing evidence that Realtors are increasing in number and that more may be entering the real estate field as a first career. When demographics change, other changes are sure to follow.
It"s a whole new ball game for Realtor.com.
the elite group of NAR Realtor VIP Alliance Partners, eNeighborhoods has
The Realty Alliance, an association of 45 U.S. residential real estate brokerage firms representing more than 60,000 Realtors®, commissioned a consulting firm to create a report on the NAR"s Electronic Data Display (EDD) Policy which the NAR says will be approved after guidance from members by the board of directors at the November national convention.
While some locales may have cooled slightly due to the dot-com meltdown, the California energy crisis, an uncertain economy and other factors, California is experiencing overall increases in sales and property values, according to a new report by the California Association of Realtors.
According to the NAR"s most recent study, the Internet has caught up with newspapers, which lost market share, as a preferred method of searching for homes by homebuyers.
Despite the current economy and decline in the housing market, builders have not abandoned home technologies, according to new findings in the 7th Annual State of the Builder Technology Market Study released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The study found that a majority of builders remain committed to home technology and recognize its importance in marketing new homes. According to the CEA, consumer desire for electronics helped preserve builder revenue in the current housing market.
As the NAR kicks off its 2002 Realtors® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., there is the promise of a lot of fireworks. This year, the NAR"s 7000 attendees square off against the banking lobby which is also pitching woo at legislators to allow them into real estate brokerage. The NAR"s position is that big banks entering the real estate industry will reduce consumer choice and raise the price of real estate services. Banking says they are already in the business, they just need some formalities ironed out.
The National Association of Realtors reported today that its official Web site, REALTOR.com, hit an all-time high for attracting individuals to the site in January 2002, based on data reported by Jupiter Media Metrix.
The National Association of Realtors has awarded its coveted e-PRO technology course contract to longtime online advocates, InternetCrusade.
One of the best ways for real estate professionals can keep abreast of the latest trends in the marketplace and issues surrounding our industry is to attend conventions, seminars and educational events whenever possible. One of the best such events is taking place next month and expects to draw some of the top leading minds in commercial real estate.
The e-PRO 500, the first class of the National Association of REALTORS® Internet mastery course is graduating. What do they think about the course, and should you take it?
Trick #1: You Are Now Fluent in 45 Languages
Real estate professionals are taking advantage of the power of cyberspace. Members of the Real Estate CyberSpace Society are sharing their tips and tricks for using these tools to leverage their effectiveness and profitability. I"m a quarterback receiving those tips and it is one of my joys to pass these Cyber tips and tricks along with pointers to special Internet places of special interest to real estate owners, investors and related professionals.
It"s a statistic that demands our respect -- and action.
If you have a cookie-cutter website for your real estate company or haven"t yet established a presence on the Internet, you"re missing out on the most powerful marketing tool available to real estate professionals.
Old Rule: Delivering leads is the only job for a website.
Dear Mr. Internet,
A wise Realtor® friend recently sent me this note after reading something I wrote about writing warning letters to agents who steal intellectual property from another agent"s website:
The best kind of mailing to your past clients is basically free to you - clip and sent them little articles or email them Web pages that you think they"d find interesting.
If you think everyone is searching on some variation of "cityname homes" and "cityname real estate," you are in for a surprise. When I"ve shown people the following list of real search phrases, used by real web surfers, which led them to an agent"s Website, their jaws dropped open.
Dear Mr. Internet,
The Treasury Department recently released a report, which include eligibility requirements to determine which homeowners qualify for relief under the plan. Following are the eligibility requirements as specified in the guidelines:
In talking with REALTORS® about home automation at the recent NAR Convention in San Francisco, most told me that it is something "for the future," "it"s priced out of reach" or "the technology just isn"t there." The reality, however, is that consumers today can have total control of their home"s interior and exterior, whether they are inside their property or not. From lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), security systems, and home entertainment, to keeping an eye on kids as they arrive home from school, technologies are in place and at a reasonable cost.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.64 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.72 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.60 percent.
Keyword navigation is the latest must-know-about term in Internet advertising. Keyword searches can now bypass portal searches and take users directly to advertisers" Websites. How does it work for local Realtors? An international keyword navigation and pay-for-click service provider, CommonName, has volunteered to help Realty Times" readers understand the process.
I"ve found a much better way that will check Altavista, Infoseek, Lycos, and AOL simultaneously to see how many other sites link to yours. It"s called Link Popularity Check, a free service from the same search engine positioning experts that developed Webposition Gold -- the industry"s pre-eminent search engine positioning software.
To look at the new Samsung SPH-I330 you might not immediately recognize that it"s much more than just another cell phone. While not particularly
Dial-up growth is flat, if not falling. Broadband is "booming" according to recent reports, reaching almost 1 in 3 home users. Broadband users are the choicest demographic, too. Maybe it"s time to be less concerned about download speeds, and add more leading-edge features to your Web site. Differentiate yourself from the growing horde of online competitors.
What makes for a good lead?
By now, just about any serious computer user owns a digital camera,
Look at any realty industry study and it will tell you that a majority of home buyers and sellers (let’s call them “consumers”) want to look at homes on the Internet before they buy or sell their home. Only after previewing homes on the Web, will they then choose an agent (usually online) to show them homes in person. Moreover, the agent that they choose is most often the one whose Web site let them search the MLS in the first place.
Stephen Canale offers Agent News readers a new question and answer column. Find answers to your technology questions, and if you have a question, write him an e-mail.
Do you have a friend who sends you truly fascinating-to-read e-mail messages replete with digital photo illustrations? Now you can
What kind of digital camera should you buy? Is one brand better than another?
You"ve seen those "Sponsored" search results, where people bid to come up high, and wondered if it would pay off for you. You"ve also wondered if you still need a search engine expert to make your site do the same thing. I"ll show you how optimization is clearly more cost effective, whereas paying for clicks gets immediate results.
Web sites have become the heart and soul of many top agents" marketing efforts, that piece of their business around which all else revolves.
If you want to send out mass e-mailings such as newsletters, the program that I recommend you use is WorldMerge, from
With constant advances in technology, the most difficult question facing the average real estate agent today is exactly which technologies they should take advantage first, which come last, and which ones might be a waste of time altogether.
Bigfix.com is a new service that offers to install software on your computer which regularly connects to their Internet servers in order to find bug
“Put it before them briefly so they will read it,
Ever visit a site that you want to return to, but you cannot remember
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but if you are thinking of copying the text or graphics from another Realtor"s Web site, you could end up paying up to $100,000 in damages per incident for copyright and/or trademark infringement.
There"s no place like Comdex to get a look at the future of technology. Assuming that you didn"t hop out to Las Vegas for the show, you should enjoy the great overview of this year"s Comdex Show from the folks at ZDNet. This report includes lots of audio, video, keynote talks and “show and tells”. Here you will find (and see) the “10 Comdex Products You Need to See.”
How would you like to blow the socks off your competition as well as your potential buyers and sellers?
MLS information management market leaders FNIS and Interealty are aggressively launching cutting edge MLS-based lead generation products at the MLS and broker levels. How strongly will their solutions impact the growing trend toward local marketing solutions for brokers and agents?
According to the National Association of Realtors, 60 percent of homebuyers are using the Internet to get home buying information, and Jupiter Research predicts that by 2005, that number will be as high as 80 percent.
Dear Mr. Internet: More and more of my business is being handled by e-mail, and that"s the good news. However, the volume of e-mail is becoming so great that frankly, I"m feeling overwhelmed --what should I do?
Outspoken SoCALMLS General Manager Russ Bergeron once told Agent News that anyone who pays an MLS over $25 a month for listing services is crazy. While some other large MLSs are charging members as much as $350 a month for Broker Reciprocity solutions, Bergeron has put his profits where his mouth is. With its long-time technology partner, HomeSeekers, SoCalMLS is debuting a new IDX solution called IDXnet(tm) to its 20,000 members - without adding new fees.
Need to do a search? Searchsystems.net is the biggest free database of powerful information for real estate owners, investors or agents I"ve yet to find on the Web. In the
Before he became one of real estate"s most well-known technology trainers, Stephen Canale was a portrait photographer. He never lost his love for imaging, and is an active proponent for digital cameras as a primary real estate marketing tool.
Many real estate web designers use "frames" to minimize
Three leading brokers say they never had a problem choosing which services to buy, nor in getting agents to take advantage of them. What these brokers have in common is that each has made significant material investments in marketing technologies, and believes wholeheartedly that the broker should be in control of the listings.
Progressive Endeavors/Websuite has had plenty of problems getting its new Internet certification program going, but a few were cleared up last week. Among the hurdles, Progressive had to fulfill its contract to service the stranded NAR ePRO customers and wait for its noncompete agreement with the NAR to expire June 22nd, before launching sales of its new Internet certification program for Realtors.
When a company is valued at 115 times next year"s earnings, it had better come up with stronger revenues quickly. So it is no surprise that Homestore Homestore is turning to its prize hog Realtor.com to bring home the bacon.
The battle between Homestore and MSN HomeAdvisor was beginning to look like the Arms race. Before it went nuclear, Homestore had beaten all comers in terms of which site gets the most traffic. Citing Media Metrix numbers for years, Homestore was suddenly surprised in March when the data source named HomeAdvisor first in traffic over Realtor.com