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When paying for traffic, measure the results Premium Content

By Gahlord Dewald, Tuesday, March 27, 2012.
Image via <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-283486p1.html">djem</a>/<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com">Shutterstock</a>

In one of the support forums I monitor, an agent asked this simple question: "How long should I try out a vendor for sending traffic to my site if I'm getting absolutely no traffic? It isn't a pay-per-click arrangement, it's a monthly fee."

Simple question, right? Of course, the answer on this isn't entirely simple. There are several things to consider when evaluating this sort of traffic generation arrangement. I'll give the standard consultant's answer: It depends.  more...

Primedia to buy Rent.com from eBay

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 27, 2012.
<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-128908p1.html">For-rent sign image</a> via Shutterstock.

In a move that it says will offer its advertisers more options and greater visibility, rental search company Primedia Inc. has announced it will acquire eBay subsidiary Rent.com for an undisclosed amount.

Primedia, based in the Atlanta area, said it had entered into an agreement to buy Rent.com in a transaction expected to close in second-quarter 2012. Online auction and shopping company eBay acquired Rent.com in February 2005 in a deal valued at about $415 million.  more...

Home prices 'double dip' in January

By Inman News, Tuesday, March 27, 2012.
<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-117820p1.html">Home price decline image</a> via Shutterstock.

A home-price index that tracks prices in 20 markets showed prices continuing to "double dip" in January, hitting a new low for the downturn. With price declines slowing, some analysts are still predicting home prices will bottom this year.

Home prices in 20 markets tracked by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices were down 0.8 percent from December to January and fell 3.8 percent compared to January 2011.  more...

NAR: 2012 home sales will be strongest in past 5 years

By Inman News, Monday, March 26, 2012.
<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-61994p1.html">Rising home sales image</a> via Shutterstock.

The National Association of Realtors is predicting existing-home sales will jump 7 to 10 percent in 2012 to the highest level in five years, based on an "uneven but higher sales pattern" so far this year.

Pending home sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent from January to February, which was up 9.2 percent from the same time a year ago, NAR said today in releasing its latest Pending Home Sales Index.  more...

5 basics for bringing real-life 'Farmville' to city living

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Monday, March 26, 2012.
Photo via <a href="http://urban-homesteading.org/">Urban-Homesteading.org</a>

America is becoming a nation of movements -- a country of communities gathering together to change whatever it is they don't like about the status quo or think could be done better.

One of those movements is the broad umbrella we could call sustainable lifestyles, which I'd say encompasses everything from residential solar energy that gets your home off the grid to the legions of chickens and beehives that have sprouted up all over backyards big and small, in cities big and small, coast to coast.  more...

Mortage rates can turn on a dime

By Inman News, Monday, March 26, 2012.
<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-4089p1.html">Dime image</a> via Shutterstock.

Mortgage rates could ease again if optimism about the economy proves to be unfounded, says loan officer Dan Green, looking back at 2010 and 2011 on his blog, The Mortgage Reports.

That interest rates on bonds and mortgages are up the last two weeks is a byproduct of good news -- there are signs that U.S. economic growth is picking up and unemployment is falling.  more...

An exploration of Credit Sesame Premium Content

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, March 26, 2012.
<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-427597p1.html" target=blank>Mortgage sign image</a> via Shutterstock.

I recently took a hard look at Credit Sesame, which is an interesting website that offers credit monitoring, credit cards and mortgages. The site views them as interrelated parts of a whole, where credit monitoring suggests opportunities to improve the user's financial status by changing the composition of credit cards and/or refinancing a mortgage.  more...

The credit-monitoring function is difficult to assess without getting deeply involved in its use, which requires a commitment I couldn't make. I am awaiting feedback from readers who have used it or plan to. Meanwhile, I can assess the credit card and mortgage parts of the site, viewed as separate lines of business.

5 factors to weigh before writing purchase offer

By Dian Hymer, Monday, March 26, 2012.
<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-81251p1.html" target=blank>Toy houses image</a> via Shutterstock.

Interest rates are bouncing around record lows. Home prices are down in most areas. Many buyers who have been waiting for a good time to buy want to move forward. But there is still uncertainty in the housing market.

Nationally, the housing market appears to be stabilizing, although home prices were down 2.5 percent in 2011, according to the National Association of Realtors. The recovery is expected to be rocky and could take years. Prices might decline before they reach a plateau. This should be factored into your decision to buy.  more...

5 reasons it's smarter to buy than rent Premium Content

By Bernice Ross, Monday, March 26, 2012.
<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-248635p1.html" target=blank>Buy vs. rent image</a> via Shutterstock.

One of the biggest myths in the real estate industry is that it is cheaper to rent than to buy. In 71 percent of the cities in the U.S., owning is now currently cheaper than renting.

In 2011, 1.4 million new households entered the rental market due to foreclosures and demographics -- i.e., the 80 million members of Gen Y are at their prime time for starting new careers, getting married and having kids. At the same time, the number of new homes being built has dropped substantially. As a result, the demand for rental properties has skyrocketed.  more...

LeadingRE partners with WellcomeMat for online videos

By Inman News, Monday, March 26, 2012.
<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-348181p1.html">Video channels image</a> via Shutterstock.

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, a network of 550 independent real estate brokerage firms around the globe, has partnered with video publishing platform WellcomeMat to provide each of its members with a free video channel and professionally produced videos.

LeadingRE will initially provide up to five videos focused on lifestyle, branding and marketing to seed members' video channels, WellcomeMat's chief educator Rudy Bachraty told Inman News.  more...

10 U.S. real estate markets drawing international buyers

By Inman News, Friday, March 23, 2012.
Image via <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-504532p1.html">brave rabbit</a>/<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com">Shutterstock</a>

Affluent international buyers, attracted by fire-sale prices, are snapping up real estate in some U.S. markets. In a report released today, Inman News identifies 10 markets where public records indicate foreign buyers make up the biggest share of overall buyers.

Most of the markets are located in sunny Florida, though areas in Nevada, Arizona, New York and Hawaii are also on the list. The report highlights the economic and personal factors that drive foreign buyers to buy; their preferred property types; top countries of origin; how they find the real estate professionals they work with; why the selected markets appeal to them; and relevant demographic and housing-related characteristics for the markets, including share of foreign-born population, distressed property footprint, home-price trends, and vacancy rates.  more...

Market for housing futures has yet to take off

By Steve Bergsman, Friday, March 23, 2012.
<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-102p1.html" target=blank>Real estate forecast image</a> via Shutterstock.

John Dolan is a lonely guy. In 2010, he took on the role as an independent market maker for the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He is the only market maker in this sector.

What's more, he can report for the last couple of years there has been very limited trading in the broad topic of home-price derivatives, which are based on the Case-Shiller Index.  more...

Tax break for owners occupying a rental has changed

By Stephen Fishman, Friday, March 23, 2012.
Image via <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-50988p1.html">karen roach</a>/<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com">Shutterstock</a>

Q. I bought a rental home three years go and have been renting it out ever since. If I move into the home now and live in it for two years and then sell it, will I qualify for the full $250,000 home-sale exclusion?

A. No. The maximum Section 121 exclusion you'll qualify for is $100,000 (40 percent of the full $250,000 exclusion for single taxpayers).  more...

Yabba dabba doo: Malibu listing evokes Flintstones

By Inman News, Friday, March 23, 2012.

No, that's not Fred Flintstone foot-driving his way up to this unique Bedrock-esque house in Malibu, Calif., but the property is home to a legendary Hollywood personality: Dick Clark. The Los Angeles Times reports that the esteemed television host and his wife, Kari, have recently put the eye-catching property up for sale and are asking $3.5 million for the retreat.  more...

Top 10 markets to invest in

By Inman News, Friday, March 23, 2012.
Image via <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-527452p1.html">Nata-Lia</a>/<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com">Shutterstock</a>

Realtor.com's latest top 10 investment markets report shows metros just off the beaten path leading the way.

Built from Realtor.com data updated through February 2012, the report put Tucson, Ariz.; Austin, Texas; and Kansas City, Mo., as the top current real estate markets to invest in. The top 10 list was built by analyzing the housing inventories, price trends and unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 146 markets Realtor.com tracks.  more...

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