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8 tips for sturdier joints in woodworking projects

By Paul Bianchina, Thursday, April 14, 2011.

One of the obvious basics of framing is being able to join two boards together. For the most part, that's done by nailing through one into the other. But there are a lot of situations where that simple process won't work, so you'll need to resort to "toenailing" instead.

Toenailing is the technique of attaching one board to the surface of another by driving the nails through at an angle. It sounds pretty simple, but for some reason it's a tough thing for a lot of people to master. Since it's a useful and often necessary process, it might be helpful to learn a few tips that will help you get it right.

Select the right nail: If you're nailing through one 2-by-4 into another, the nail of choice is typically the 16d (3 1/2 inches long). But for toenailing, a nail that long can be a little more difficult to start and drive, so a shorter nail is often helpful. Instead, consider selecting an 8d (2 1/2 inches) or 10d (3 inches).

Select the right angle: One of the tricks to toenailing is to get the angle right, and that angle depends on what you're trying to do.  more...

Westmount: Canada's Beverly Hills?

By Steve Bergsman, Thursday, April 14, 2011.
Homes in Westmount, a Montreal borough. Flickr image courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterblanchard/5009365955/">Peter Blanchard</a>.

This past winter, my wife and I were taking a tour of Montreal when our guide mentioned that Westmount, the area of the city we had just passed, was probably the only place in Canada where homes hadn't lost value during the global recession of the past four years.

My attention, which had been waning, suddenly perked up and I asked the guide to give my wife and me a quick swing through the area.

My guide, a lovely, informative Montreal native, Annique Dufour, was absolutely right on about all things Montreal -- except for Westmount homes not losing value -- but she is forgiven since Westmount's recession barely lasted 12 months and the homes lost value in the single digits, at most.

Westmount, which is really a borough of Montreal, experienced a drop in prices of 5 percent from 2009-10, notes Marie-Yvonne Paint, a broker with Royal LePage Heritage in Montreal. "2009 was the year of the global economic crisis, and people stopped buying because they were waiting to see what would happen. They were holding back, but by 2010 Canada's and Montreal's economy appeared to be fine and everyone came back to the market."  more...

Foreclosures pressure Twin Cities market

By Andrea V. Brambila, Thursday, April 14, 2011.


Flickr image courtesy of Micah Taylor.

The median sales price of homes in the 13-county Twin Cities, Minn., metro area fell 15.2 percent year-over-year in March, to $140,000, according to the latest monthly report from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR), released Tuesday.

Home prices in the area have been under pressure from distressed properties, which made up 55 percent of closed sales last month -- most of them foreclosures.

At the same time, pending sales fell 17.6 percent year-over-year, the number of new listings coming on the market fell 30.2 percent, and closed sales fell 3.5 percent.

The association attributed the year-over-year declines at least partly to the expiration of a federal homebuyer tax credit program that spurred sales in spring 2010.

"This month's numbers find themselves stuck in the shadow of the spring 2010 incentive market. A number of factors hinder a full-scale housing recovery, yet there are positives that suggest improving consumer confidence," the association said in the report.  more...

Trulia rolls out interactive price reductions map Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, April 14, 2011.

Property search and marketing site Trulia has launched an interactive map illustrating price reduction patterns in cities and ZIP codes nationwide, the site announced Thursday.

The map allows users to zoom into a particular location and see the average price range of a listing, the average number of days the listing is on the market before sellers make their first price cut, the average percentage of the original price sellers cut, and the probability of a second reduction.

In the year ending March 31, 2011, home sellers had cut a combined total of $24 billion from home listings on Trulia, according to a new quarterly report released with the map. The Home Offer Report is based on non-foreclosure residential listings on the site.

On average, sellers cut their original list price by 8 percent after 79 days on the market. Of those who made one cut, 35 percent made a second cut.  more...

Mortgage rates keep inching up

By Inman News, Thursday, April 14, 2011.

Mortgage rates continued a gradual climb this week for the fourth consecutive week, with rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages approaching highs for the year registered in February, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

For the week ending April 14, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.91 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from 4.87 percent last week and 5.07 percent a year ago.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit an all-time low in Freddie Mac records dating to 1971 of 4.17 percent during the week ending Nov. 11. This year, rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans have ranged from 4.71 percent in early January to a high for the year of 5.05 percent during the week ending Feb. 10.

"Although rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have risen four weeks in a row, they have remained below 5 percent for eight straight weeks now, helping to maintain affordability in the housing market," Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said in a statement.  more...

Foreclosure filings at 3-year low Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, April 14, 2011.

Continued fallout from the "robo signing" controversy saw loan servicers throttle back foreclosure filings during the first quarter to their lowest level in two years, according to public records gathered by data aggregator RealtyTrac.

RealtyTrac counted 681,153 foreclosure-related filings against U.S. properties during the first three months of the year, down 15 percent from fourth-quarter 2010 and down 27 percent from first-quarter 2010.

Housing markets face a dual threat: looming shadow inventory and the probability that foreclosure filings will pick up as loan servicers put the robo-signing controversy behind them, said RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio in a statement.

Federal regulators on Wednesday announced a partial settlement with the nation's largest loan servicers that requires them to hire outside consultants to review foreclosures initiated in 2009 and 2010 and compensate homeowners who should not have been foreclosed on.  more...

Feds announce partial settlement with 'robo signing' servicers

By Inman News, Thursday, April 14, 2011.

In a partial settlement addressing so-called "robo-signing" foreclosure practices, the nation's largest loan servicers have agreed to hire outside consultants to review foreclosures initiated in 2009 and 2010, and to compensate homeowners who should not have been foreclosed on.

Consent agreements announced Wednesday by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve and the Office of Thrift Supervision also prohibit loan servicers from foreclosing on homeowners who have been approved for loan modifications.  more...

The iPad 2: a better business tool for real estate

By Teresa Boardman, Thursday, April 14, 2011.
Flickr image courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peantunes/5561147943/">Pedro Eugenio Antunes</a>.

I was one of those brave or maybe foolish people who bought an iPad before they were in the stores by preordering it. After using it for a year I have to say the iPad was worth the investment.

I use my iPad for business and for entertainment, and I love those apps for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I still see the iPad as more of a content-consuming device than a content generator, but I can use it to create a presentation, write a blog post or a real estate contract, draw pictures or graphics, and edit photographs.

The iPad has evolved since its launch a year ago, and there are a lot more apps for it. Apple upgraded the operating system a few times. Originally the iPad got a bad rap because there wasn't any way to print from it and it did not offer multitasking.

Printing capabilities were added as part of an operating system upgrade, which I guess is a big deal for some but I have no interest in printing and have never even tried it. Multitasking capabilities were also part of an operating system upgrade.

Apple recently rolled out the iPad 2 this year and the new device is selling quickly. It has a front-facing and a rear-facing camera, and is lighter, thinner and faster than the original iPad. The best way to describe the iPad 2 is: lovely, but it's not a monumental upgrade from the original iPad.  more...

7 steps to visualize, realize real estate success Premium Content

By Bernice Ross, Thursday, April 14, 2011.

If you were to ask most agents if they would like to double or even triple their income this year, the answer would be a resounding, "Yes!"

What most agents don't realize is that unless they are brand new, they already have virtually all the tools they need to achieve this goal.

The first segment in this series delineated the difference between training, mentoring and coaching. The following case study illustrates how coaching works to create top production (and for the sake of disclosure I am the CEO of a real estate coaching site and work as a real estate trainer).

"Up or Out" coaching program

Several years ago, I worked with 12 experienced agents who were about to be fired if they didn't improve their production. The "Up or Out" program met once per week for three months. The first two sessions were primarily coaching-based.  more...