WASHINGTON - With home prices softening and sales volumes sagging in many local markets, real estate appraisers say pressure on them to inflate values has soared.

A new survey of the national appraisal industry found that 90 percent of appraisers reported that mortgage brokers, realty agents, lenders and even consumers have pressured them to raise property valuations to enable deals to go through. That percentage is up sharply from a 2003 survey, when 55 percent of appraisers reported attempts to influence their findings and 45 percent reported “never.” Now the latter category is down to just 10 percent.

SACRAMENTO - State lawmakers this week began considering restrictions on unorthodox mortgage-lending practices that have allowed hundreds of thousands of Californians to buy homes they otherwise could not afford.

About half of all new home loans in California are something other than the traditional 30-year fixed loan. They use features such as no money down and variable interest rates, while giving borrowers creative monthly payment options — such as paying only the interest or even less than that.

RISMEDIA, Feb. 2, 2007-Becoming successful in real estate is much easier than staying successful. There is a progressive group in our midst, however, that always seems to be in front of the wave. Their secret? Mastering the Internet. Here, learn how three agents have turned the Internet into a strategic business-building tool.