NEW YORK — The infamous “80-20″ rule of real estate — the notion that 20 percent of Realtors do 80 percent of the business — works similarly in the case of online communities, said Matt Heaton, CEO for Active Rain, a community of real estate bloggers.

“The same thing happens in all of these online communities — 20 percent are really active in doing all the postings,” and these real estate professionals are generally getting results for their activity, Heaton said. “Consumers are reading the content and are connecting with agents.”

Mortgage rates could go up even if Fed slashes short-term rates

Housing and finance experts say lower interest rates and a healthy economy could help housing markets rebound in 2007.
 
But there’s no guarantee that a surge in oil prices or another unexpected jolt to the economy won’t send the country into a recession, with long-term interest rates soaring even as the Federal Reserve cuts short-term rates to encourage borrowing.

Product offers lower rates, better choices than subprime sector

“What type of borrower finds it advantageous to take an FHA loan?”

The answer to this question is a little different today than in 2000 when I first addressed it because FHA’s market niche is smaller. This reflects developments in the conventional sector that have not been matched by FHA, including the growth in popularity of loans with no down payment, interest-only monthly payments, and option ARMs. Reflecting these developments, FHA’s market share fell from about 15 percent in 2000 to about 5 percent in 2006.
The FHA Market Niche in 2006. An FHA borrower:

FOR investors who have been missing out on the prolonged run-up in the shares of real estate investment trusts, or maybe jumped in only recently, the end may not be in sight: there are growing opportunities overseas. Some industry experts say that this is an opportune time to make a move into these nascent markets.

“We don’t think the U.S. REIT market is played out; it will continue its upward growth,” said Steven Carroll, co-chief investment officer at CB Richard Ellis Global Real Estate Securities. “But we think the growth will escalate at a much more rapid pace overseas as more markets become securitized.”

So I finally had headshots done. I had always meant to, when I became an agent, but there was never time. For my New Jersey cards and this column I just use a shot my husband took of me. I went into Photoshop and lightened my teeth, maybe too much.

But now I was in a position where I had to do promo shots, and I freaked out. First, I put it off as long as I possibly could, giving myself a week in the gym to sweat (cleanse the complexion) and sweat some more (raises the metabolism to burn off the dreaded second chin). Then I did my total beauty routine: lighten hair, cut hair, lighten eyebrows, cut eyebrows, throw self-tanner on skin (the better to make lightened hair and eyebrows pop), bleach teeth.