Ah, finally!
The past week or so has been full of news which honestly has been hard to come by lately.
Venture Capital money dried up in Q4 of 2008, so startup news has been slow coming but between some new startup news and some fast paced tax changes, I’m starting to feel like stuff is moving again with real estate technology’s future!
- SEC charged Mozilo with securities fraud and insider trading. Or was it an oompa loompa they charged? No, it was Mozilo.
- Turn Here now offers an affordable option for professionally produced video- I’m thinking a web commercial, neighborhood profile or blog intro (minus the shaky novice video arm or bad lighting).
- Cyberhomes releases market forecasting tools which they call “the first report that gives consumers a comprehensive tool to help predict future real estate trends in a local market by analyzing key information” which is a really brave move in such uncertain waters!
- TwextMe is rumored to be out of beta and you can get your @ messages on Twitter texted to you so you don’t miss anything while on the go.
- Brian Solis releases a new graph and I’m warning you now that you’ll see it in every social media presentation for the rest of the year.
- Marlow Harris noted a service that will digitally stage a home to give internet shoppers a lifestyle suggestion without putting furniture in the home.
- Talk of the The $8000 Housing Credit has been all the rage, this is the simplest highlight I’ve read.
- Property search site Roost rolls out updates and snazzed it up and sped it up a bit.
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Consumerism, Geo-mapping columnist
Marketing columnist
Lani! Thank you!
Keeping up on the latest and greatest in RE is quite a task, but it is made easier when kind souls such as yourself take the time to aggregate some pertinent articles/pages. Thanks again, you capped off my already so-far-so-good day. Have a great Tuesday night…we’re back at it bright and early tomorrow for another exciting day in RE!!
@smith_goomzee
Lani,
Just noted that your link to Matt’s Real Estate Corner, but I’m not sure I’m getting this straight. I thought you COULD use the tax credit towards your 3.5% downpayment? I quote Donovan’s press release from Matt’s own link:
“Today’s announcement details FHA’s rules allowing state Housing Finance Agencies and certain non-profits to “monetize” up to the full amount of the tax credit (depending on the amount of the mortgage) so that borrowers can immediately apply the funds toward their down payments”
Am I just reading it wrong? I read briefly through HUD Mortgagee 2009-15 and thought it said the same thing.
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
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Austin- no problem!
Joe- I have no idea, you’ll have to ask Matt in comments on his blog.
Joe:
If you click on the link in that blog post you will see that the infomration in my blog post pertain to the HUD article as published on the day I created that content.
I posted a follow-up article on my blog yesterday outlining a program in my state (through the Virginia Housing Develpment Authority) that uses what you described to allow homeowners to obtain a second trust with 12 months deferred interest that allows buyers who meet VHDA guidelines to reduced if not eliminate out of pocket cost to purchase their first home.
Matt,
Thanks for the speedy response, it is my understanding that – as in Virginia – this will be through FHA approved entities and non-profits only. The Mortgagee letter – on second, third, fourth, and fifth readings, seems to be somewhat confusing.
I’ve punted to my favorite lender to “get hot so I can too.”
Navy Chief, Navy Pride